Hello. My name is Rosemary (also called, at various times, Rosie, RosiePosie, and BAD DOG!, depending on the situation and how - er, pervasive, the accident was - and I swear, they’re ALL accidents). The Tall One asked me to fill in for her on this Blawg Review #104, since she’d done this before and the Short One had some short-person-type gig to go to, or something. I don’t know. I’m the dog, man. Ease up.

A few pics to start us off…

Yours truly, in the old digs.

Tall One and Short One. They’re sitting down so you can’t tell but the Tall One is really tall. Well, to me, she is. Especially when we’re having a discussion about those accidents (I swear).

The cats. Enough said. On to the theme!

It’s this:

Working Like A Dog

Yeah, I don’t know either. Tall One wrote it down on a sticky note. Frankly, I have a question about this saying. “Working like a dog.” Have you people seen most dogs work? I don’t know about the dogs where you’re from, but around here, me and my posse hang loose and have the fine art of chillin’ at the beach down, man. We spend our mornings getting the kids and grownups off to school and work, of course, and yes that’s hectic, but then we’ve earned the first of many daily naps. On the bed, on the couch, in the sunny spot out on the porch… frankly, I think you people would be much better off if more of you worked like we do. Which is to say, very little. And with frequent naps.

So, with that out of the way, on we go to the Review portion of this Blawg Review. (Or maybe it’s the Blawg portion…? I dunno. Onwards!)

Keeping The Worker Bees Happy

the [non]billable hour’s Matt Homann’s obviously been talking to some of my home girls. Here’s his post about Netflix and the vacation policy that ought to be mandatory everywhere. Now you’re talking!

Take a look at a lawyer after my own doggy heart - Craig Williams, who’s keeping us up to date in his South Seas Journal: Wandering In The Red Sand. Here’s his report on Day Ten.

A New York judge is threatening to sue for long-overdue pay raises, and Eric Turkewitz at the New York Personal Injury Law Blog has her back, as well as having some other things to say about it. (You just know the next time he appears in her courtroom, his opposing counsel’s gonna be all “aw, I knew I should have started a blog…”)

If it gets too bad for you tall building lawyers, do what Tall One did and start your own practice! Susan Cartier Liebel over at Build a Solo Practice, LLC has some great advice for those who might be interested in hanging out a shingle. This post is about taking on legal clients before leaving a non-legal job to set up one’s own shop. The whole blog, however, is filled with awesome suggestions and advice. Susan’s a great resource and should definitely be bookmarked (and read regularly) by anyone bitten by the “solo” bug. (And I have to say, on a personal note: I know Tall One enjoyed working for the airport and all, but I’ve never seen her as happy and energetic as I have the last several months since she left to open her own practice. So, there must be something to this “being your own boss” thing. I mean, if you absolutely have to work and all…)

Bob Coffield at the Health Care Law Blog mashes up two subjects in a way that makes you wonder “hey, why didn’t I put those two things together before….” - Google and searching for the right health care provider (among other health care topics). Hey, at least when you go to the doctor you know you’re stuck in the endless waiting room with other humans. Me, I gotta hang around cats. CATS, people. As if going to the vet itself wasn’t bad enough.

Point of Law takes on a post from the California Employee Rights Blog and calls it “very curious.” So - is a “No Bad Apples” rule a good idea? I don’t know why you humans just don’t do what we dogs do with bad actors. Just take the scruff of their necks in your jaw and shake ‘em til they roll over and expose the belly. That’s a sign of submission, you know.

Speaking of Bad Actors

Jeff Lipshaw at the Legal Profession Blog takes on the same topic - “bad apples” in the workplace - in the context of the recent spectacular Don Imus self-destruction.

Tracy Coenen presents Big frauds start small posted at Sequence Inc. FRAUDfiles. Gosh, ain’t it the truth. The cutest pups turn into the biggest butt-sniffers, you know?

Jen Burke points us to Techdirt’s article here, “EU Court Calls Employee Computer Monitoring a Human Rights Violation, In Some Cases.” Relevant quote:

The European Court for Human Rights has ruled in favor of a woman who sued the British government after her boss in her public-sector job monitored her personal phone calls and internet use while she was at work. While the decision does set some precedent that monitoring employees’ personal communications, even if done on work time over work equipment, contravenes the EU’s human-rights laws, it also makes it clear that it’s only in certain circumstances.

Oh, that blockquote thingie is quite paw-y, isn’t it? Very useful.

At Ross’s Employment Law Blog, we learned that one of the most interesting employment law cases won’t be going to the Supremes after all, thanks to a last minute agreement between the parties.

Transgendered former city manager Steve Stanton’s announcement recently that he would not sue his employer for firing him over his plans to transition to being a woman is the topic of this post over at the Transgender Workplace Diversity blog.

Brett Trout gives us “Employees Remain Biggest Threat to Corporate Data” posted at his Blawg IT blog. Those pesky employees…

The second post from Point of Law: Derrick Hughes points out some further developments in Wal-Mart v. Coughlin posted at PointOfLaw.

George’s Employment Blawg has some interesting comments on the recent Fed Ex settlement. Ah, Fed Ex. Not as tasty as the mailman, perhaps, but infinitely more fun to chase. The mailman seems to have gotten over me and my bark. Not so, Fed Ex Guy. He still squeals like a little pup. Heh.

