Read ๐‘ณ๐’‚๐’˜ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐‘น๐’๐’„๐’Œ๐’†๐’•๐’”: ๐‘จ๐’ ๐‘จ๐’Ž๐’†๐’“๐’Š๐’„๐’‚๐’ ๐‘ณ๐’‚๐’˜๐’š๐’†๐’“ ๐’Š๐’ ๐’Š๐’“๐’‚๐’’. Or, read about a strange proffer, a secret intelligence network and more in ๐‘ป๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ฏ๐’๐’•๐’†๐’ ๐‘จ๐’“๐’ƒ๐’†๐’›
Michael OKane

Former Miami federal criminal defense lawyer, Mexicana Airlines cargo station rep and oh yeah, Saudi Arabia.


    Copy Machines

    Copy machines were always busy at the law office. Whatever you wrote, you needed one copy for opposing counsel, one copy for chambers, and oneโ€”if you were feeling recklessโ€”or two for your own files. If you ran out of plastic toner, you were lost. โ€ฆ

    ...

    How to Start and Build a Law Practice by Jay Foonberg

    You canโ€™t just start representing clients that fall into your lap without reading Jay Foonbergโ€™s How to Start and Build a Law Practice. You really need to buy a copy. Do so ASAP. If you canโ€™t afford to buy the book, read it at the library. It will โ€ฆ

    ...

    ChatGPT and Lawyers

    Let’s say that ChatGPT isn’t very good when it comes to the law. Hallucinations are an expected hazard of its use. The lawyer knows the law, but that’s not enough. A lawyer has to know how to close a real estate transaction, zoning, โ€ฆ

    Foreign Firms in Saudi Arabia

    1. A&O Shearman
    2. Andersen Global
    3. Ashurst
    4. Baker Botts
    5. Baker McKenzie
    6. Bracewell
    7. Clifford Chance
    8. Clyde & Co
    9. Curtis
    10. Dentons
    11. DLA Piper
    12. Evershed Sutherland
    13. Freshfields/Hejailan
    14. Herbert Smith
    15. HFW
    16. Hogan Lovells
    17. Holman Fenwick
    18. Jones Day
    19. Tony Khoury
    20. King โ€ฆ
    ...

    E-Mail Design Elements

    Emails today are like automobiles from say, 1915 to 1920 or so. The design hearkened back to the shape of a carriage made to be pulled by horses.

    Except for the subject line, an email is still shaped like a physical letter. If the โ€ฆ

    ...

    Our Culture, Today

    ...

    Budgeting Litigation

    Few companiesโ€”especially those surprised by litigationโ€”have a litigation budget. They don’t realize how expensive the judicial system can be. Company execs believe that litigation is but an annoyance until their defender passes a proposed โ€ฆ

    ...

    One Thousand Tons of Chicken

    It is a lot easier to steal chicken if there’s no chicken to steal.

    ...

    Hunter Biden Laptop Story Sponsors Stripped of their Clearances

    21 January 2025

    Trump just issued an executive order stripping the security clearances of the 50 or so who signed the letter saying that the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian disinformation. I assume that includes (text redacted).

    I don’t โ€ฆ

    ...

    Let There Be Strife

    Lawyers: today and every day, say the non-denominational lawyer’s prayer:

    “Raise up dissension amongst thy people; let there be strife.”

    ...

    The Nicaraguan Route

    I worked for the Panama Canal Commission from 1981 through 1985. The first two years constituted the “transition period,” during which the Canal Zone became a part of the Republic of Panama. For the first two years the Canal Zone โ€ฆ

    Not that Safe

    Three-pronged British electric plugs are touted as safer than US flat plugs. Brit plugs contain a fuse that is supposed to protect the user. Tried to unplug one today. Somehow it was live. 220v shot up my arm.

    I guess they’re not as safe as โ€ฆ

    How to Find Bank of America E-mail Addresses

    Red State or Blue State, if you need to contact Bank of America customer service by email, the sole monitored official channel is Twitter.

    If Twitter is shut down, how will Bank of America provide customer service to its account holders?

    You mean, โ€ฆ

    Donโ€™t Forget the Chicken

    Yesterday, I suggested a careful response to a Dutch blackmailer whose victim is a Saudi woman. Despite our efforts to help him upon his release from jailโ€”he announced to all and sundry that he was in the haram areas of Meccaโ€”isnโ€™t all Mecca โ€ฆ

    ...

    Beware of Spies

    Following the publication of Tinder, Sailor, Hooker, Pimp in the Navy Times, https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/06/16/tinder-sailor-hooker-pimp-the-us-navys-sex-trafficking-scandal-in-bahrain/the police cracked down on a few โ€ฆ

    Test

    A test.

    ...

    110 v. 220

    Voltage in Saudi Arabia

    Lately, I have had little success with cooking in Riyadh. My appliances, an air fryer and a coffee maker, simply did not work. A few days ago, I did find out, though at the moment Iโ€™m lacking instrument confirmation, why my โ€ฆ

    Austin Tice

    As of a year ago, Austin Tice was held in the basement of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, the same one bombed by the Israelis months later.

    The US was not interested in this intelligence at the time.

    Strange.

    Nothing said about Austin Tice in the โ€ฆ

    ...

    USA

    My fellow obese citizens: Americans overseas are afraid to express nationalism. Own your idiosyncracies: insist on ice in your water and 8x11 paper, tip freely, put pineapple on your pizza, Half & Half in your coffee, write m/d/y, guzzle โ€ฆ

    Revisiting Half and Half

    Returning to Bahrain. The street they call the American Alley, near the US Naval Base, a place of interest to the Islamic Republic of Iran, just a short way across the Persian Gulf. Spies from a hundred countries try to capture overheard โ€ฆ

    Revisiting Half and Half

    Returning to Bahrain. The street they call the American Alley, near the US Naval Base, a place of interest to the Islamic Republic of Iran, just a short way across the Persian Gulf. Spies from a hundred countries try to โ€ฆ

    Paying Attorneys Fees with Story Rights

    D.C. Bar Rule 1.8(c) says,

    " (c) Prior to the conclusion of representation of a client, a lawyer shall not make or negotiate an agreement giving the lawyer literary or media rights to a portrayal or account based in substantial part on โ€ฆ

    SIBOR

    “SIBOR” or sometimes “SAIBOR” means the Saudi Arabian Interbank Offered Rate. It is a measure of the interest rate at which large banks can borrow from one another on an unsecured basis. Like any Interbank Offered rate, it is โ€ฆ

    Donโ€™t Back Down

    When youโ€™ve submitted the work as per contract and youโ€™re asked for an additional discount, donโ€™t back down, even though youโ€™re tempted to do so. The siren song of โ€œadditional work in the futureโ€ is very strong.

    It’s easy to say, “you โ€ฆ

    ...

    A Curious Case

    A Colombian woman was indicted in 1995 or so on a historical cocaine conspiracy case. While several co-defendants named along with her were arrested, extradited and went to jail, she stayed in Colombia and avoided extradition. Let’s call her โ€ฆ