Author: TSA Press

[T]he problems that can accompany billable hour requirements are tractable and avoidable. Transparency is an indispensable baseline to making the billable hour work well. Law firms must be clear about expectations—the real ones. State them up front. Better yet, provide current and historical statistics such as average hours worked per lawyer per week, month, and year, ideally by office location, department, and seniority. In the absence of firms standing by publicized expectations, this data would provide a window into any divergence between stated requirements and reality.

— Members of the American Lawyer’s Young Lawyer Editorial Board, writing about the need for Biglaw firms to honestly disclose incoming associates’ “real” billable hour requirements (i.e., not just the bare minimum that’s required to keep their jobs, but what’s actually expected to maintain bonus eligibility and partnership consideration).

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.

The gender discrimination lawsuit brought by seven former associates against Jones Day is really heating up. You may recall a complaint, now amended, alleging a “fraternity culture” at the firm and unequal pay behind the firm’s notorious “black box” compensation system. Now the firm has filed a 115-page answer, and they sure don’t pull any punches.

In the amended complaint, the seven named plaintiffs alleged they were paid less than similarly situated male associates and used charts comparing their compensation to the industry standard or “Cravath scale” to demonstrate that they were underpaid. In response, Jones Day alleges not everyone deserves to be paid on the Cravath scale, and that geography and merit played a role in plaintiffs’ compensation:

“Plaintiffs’ pay discrimination claims are based on the misconceived and legally baseless notion that all lawyers in all geographic markets have, at all times over the past decade, been entitled to so-called ‘Cravath scale’ regardless of the quality of their performance or their productivity.”

To further this argument, the answer singles out plaintiffs Nilab Rahyar Tolton and Katrina Henderson as being undeserving of market compensation. As reported by Law.com:

Henderson, according to the response, never cracked 1,100 hours of client billable work in any year and “struggled with basic tasks.” Tolton “received below-average reviews in four of her last five years” and saw her hourly billings plunge in two years after she took leaves.

“While that is consistent with Ms. Tolton’s allegation that she joined Jones Day because she thought she could ‘do the minimum’ and protect her social life, it is not the type of performance that would have qualified her for ‘Cravath pay’ at any firm,” Jones Day said.

Additionally, Jones Day tries to turn the allegations of a fraternity culture against the plaintiffs, saying their perceptions of a hostile work environment were “entirely built on stereotypical tropes.”

“This warped portrayal of women as weak, powerless, and incapable of making their own choices or taking responsibility for their own actions is as offensive as it is wrong and certainly does not accurately describe the women lawyers at Jones Day,” the firm said.

But by far my favorite argument is the one where Jones Day says their compensation system isn’t a black box:

[T]he firm disputed that its compensation system could be characterized as a “black box,” noting that it publishes detailed information on its evaluation and compensation processes on its website and details them internally within the firm. Furthermore, midlevel and senior-level associates participate as evaluators of more junior associates, observing elements of the process from both sides.

Now, I’m not commenting on the truthfulness of the allegations in the complaint, nor am I opining on the legal arguments in either side’s filings. But. But… as someone who has personally spent a lot of time trying to ascertain the compensation landscape at the firm, I was pretty incredulous reading that.

Just for fun, I asked my fellow Above the Law editors their initial reactions upon hearing this, and (following the laughter) they delivered.

Joe Patrice:

Staci Zaretsky answered in picture form, which I quite appreciated:

Elie Mystal:

Jones day is so used to gaslighting for the president they think we’re as dumb as Trump voters.

For my part, I went back to this classic over-lawyerly response from Bill Clinton:

Is Jones Day’s compensation system a black box?

We’ll continue to follow the ups and downs of this case as they develop.

