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  As they say in law, the bell has been rung, the egg has been cracked. Sure, today Wendy's backed off the plan for "dynamic pricing." On a call with investors Wendy's CEO Kirk Tanner had announced that in 2025 there will be the analogue of "surge pricing." Yeah, order during peak demand and you will pay more. Social media went in overdrive. The plan went kaput. But not the bad aftertaste. So, that's what our old affordable friend was planning to do to us. Likely we will not come back. This morning I passed right by Wendy's and took a seat in Denny's. For those who have been rouged up by arrogant bosses we recognize high-handedness by Tanner. What the hell was he thinking? The niche is mega competitive. Many of Wendy's items such as the salads aren't differentiated. Actually I found the grilled chicken salad small in portion and unmemorable. I never ordered it again.  Ranging from consumers to investors, let's put Tanner in the penal

The old thinking used to be: Sure the industry is collapsing but there are safe niches. That's where the marketable would land on their feet, not needing a career change. In media, which is shedding newsroom talent like dogs their coat in spring, there are fewer of those non-vulnerable sites. In legal reporting/editing, which requires specialized knowledge, it has happened. 1) There has been a 10% Reduction In Force in the newsroom. That's Law360.  2) The parent of Law360 LexisNexis is very profitable. That subscription publication is for many in the legal sector a must-read.  So here we are. The Ah-Ha moment for those still employed in media or who plan a career in media is that there may be no safe harbors to smoothly sail into, settling in and tending to the craft of journalism. In my intuitive career coaching I am encountering more and more knowledge workers who have less and less work. Most of them are already freelancers, that is working on contract. Puzzling, though, not

  The resilient attitude of disabled military personnel saves "Prince Harry's Mission." It is an ABC NewsLive series beginning to stream on Hulu today. But nothing else makes it worth watching. What should be juicy - the royal feuding - is boring. There are no new disclosures or insights.  This is in contrast to another series on Hulu about conflict. That's "Feud: Capote vs The Swans." So far the five episodes have been providing a cynically wonderful peek into the lives of the wealthy and an outsider who attaches himself to that class. What a mess they are.  How unhappy, despite all they have. And the women don't even get to eat.  We are free, of course, to reject that point of view of the rich in "Feud." However, there is always that classic joy - schadenfreude - to bear witness to the suffering of the privileged. That might be exactly why society has kept co-founder of Apollo Leon Black in the penalty box for an association with pedophile Je

  Associates in large law firms billed on average 1,550 hours in 2023. That's 8% less than they billed in 2021. Yet, their annual salaries are record. A first year right out of law school starts at $225K and a 4th year pulls down $310k. NOT ENOUGH WORK, HIGH PAY = TARGET ON YOUR BACK That is not a good position for an associate to be in, argues Kate Reder Sheikh in  Bloomberg Law.  She is a partner at Major Lindsey & Africa, a legal executive search firm. Her point is obvious, at least to any employee in any sector who had received high compensation when the workload was declining.  Come on, you are not stupid. There tends to be a target on your back, even in the best of economic times. You could be "forced out." You could be demoted. At the very least you are not operating from a position of strength. And, usually that shows. Self-confidence takes a hit. If you are smart - and most associates are that - you pull out all stops hunting internally for work assignments.

Endless shrimp, with no time limit. Just pony up 20 bucks. In 2023, it's documented , that helped  Red Lobster achieve record losses.  Among those who enjoy making satiric buzz there could be all kinds of versions of that. For example, there can be the shorthand developed on professional anonymous networks about Big Tech, Big Law and Big Consulting requiring endless work and, yeah, let them eat shrimp. Those with access to OpenAI's Sora can put together quite the video of that. 2024. You can transform the craziness of this time into unique opportunity. Jane Genova provides you with intuitive career coaching, Tarot readings and related communications. Complimentary confidential consultation. (For appointment text/phone 203-468-8579 or email  janegenova374@gmail.com ) Meanwhile, please get to know me: https://tarotreadingsforcareers.blogspot.com/ https://janegenovaintuitivecareercoaching.blogspot.com/ https://makingyourpoint.blogspot.com)  

Even here in the frigid Midwest there has been very little snow this year. Renting covered parking has been a waste of money. And there will likely be a lot less in the future because of climate change, explains The New York Times.  Here is more on that from Business Insider . For those in communications/marketing that fluffy white stuff will no longer be the universal symbol for an excuse to snuggle up, pause and enjoy nature's beauty, slowly drink something warm, be grateful for your heated abode and get off the hook on attending school. The generation born after the Alpha one (2010 - 2024) will be puzzled what that white entity is in photos from a very different time in the history of mankind. So, what will take the place of snow in the global collective consciousness to bring a time-out, along with a sense of comfort, wonderment and more?  As a psychic/tarot reader , I suggest borrowing from mysticism. Here, for example, is the myriad imagery embedded in the tarot The Lover'

