Via IPKat, a nice English blog devoted to intellectual property, comes a pointer to a New Scientist article reproducing an unusually agressive online warning against misappropriation of text and images: “My intellectual property attorney is a scary-smart guy. He was the youngest person to ever pass the bar exam in his state. Plus he put himself through law school by working as a professional wrestler. I am not making this up.”
It reminds me of when I was in private practice. I spent most of my relatively short career in the London office of a US firm, serving European clients. After a while, I began to understand why certain ones of them liked taking a US lawyer to meetings. To them, it was a way of signalling to their European counterparts, 'See my legal pitbull. Be nice, or I'll sic him on you.'
Reminds me of a negotiation session during an acquisition in New York a few years ago. Rabid Wall Street firm on one side of the table, overtly reasonable in-house counsel (Midwest based Fortune 50) on the other side. After three hours of time wasting growling by the New York firm, the lead business negotiator for the our side called for a side bar conference with her counterpart. Basic message: Do you want to do a deal or do I take the lease off my lawyers? The deal was then rapidly completed.
I’ve also shown up at other negotition sessions armed with a box of dog biscuits after particularly rancorous previous meetings. Either they get the point and become reasonable, or they get so angry they can’t see straight. You plan your strategy accordingly.