Category: News Feeds

Predictably defending Mugabe, Kasukuwere said Zimbabwe’s situation was worse under Mnangagwa who, he said, was protecting corrupt criminal cartels who were raping the nation, bleeding it of billions of dollars (see: https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-179741.html),

Many Zimbabweans appear ambivalent about the change of regime. They include youths who are meant to be inspired by a public holiday on Mugabe’s birthday. Cathy Buckle in her latest Letter from Zimbabwe says ‘it’s hard to see what our youth have got to celebrate. Unemployment around 90%, inflation over 500%, queues for money, food and fuel and not even electricity today. Hopes of getting a job are extremely slim; manufacturing capacity predicted at 27% this year and a guarantee of tear gas, police truncheons and brutality if you dare to demonstrate.’

Buckle’s comment about a clampdown on dissent is confirmed by a news report of a wave of arrests of people taking part in anti-government protests against the worsening political and economic crisis (see: https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-179751.html).

In her letter, Cathy Buckle looks at how food aid supposed to feed the hungry is being diverted to the black market by corrupt officials in Zimbabwe and sold in neighbouring countries: ‘A Parliamentary Portfolio Committee heard that abuse of the subsidised maize facility was rife. Senior executives in the government’s GMB (Grain Marketing Board) were implicated: allocating subsidised maize to millers far in excess of their capacity. The millers were in turn diverting the maize to the black market and selling it to neighbouring countries, making huge profits in the process. There were accounts of trucks from the DR Congo offloading copper in South Africa and on their return journey through Zimbabwe filling their empty trucks with our subsidised maize. The corruption extends to border officials who stamp documents with false declarations as to the source of the cargo on trucks which proceed to exit Zimbabwe loaded with our cheap maize.’

She goes on to note that 20 years ago this week the farm invasions began: ‘twenty years later Zimbabwe as a whole continues to pay the price of the destruction of commercial agriculture’ (see: http://cathybuckle.co.zw/looting-cheap-food-from-hungry-zimbabweans/).

Buckle’s comments are backed up by a coruscating news report: ‘Factories grind to a halt as Zimbabwe’s economy implodes’. The article notes: Zisco’s once-imposing steelworks are a series of derelict buildings, rusting pipes and sheets of corrugated iron. As the natural bush encroaches, the buildings are increasingly home to ever-opportunistic monkeys and baboons.’  (See:  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/factories-grind-halt-zimbabwe-economy-050000822.html),

Other points

• February has been a turbulent time in the UK weatherwise with gales and endless rain causing widespread flooding. Nevertheless someone came down to join us today all the way from Scotland.
• Thanks to those who braved the foul weather to help set up the Vigil today: Delice Gavazah, Jonathan Kariwo, Godfrey Katerere, Esther Munyira, Mary Muteyerwa, Qiniso Sibanda, Ephraim Tapa and Kevin Wheeldon. Thanks to Esther for looking after the front table, to Kevin for handing out flyers, to Mary and Delice for drumming and to Jonathan for photos. Thanks also for a further contribution to the ROHR’s Valentine fundraising dinner From Delice Gavazah.
• For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimb88abwevigil/. Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website.

FOR THE RECORD: ­­­10 signed the register.

 

EVENTS AND NOTICES:

• ROHR fundraising dinner dance. Saturday 29^th February from 6 pm till late. Postponed from 15^th February because of bad weather. Venue: 38 Marcon Place, London E8 1LP. The event is in aid of women living with HIV/AIDS in rural Zimbabwe. Tickets £30. Contact: Esther Munyira 07492058107, Molly Ngavaimbe 07415443973, Patricia Masamba 07708116625 or Margaret Munenge 07384300283
• ROHR general members’ meeting. Saturday 14^th March from 11.30 am. Venue: Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX. Contact: Ephraim Tapa 07940793090, Patricia Masamba 07708116625, Esther Munyira 07492058107.
• The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s partner organization based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an organization on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents us.
• World Day of Prayer for Zimbabwe. Friday 6^th March. This year the focus is on Zimbabwe and the service has been prepared by Christian women in Zimbabwe. The theme is ‘Rise! Take you mat and walk’. Christians all round the world will be praying for Zimbabwe. Try to get your own church involved. For more information check: https://www.wwdp.org.uk/.
• Living on the Edge. Tuesday 10^th March from 7 – 9 pm (doors open at 6 pm). Venue: Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR. The event is organised by the Mike Campbell Foundation. Among the speakers are Chief Felix Ndiweni and Beatrice Mtetwa. For full details of the event check: https://media.wix.com/ugd/02876c_5b68a136280c42ebbf39f8ebbb722299.pdf.
• The Vigil’s book ‘Zimbabwe Emergency’ is based on our weekly diaries. It records how events in Zimbabwe have unfolded as seen by the diaspora in the UK. It chronicles the economic disintegration, violence, growing oppression and political manoeuvring – and the tragic human cost involved. It is available at the Vigil. All proceeds go to the Vigil and our sister organisation the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe’s work in Zimbabwe. The book is also available from Amazon.

• Facebook pages:

  Vigil: https://www.facebook.com/zimbabwevigil
  ROHR: https://www.facebook.com/Restoration-of-Human-Rights-ROHR-Zimbabwe-International-370825706588551/
  ZAF:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zimbabwe-Action-Forum-ZAF/490257051027515

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* The American Bar Association has won a lawsuit establishing that ABA employees qualify for public service loan forgiveness. It would have been kind of embarrassing if a group of lawyers lost this case… [Forbes]

* Joe Biden is receiving some flak for wrongly stating that his late son was the Attorney General of the United States. [Fox News]

* A number of Republican state attorneys general are trying to block the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. [ABC News]

* A $14 million settlement has been proposed in a class action concerning inmates masturbating in front of Cook County public defenders. [Chicago Sun Times]

* Justice Sotomayor wrote a scathing dissent on Friday criticizing the government for allegedly abusing the emergency application process at the Supreme Court. [Bloomberg]

* A minor league baseball team has revoked the tickets of a law firm that filed a case against the franchise on behalf of a client. This seems kind of petty. [The Athletic]

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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.

Unemployment around 90%, inflation over 500%, queues for money, food and fuel and not even electricity today. Hopes of getting a job are extremely slim; manufacturing capacity predicted at 27% this year and a guarantee of tear gas, police truncheons and brutality if you dare to demonstrate.

For forty years Zimbabwe has been riddled with endemic corruption at the hands of the party in power. Nothing of any value: natural, man-made or donated has been spared: war victims compensation funds, cars, railways, aeroplanes, housing, oil, steel, gold, diamonds, airports, timber, electricity, banking and the list goes on and on. For the last two decades, corruption has been rampant around land and agriculture from the allocation of seized farms to government cronies, security personnel VIPs and members of the judiciary to farm mechanization funds, farm equipment, multiple farm holdings, the Command agriculture scheme, selling free inputs and this week the latest scandal of diverting subsidized maize has been exposed.

A Parliamentary Portfolio Committee heard that abuse of the subsidized maize facility was rife. Senior executives in the government’s GMB (Grain Marketing Board) were implicated: allocating subsidized maize to millers far in excess of their capacity. The millers were in turn diverting the maize to the black market and selling it to neighbouring countries, making huge profits in the process. There were accounts of trucks from the DR Congo offloading copper in South Africa and on their return journey through Zimbabwe filling their empty trucks with our subsidized maize. The corruption extends to border officials who stamp documents with false declarations as to the source of the cargo on trucks which proceed to exit Zimbabwe loaded with our cheap maize. Giving evidence to the Parliamentary Committee we heard that shops in Mozambique are selling Zimbabwean maize and callers to a radio programme saw our maize in shops in Malawi and further north on the route to the DR Congo.

Zimbabwe’s subsidized maize is imported grain and supposed to be assisting hungry and impoverished Zimbabweans. If you can find it, subsidized maize is supposed to sell for Z$70 for 10kgs but on the black market it sells for Z$140 and more than that in countries across our borders. Nothing is sacred in Zimbabwe, not even cheap food for starving people.

