Unearthing Value From Cluttered Desks

He calls that messy? A submission from @jwswrites of his messy desk (on http://spjdesklove.tumblr.com/).

I’d wager the following: Anyone who has a cluttered workspace will claim that they really really really do have a system, and that it works for them. They may even go so far as to say that clutter is the sign of an active mind.

Residing among my own stacks in the cluttered category, I’ve tried floating those old canards myself. The truth is, of course, that efficient and effective people land all up and down that continuum from “hoarder” to “frighteningly neat.” Whatever works for you, works.

This month, the Society of Professional Journalists launched a fun contest in which people could send in photos of their workspace clutter. They then posted those pics on their own Tumblr page (which is worth bookmarking), and some lucky (and cluttered) person won a prize (office supplies, I think). Here’s how they put it:

“Featuring your stellar work space, courtesy of the Society of Professional Journalists. Post a picture to Twitter with the hashtag #spjdesklove and we will give your desk some Tumblr love.”

I did not submit my space for consideration, but on Change of Venue Friday, I thought I’d share it with you (see below). The image in this post represents a relatively neat period in my own pendulum swing. Don’t judge.

And how about you? Are your stacks and your clutter an ongoing challenge? Have you tamed them? If so, how? (And I really mean it: HOW? I want to know!).

Have a great weekend.

A portion of my own work area: I’m actually kind of surprised how neat my “messy desk” looks on this Friday. Things are looking up! (Full disclosure: I’ve omitted my overflowing bookshelves and various other flat surfaces.)

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Phoenix City Council Candidate Panels This Week (moderated by @azatty )

This week, Phoenix residents and those interested in good and responsive government (including, I hope, lawyers) may attend a few panel discussions that will signal their city’s possible direction. The events sponsored by the group Urban Choices will include candidates for two City Council districts.

I’m pleased to report that I will be moderating both discussions, to occur on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

Levine Machine, 605 E. Grant, Phoenix

The “community conversations” with candidates from Districts 4 and 8 aim to address topics of most interest to downtown residents and businesses. They include developing economic models that focus on diverse, new industries rather than a single cyclical real estate industry; and getting big successes out of transit-oriented development.

As organizers say, “Our collective goal is to ensure we get ‘The PHX We Want’ through the best possible elected representation.”

Playhouse on the Park, 1850 N. Central, Phoenix

Please mark your calendar and plan to attend. Invite your friends and colleagues as well.

More information, including an agenda, map, and RSVP, is available on the Facebook event invitations (click the links below for more information):

• District 4: Wednesday, May 15, 6 p.m., Playhouse on the Park, 1850 N. Central Avenue
• District 8: Thursday, May 16, 6 p.m., Levine Machine, 605 E. Grant

Read the complete flier and information below.

If you can’t attend, feel free to send me a question or two that you’d like me to ask the candidates.

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Phoenix Mural Reminds of Water’s Value

In downtown Phoenix, a new mural on the south wall of Valley Youth Theatre is bringing attention to water issues in Arizona and around the world. The mural is one of 10 in a global series called Water Writes.

I admit to being a little pleased when I spotted the most recent new mural in downtown Phoenix. Sited just off First Street and Fillmore, it recognizes the centrality of water to the success and prosperity of Arizona.

And only a few months after we put out the call for water-related topics in Arizona Attorney Magazine. How generous of the artists to erect a complementary mural that calls attention to our call for authors.

Unlikely, eh?

OK, maybe. But in any case, enjoy Change of Venue Friday with a few images of the remarkable artwork.

The wall before artists arrived …

The mural (painted on the side of Arizona gem Valley Youth Theatre) is part of an initiative of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership called “The Space Between,” which urges residents to consider what they’d hope to see on the empty lots that dot downtown. More about the project is here and here.

… and the wall after they left.

The city of Phoenix was fortunate to get one of these murals, which is “one of 10 collaborative mural projects” internationally.

Here are some close-up images of the building-long mural. Have a great—and well-hydrated—weekend.

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Lawyers, Other Performers Deliver the Goods in Same-Sex Marriage @8thePlay

As I sidled my way last night past the crowds into the Herberger Theater in downtown Phoenix, I must admit I was skeptical. An entire play constructed mainly of a trial transcript? Really?

Anyone who has been to a trial or two knows you would need a genius writer to make that come together into dramatic arts. And so the play “8” had one: Dustin Lance Black had whittled a trial into an evening that was provocative, funny and compelling.

I mentioned the play last Friday, and I was pleased that my family and I were able to attend. “8” tells the story of the trial over the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage.

Black drew on his mondo skills to shape a play comprised almost entirely of the trial transcript. There are a few moments that are tough sledding, especially, I imagine, for the many nonlawyers in the house. Arguing over the standard of review is often a game-changer in a case, but it’s an oddly shaped building block in crafting compelling theater.

Performers in the play 8, Herberger Center Theatre, Phoenix, May 7, 2013

There are only a few of those moments, though. The craft and the words selected were amazing. And what consistently impressed was the quality of the performances. Non-actors almost all, the cast delivered a rousing and entirely convincing play.

I know that one actor–director was cast, to fabulous results. Ron May is the founder and artistic director of Stray Cat Theatre, and his rendition of a witness was wow-inspiring. Cast as David Blankenhorn, May encapsulated eloquently the ideologue who had never been challenged to defend his beliefs before he sat in a witness chair. As he is cross-examined by David Boies of Bush v. Gore fame (played superbly by lawyer and Phoenix Councilman Tom Simplot), bluster turns to anger turns to frustration turns to near-total capitulation. As the steam escapes from Blankenhorn’s pompous world view, the state’s case deflates before the audience’s eyes. If there’s one thing we know, it’s more Ron May, please.

View from Balcony, Row EE (hint: buy tickets earlier).

The strong performing continued with the attorneys. Amazing work was delivered by Grant Woods (as Ted Olson), Nicole France Stanton (as plaintiff Sandy Stier), Terry Goddard (as trial Judge Vaughn Walker), and Bill Sheppard.

A marvelous moment occurred after the play and during a brief audience-question session. One man (whom I couldn’t see from the nosebleed section) rose to praise Grant Woods. The speaker said that when he was a young Assistant Attorney General 23 years ago, he had serious concerns about being a gay man in the large public agency. But he said that Woods had told him that all he would ever be judged on in that office was merit, the quality of his work. That compelling memory led to a standing ovation for the former Attorney General, which grew to include his own fellow performers.

(Years ago, I had the chance to appear on the Herberger stage in a father–daughter performance with our wonderfully ever-patient Willa. I thought I had turned in a pretty good show. But then I saw Grant Woods get a well-deserved standing ovation, so I think I’m done.)

Grant Woods gets a standing ovation, Herberger Theatre Center, May 7, 2013.

My family and I greatly enjoyed the show. And I must add what especially struck me (caution: lawyer moment approaching):

It was remarkable to see, via the true-to-life transcripts, the power that an actual trial may have. In an age when trials are rarer and rarer and they are derided as the ultimate failure of negotiated resolution, it’s worth remembering that truth often peeks out of that ancient construct. Outside the courtroom, lying, puffery, bullying and rants may win the day. But seated in that witness chair, required to endure a series of simple questions, those resting on a crumbling foundation often founder. Except for the sociopathic, misstatements and worse cause discomfort and anxiety when one is required to raise a hand and utter an oath.

Not such a bad message to learn, for lawyers and nonlawyers alike.

Congratulations to all who participated.

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Book-Signing, Reception With CNN’s @JeffreyToobin at @ASUCollegeofLaw

Jeffrey Toobin at John Jay College

Here is some pretty cool news from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU: Jeffrey Toobin will be in Tempe on Thursday for a book signing and reception.

His new book is titled The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court.

A few years ago, I had the pleasure to meet Toobin and hear him address a gathering at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. He is an impressive thinker, and I always jump to his article when I spy one in a new New Yorker.

Here is more information from the law school:

CNN senior analyst Jeffrey Toobin, one of the nation’s top experts on politics, media and the law, will sign copies of his newest book at an event, hosted by the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, on Thursday, May 9, in Tempe. Toobin’s appearance is the 2013 Willard H. Pedrick Society Event, named for the founding dean of the College of Law.

The book-signing is at 4:30 p.m., followed by a reception at 5:30 p.m. in the Abbey Room at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, 60 E. Fifth St.  Earlier in the afternoon, Toobin will deliver the keynote address at the College of Law’s convocation at Gammage Auditorium on ASU’s Tempe campus.

Toobin’s book, The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court, is a sequel to his best-seller, The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court. The Oath is a gripping insider’s account of the momentous ideological war between the John Roberts Supreme Court and the Obama administration.

Toobin, a staff writer for The New Yorker, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, and is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Ticket prices for the event, which include a copy of The Oath, are $50 for general audiences, $30 for Pedrick Society members and $20 for students. To obtain tickets, visit here.

For more information, email law.development@asu.edu or call (480) 965-3096. (And click image below for larger version of flier.)

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Was Suspension of Miranda After Boston Bombings Appropriate?

Gary Stuart speaks on Miranda rights.

How central is Miranda to our constellation of rights? When and how would we ever agree it would be acceptable to abrogate the rights gathered under the Miranda rubric?

That issue never arises on the easy cases, of course. In the workaday world, every police officer in the United States knows that the reading of the Miranda rights is an essential part of their role.

Arrests following a terror attack are not the easy cases.

That’s what we saw after the arrest of a suspect in the bombings at the Boston Marathon. The federal government announced that it was interrogating the suspect in advance of reading his rights.

We’ve understood for years that there may be emergencies that militate toward questioning-before-rights. For instance, if officials believed there could be timed explosive devices secreted around the city, they arguably should begin questioning immediately. Time will help explain if that is the situation that faced officials.

This Sunday, Gary Stuart examined the uneasy choices we make when we set aside basic rights. Gary is an experienced lawyer and author of “Miranda: The Story of America’s Right To Remain Silent.”

In his Arizona Republic op-ed, he traces the history of Miranda and subsequent rulings that have carved out exceptions to the rights.

Cagily, he leaves his powerful conclusion for the last three paragraphs. In case you are as impatient as I am, here they are:

“We should be wary about doctrinaire Miranda compliance in terrorist cases, especially where the public safety is at risk—as the Boston Marathon bombing clearly was.”

“Even so, balancing too far in favor of gathering intelligence by minimizing suspects’ rights might reverse five decades of Miranda application. While we want to win the war on terrorism, it cannot come at the price of returning to the bad old days before Miranda, when law enforcement was silent on the rights of suspects.”

“If law enforcement is silent and suspects are not, we might advance the war. But if domestic suspects have no rights, especially in terrorist cases, then those seeking to destroy democracy itself and replace it with a radically fundamental theocracy will have obtained one of their objectives.”

Read Gary’s entire editorial here.

What are your thoughts? Do we risk too much when we allow the pendulum to swing? Or does the government adopt a permissible position when it acts as it did in Boston?

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Three Arizona Attorneys To Appear in “8” Play

An Arizona production of a nationally recognized play will be staged next Tuesday, May 7, and include a cast of leading residents, including at least three attorneys. As of April 11, three local attorneys had agreed to perform: Bill Sheppard, Nicole Stanton and Grant Woods. Others who were slated include Cindy McCain.

The play, titled “8,” was written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, and it “chronicles the historic federal trial challenging the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage.” A ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court is expected in late June.

A play written about a court case? Well, it’s in good company (try To Kill a Mockingbird, Inherit the Wind and 12 Angry Men, for starters).

Tickets are $50 and $35 and can be purchased through the Arizona Theatre Company or Ticketmaster. As organizers say, “Following the performance, there will be a short discussion between Black, others and the audience on the issues presented in the trial.”

You can read more about the play here.

In a New York Times story, the writer described the play and his process:

“The play consists mostly of verbatim dialogue and statements from the trial transcript, [writer Dustin Lance] Black said, as well as his own observations from sitting in the courtroom most days and interviewing people on both sides of the case.”

“Roughly a dozen people from the trial are portrayed as characters, including Theodore B. Olson and David Boies, the lawyers for the two gay couples who sued California over the ban; Charles J. Cooper, the lead defense counsel; Kristin M. Perry and Sandra B. Stier, a lesbian couple who were among the plaintiffs; and the judge, Vaughn R. Walker of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California.”

“Mr. Black, who won an Oscar in 2009 for his original screenplay about the life and assassination of Harvey Milk, a gay man on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, said he became determined to write the play after the United States Supreme Court blocked the trial judge’s plan to broadcast the hearings over the Internet.”

And here is how the producers describe the legally based play:

Dustin Lance Black

“‘8’—a new play by Academy-award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk, J. Edgar)—demystifies the debate around marriage equality by chronicling the landmark trial of Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Hollingsworth v. Perry). Learn about the historical context of marriage from expert testimony. See the human cost of discrimination. Uncover the arguments used to justify bans on marriage for gay and lesbian couples. Using the actual court transcripts from the landmark federal trial of California’s Prop. 8 and firsthand interviews, ‘8’ shows both sides of the debate in a moving 90-minute play.”

“The Arizona production of ‘8’ announced the addition of five leading Valley residents to the cast.  Local actor Damon Bolling, producer/singer David Burrola, former TV news anchor Marlene Galan, former State Representative Steve May and Phoenix attorney and arts advocate Bill Sheppard will join the previously announced cast members for the May 7 presentation of ’8′ at the Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix.”

“Previous cast members announced include Black, Tony-nominated Broadway actor Rory O’Malley, CNN and ESPN commentator LZ Granderson and LGBT activist and AIDS Memorial Quilt creator Cleve Jones. Arizonans in the cast include business and community leader Cindy McCain, attorney and Phoenix First Lady Nicole Stanton, radio and TV personality Pat McMahon, former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, State Senator Jack Jackson Jr. and Phoenix City Councilman Tom Simplot.”

“‘8’ will be produced by the Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) and directed by Matthew Wiener, Producing Artistic Director of Actors Theatre-Phoenix. Former Tempe mayor and current San Francisco AIDS Foundation Chief Executive Officer Neil Giuliano is the executive producer.”

Again, here is the ticket information, through the Arizona Theatre Company or Ticketmaster.