Earlier coverage: Jones Day Hit With Explosive Gender Discrimination Case
Jones Day Facing Second Class-Action Lawsuit Over ‘Fraternity Culture’ Of The Firm
Partner Whose Behavior Features Prominently In Jones Day Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Is Out At The Firm
Jones Day Wants Gender Discrimination Plaintiffs To Reveal Themselves To The Public
Plaintiffs Throw Shade At Jones Day In Gender Discrimination Lawsuit
Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Against Jones Day Gets Yet Another Plaintiff
Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Against Jones Day Dropped — Well, One Of Them At Least
Jones Day Gender Discrimination Case Spreads To New York
Amended Gender Discrimination Case Brings The Real Scoop On Jones Day Compensation

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

Prior to lawyering, I was a student of the theatre. Having grown up in the 90s, I aspired to practice like the stars of L.A. Law and Ally McBeal. I was happily sidetracked in college and graduate school by the study of theatre history, theory, and criticism and even a bit of performance. The works of Mamet and Wasserstein replaced the characters of Eikenberry and Flockhart.  When colleagues and clients learn of my theatrical past, there are usually two responses: 1. Why don’t you practice entertainment law? and 2. Your acting skills probably come in handy.

While I do not practice in entertainment law, I do find my trusts and estates practice, specifically much of the litigation, very entertaining. Acting? I was never such a performer, but the skills I learned — particularly how to emote, speak with authority, make eye contact, and command an audience — certainly help.

As a result of my own education, I am intrigued when theatre and the law intersect. Inherit the Wind, To Kill a Mocking Bird — both great pieces of theatre involving epic legal stories. As such, I was particularly tickled to learn that the drama associated with the break-up of the famous Buffalo, New York, personal injury law firm, Cellino and Barnes, has been made into a play titled: Cellino v. Barnes. Michael Breen and David Rafailedes, two comedians, are the creators and also portray the main characters. It is scheduled to premier on August 3, 2019, in Brooklyn, right around the time the real case begins trial in New York State Supreme Court.

Ross Cellino commenced a dissolution proceeding against Steven Barnes in New York State Supreme Court. The partners of 25 years are fighting over multiple issues including billboards, the application of interest for client expenses, the hiring of a family member, and of course, the famous phone number. The matter has grown vicious, with insults thrown and public warring. Despite it all, Barnes opposes the dissolution. Reportedly, the law firm continues to make money, despite the pending case.

Arguably Cellino and Barnes, prior to the dissolution action, were known not only for their successful personal injury settlements, but their catchy jingle. The jingle was composed in 1993 by Ken Kaufman and helped expand the law firm’s exposure beyond Buffalo. The tagline being “Don’t wait, call 8” as the firm’s number was 1-800-888-8888.

The tagline of the play is “Injury attorneys. Injured hearts.” While funny, the sentiment is real.  The dissolution of a law firm or the break-up of a professional relationship, is very much an emotional experience. Partners and colleagues working together for years develop close relationships and become work families. Together, attorneys celebrate victories and mourn losses. Colleagues comfort each other and cover for each other during trying times. Attorneys invest time in one another, partners to associates and associates to their mentors. Although most  professional break-ups do not involve the ownership of a multimillion-dollar jingle, they do involve actual people with emotions and complicated relationships, the latter of which serve as the core of any good piece of theatre.

Cori A. Robinson is a solo practitioner having founded Cori A. Robinson PLLC, a New York and New Jersey law firm, in 2017. For more than a decade Cori has focused her law practice on trusts and estates and elder law including estate and Medicaid planning, probate and administration, estate litigation, and guardianships. She can be reached at cori@robinsonestatelaw.com. 

Matshela Energy has been awarded a licence to build a solar plant in Zimbabwe which is expected to produce around 100 MW of electricity.

Zimbabwe is facing an electricity supply crisis, which has led to rotational load shedding with outages lasting up to 18 hours.

SA’s neighbour started implementing load sheddingin May this year, due to a combination of low water levels at Kariba Dam’s hydroelectric power plant, generation constraints at ageing power stations and limited foreign imports.

“I can confidently say that there will be no load shedding in Zimbabwe in the next 12 months,” Koko tweeted on Sunday.

“I stopped load shedding in SA & I will do so in Zimbabwe,” he added.

Koko also told Zimbabwean state media outlet The Sunday Mail that the project could be expected to feed into the national grid within the next 12 months.

