Author: TSA Press

[I]t’s coming — and there’s a lot of work to be done.

The demand for restructuring and bankruptcy partners is as dynamic as it’s been in the last 25 years. Firms in the past waited until a wave hit to look for a lifeboat. Now, the sense that they need to have people in place before the storm hits is much more acute.

— Jon Lindsey, founder of legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, commenting on the fact that law firms have cited growing their bankruptcy practices as their greatest priority, and that lateral movement in this area has reached a fever pitch that’s likely to peak in the next year.

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Last night is a blur. The bars, the booze, the blow. No memory of last-call or the journey home. I hope I cabbed. Mental note to check the garage later.

My fingers feel swollen and clunky as I try to open the cellophane bag on the nightstand, ultimately tearing it, sending Xanax bars flying across the bed. I scoop one off of the down comforter like a shovel before my beagle takes an interest. I spy a half-full glass of shitty “Brian Cuban” label red wine I had made at someplace downtown. After an eight-ball of cocaine and the need for sleep, it’s not a matter of taste; it’s a matter of necessity. It washes down for dream time. There will be no dreams. The phone. Why, oh why, do I answer it?

Mr. Cuban? It’s is the court clerk of the **** District. We have a plaintiff down here on case number ****.  A petition for a Temporary Restraining Order. He says he did not try to contact you first, so we want to make sure you are aware. Can you come down for a hearing?

The words have the effect of stepping into a cold shower to sober up (as if that works). I am instantaneously more alert than 10 seconds ago, even with the Xanax bar starting to work its magic.  My mind searches its fragmented hard drive for the case.

“Can you tell me who the plaintiff is?” Shit, that guy, I mutter to myself as bytes of information coalesce. “What time do you need me there?”

“The judge would like to hear this at 10 a.m.”

Two hours.  My brain strains to its reduced limits. Need a good lie.   I wasn’t given notice. Just tell the truth. I can’t make it. Reschedule.

 “Yes, I will be there. I will call my client.”

My stomach churns with a mixture of panic and nausea. I stagger to the shower with a quick veer to the toilet. I drop to my knees and using the skills of a longtime bulimic, wretch the remnants of stale wine and cold pizza.  I will never make it to the hearing. The only reasonable option to counteract the Xanax is more blow. The baggie with less than a gram sits on the marble bathroom counter amidst toothpaste stains and mold fragments.

Two lines and a shave instill confidence that I can bluff my way through the hearing with a pro-se plaintiff.  A pressed custom suit, shined, $1,000 shoes, and a gargle of Scope close out the routine of masks. Masks for the courtroom. Masks for the clients. Masks for relationships.  Brian is nowhere to be found. I can’t remember when I last saw him. Maybe it was years ago before the bullies beat me up and stripped me almost naked a mile from my house. What I see in the mirror is artificial, temporary, and necessary for the next few hours.  Except these hours need to be functional on a different level — a very different mask of the high-functioning lawyer.  This morning. I will settle for surviving.

The walk through the metal detector with cocaine is something I’ve done before.   The difference this morning is that I’m sweating like Niagara Falls.  Projection becomes a reality. They know. They can see it in my eyes. I’m done.

“You forgot your belt, sir.” I made it.

It’s 9:30 — plenty of time for a bathroom stall stop.  I need to up my confidence and further offset the Xanax, which mercifully has not incapacitated me.  A high tolerance, maybe?

Check the nose and the grid for residue; head to the courtroom. I see my client and the plaintiff seated, chatting as if there is no animosity between them.  Why are we here?  I am the last hearing before lunch. What case is this? I didn’t check my fax for a copy of the pleading before I left. My client gives me his. I am naked before the bench.  The judicial gods take mercy once more.

Her Honor scans the pleading and asks the plaintiff why he needs this type of relief. His answer is as incoherent as my drug-addled response would be.  I don’t have to say a word.

Motion denied.

My client shakes my hand for a job well done. The plaintiff is still arguing his case as I thank the judge and beeline out the double wooden door, wondering when the last time these nights were actually fun. I can’t remember.

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Brian Cuban (@bcuban) is The Addicted Lawyer. Brian is the author of the Amazon best-selling book, The Addicted Lawyer: Tales Of The Bar, Booze, Blow & Redemption (affiliate link). A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, he somehow made it through as an alcoholic then added cocaine to his résumé as a practicing attorney. He went into recovery April 8, 2007. He left the practice of law and now writes and speaks on recovery topics, not only for the legal profession, but on recovery in general. He can be reached at brian@addictedlawyer.com.

A few weeks ago, I read the story about Daniel, a 36-year-old lawyer who was living a very, very frugal lifestyle. He eats only rice and beans, lives in a small apartment in New Jersey, and buys his clothes from thrift shops. His goal was to retire early and he has saved up a six-figure retirement account and $400,000 in cash.