Twenty years ago this week farm invasions began in Zimbabwe and they have continued for much of the last two decades. In those horrific, terrifying days when we called police and begged them to help us when government supporters were burning, looting, destroying and evicting us and our employees from our homes and properties, the police would not come, saying it was political. That sentiment remains true today with government withdrawing leases from people who were allocated seized land but who are now perceived to be political rivals. An estimated one million people, (10% of our population at the time) who lived, worked on and owned those seized farms lost everything; we lost our homes, livelihoods, jobs, investments and pensions. But we were not the only losers. Twenty years later Zimbabwe as a whole continues to pay the price of the destruction of commercial agriculture.

This week the Zimbabwe government announced that they were introducing maximum farm sizes and would be taking away sections of land in excess of the new hectarages. Another wave of partisan land distributions is inevitable. After twenty years Zimbabwe has still not accepted the fact that you need commercial farmers to grow the country’s food and not your political allies and supporters.

With well over half of our population dependent on International Food Aid two decades later, the statistics of Zimbabwe’s agricultural production say it all: (Figures from the Mundi Index)
Wheat  (metric tons) 1999: 324,000             2019:  100,000
Maize (metric tons)    1999: 2,148,000          2019: 777,000
Soya (metric tons)      1999:  79,000              2019:   29,000
Cotton (217kg bags)   1999:  590,000            2019: 190,000
Sorghum (metric ton)    1999: 100,000         2019: 40,000

As I write this letter, our neighbours in South Africa are arriving at the same crossroad Zimbabwe faced twenty years ago: the expropriation of land without compensation. We hope they learn from us.

Until next time, thanks for reading this Letter From Zimbabwe, now in its 20^th year, and my books about life in Zimbabwe, a country in waiting, love cathy 21 February 2020. Copyright © Cathy Buckle.  There is no charge for this letter but if you would like to contribute please visit my website http://cathybuckle.co. zw/
For information on my books about  Zimbabwe go to www.lulu.com/spotlight/ CathyBuckle2018  For archives of Letters From Zimbabwe, to subscribe/unsubscribe or to contact me please visit my website http://cathybuckle.co.zw/

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Without any compromise members unanimously agreed that there will be no changes to the constitution before its full implementation.

In arriving at this decision, CiZC members analysed all proposed changes and came to a conclusion that the common denominator to all proposed changes is political emotion largely driven by the desire to consolidate power in the hands of the ruling elite. This will thus be achieved through a Constitutional amendment scheme that will see the president wielding too much executive powers in relation to the appointments of Vice Presidents, a shift from the current running mate provision in the 2013 Constitution, a provision which guarantees that the country does not go back to the one party state period.

The proposed amendments also relate to the appointments of the Prosecutor General, Public Protector, promotion of judges and the terms of office of judges, all of which is evident of the strong desire to impose the views of the ruling elite in all these appointments.

CiZC members noted that these changes are miles away from guaranteeing a democratic governance system as they have an effect of undermining traditional checks and balances existing in the yet to be implemented 2013 Constitution.

Of great concern to CSOs is the fact that the proposed amendments are not a result of any consultative process which involved citizens, thereby justifying the position taken by CSOs as the decision taken by the ruling elite does not single handedly justify fundamental changes to the constitution.

To defend this position, CiZC membership agreed to belt out a nationwide campaign educating citizens on the impact of the proposed changes and most importantly mobilizing citizens to reject in totality proposed Constitutional changes.

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What automotive feature was, according to its inventor, developed out of his frustration with his lawyer’s driving?

Hint: The engineer, who was completely blind, earned a patent on this feature in 1950.

See the answer on the next page.

I stand before you as an alcoholic with 31 years of sobriety. I’ve never talked publicly about it.