“The board of Zera [Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority] approved the issuance of the electricity generation licence to Matshela Energy for Phase 1. Total approximate investment for licensed generation facility: US$250m.”

The project will create approximately 1 000 direct and indirect jobs, said Koko.

He said the he had assembled a team of energy experts and investors from different parts of the world to embark on the project.

“Our partners will be on site in August to complete the detailed design for the power plant. We believe our team is competent and second to none and will deliver the project without fail.”

Koko resigned from Eskom in early 2018 during a disciplinary hearing. In his resignation letter, Koko said that he was resigning from the power utility without admitting to guilt.

Post published in: Business

A Bailey bridge.

Zimbabwean media report that 118 engineers arrived in Zimbabwe on 22 July, where they began engaging in reconstruction in the Chimanimani and Chipinge districts.

The Zimbabwe National Army on 23 July issued a statement stating that “South Africa has honoured its pledge to assist Zimbabwe in the reconstruction of destroyed road infrastructure in Chimanimani after the devastating Cyclone Idai disaster.

“The South African National Defence Force engineers arrived at Kopa in Chimanimani on Monday 22 July 2019 to fulfil the pledge that was made by that country’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Cde Lindiwe Sisulu to assist Zimbabwe in rehabilitating road infrastructure in Chimanimani destroyed by Cyclone Idai.

“The SANDF engineers will be working closely together with their Zimbabwe National Army counterparts. The South Africans will be in the country until they finish the prioritised projects in Chipinge and Chimanimani districts respectively.”

The statement came from Lieutenant Alphios Makotore, Director Army Public Relations.

Deployment leader Lieutenant Colonel Delnot Njoko told ZBC News that the SANDF personnel would be in Zimbabwe for a period of 23 weeks. “We are not here for war, we are here to assist our counterparts in the reconstruction of two bridges here in Chimanimani,” said.

The intention is to rebuild roads and bridges before the next rainy season towards the end of the year. The Zimbabwe National Army said the South African engineers would be constructing Bailey bridges across rivers, including the Rusitu and Nyahode Rivers.

Cyclone Idai hit Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi in the middle of March this year. Approximately 600 people were killed in Zimbabwe and 270 000 affected.

Heavy rains fell across much of eastern Zimbabwe as the cyclone hit, with the heaviest rains falling in the Chimanimani District. Widespread flash flooding claimed hundreds of lives and caused extensive damage, with the Nyahonde River bursting its banks and inundating numerous communities. Destruction of numerous bridges and roads in eastern Chimanimani isolated many residents.

Post published in: Business

Chinese company Sinohydro is carrying out the expansion project on Units 7 and 8 and the work is now at 18 percent completion.

“Come January 2022 Hwange Expansion will deliver 600 MW to the national electricity grid,” the company said on Twitter.

ZPC is a subsidiary of power utility ZESA Holdings.

The company said site leveling works for the power plant, excavations for the Unit 8 boiler house section, concrete construction of Unit 8 main power building foundation, rerouting of ash pipes and the cooling water fore-bay foundation were in progress.

“Meanwhile, concrete construction of foundation for main power building, Unit 8 section, batching plant and the construction of the chimney foundation are now complete,” the company added.

Zimbabwe is currently enduring a crippling power shortage which has left households and some sections of industry going for up to 18 hours without electricity.

Post published in: Business

Zimbabwe’s old currency was issued in millions and billions of dollars before being phased out

A drug dealer who used dark web marketplaces to ply his trade apparently used part of the proceeds to buy vast quantities of Zimbabwean cash.

The FBI said Richard Castro, of Florida, had bought the equivalent of “approximately 100 quadrillion [1,000 trillion] Zimbabwe bank notes” in June 2018.

Use of the currency had ended years earlier, following hyperinflation.

The purchase is thought to have been part of a wider money laundering scheme

Castro also bought hundreds of thousands of US dollars worth of vehicles and “luxury automobile [wheel] rims”.