  It seems so long ago. But it isn't. That's The Great Depression ethos. Officially bringing it back is Dave Ramsey who rails against debt, as well as spending on non-essentials such as eating out.  Dating way back to the 1940s, we Boomers had hammered into us by our parents, especially our mothers, that if we couldn't pay cash for something we were not entitled to buy it. That's what they did. They came of age during The Great Depression. They viewed themselves as "making it" when they paid cash for a 2-family (yeah, get that rent) in a lower-middle-class section of pre-gentrified Jersey City, New Jersey.  But soon enough it was the beginning of a wave of extreme affluence in America. And, just like the current Gen Zers, as The Wall Street Journal  reports, we Boomers ignored the go-cash lifestyle. Come on, that was nutty. If Dave Ramsey had been around during our young adulthood we would have made fun of him. No debt? I couldn't have gotten my Ph.D., fir

  Short Short Fiction By Jane Genova You have to put this in context. It was a different time. They needed experienced lawyers. Cravath had just instituted the NonEquity tier and Paul, Weiss seemed to be coyly testing out also doing that. No, I won’t mention where I had worked since my grand nephew is interviewing there for tech, not law. The joy-killers and the cruel made me know that the NEP was shit. As a senior associate somewhere I could earn more and with less administrative duties. I had always thought it had been that overlay of supervising summers and more that did in Gabe MacConaill, the late equity partner at Sidley Austin. Sure, they were right. But I did the NEP mostly for my wife Theresa. Those bag-of-bones harpies in Greenwich, Connecticut worked her over plenty. I knew and she knew they would do less of that now that I was Howdy, Partner. It would have been simpler strategy to just sell the house she had inherited from her family and get out of there but that’s all she

  "The Federal Trade Commission’s recent inquiries into oil and gas acquisitions point to antitrust hurdles for  Diamondback Energy Inc.  and Endeavor Energy Resources LP as the Permian Basin drillers push for a $26 billion merger." -  Bloomberg Law , February 15, 2024 If you have a good nose to smell out what makes for the right headlines and what pushes players to develop new expertise, you pick up on the windfall this is for the law firms involved in the proposed dealmaking. The  three major players  in the loop are: Wachtell - for Diamondback Paul, Weiss - for Endeavor Vinson & Elkins - for Endeavor. They will be in the news. They could discover breakthrough legal/financial approaches they can pitch to other prospects in the same kinds of pickle. They could bill many hours.  Energy is a big-time economic, political and human life-and-death issue. Count on lots of articles and op-eds on the digital front pages. The importance of oil has surged since the EV essentially

  Sure, the Microsoft CoPilot Super Bowl commercial made the AI app look cool.  But would I pay for it, in addition to my $79.99 Microsoft Office 365 annual licensing,  Best Buy Premium membership  (which I love) and every now and then remote just-in-time software fixes by  BoxAid ( which is there for me when I am on deadline and flipped out)? Fold into that also the wonderful HP laptop I purchased last November that the  Geek Squad at Best Buy in Niles, Ohio  set up for me, including a data transfer. In addition, there are also the expenses of the gee-whiz printer, the cartridges, paper and gas consumed in buying all that. I just completed my taxes and so many of the business expense deductions are for whatever is on the IT continuum.  CoPilot, as Super Bowl viewers know, is targeted at entrepreneurs like myself. It supposedly will pitch in as my assistant with sundry tasks. They range from summarizing email to creating documents. I can plug it into Word.  But, so far, as  The Wall St

" It’s a given that Washington and the nation need the [The Washington]  Post  to survive." - Jack Shafer, Politico , February 11, 2024 Oh, really. Come on, the sources for information and insight have extended way beyond legacy media.  Those seeking big megaphones, for example, head for the social-network sandboxes. That's where hedge fund major player Bill Ackman is with his findings and recommendations. Harvard had to listen, didn't it.  Also, in-person jaw-jawing is so back. Go there and catch the ears of even a few influencers and elected government officials and you can affect the course of history or a trend in regulations. Of course, Bloomberg Law noted that Paul, Weiss chair Brad Karp knows how to comfortably be a part of those hands-in networks.   In addition, the ability to fundraise has become a sturdy power messaging station.  Open Secrets flags some of the majors in that, including large law firms Kirkland & Ellis, Akin Gump, (yes) Paul, Weiss, Sul

  This time an older thicker around the waist Jon Hamm transcends the tortured character of Don Draper from "Mad Men." The Roy Tillman he depicts in the  5th season of "Fargo"  is a wife beater, right-wing patriot and, yes, the sheriff. Created by the iconic Coen Brothers, the saga is a dark comedy about current politics and the legal system. It's is streaming on Hulu.  A scene even features calling in fellow patriots to defend the law, at least as it is exists according to Tillman. When Tillman winds up in prison and intends to file an appeal the wealthy power structure which helped put him there - Lorraine Lyon - brings up the futility of that: Through the conservative Federalist Society she is well-connected with the judges who would review that petition.  Lorraine's daughter-in-law Dorothy had been abused in a forced marriage to Tillman when she was a teenager. Then she was called Nadine and Tillman's second wife. She had escaped to start a new life,

