Divvys Blog

May 08, 2018

celebrities who made the worst-dressed list at the Met Gala 2018 (Photos)

A few notable celebrities failed to impress as they put out disastrous displays with their choice of outfits for the2018 Met Gala.

Some of the stars wore very unflattering ensembles as they hit the red carpet, while others flashed serious amount of flesh in risque dresses.

On the list of the worst-dressed celebrities are, Tabitha Simmons' Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz, Sarah Jessica Parker, Solange Knowles, Lena Dunham, Frances McDormand, Cara Delevingne, Adwoa Aboah, Nicki Minaj, Emily Ratajkowski and Alexa Chung.

While Rita Ora, Cynthia Erivo, Vera Wang, Greta Gerwig, Grimes, Eiza Gonzalez, Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Lara Spencer and Doutzen Kroes also failed to impress on the red carpet with their ensembles.

Continue to see more photos below.

Here are celebrities who made the worst-dressed list at the Met Gala 2018 (Photos)

May 08, 2018

York College graduates earn degrees

by RITEBET, in

It was a perfect spring day at York College campus on Saturday as over 90 students graduated during the morning’s commencement ceremony. Held in the Campbell Student Activity Center, the seats and bleachers were filled with proud parents, excited family members and eager graduates ready to receive their degrees.

Ben Sasse, U.S. senator representing the great state of Nebraska, gave the commencement address. A fifth-generation Nebraskan, Sen. Sasse was born in Plainview and grew up walking beans and detasseling corn, experiences that taught him the value of hard work.

Sasse graduated from Harvard University in 1994 with a bachelors degree in government. He graduated from St. John’s College in 1998 with a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies. He also earned a Master of Arts, Master of Philosophy and Ph.D., all in history, from Yale University. His dissertation, The Anti-Madalyn Majority: Secular Left, Religious Right, and the Rise of Reagan’s America, won the Theron Rockwell Field and George Washington Egleston Prizes. He taught at the University of Texas and served as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2010, he was named president of Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska.

In 2014, he was elected to the U.S Senate. Most of Sen. Sasse’s career has been spent guiding companies and institutions through times of crisis. He has worked with the Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey and Company, as well as private equity firms and not-for-profit organizations, to tackle failing strategies across a broad array of sectors and nations.

Sasse impressed upon students the importance of building real communities, not simply digital ones. He suggested to the graduates that if they want to be happy, four things are needed: friends, family, faith, and meaningful work. He challenged students to seek the things that make life worth living, instead of chasing after the emptiness of wealth and prestige.

After Sasse’s address, several awards and honors were presented.

The Dale R. Larsen Teacher Award is given annually to a full-time tenured faculty member who has made outstanding contributions to York College. This year, the award was presented to Bob DeHart, associate professor of education and chair of the department of physical education. He has taught at York College since 1998.

The Dean’s Award is presented annually to one graduating senior. The recipient is selected by the faculty, based on scholarship, leadership, and maturity factors. The 2018 award went to Grady Johnson, a Psychology major from Great Falls, Montana. Johnson has been very active at York College including music, theatre, social service club, campus ministry, and residence life staff. He’s held many leadership positions and served across campus in various capacities. After graduation, Johnson will attend Abilene Christian University to pursue a masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy.

Also recognized was Dr. Ray Miller, who is retiring at the end of this semester. Miller has taught at York College since 1982 and has served in many leadership and behind the scenes roles in his 36 years. The rank of Faculty Emeritus was conferred upon him by Provost Shane Mountjoy.

The ceremony continued as graduates lined up to walk across the stage and receive their diplomas from President Eckman with a smile, a handshake, and frequently, a hug. Masters, bachelors, and associates degrees were awarded during the ceremony.

The York College Concert Choir, conducted by Dr. Clark Roush, closed out the ceremony by performing “Lux Nova” and “Witness” before leading the audience in the singing of the York College Alma Mater.

May 08, 2018

Trump calls on Congress to pull back $15 billion in spending, including on Children’s Health Insurance Program

by RITEBET, in

President Trump is sending a plan to Congress that calls for stripping more than $15 billion in previously approved spending, with the hope that it will temper conservative angst over ballooning budget deficits.