Daniel is a believer in the FIRE philosophy which is short for Financial Independence Retire Early. This goes beyond the sensible basic financial advice of spending less than you earn. The idea is to work like crazy and save  as much money as possible. FIRE also recommends diversifying income sources, generating passive income, and monetizing everything you do. Once you save enough money, you can then quit your job in your 30s or 40s. You can then spend the best years and the rest of your life living happily ever after doing whatever you want to do.

I can relate to Daniel in some ways as I prefer being a minimalist. When I am not with clients or friends, I don’t like to spend a lot of money eating out. And when I do eat out, it usually coincides with a restaurant’s special discount promotions like Taco Tuesdays. I make my own coffee, which I concede tastes slightly better than sewage. At the moment, I have no desire to live in a McMansion. And I generally do not like having a lot of stuff which ends up gathering dust or gets thrown away unused.

But after learning more about the FIRE lifestyle, I don’t think I am crazy or disciplined enough for it. There are drawbacks to the FIRE lifestyle that make me wonder whether it is worth the sacrifice. Now I understand people have different priorities in life so you can take my thoughts below with a grain of salt.

You will pay more taxes. Unfortunately, the tax laws do not give incentives to save. Before you can legitimately claim an income deduction or a tax credit, you have to spend money on certain things. So if you save, a big chunk of those savings will go to the government.

That early retirement savings cannot be touched for a long time. So you have a sizeable retirement account because you maxed out your IRA or 401K contributions for many years? That’s super. But you cannot withdraw from it until you reach the age of 59 1/2 or you will have to pay a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty and possibly income taxes on the withdrawn amount. The tax laws did not have FIRE in mind.

You will give up a lot of things. Many personal finance gurus advise delayed gratification where you hold off on enjoyment now in exchange for greater enjoyment later or avoiding unnecessary debt. But the FIRE lifestyle goes beyond simple fiscal discipline. They advocate making substantial and permanent lifestyle changes.

For example, it is not enough to buy a used car to save a few thousand dollars. Some FIRE blogs tell you to learn how to fix and maintain your car by yourself. If you buy a house or rent, you are encouraged to get roommates to save costs. A few even tell you what to eat and where to buy the ingredients in order to save on grocery costs.

I can rent rooms in my house but that means I am giving up privacy and I run the risk of having bad roommates. Today’s cars have so many electrical and computer controlled components that it is nearly impossible to fix them on your own. And some of the foods recommended I just don’t care for.

I appreciate what they are trying to do, but I personally cannot live a life that is so micromanaged and requires me to do so many things on my own.

Your family life could be a difficult one. You might embrace the hyper-frugal FIRE lifestyle but good luck finding a significant other who shares the same philosophy while you are together. Even if you do, at some point, you and your significant other might end up being frugal about different and incompatible things. Or one of you might get sick and tired of the FIRE lifestyle altogether.

And of course, it costs money to raise children properly. Especially for the unexpected expenses that comes with parenthood such as preschool, after school activities, weekend golf lessons, or in some cases, bail money.

From the stories I read, the FIRE lifestyle is best for single people since there is no one to argue with and no one to take care of.

I won’t name any names but one of the most prominent voices of the FIRE movement recently got divorced. He stated that the FIRE lifestyle was not the cause and I want to believe him. But considering that most married couples split due to finances (or lack of it), I am inclined to believe that finances played at least a part in the separation.

You might not be able to deal with financial catastrophes or opportunities. Many of the FIRE supporters assume that once people retire at some obscenely young age, they will not have major financial problems in the future. Instead, they think that everyone will live happily ever after and they will have money to pay a doctor for a checkup.

Before you quit your day job, you will need to save a substantial amount of money for a major financial catastrophe. You or a family member could suffer from a serious medical condition. Or you might be sued.

Or it may not be catastrophe but instead a potentially lucrative but expensive investment opportunity that interests you.

And if you retire at young age, it can be more problematic because there will be more time for potential catastrophes. Especially if you plan to spend your free time pursuing hobbies such as parkour, rock climbing, or whatever these people are doing.

You might be unemployable. Finally, let’s just say that at some point, the FIRE lifestyle does not work out and you want to (or need to) go back to work. Well, your absence from the job market could make that difficult. How are you going to spin your early retirement in an interview? It is very likely you won’t be welcomed back to your old senior management position. Instead, you may end up starting in the bottom in a different field.

The FIRE lifestyle sounds very appealing, especially to the significant number of people who hate their current jobs. For some people, like Daniel above, if it means living like an ascetic monk for a few years, in exchange for freedom, then that’s what he will do. But with the money he has saved so far, Daniel will not live lavishly. He will live a barely middle class lifestyle in a low cost-of-living area.

But I just don’t see it working for me. It means I will have to live a lower quality of life during my prime years while a chuck of the money I save goes towards taxes. If I put the money into a tax-advantaged retirement account, I won’t see that money for another 17 years. Not only that, I will have to save another nest egg for potential financial catastrophes or something else.