—Husch Blackwell Chairman Greg Smith opened up about his addiction issues at the firm’s 2019 partner retreat. He went on to note, “Drinking was so much a part of the fabric of my everyday life, socially and professionally. How in the world was I going to succeed if I was not drinking as I had before?” But Smith found that by putting his career on the back burner for a year he had the time to begin treatment, “The shocking thing about this was how much my professional life improved without me trying… Basically, when you acknowledge your humanity and flaws, when you subjugate your ego and you try to live a balanced life, it’s amazing how much better an adviser, a trusted confidant you are to the people you represent.”

Smith also emphasized the importance of talking openly about addiction issues in the legal profession, “We have to quit whispering about this problem. I can’t tell you how many people talked to me about their own issues. Once you pull the curtain back, it’s a whole different environment. I think it’s important for people in leadership positions to talk about this.”

It may be difficult to remember in the ongoing avalanche of incompetence and worse at Wells Fargo over the past four years, but once upon a time the bank was seen as a the very essence of a well-run organization, at least from the perspective of one very not-well-run organization. And given all of the scandals and fines and non-scandal-related disasters and indigestion that emerge on a seemingly weekly basis, it may also be difficult to remember that first giant deposit in the continuing hailstorm of shit, the whole fake account thing. This has taken some time to unwind, possibly in part because not even Wells Fargo is sure how many of its accounts were legitimately opened by a customer and how many were unwittingly opened in that customer’s name to meet some quota. But they’re getting there: Last month, the Office of Comptroller of the Currency put a formal end to former CEO John Stumpf’s already quite over banking career. And now, what’s left of the Justice Department, along with the SEC, is ready to accept all of those billions Wells has been putting aside for this very purpose.

Legal tech prodigy Atrium surprised the industry last month when it announced it was drastically cutting back the number of attorneys on staff. Atrium had raised over $75M in venture capital to date, making this contraction and realignment of a core component of its business model both shocking and potentially ominous.

The move reminded me immediately of the collapse of Clearspire, the ambitious hybrid legal tech company/law firm that Atrium’s own business model owes an undeniable debt to. The similarities of those companies, and their key differences, may prove crucial to Atrium’s continued survival.

The Law Firm Everyone Loved And No One Hired

There’s no better history of Clearspire’s rise and fall than the post-mortem penned by Clearspire founder Mark Cohen himself, who I also interviewed for this piece. The vision of Clearspire was vast. Clearspire was composed of two sister companies, one a traditional law firm intended to handle sophisticated, high-value litigation traditionally reserved for Am Law 100 firms, and the other what we would now see as an Alternative Legal Service Provider aimed at less sophisticated work requiring less or no attorney attention. The two-company system was a creature of necessity, as one of the founders was a non-lawyer and couldn’t own a share of a law firm, and law firms themselves cannot accept equity investment from non-attorneys.

Clearspire had a number of core differentiators. Its biggest asset was an ahead-of-its-time custom technology platform called Coral, one that managed documents and tasks for attorneys while also giving clients transparent access to what their dollars were paying for and instant updates as tasks were accomplished. Clearspire leaned heavily on flat-rate representations, broken out into detailed Statements of Work, which are the norm in many industries but almost alien to the billable-hour dominated legal vertical. Clearspire eschewed significant real estate investment, adopting what today would be called a virtual law firm model designed to keep overhead low.

Cohen and his partner made their first investments in Clearspire two weeks before Lehman Brothers flamed out and declared bankruptcy. To Cohen and his partner, the timing was perfect. Their product ticked all the boxes that GCs were telling them they wanted as the financial markets collapsed. Clearspire offered transparency and accountability with their Coral platform, gave GCs an alternative to the billable hour nightmare, and offered their clients substantial cost savings over traditional firms. Clearspire should have been precisely the solution that cash-squeezed in-house counsel would be looking for.

It was a beautiful theory undone by ugly facts. While GCs were personally enthused by Clearspire’s concepts, the financial crash that made Clearspire’s pricing attractive also made its lack of proven track record a liability. Per Cohen, “nobody ever got fired for hiring IBM.” GCs preferred staying with traditional firms over risking their jobs hiring an unproven concept. GC’s also struggled with evaluating Clearspire’s flat fee pricing, choosing instead to cling to the familiar billable hour devil they hated, but knew.