The accused initially made his fortune by illegally dealing opioids, including fentanyl and carfentanil – both of which are stronger than heroin.

These were initially sold via AlphaBay and Dream Market, markets on the Tor network accessed via a special web browser only.

However, after the authorities shut AlphaBay down and were rumoured to have compromised Dream Market’s platform, Castro told his clients he would accept purchases via encrypted email only and required them to pay the equivalent of a $104 (£85) fee in Bitcoin to be told the address.

An undercover police officer paid the fee and used the address to order several deliveries, which first helped identify one of Castro’s associates and then the dealer himself, who had gone by the nickname Chems_usa.

Castro initially claimed to be not guilty before changing his plea last week.

He has since agreed to surrender a sum worth the equivalent of about $4.16m, earned through the criminal venture.

He is due to be sentenced on 25 October and could face decades in jail.

Post published in: Featured

Inflation in Zimbabwe has spiked at 175%, with fears of a return to the conditions of 2008, when the country recorded the world’s highest rate for the year — with the percentages for some months in the hundreds of millions. The costs of living have once again become unbearable for most ordinary people. Food is more expensive, and aid organizations are expecting acute shortages as a result of crop failure after Cyclone Idai in March.

“Politicians have failed us. Our economy is down. There are no jobs,” Hayden Sibanda, a bus attendant in central Harare, told DW. “Those available are not paying enough.”

Zimbabweans can hardly afford basic food, Sibanda said. “Most people are surviving on one meal a day,” he added. “Breakfast is now a luxury. You eat once in the afternoon or evenings. One can probably sleep hungry.”

An eventful year

Analysts describe President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s first year in office as a period of indecisive and experimental policies.

It all started in January, when the government decided to increase the price of fuel by 130%. Then, Zimbabweans protested the price hike — along with increasing levels of poverty, the poor state of the economy, and declining standards of living.

As the year progressed, several policy changes were effected without proper consultation. Chief among those decisions was the ban on the official use of the US dollar and other international currencies.

The government imposed the ban and announced the return of the Zimbabwe dollar, which had been abandoned following a dramatic loss in value in 2009. “The government has been experimenting with several policy measures,” the Harare-based economist Prosper Chitambara told DW.

“They are behaving like a drowning person who is clutching at straws,” Chitambara said, referring to the authorities. “Most of the policies that have been implemented are ad hoc, latching from one policy measure to another without addressing the structural policy impediments.”

Power shortages

Zimbabwe is experiencing its worst energy crisis in decades, with rolling blackouts running for 18 hours per day. This has severely affected the small production in industries. Some companies are now resorting to a five-hour night shift, the only time when electricity is available.

The crisis is blamed on drought, which has affected the country’s major hydro-power plant, as well as aging equipment at most of the coal-fired plants. Zimbabwe requires about 1,600 MW at peak periods but was only generating 1,400 MW before the crisis, with the deficit covered by imports from neighboring South Africa and Mozambique. To add insult to injury, the countries suspended exporting power to Zimbabwe, which owed the countries over $80 million (€72 million) total.

“Lack of constant power supply has dealt a big blow to the cost of doing business in Zimbabwe,” Chitambara said, adding that it will have a negative perception on the country as a preferred investment destination.

The World Bank has already predicted -3% economic growth for Zimbabwe in the coming year — the lowest in southern Africa.

Lack of cohesion

Two years after Mugabe’s fall, Zimbabwe looks much the same, analysts say

Analysts cite lack of social cohesion as one of the most significant setbacks in reviving the country’s economy. Though Mnangagwa has tried to woe international investors through his “Zimbabwe is open for business” rhetoric, this has yielded few results.

The political analyst Alexander Rusero told DW that much of the slow progress boils down to a lack of confidence, both on the domestic front and internationally. “The issue of dialogue in my view becomes very important because Zimbabwe is a highly divided society,” Rusero said. He added that no reasonable investor or government would believe in Mnangagwa — nor do almost half of Zimbabweans.

Mnangagwa’s administration has asked for patience, maintaining that institutional changes will bring results soon.