  It is nothing new that age is perceived to be a critical issue in political campaigns.  That was made obvious when Ronald Reagan was being saddled by his enemies with the perception that he was "too old." He fixed that smoothly with charm and humor. The memorable quip was during the 1984 presidential debate with Walter Mondale. With a twinkle in his eye, Reagan noted that he wouldn't hold his opponent's "youth and inexperience" against him. The issue went poof. Unfortunately for his progressive supporters, Joe Biden, at age 81, is not so smooth - and effective. Recently he has unleashed thunderbolts of irritation.  So, where is the public self-control mandated by leaders? Maybe, like Reagan, Biden should get on his team speechwriters skilled in humor. Even here on Main Street those with a deficit of social skills to navigate negative situations suffer reputational loss. Folks remember your bad days. And their collective memory bank is deep. In most cases y

Excess, including material. Feelings of entitlement about maxing pleasure. And the wealthy as royalty. Essentially those are the characteristics of Gilded Ages in America.    Episode 3 of the Hulu series "Feud: Capote vs. The Swans" embodies them as it features the lifestyles of the mid-1960s New York City royalty. That culminates in the November 28th, 1966 Black & White ball put together by author Truman Capote. The guest list designated who was of adequate value - money, talent, network, influence, power and/or more - to celebrate what Capote labeled the "American Success Story." Of course, the tone and content of that "Feud" episode mirrors the ethos of current times - at least in the circles of "real money," along with other stuff. Being very very rich is a necessary attribute. That's billionaire level. Millionaires have become a dime a dozen. Raw genius could also get an invite.  Headlines in establishment media are analogous to bein

  "Talent" has been the term right now for referring to the (expensive) matter of manpower, especially in professional services. So, it makes buzzword sense that when the manpower gets the boot the euphemism is "excess talent." That's what Millennials and Gen Zers are saddled with.  All along they might have internalized themselves as special. They might have even believed that they were making unique contributions to what was creating organizational greatness. On professional anonymous networks they share their shock that such talent as theirs, along with so much education and experience, was wiped from the institutional memory. Things went along seamlessly without them.  Back in Boomer time manpower was less pricey so we were discussed mostly in functional ways. Neither did I nor those on my network encounter being described as "talent." Instead there were titles and those were correlated with the pay scale. No fools, we knew that was what mattered:

  "Companies test out different ways to talk  about ESG without saying 'ESG'"  Yahoo Finance , February 4, 2024 Come on, businesses will always be dealing with some aspect - frequently high-profile - of what has been termed forever as "corporate responsibility" or being "a good global citizen." And when that isn't proceeding the way or at the pace constituencies want, the lawyers will have to come in. The demand for the legal services will be there, sometimes more brisk than at other times. Law firms with a track record for being effective in resolving those kinds of conflicts will always have assignments. But the recent wrench in the works that has caused everyone in the loop a new set of problems is that for a number of years now the focus on corporate responsibility has gone by the moniker "ESG" (Environmental Social Governance). To many that whole ball of wax is being interpreted as a fad like the interest in zombies and vampires.

  It used to be that shorthand for talking about large powerful law firms was sliding in the brandname "Cravath." Cravath symbolized the peculiar structure, ways of doing business, power and wealth in that niche. In a series on  posh living quarters,  Cravath lawyers had been featured. In addition, for years in terms of associate compensation Cravath had been the market-maker. Now, as  Law.com  notes, that law firm if experiencing unprecedented change and not of the usual kind. It is no stretch to conclude that the entity we once knew as Cravath may never be Cravath again. The most attention-getting aspect of the shifting identity of Cravath is partner flight. The game in law, as in all professional services, has been about the names on the marquee. Prospects decide on whom to hire not because of the firm's brand per se but on the basis of the individual star players, their track record and the teams they have nurtured. However, with client churn and overall stiffer compe

  The stunners continue.  The nuclear verdict of $88+ million against Donald Trump in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial was just the first surprise.  Now this: Plaintiff lawyer in that case Roberta Kaplan stated on the  George Conway podcast  that during an earlier legal action she had finished deposing Trump at Mar-a-Largo. That had been related to alleged marketing fraud.  At the time, the man was in an irate mood. He had found out that his own legal staff had provided lunch for that opposing party and didn't like that one bit. Maybe that's what triggered the flashpoint. He, Kaplan claims, referred to her as  See you next Tuesday.  The phrase is a euphemism for the "C" word which is used to crudely apply to females.  That could come to haunt Trump. At Fox, reports  Vanity Fair,  former broadcaster Tucker Carlson was also known for sinking to that rhetorical level. Here is an excerpt from that article: "According to sources on the staff, Carlson shit-talked b

   It's never been a well-kept secret of upward mobility in business: To get ahead you had to "look" the part and to stay on top you had to continue to update the "look." Essentially that look was right out of out of central casting for the business leader (at least those along the Northeast Corridor, not in locations such as Texas.) For males it tended to be tall, fit, well-connected and having presence (sometimes called "charm" or "charisma"). The watch mattered. Versions now extend to females. Those usually include tall, fit, astute in networking and attentive to others. In my field of communications, it can cover shoulder-length hair. The dress mattered. ( The Wall Street Journal  documents there remains a difference in how males and females can score what they want in terms of persona.) On professional anonymous network Reddit there are two long threads on the look related to large law firm leader Brad Karp. He's been chair of Paul,