Where was I? Oh, right.

Speaking of Mailmen…

Ellen Freedman presents Are You Ready for the New Postal Regulations and a Whopping Increase in Costs? posted at Law Practice Management. Y’know, I’ve been following this in my GRrrrrSS feeds and she’s right - this is a scary and poorly-thought-out thing. What are your poor office admins going to do when it’s time to put the postage on? SO glad I’m a dog…

Nothing to do with mailmen but a funny limerick about depositions - really, there is such a thing? Wow. Who knew? From Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

From Juz The Fax, a post about difficult clients. Like you lawyers really have those. Kidding! I know, I know. But if you want more of ‘em - clients, I mean, not necessarily difficult ones specifically -Trusted Advisor Associates has a clue for you: refer ‘em out to your competitors. (The kicker: two of the author’s competitors posted in the comments that they refer back to the author - so, it obviously works.)

Speaking of Teaching Puppies…

Over at Trial Ad Notes, Mary Whisner points us to Julie Elgar’s creative use of The Office episodes as pedagogical tool for employment law teaching. (What - you think dogs don’t read dictionaries? Or watch TV? My favorite currently is Bones.)

Karen Asaro wants me to tell you about a conference coming up in Virginia on Conflict Resolution from the ACR Virginia - seems to be a big one, too. May 6 & 7, in Fredericksburg. Visit the link for more details.

Alan Childress at the Legal Profession Blog says dog tongues aren’t cleaner than human tongues. I beg your pardon. He also says some other stuff worth checking out.

Stephanie West Allen presents an Interview of Mohammadreza Hojat on the empathy of service professionals posted at idealawg.

And finally, for this subheading anyway, Enrico Schaefer, the formerly anonymous Greatest American Lawyer, teaches us what we can learn from Finding Nemo.

More About Puppies

What is it with you humans and offspring? They’re just puppies, y’know. They’re, like, eight in a litter. They’re everywhere. Although, I must say, you human women have us beat when it comes to dropping the pups. You get drugs. Dude. (Full disclosure: Tall One had me fixed, when I chose her after she came to visit me at the shelter. I’ve never had puppies, and am perfectly OK with that. Spay and neuter your pets, people. Please.) Anyway, The Mommy Blawgger points us to some alarming cases about midwives being mistaken for criminals. Sadly, no mistake - when humans draw guns, I’ve learned from TV, they’re usually quite intentional about it. I have a feeling Tall One will be keeping an eye on these stories.

While we’re on the subject, Tanya at the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog gives us an incredible rundown on breastfeeding legislation across the US. Seriously, I don’t get the to-do over this subject. It’s puppy-feeding, people! I mean, why the freak-out? Would you raise a stink about a sandwich? And what’s with these businesses wanting human moms to go into bathrooms to breastfeed their babies? Would you eat a sandwich in those bathrooms? Sandwich. OK, now I’m hungry. Time to go nose around in the garbage can. I’ll be back… where’s the ’save’ button on this thing? There it is - what? I’m used to Typepaw.

… And About Where Puppies Come From

Ed. wants you to know about this post from David Giacalone. What can I say? It’s more like a law review article than a blog post and my eyesight isn’t that great. The haiku’s nice. Again with the not getting what the big human deal is about the topic thing. Again: dog. Still, nice post. (Tall One just popped in and has this to say: “Put your glasses on and read it. It’s an awesome piece, and I agree it’s not as cut and dried as Volokh may have made it seem, in practical terms. In idealistic terms: the hell?!?! Of course it doesn’t matter!” So - there you go. And … there Tall One goes, out the door again, beach chair and suntan lotion in hand. Y’all, I think I’ve been Punk’d.)

Nicole Black presents “Hey Baby, What’s Your Sign? Don’t I Know You From Somewhere? Oh, And Would You Like to Take a Hit of Cocaine?” posted at Sui Generis–a New York law blog. Seriously? That’s how you humans do it? Ooookay. Moving on.

Bloggy Kudos

Jim Calloway’s Site of the Week at his Law Practice Tips blog is Nerino Petro’s Compujurist.com - last week, Jim was nice enough to feature one of Tall One’s other blogs, The Inspired Solo. (Don’t tell her I told you this but I think Tall One’s signed up to host this puppy again next later this year over at The Inspired Solo! Hope she doesn’t expect me to fill in for her again. Or even worse - the cats. Gah.)

Also, if you have any particularly cherished blogs, you might want to head over to PayPerPost’s Blogger’s Choice Awards and nominate them. There are several categories (interestingly, no “Best Law Blog”? A clear oversight) and a heated battle between Wil Wheaton’s blog and Rosie O’Donnell’s blog - man, those two have some rabid fans. I mean - rabid in the sense of - ah, forget it. You can sign up for a free registration at the site, and you can (interestingly) vote for more than one candidate in each category. Huh. Kinda like the American Idol of the blog world, no? (I totally stole that from Tall One’s paid blogging gig over at BlogNewsWatch.)

That about wraps it up for this edition, folks. Hope you come back tomorrow for a human-authored post from the Tall One. And remember - “blog” is just two letters away from “dog.” Coincidence? I think not.

Nap time!

Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues. - The Tall One.