Almost half of the proposed cuts would come from two accounts within the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that White House officials said expired last year or are not expected to be drawn upon. An additional $800 million in cuts would come from money created by the Affordable Care Act in 2010 to test innovative payment and service delivery models.

Those are just a handful of the more than 30 programs the White House is proposing to Congress for “rescission,” a process of culling back money that was previously authorized. Once the White House sends the request to Congress, lawmakers have 45 days to vote on the plan or a scaled-back version of it through a simple majority vote.

If approved by Congress, the reductions would represent less than 0.4 percent of total government spending this year.

Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) said in an interview that conservatives were given assurances from the White House that this package would be the first of several, and he said lawmakers were anxious to get started on the cuts. “I hope it’s never painted that this is just symbolic or a political gesture,” Walker said. “We think it’s very legitimate.”

A senior administration official said Democrats should recognize that much of this package represents untapped accounts and that cutting the money would create savings without affecting operations.

Democrats have said they are watching the process with skepticism. Many Democrats have called for expanding programs such as CHIP, not cutting them, and they are often fiercely protective of anything related to the Affordable Care Act.

“Let’s be honest about what this is: President Trump and Republicans in Congress are looking to tear apart the bipartisan [CHIP], hurting middle-class families and low-income children, to appease the most conservative special interests and feel better about blowing up the deficit to give the wealthiest few and biggest corporations huge tax breaks,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Monday.

White House officials insisted that the CHIP cuts would not affect access to health care, but they have already appeared to serve as a rallying cry for Democrats to mobilize opposition.

The package ran into trouble in the Senate before being officially released.

“One of the programs that reportedly is going to be cut is SCHIP, and that concerns me greatly,” said Sen. Susan M. Collins (R-Maine), using the program’s former name. “I would have to have an awfully good reason given to me, and maybe there is one. I don’t know why there would be funds left in the SCHIP account, but that’s a program that I was an original co-sponsor of with Sens. [Orrin] Hatch and [Edward] Kennedy years ago and it matters a lot to me.”

Republicans have a very thin majority in the Senate and would probably need near-unanimous support from their caucus to pass the bill.

White House officials and GOP leaders said the package of proposed cuts could begin to signal to conservatives that they are now taking steps to reverse a free-spending fiscal approach they have embraced since Trump took office.

Conservatives erupted in March after Trump signed a $1.3 trillion spending package that included a number of budget requests from Democrats, and they pushed for a rescission package to pare it back between $30 billion and $60 billion.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others argued that that would amount to going back on a bipartisan deal.

The money the White House is proposing to cut in its new request has all been appropriated at least one year ago, and the plan would not touch the $1.3 trillion spending bill Trump signed in March. The White House is working on other proposed spending reduction packages that would try to claw back some of that money, the senior administration official said, and those proposals will come later this year. All told, officials are eyeing $25 billion in cuts.

The budget strategy for both parties is uncertain heading into the November midterm elections.

Republicans must agree to a new spending deal with Democrats by Sept. 30 to avoid triggering a government shutdown, something Trump said last week he would embrace if he does not get additional money to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Congress can “rescind” money it has previously authorized if it secures a majority of votes in the House and then the Senate using powers under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.

The law has not been used in that way in roughly 20 years. The senior administration official said this is the biggest rescission request that has ever been sent to Congress.

The proposed cuts to CHIP would come in part from cutting $5 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Fund, to help reimburse states for certain expenses. But the White House said the ability to use this money expired in September, meaning it can’t be legally used, even as it remains on the government’s balance sheet.

CHIP is a program created and reauthorized by Congress that provides health care to low-income children. Congress extended the program for six years several months ago.

The White House’s other proposed cut to CHIP is a $2 billion reduction would pare back the Child Enrollment Contingency Fund, meant to ensure states have access to funds if there is a higher-than-expected enrollment, the senior administration official said. States are not expecting to see a jump in enrollment, though, in part because the economy is improving.

White House officials say these reductions could get bipartisan support because Democrats and Republicans supported cuts to the same accounts several months ago.

Other reductions would come from a range of areas. They include cutting $133 million for a railroad unemployment program that expired in 2012, the administration official said.

