Feldman's Faves: August 8th, 2022

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE

I hope you were able to be outside this weekend (and not melt), as it was truly spectacular. In the true Canadian tradition I am taking the time to remind you that if you complain now just remember this day in January….

If any of you have not had a chance the read the Twitter/Musk pleadings I strongly encourage you to do so. I think it is fair to say that this is the classic case of buyer’s remorse. But the twists and turns that counsel is taking to try to make a credible case out the facts is quite entertaining. I think it’s a total no brainer but I guess we will see.

Last week we said au revoir to our wonderful summer students and this week we welcome our rock star articling students – so please make sure you meet Bayley Winkel and Alexa Cheung as soon as you can so that we can get them involved in our deals. We are welcoming them officially at lunch this Thursday (August 11) so please join if you are able.

In docketing news…. I think the glitches in new system are slowly being addressed so I am hoping we can get back to the daily docketing practices we have been perfecting over the last two years. Again, if you are having any issues please contact Marc and Josie.

No theme this week, just random materials of interest.

Sparring Partners By: John Grisham – Summer time reading always takes me to the proverbial “trashy novel”. Not that Grisham is trash (at all) but it is certainly easy reading – perfect for the summer. Sparring Partners is three novellas in one book that are all very different. The first story is “Homecoming”, which involves an old Grisham character, Jack Brigance (think Pelican Brief) who helps his old friend, Mack Stafford, attempt to redeem himself after he stole money from his clients, left his family and declared bankruptcy. Not a good role model for any of you…..Mack is a fugitive who you initially hope gets what he deserves but then over time you start to feel that he actually deserves a bit of a break. Quite a story. The second one is called “Strawberry Moon” in which we meet Cody Wallace a young kid on death row just hours away from execution with no hope of clemency – so this story deals with Cody’s last request, which is to see the moon one more time. He has been in prison for his entire adult life for simply being at the scene of a murder (while he was robbing a house) but not actually killing anyone, which raises some serious legal and moral considerations. Grisham goes deep on this one and raises some serious societal issues. Cody has no friends or family and not once had any visitors while he was in prison. The one exception is a lovely old lady who has become his pen pal and has been sending him books for years. They have a lovely first time meeting just minutes before Cody is sent to his death and it is the story of a beautiful friendship and of compassion. The final novella is called “Sparring Partners” and is quite classic Grisham in that it deals with a law firm and the politics and its inner workings. The father who founded the Malloy firm goes to prison for “being involved” in his wife’s murder (I won’t say how), so the brothers (one a trial lawyer and the other a corporate and estates lawyer, who hate each other and never speak ) fight over control and their long time employee (who eventually becomes the third equity partner) holds it all together as best as she can until it all falls apart. In this case there are bribes to politicians, backstabbing by everyone and a very unexpected ending – classic Grisham. As per usual, Grisham may not be priming himself for a Booker or a Pulitzer, but you can see how any of these stories could one day be a movie. I enjoyed the stories for their pure entertainment value. Take it to the beach or the pool and enjoy. Here is a good review from Bookreporter - https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/sparring-partners

TED BUSINESS - The rigged test of leadership | Sophie Williams –This PODCAST discusses the phenomenon known as the “glass cliff”, which is a problem faced by many women and people of colour in the workplace who take on leadership positions – the prototypical example being Marisa Meyer when she took over Yahoo when it started its free fall. A very recent example, is Brian Flores’ experience as head coach of the Miami Dolphins. In the classic ‘glass cliff scenario’, one takes on a leadership position where expectations of success are low and this compounded by a failure to provide this person with adequate resources and support to succeed. Unfortunately, the data show that this situation seems to impact women and people of colour disproportionately, which this PODCAST explains in detail. Here is an excerpt from the PODCAST itself: “The glass cliff: an experience of taking on a leadership role only to find that your chances of success have been limited before you've even begun. Equality activist Sophie Williams explores the research-backed reasons behind this workplace phenomenon and how it overwhelmingly affects underrepresented groups, despite a facade of progress and inclusion.” https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ted-business/id470622782?i=1000569483770

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation.

And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon