In the olden days, before everybody carried their contacts around in a giant database on a tiny phone, there were Rolodexes; Big, circular carousels of sheets to which you glued or stapled collected business cards. They weighed 37 pounds, took up half the desk and, as a result, they…
Bow Truss v. The Profit: Better Than Reality TV
February 8, 2017
I’ve been following and writing about the Bow Truss v. Marcus Lemonis kerfuffle – now lawsuit – because messy litigation is my reality TV. And, this is messy. As a lawyer, my stock in trade is careful, calibrated elocutions of ambivalence. But, here, I’m not lawyering, I’m writing, so…
Crain’s Chicago recently reported that Bow Truss coffee houses, a hip café, temporarily closed its doors. Among the public feuds between the founder on one side and the employees on the other, Bow Truss is a cautionary tale on growing too quickly. By all accounts, Bow Truss opened 10…
Business Partnership Lessons from the Bow Trust Deal Death
January 17, 2017
Last week, Crain’s reported that Brow Truss coffee houses had closed their doors. Left behind are dozens of employees with unpaid wages and one hysterical owner who is blaming the guy who backed away from buying him out. Marcus Lemonis, the star of MSNBC’s The Profit, had agreed to…
Conservative Justices on the Supreme Court Have Gone Insane
November 19, 2014
Everyone is talking about Linda Greenhouse’s column, in which she admits that the conservative justices on the Supreme Court have gone insane. If you don’t have the patience to read it, let me summarize it: The Supreme Court is hearing a new challenge to Obamacare. It’s not that the…
Robin Thicke Has Got to Give It Up
October 31, 2014
The first time I heard Blurred Lines, I assumed Robin Thicke had sampled parts of Marvin Gaye’s Got to Give it Up, not just because the feel of the songs is similar, I also heard common elements and grooves. Trouble is, the Gaye family also thought Robin Thicke took some…
There’s a monumental case at the Supreme Court that has got me obsessed, bewitched, enraged and mildly despondent. Technically, it’s called Integrity Staffing v. Busk. It actually is Amazon v. Amazon’s warehouse workers. (Integrity Staffing is the subcontractor stooge hired by Amazon to employ its warehouse workers). After Amazon…
Chobani and Dov Seidman Wrestle Over Use of ‘How’ Trademark
October 8, 2014
I predict this is going to end badly for Dov Seidman. Seidman, who uses “How Matters” as his content calling card, is suing Chobani yogurt for its new “How Matters” ad campaign. Seidman can win if he can show two things; First, that his trademark is distinctive enough to not be…
Robin Thicke Has Got to Give It Up
September 11, 2013
The first time I heard Blurred Lines, I assumed Robin Thicke had sampled parts of Marvin Gaye’s Got to Give it Up. Not just because the feel of the songs is similar – I also heard common elements and grooves. Trouble is, the Gaye family also thought Robin Thicke took…
Learn the different parts of a contract from the Beatles: Baby, you’re a rich man. Baby, you’re a rich man. Baby, you’re a rich man too.