Successfully pushing these changes through Congress could placate conservatives and put Democrats on the spot about cutting spending. A number of Senate Democrats are running for reelection in states Trump won easily in 2016, and they will probably need support from Trump voters to win reelection.

Republicans control a large majority of votes in the House, but their margin in the Senate is razor thin. They might need support from Democrats to approve the spending cuts, depending on the health of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney had originally hoped to design a large rescission package, but he was urged by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) to start with a narrower set of cuts and then follow up with more requests in a future package.

The March spending bill led to such outrage among Republicans that just hours before signing it into law, Trump said in a Twitter post that he might veto it. He backed down and said the spending agreement was a necessary compromise to secure more money for the Pentagon, but he vowed to never sign a bill like it again.

“After that last spending bill, we owe an apology to drunken sailors,” Walker said.

Walker is chairman of the Republican Study Committee, which represents a majority of the Republican Party. He said the committee will host Mulvaney next week to discuss the proposed cuts and the path forward.

Trump has demanded that Congress give him the power to use a “line-item veto” on spending bills, which would mean he could simply eliminate any part of a spending package he did not want. Such as veto was ruled to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

In his first 14 months in office, Trump has never enforced a veto threat on spending, and Democrats have repeatedly found ways to win spending priorities by holding out during negotiations.

Through a combination of spending increases and tax cuts, the White House and the GOP-led Congress have greatly expanded the budget deficit since Trump was elected.

The government spent $3.98 trillion and brought in $3.32 trillion in revenue last year, leaving a deficit of $665 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The deficit this year is projected to widen to $804 billion and then hit $981 billion in 2019. In 2020, the government will record deficits that exceed $1 trillion annually unless changes are made.

With rising interest rates, higher debt levels can prove incredibly costly. Republicans railed about government spending during the Obama administration, but they have been torn since Trump took office, as he has largely shown an indifference to spending restraint.

Last week, as aides prepared the package of spending cuts to offer Congress, Trump was demanding more spending, for example, to build a wall along the Mexico border.

May 08, 2018

Rogue immigration solicitors exploiting vulnerable migrants by charging thousands for 'substandard' service

by RITEBET, in

Rogue immigration solicitors are exploiting vulnerable migrants by charging thousands of pounds for legal representation that falls “far short” of basic professional standards, the High Court has ruled.

Desperate immigrants are losing legitimate claims or given false hope about claims that are unwinnable, after paying large sums of money to solicitors who fail to deliver a professional service.

A ruling found solicitors were instructing paralegals and unqualified people to draft applications which fall “well below acceptable standards” and which judges must reject as “unarguable and totally without merit”.

This has led to vulnerable individuals squandering thousands of pounds, often borrowed from family and friends due to dwindling access to legal aid, judges warned.

The Independent has learnt that in some cases, solicitors are failing to include relevant evidence provided to them by clients in court submissions, making their claims unwinnable simply because important facts are omitted.

One woman from Zimbabwe seeking asylum claimed that she paid £1,600 to a solicitor, who refused to meet with her and arrived at a tribunal hearing court two minutes before the hearing began.

Mable Kayiya, who came to the UK after fleeing conflict in her country, told The Independent she was left feeling “defeated” after the solicitor she paid to represent her asylum claim provided the wrong evidence in court.

Ms Kayiya said: “He came very highly recommended. I had already exhausted the bank of relatives and friends, so I started a GoFundMe account online, and managed to raise the £1,600 that was needed.

“I saw him on consultation for an hour, and then the idea was to meet up with him again. I got his email address and phone number, but he kept saying he was unavailable at the moment.

“I sent him my evidence. He promised he had received it. The time came for me to be in court in Birmingham. I tried to beg him to come, and he did, but the problem is I was the first to be called. He came five minutes before my case, so I had only two minutes to speak to him.

“When we got into court it sounded like he was against me at some points. The worst thing was when the judge asked for my evidence he went up and gave evidence, and they weren’t even my pictures.

“I didn’t win, unsurprisingly. I walked out feeling so stupid, so defeated. He said don’t worry about it, that I could appeal. But that would mean I’d have to pay him more money.”

In another case, a solicitor representing a man who arrived in Britain from a war-torn country as a child provided a body of text to the court which included “barely any substance” of the claimant’s case.

