The core of this Iowa business and corporate law blog consists of six main categories found on the right hand side margin including incorporation and LLC formation, starting a business, franchise law, employment law, business litigation and buying and selling a business.  I attempt to cover many of the basics in each category and also follow a variety of new developments including the recent Iowa consumer class action against Microsoft which is one of the largest cases in Iowa history.

In a recent interview with the Des Moines Register I was asked why I started this blog.  Initially I sought to differentiate myself from other Iowa business lawyers in order to more effectively market my services.  While blogging has worked to accomplish my initial goal, I quickly developed a much higher sense of purpose with this blog.  I want to do my part to improve the public image of lawyers.  My strong sense of purpose is to educate and provide information to business people in a way that helps them identify legal issues and make more informed choices about what legal services they need.  The collaborative process of a law blog (or any blog) can allow this to happen. 

Be sure to let me know if you have any questions about this Iowa business and corporate law blog.    Please feel free to explore and comment.  I hope you find it interesting and informative.

I read with great interest an article about law firm mavericks in the Law Practice Magazine of the American Bar Association.  I found the article particularly appealing having recently read the book Mavericks at Work. 

One of the maverick lawyers featured is 29-year-old Christopher Marston of Exemplar Law Partners of Boston.  Marsten used every penny of his personal savings to start a law firm that is turning the practice of law on its head by charging for services only on a flat fee basis.  For decades law firms have talked about "getting away from the billable hour".  Marsten’s firm is determined to walk the talk.  One look at this firm’s Web site and you quickly realize they have a distinctive and disruptive purpose that sets them apart from their rivals.   

Another Massachusetts law firm featured is ConvergentGC.  The law firm operates from the premise that most entrepreneurs really need in-house counsel but few can afford it.  The firm is an outside general counsel firm that essentially adds a senior-level attorney to the management staff.  The firm has no hourly rates, no bills for phone calls and no bills for overhead costs such as faxes.

In my own practice I am developing the strategies implemented by these firms.  I already provide outside general counsel services to certain business clients based upon a mutually agreeable fixed monthly fee.  These clients receive a fixed monthly bill and do not receive bills for phone calls and overhead costs such as copying and postage.  I also perform certain projects such as incorporation and LLC formation on a fixed rate and have also done so with contract review and writing.  I have continued to bill hourly for litigation in the past but in 2007 these mavericks have inspired me to begin handling litigation matters on a fixed rate basis as well. 

I have felt for a long time the billable hour needs to be thrown out the window.  This coming year I plan on doing just that. 

The BlogWhiz Blog recently has some nice things to say about the Rush on Business blog and also Brett Trout’s work on Blawg IT.  Chris Kane, the author of BlogWhiz, reports that he is currently building blog platforms for three different law firms in Des Moines.  I have no doubt with his help these up and coming law blogs will be very successful.

Brett and I are excited about other Iowa legal bloggers coming on board.  It will be a great opportunity to share information and build cooperative relationships with those lawyers.  Clients and prospective clients are the ones who will benefit the most.

The opening statements have ended in the Iowa consumer class action against Microsoft.  The Plaintiffs’ side of the evidence began on Friday with the Plaintiffs playing a video taped deposition of Bill Gates from 1998.  The deposition was taken during the government case against Microsoft back in the 90s. 

Sources have said Gates was "evasive" and "unresponsive" during this deposition.  It is widely believed the deposition is not exactly the Microsoft CEO’s finest hours. 

It is expected that Gates will testify live next year during the defense portion of the case.

Bloggers should take note of this post I found on Kevin O’Keefe’s blog, Real Lawyers Have Blogs. 

The Washington Post reports that the Federal Trade Commission ruled on December 11, 2006 that companies engaging in word-of-mouth marketing, in which people are compensated to promote products to their peers, must disclose those relationships.  The Post article made it clear the ruling applied to both the endorser and the company paying for the endorsement. 

Companies that fail to disclose such relationships may be held liable for deceptive advertising practices.

O’Keefe has an interesting take that he does not believe the ruling will have much impact on lawyer blogs.  But he points out that lawyers should be careful not to engage in an arrangement where a blog touts the lawyer’s services through a paid PR campaign and not disclosed.

If you have never read Blawg Review before be sure to check out Legal Literacy and Blawg Review #87.  Thanks to Hanna for including my post on electronic discovery.

If you have a chance you really should check out the rest of the site.  A couple of great articles for any business person or business lawyer to read is this one on thoughtful writing and another on the Twelve Rules for Avoiding Smoking Guns.

The Plaintiffs, represented by Roxanne Conlin, finally ended the longest opening statement in Iowa trial history (I am joking but I believe it to be true) in the consumer class action case against Microsoft.  Microsoft’s lead trial attorney, David Tulchin of Sullivan & Cromwell said he felt like he had waited a long time to give his opening statement and he "probably wasn’t waiting all that patiently at times."

Tulchin said the real issues are not complicated. 