Follow the Arizona production of “8” on Facebook.

Have a great weekend.

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Talented Staff of @AZStateBar Serve the Public on @UnivisionAZ Call-In Program

State Bar employees Mirna Lerma, Ayde Gutierrez, Sulema Bucio and Mabel Ramirez at the TV studio for A Su Lado.

I regularly share updates from my State Bar of Arizona colleague Alberto Rodriguez, especially as they relate to the Lawyers on Call program. That is a call-in program through which thousands of Arizonans have had their legal questions answered.

Mabel Ramirez interviewed during A Su Lado.

Last week, the Bar offered a twist on the lawyer call-in approach. Instead, on April 24 a team of terrific Bar employees answered questions that they are adept at answering. Congratulations and thanks to the four wonderful women who responded to the calls. Here is Alberto’s description:

The State Bar of Arizona and Univision 33 hosted a special edition of A Su Lado (On Your Side) on Wednesday, April 24. Univision 33 kicked-off their sweeps period with a special consumer protection phone bank and news story that featured the State Bar of Arizona and members of the Resource Center team. Resource Center Supervisor Mabel Ramirez was interviewed during the 5 p.m. newscast and offered helpful tips to help guide viewers in finding a lawyer, verifying lawyer membership, and filing a Bar/UPIL complaint.

The following is a recap from the public service program:

Date: April 24, 2013

Topic: State Bar of Arizona’s Consumer Protection Services and the Law Day Legal Aid Clinic

Phone Bank Team: Sulema Bucio, Ayde Gutierrez, Mirna Lerma and Mabel Ramirez

Summary: The RC team answered an impressive 85 calls during the two-hour phone bank focused on the Bar’s consumer protection services. The following is a small sample of the questions that were received:

• Does the Bar offer free legal advice or referrals?
• How can I file a complaint against an attorney?
• Can you verify if the attorney I’m working with is an actual attorney?
• Can you tell me more about the Law Day Legal Aid Clinics?
• Several callers were asking for legal advice and were referred to the Law Day Legal Aid Clinics.

The Resource Center team members were first-time participants. They were satisfied with the quality of the questions overall and were excited to have participated in the A Su Lado public service program. Calls were consistent from 5 to 7 p.m., which led to another successful phone bank.

State Bar Resource Center staff take callers’ questions during A Su Lado.

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YLD Picnic Gathers @AZStateBar Attorneys, Families

The McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park was the site of the first annual YLD picnic.

You’ve got to love it when a plan comes together.

That must have been what the State Bar of Arizona Young Lawyers Division thought this past Sunday, when a large group of attorneys—and their families—gathered for a picnic and networking.

The venue was the McCormick–Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale, and all reports are that the kids (and those who are kids at heart) had a great time. For those for whom the evocative blast of a railroad horn is not a draw, here’s what else was available: food, games, bouncy houses, cotton candy, chair massages.

Yes, I said chair massages (which probably felt great after time inside the bouncy houses).

The event wouldn’t have been possible without the support of a few corporate sponsors:

• Geico
• John Driscoll & Company, Inc.
• Thomson Reuters

There are some more photos of the event (courtesy of my colleague Lisa Bormaster) at the Arizona Attorney Facebook page.

Picnic attendees chat with representatives from sponsor John Driscoll & Company.

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Generosity Yields One-of-a-Kind Magazine Cover

A few days ago, I happily related a recognition bestowed on two men, Paul Julien and Mark Meltzer, who serve justice in Arizona every day. Much to my delight, there is a cheery follow-up on this Change of Venue Friday.

In that post, I had noted an Arizona Attorney Magazine cover that featured Jeff Schrade, who heads up Education Services at the Supreme Court Administrative Office of the Courts (say that five times fast). At our prodding, Jeff had gamely agreed more than a decade ago to serve as a cover model for us. But this week Jeff also reminded me of another permutation of that cover, one that announced his son’s birth. (That was way back in 2001; Nathan is 12 years old now!)

In my haste, I completely forgot to locate that image and share it. But Jeff was generous once again, so here it is. In this post, you get to see the one and only payment Jeff ever received for being a patient and good-humored magazine model.

First, here is the cover we ran with:

Jeff Schrade on our April 2001 Arizona Attorney Magazine cover … .

And here is the altered cover announcing his son’s birth (now displayed in Jeff’s office):

… and a new cover is born.

Advancing age being what it is, I cannot recall exactly how we developed that cover. Someone with skills way beyond mine had to have done the work. The best Jeff and I can recall, Matt Silverman, the Bar’s former communications head, probably had his finger in the mix. Not to mention our former Art Director, Carl Bezuidenhout, and then-Production Manager (now lawyer) Leslie Ross.

In any case, enjoy your weekend. And know that assistance to a magazine editor may yield great rewards!

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