Pierre Makhlouf, assistant director at Bail for Immigration Detainees, said: “There’s a big problem with private solicitors charging a lot and then not delivering.

“It’s not like you can start again, unless you’ve got a fresh claim and new issues, you’ve been shafted. You’re a failed asylum seeker. It’s a massive problem.”

Salman Mirza, a legal adviser at immigration advice service Brushstrokes, told The Independent he comes across around 20 cases a week in which immigrants have been “ripped off” by solicitors.

“These solicitors are charging extortionate fees and giving people false hope. They’re exploiting the people’s vulnerability,” he said.

“Because of the cuts to legal aid, a lot of the decent solicitors are no longer doing it. And this has opened a vacuum for people to set up firms and rip people off.”

In the High Court, three law firms – David Wyld Solicitors, Sabz Solicitors and Topstone Solicitors – were ruled to have failed to adhere to proper standards in cases separate to the ones detailed above.

The judge said: “The legal professionals acting in these proceedings have in their professional behaviour fallen far short of the standards required of those conducting proceedings on behalf of clients.

“The clients are privately funded, and they are frequently vulnerable and desperate.”

It comes at a time when cuts to legal aid are leaving a growing number of immigrants and asylum seekers unable to access legal support, which experts say is enabling private solicitors to charge “extortionate” fees.

The latest data on the availability of legal representation for people in immigration detention, collated by charity Bail for Immigration Detainees, revealed that almost a third of detainees had never had a legal representative while in immigration detention. Less than half (44 per cent) of people in detention had a legal representative, and of these, just 55 per cent had a legal aid solicitor.

This demonstrates a significant decrease since 2012, when the legal aid cuts were implemented. Prior to this change, 79 per cent of those held in immigration detention had a legal representative, and 75 per cent of them were funded by legal aid.

Mr Makhlouf added: “Many people in detention who have good cases but are not being represented properly would most likely not be in there if they were. And people with bad cases are probably staying in for far longer because lawyers are offering them false hope.”

A spokesperson for the Solicitors Regulation Authority said: “Solicitors have a responsibility to provide the best possible service for their clients, while upholding the rule of law and proper administration of justice.

“When solicitors fail to uphold the high professional standards we expect, we will take action if we are provided with evidence of misconduct.

“In cases involving immigration, we are reliant on the courts to report potential misconduct to us. The courts have been doing this over the last few years, allowing us to take action against solicitor misconduct.”

May 08, 2018

NY attorney general resigns after 4 women accuse him of physical abuse

by RITEBET, in

Hours after The New Yorker published an article featuring four women accusing New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of physical abuse, the state's chief law enforcement officer said he will resign.

Schneiderman, a Democrat, said in a statement Monday evening that he will resign effective at the close of business hours on Tuesday.

It’s been my great honor and privilege to serve as Attorney General for the people of the State of New York. In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me. While these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office’s work at this critical time. I therefore resign my office, effective at the close of business on May 8, 2018.

Two of the women in question spoke on record to The New Yorker , which published their claims against the attorney general on Monday.

Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam say Schneiderman repeatedly hit them, often after drinking, and without their consent.

“All of a sudden, he just slapped me, open handed and with great force, across the face, landing the blow directly onto my ear,” Manning Barish told the publication. “It was horrendous. It just came out of nowhere. My ear was ringing. I lost my balance and fell backward onto the bed. I sprang up, but at this point there was very little room between the bed and him. I got up to try to shove him back, or take a swing, and he pushed me back down. He then used his body weight to hold me down, and he began to choke me. The choking was very hard. It was really bad. I kicked. In every fibre, I felt I was being beaten by a man.”

Selvaratnam says the Democrat warned her he could have her followed or her phones tapped. Both say he threatened to kill them if they broke up with him.

One victim, who chose to remain nameless, says after she rebuffed an overture from Schneiderman, he slapped her in the face. The smack left a mark and lingered in pain the next day.

The Associated Press is identifying the two women who spoke to The New Yorker because they agreed to tell their stories publicly.

Schneiderman has been a lead face in the legal battle against Harvey Weinstein after the movie director's own accusations.

Prior to the announcement of his resignation, a Schneiderman spokesman said he never made any threats. On Twitter, Schneiderman said he engaged in "role-playing and other consensual sexual activity," but did not assault anyone.