Clearspire’s law firm struggled for traction. Per Cohen, he pushed his partner to pivot the company and focus on selling its Coral product to the many customers who expressed interest. The company ultimately refused to compromise its vision and stayed focused on the floundering law firm model. After four years, and roughly $7M in capital invested, Clearspire shut down operations in 2012.

Atrium’s Response

A decade after the fall of Clearspire, Atrium’s model reads as both a descendent of, and a direct reaction to, that company’s strengths and failures. Atrium is the brainchild of Justin Kan, the coder who founded and sold the e-sports streaming juggernaut Twitch. (I emailed Kan to request an interview, but as of press date have not received a response.)

Atrium borrowed Clearspire’s two-company model, with a tech company on one side and a traditional law firm on the other. It also borrowed Clearspire’s focus on a proprietary tech platform, one intended to lower costs, add client value, and facilitate legal team communication.

While the bones of Atrium owed a debt to Clearspire, the business plan was markedly different. Rather than target the risk-averse GCs of Fortune 500 clients like Clearspire, Atrium focused heavily on advising the startup industry, which should theoretically be more ready to embrace an unproven disruptor like Atrium. Instead of flat fees based on discrete tasks, Atrium offered its tech platform and limited access to its law firm attorneys for a $500/month membership, with additional firm services being available for additional fees.

In some respects, the changes to the Clearspire model worked. Customers appear to have flocked to Atrium to a problematic degree. Clearspire had a platform customers loved married to a firm they didn’t want to take a risk on. Atrium potentially has the opposite problem. Its tech by some reports is still maturing, but clients adored the flat rate for access to law firm attorneys. For less than an hour of attorney time at a traditional Biglaw firm, cash-strapped start-ups could squeeze large amounts of work and advice from Atrium’s lawyers. One Atrium client is reported as saying the law firm side of Atrium was very likely losing money on them based on the amount of free advice they received from their deal.

Atrium appears to have recognized that its law firm component is unprofitable. It laid off an undisclosed number of lawyers, offering to move them to its network of outside counsel to refer clients to. All indications are that Atrium is shifting its focus almost completely to the tech platform side of its company. The question now is whether the customer base they built off of underpriced attorney services will stick around for the tech platform alone.

To Clearspire founder Cohen, the move is unsurprising. “I’ve never known anybody, at least on this side of the Atlantic, who’s invested anywhere near $75 million into a small fledgling law firm. The money was clearly invested as a tech play, and I suspect that the investors got a little impatient and said ‘Let’s just forget this law firm that’s not making any money and just make this into a pure platform play.’”

History doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes. Both Atrium and Clearspire grafted traditional law firm models onto tech platforms, to poor results. Clearspire failed as a company because it held onto its law firm aspirations too long, and didn’t leverage the platform its clients desperately wanted access to. Atrium is making the pivot, but only time will tell whether its platform is robust or different enough to hold onto its customers now that one of their key value adds is gone.

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James Goodnow is an attorney, commentator, and Above the Law columnist. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and is the managing partner of NLJ 250 firm Fennemore Craig. He is the co-author of Motivating Millennials, which hit number one on Amazon in the business management new release category. As a practitioner, he and his colleagues created a tech-based plaintiffs’ practice and business model. You can connect with James on Twitter (@JamesGoodnow) or by emailing him at James@JamesGoodnow.com.

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Olga V. Mack is the CEO of Parley Pro, a next-generation contract management company that has pioneered online negotiation technology. Olga embraces legal innovation and had dedicated her career to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive than before by embracing technology. Olga is also an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. Olga founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to participate on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. Olga also co-founded SunLaw, an organization dedicated to preparing women in-house attorneys to become general counsels and legal leaders, and WISE to help female law firm partners become rainmakers. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat and Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security. You can email Olga at olga@olgamack.com or follow her on Twitter @olgavmack.