Posted on January 31, 2008 by Max Kennerly, Esq.

Double (“French”) Spacing

Legalwriting.net is unhappy with double spacing, as am I. Ken Adams agrees, and he's always right. Take that, State v. Riley, 605 S.E.2d 212, 214 (N.C. App. 2004). ... Continue Reading

Posted on January 30, 2008 by Max Kennerly, Esq.

“Are Senior Associates Making More Than New Partners?”

At Law.com: Here's just one example: At Arent Fox, Chairman Marc Fleischaker says senior associates can earn as much as $280,000 in base salary and -- if they meet targets for generating business -- an additional $100,000 in bonuses. Total: $380,000. First-year nonequity partners start off with a pay rate of $310,000. But they subtract $20,000 to cover their own benefits. Their total: $290,000. Whoops. Actually, it is not a mistake, and there is a "good" business reason for the dichotomy. Anyone who wants to be partner is willing to invest for the long term, so, if you are a ... Continue Reading

Posted on January 29, 2008 by Max Kennerly, Esq.

Propaganda in the Courtroom: Pharma Edition

At Day on Torts: This study in PLoS Medicine reports that, based on estimates from publicly available data, drug manufacturers probably spend more money on advertising than they do for research and development. In the words of the study:   "From this new estimate, it appears that pharmaceutical companies spend almost twice as much on promotion as they do on R&D. These numbers clearly show how promotion predominates over R&D in the pharmaceutical industry, contrary to the industry's claim. While the amount spent on promotion is not in itself a confirmation of Kefauver's depiction of the pharmaceutical industry, it confirms the ... Continue Reading