In a statement, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he will ask "an appropiate New York district attorney" to investigate the allegations against Schneiderman, but also said "he should resign."

"The New Yorker has published an article on Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, which reports multiple women making serious allegations of assault. No one is above the law, including New York's top legal officer. I will be asking an appropriate New York District Attorney to commence an immediate investigation, and proceed as the facts merit. My personal opinion is that, given the damning pattern of facts and corroboration laid out in the article, I do not believe it is possible for Eric Schneiderman to continue to serve as Attorney General, and for the good of the office, he should resign.

Several officials, including former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner and Rep. Claudia Tenney, echoed the call for Schneiderman's resignation as the report surfaced.

Schneiderman was first elected as New York's attorney general in 2010. He was re-elected in 2014 and was up for re-election this year.

May 08, 2018

Scottish stroke patients 'need more rehab information'

by RITEBET, in

Stroke survivors' chances of making the best recovery are being put at "significant risk" due to lack of data on the availability of rehabilitation, according to the Stroke Association.

The charity said more information was needed about the availability and use of rehabilitation therapy in Scotland.

The Scottish government said it was committed to ensuring that stroke patients had access to the best care as quickly as possible.

It said deaths from strokes had fallen.

The Stroke Association said that without the relevant information, they do not know what support stroke survivors are receiving, especially after discharge from hospital.

And it said discussions with those affected by strokes suggested they were not getting enough information which the charity claimed was putting their recoveries at risk.

'Affected confidence'

Andrea Cail, Scottish director of the Stroke Association, said: "Rehabilitation support such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy or speech and language therapy can help people affected by stroke to relearn basic skills such as how to walk, talk, wash and dress. This is crucial to support independence.

"It is vital these services are available to people who would benefit from them.

"It is still the case that not everyone gets the help and support they need and much more still needs to be done."

She added: "We don't have the data and information to demonstrate what rehabilitation services are available and where, and who is accessing and for how long. We need this information to understand where the gaps are and drive forward the necessary improvements.

"That's why we are today calling on the Scottish government to routinely collect and publish details of the rehabilitation stroke survivors in Scotland receive.''

Graeme Clark, 42, from Edinburgh, who has three children, had a stroke while taking part in a triathlon in June 2015. He was diagnosed with a left-sided brain haemorrhage and was left with physical and communications disabilities.

"It was vital for me to get back to work to care for my wife and children," he said.

"I feel I didn't receive enough speech and language therapy as a result of my stroke. It affected my confidence, my relationships and my job prospects.

"I would have definitely benefited from more support."

'Clinical priority'

A Scottish government spokesman said: "We are committed to ensuring that people who have had a stroke have access to the best possible care as quickly as possible and deaths from stroke have fallen 38% between 2006 and 2015.

"These figures show that our strategy for stroke is delivering real improvements for those who have had a stroke, but we want to go further.

"The Scottish government's Stroke Improvement Plan affirms stroke as a clinical priority for NHS Scotland. The plan outlines key priorities and actions to improve stroke treatment and care.

"We are working closely with clinicians, third sector partners and those who have had a stroke to support improving outcomes, and are committed to ensuring that people who have had a stroke have access to the best possible care as quickly as possible."

This month is the UK's Stroke Awareness month, Make May Purple for Stroke.

May 08, 2018

Michelin's Former and Current GCs Offer a Lawyer's Guide on Expectations

by RITEBET, in

It is no secret that our own George Washington and France’s Marquis de Lafayette were dear friends. One of the many reasons for this friendship is attributed to Lafayette’s introducing himself to Washington by saying, unlike other French leaders before him, “I am here to learn, not teach.” In this spirit, we are not writing this article to teach anything. Our intent is simply to share a technique we used in recent years to help us communicate and perform. We found it easy and effective. Our hope is that you might find something useful in it, take it, improve upon it and return it in a forum, like this or elsewhere, so that we all continue to learn.

Expectations

A quotation credited to Michelangelo is, “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim so high that we miss it, but in setting our aim so low that we reach it.”