Whenever I hear testimonials about those who followed the FIRE lifestyle and achieved significant financial freedom, I think most of them are not telling us everything. Some of these people might have cashed out large stock options after leaving their firm. Or they may have a spouse who is still working. Or they have a secret golden goose that they won’t share with others. Or they may live a life that is much poorer than what people think.

It is generally a good idea to spend less than you make if you want to save money to retire. But if you want to play with FIRE, be careful because you could get burned.

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Steven Chung is a tax attorney in Los Angeles, California. He helps people with basic tax planning and resolve tax disputes. He is also sympathetic to people with large student loans. He can be reached via email at sachimalbe@excite.com. Or you can connect with him on Twitter (@stevenchung) and connect with him on LinkedIn.

* Elon musk has joined the list of celebrities who have behaved poorly at depositions. [Business Insider]

* A Texas lawyer has been convicted of scamming Colombian drug dealers out of $1.5M. Guess there is no honor among theives. [Dallas Morning News]

* Lawyers have sought a delay of the trial involving former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s alleged agreement to pay hush money to a former student. [NBC Chicago]

* A California court has found that a municipality’s requirement that city attorneys graduate from an ABA-approved law school is constitutional. This seems like a pretty basic requirement. [The Recorder]

* A copyright lawsuit about Taylor Swift’s song “Shake It Off” has been revived. I’m not going to make the same lazy joke about this story that pretty much every news source has already made… [USA Today]

* Two California law firms have settled a suit alleging that they engaged in a civil RICO conspiracy by filing ADA claims and forcing defendants to fork over quick settlements to avoid costly litigation. [ABA Journal]

* The first lawsuit against a fertility doctor accused of substituting his own sperm for that of an anonymous donor has been filed. This story sounds like a bad version of that Vince Vaughn flick Delivery Man. [CBS Denver]

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Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

The latest move in the country’s long-running dispute between the Government and its bureaucracy came when the Apex Council, representing all PS employees except those in the security and health sectors, delivered the ultimatum to President, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

It comes at a time when junior doctors at Government hospitals are already on strike, demanding a review of their salaries in line with the prevailing interbank exchange rate.

The doctors say their current fixed salaries are too quickly eroded by inflation, which the International Monetary Fund has estimated is running at 300 per cent annually.

The Apex Council said the notification of inability to work did not amount to a strike, but nevertheless urged the Government not to victimise any worker who failed to report for duty due to lack of money for transport.

“This declaration is meant to protect those of our number, who are the majority, that at any one time they may find themselves unable to proceed to work because they have no money for transport, food and accommodation and more,” the Apex Council said.

It stressed that Government workers should not borrow money for transport as it was the responsibility of their employer to adequately provide such funds.

The Apex Council statement noted that inflation had eroded the average PS employee’s salary from A$730 in 2018 to A$58 today — “and it is declining further every day”.

“We are the only people carrying the burden of austerity … our salaries are first taxed by the employer, then the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and more steeply by mobile money agencies,” the Apex Council said.

“We cannot bear the burden of austerity on our own.”

In August the Government suspended publication of annual inflation figures until February 2020, arguing the move was meant to avoid miscalculation of the country’s inflation rate.

In what is being seen as an attempt to appease PS employees, the Government has announced it will pay them full end-of-year bonuses pegged on gross income — a departure from last year, when the so-called thirteenth cheque was based on pensionable salaries.

There was widespread anger last year after the bonuses workers were paid reflected only the basic salary without allowances being factored in.

Post published in: Business

The last round of fuel price hikes on Oct. 5. saw prices rise 27% and was followed by a 320% increase in the cost of electricity, triggering a spike in the cost of basic goods such as sugar, maize meal and milk.

Petrol will now cost 16.67 Zimbabwe dollars ($1.07) a litre while diesel will cost 17.47 Zimbabwe dollars, the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Agency said.

The latest hike has failed to ease nationwide shortages, with most of the fuel pumps in the capital still dry.

With prices surging, economists examining the official monthly data put inflation in September at 380%.

Hopes that the economy would quickly rebound under President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took over after the late Robert Mugabe was deposed in a coup in 2017, have dimmed fast as ordinary people grapple with economic hardships.

The southern African nation is experiencing its worst economic crisis in a decade, seen in the triple-digit inflation, 18-hour power cuts and shortages of U.S. dollars, medicine and fuel that have evoked the dark days of the 2008 hyperinflation under Mugabe.

Mnangagwa, who critics accuse of lacking commitment to political reforms and using his predecessor’s heavy-handed tactics to stifle dissent, has pleaded for time and patience to bring the economy back from the “dead”. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Alison Williams)

Post published in: Business

What Biglaw firm recently announced their new managing partner (effective January 2020) would be a woman for the first time in the firm’s 183-year history?

Hint: The Am Law 200 firm was founded in 1836, and currently has offices in New York; Washington; Los Angeles; Chicago; Stamford; Parsippany; Houston; San Diego; and Brussels.

See the answer on the next page.

Politics

Impeachment is coming and will be handled by professionals.

By Elie Mystal

at 6:18 PM

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