"This case is about the quality of the products.  It is about value.  It is about prices, and it’s about causation.  Was there anything from the government case or the allegations made here by the Plaintiffs that caused the market to be so different from what it otherwise would have been that prices would have been dramatically different from the very low prices that Microsoft charged?"

He said Plaintiffs experts have created an imaginary "but-for" world; that is, a world that they say would have existed but for the conduct they claim was wrongful. 

Tulchin also touched on the history of Microsoft from the very early days when Bill Gates and Paul Allen set out to improve the Basic language for the first minicomputer. 

"And Mr. Gates’ idea right from the start, right from the start in the 1970s was to charge a low price for software, a low price with the hope–with the basic idea that a low price would generate high sales.  It is not a new idea. . .it goes back to Fredrick Maytag in Iowa with the washing machine.  Make a good product, keep the price low, and you’ll sell lots of them and do well."

It sounds as though Tulchin will continue his opening over the next few days.  It appears as though he plans on hammering the Plaintiffs for providing only "little snippets" of data or documents for the jury to see which do not tell the whole story.  It is apparent Tulchin is a fine lawyer.  His bio indicates he has won dismissals with prejudice in 20 major antitrust actions against Microsoft, and victories in all seven appeals he has argued for Microsoft in the United States Courts of Appeals.

This is shaping up to be an interesting trial on so many fronts.  Best of all, it is practically a class on juror persuasion.  Stay tuned for more as the trial progresses.

While Microsoft battles it out in the Polk County Courthouse another corporate giant has successfully defended a recent claim.  This past Friday a judge dismissed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart filed by the parents of a 4-year-old boy who was allegedly molested in the men’s room.

The boy was offered $1 by a man in the bathroom who then pulled the boy’s pants down and touched him inappropriately.  The boy’s parents claimed the Wal-Mart failed to have policies to protect against customer-on-customer assaults and failed to take it seriously when the mother called back that night to report the complaint. 

The judge issued a directed verdict dismissing the case because the plaintiffs failed to prove Wal-Mart had forseen the danger.  Testimony during the trial included 10 reports of violence but only one of those reports involved anything of a sexual nature.  Most of the complaints described violence by Wal-Mart employees against shoplifters.  "There wasn’t sufficient proof that they could have or should have forseen what the problem was here, said Judge Robert Hanson.

See the Des Moines Register article for more details.

The Plaintiff continued with their sixth day of opening statements as the week ended.  Roxanne Conlin is expected to turn over the opening to her co-counsel soon for a discussion regarding damages.  According to reliable sources, Microsoft does not plan on taking nearly as long to lay out their side of the case.

It is interesting that Conlin has taken so long in delivering her opening statement.  It is widely believed people are used to getting information in short bursts from television, computers or other technology and therefore their attention spans as jurors is much shorter.  Most lawyers would say you need to keep trial shorter, not longer. Yet many fantastic trial attorneys, such as Gerry Spence, believe it is most persuasive to tell the entire story in detail – even if that means taking hours or days to complete an opening statement. 

So far Conlin has focused on the history of the computer industry and her stories of nine companies she alleges were injured or destroyed by Microsoft’s conduct.  She has referred to emails and lots of internal memos in a very. very detailed manner.  At this point I am told six months is an underestimate for this trial.

Don’t believe in Santa Claus?  Well, he is alive and well in Des Moines, Iowa.  The Rooftop Foundation is holding its annual shopping tour for the underprivileged children of Moulton Elementary School on December 9, 2006.  The Rooftop Foundation is the creation of Ken and Esta Deever – two of the most generous people I have ever met in my life. 

Every year the Deevers and their elves load up two bus loads of children, provide the kids breakfast, and take them shopping for their families at the south side Wal-Mart on SE 14th in Des Moines.  The children learn that it is better to give than to receive by purchasing gifts only for their family members – not themselves.  Of course, the kids do get a special bag (loaded with presents from Santa) when they return to wrap their gifts at the school.  If you have a chance to view the pictures on the Foundation’s Web site you will see that Ken is truly Santa Claus. 

Last year Ken and Esta’s home burned to the ground just a few days before the 2005 event.  Everyone in the home survived without injury but it was a scary experience indeed.  Despite the personal tragedy, Ken and Esta, together with dozens of volunteers, pulled off a Christmas miracle by re-purchasing all the gifts that burned in the fire and wrapped them all again just 48 hours before the event.  (Be sure to read this article by Mark Hansen of the Des Moines Register about the fire and last year’s Rooftop Foundation event).

Ken has also volunteered his time for other events this holiday season.  In addition to his own program he is visiting children of Blank Children’s Hospital, appearing for numerous other charitable organizations and volunteering as Santa Claus a few nights at Jolly Holiday Lights in Water Works Park.  As you can imagine his free time is quite limited this time of year.

It is an honor to serve as one of the Directors of the Rooftop Foundation.  If you are looking for a charity to support this holiday season I encourge you to consider this organization.  The Rooftop Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.  All donations are tax deductible.  If you are interested please email me and I can give you more information.

So this holiday season remember the motto of The Rooftop Foundation – "It is Better to Give Than to Receive".