Here’s a simple challenge: ask three lawyers with whom you work to describe the core of their jobs—what they are responsible to accomplish. Whether in-house or private practice, you might be surprised to learn how inconsistently those around you answer the simple question: what is expected? Associates at a private law firm might quote billable or collection goals, while in-house counsel might regurgitate a legal department quality statement or slogan.

Worse yet, you may get a blank stare.

An easy, practical way to work well as a team is to set clear expectations. This is true for real people, and even for lawyers.

In Michelin’s legal department, the expectations we set for the internal staff were simple individually but lofty in the collective. After a few revisions and several test runs, we ended up with the following list:

Excellent results
Engage
Communicate clearly and often
Know the business
Look outside
Teamwork

Realizing that lawyers are always debating and that more specificity is better than less, we went a step further and defined each one in the context of a variety of practice areas:

Excellent Results

Outputs that move the business forward are actually realized (as distinguished from effort); resources are aligned to high risk/strategic areas; problems/risks are identified and corrected before impact (proactive vs. reactive).

Deals are closed / Patents are filed
Trials and motions are won
Contracts are signed (on our terms)
Risk is defined, audited and corrected
Process improvements are implemented and routinely tested

Engage

Visible, positive action to further department and company interests; active participation and interest in the work of your colleagues.

Participative attendance at scheduled meetings
“Tension” in the system—differing viewpoints are offered and debated
New practices/improvements/recommendations are suggested outside your area of direct responsibility

Communicate Clearly and Often

Information flows vertically and horizontally; it is clear, concise and regularized; it is effective – audience leaves with an understanding of important points; the “message” is intentional; communications are visible and tangible—documented and shared with other stakeholders.

Publication of a standard report on an established schedule
Visibility of reporting to your management and your teammates
High-level information with recommendations offered directly to senior client management
Recommendations are in writing
Surprises are avoided

Know the Business

General knowledge of industry and competitors, and solid working knowledge of your clients’ business and goals.

You keep awareness of industry developments and media
You know your clients’ products, technology, and problems, as well as their key customers, suppliers, and relationships
You understand the financial performance of the company and its business units.

Look Outside

An awareness of the legal and business environment and its potential impact on clients; an inclination to ask what other companies and industries are doing, and whether we should consider a similar or different course.

You are alert to propose risk reductions because you are aware of competitors’ and partners’ legal challenges.
You benchmark performance, problems, advice, solutions, practices, etc., against industry, competitors and best practices.
You leverage a network of contacts that permits you to stay informed, and you utilize it to make changes that improve things within the company.

Teamwork

Colleagues consistently view you as someone who contributes to their success and to the success of the department; other departments seek out opportunities to work with you and the legal department because of what it offers.

You respond timely to the requests of your colleagues.
You offer to take on work when someone is clearly “under water.”
Others seek your input, as opposed to working around you.
You share information and expertise freely.

At the end of each year, we self-assessed using color codes: green for excellent, yellow for acceptable, orange for needs improvement, and red for not good. Here is an example for illustrative purposes only:

[PLACE CHART HERE]

The feedback from the team was positive. Same from clients. Simple, practical, and clear. Even bonus points because we were the lawyers being simple and clear.

Step 2 was to deploy this system to outside counsel partners. We used the same expectations, but with refined definitions. Here is an example for a firm doing Michelin’s litigation work:

Expectations

Excellent Results (yellow)

Trial wins
Leadership
Credibility with judges / plaintiff lawyers
No discovery sanctions
Substantive local inputs

Engage (green)

Visibility in the local market
With other Regional Counsel / Discovery Coordinating Counsel
“Tension” in the system

Communicate Clearly and Often (yellow)

“Upstream delegation”
Regular, consistent, disciplined
Focus on solutions and how they can be applied
No surprises

Know the Business (orange)

Tire industry
Michelin
Litigation Group
“Know what people do”

Look Outside (red)

“Thought Leaders”
Benchmarks
New ideas

Teamwork (green)

Cooperation / team work = less resource

Importantly, and in the spirit of eating our own cooking, we asked each law firm to advise on ways we could improve in meeting their expectations.

The Take-away

The best way to achieve a goal is to set it. The same is true for expectations. Be simple, clear, and direct. And be candid and constructively self-critical in the assessment.

Hall of Fame coach Lou Holtz often says, “You live up—or down—to expectations.” We agree.