Publisher's Notebook

You may have moments when you stare at your files, then you stare out the window, then you stare back at the files and you think your life and your practice could be different. Maybe you’ve been nurturing a dream of starting your own shop.

Taking that step is “not for the faint of heart,” said Mike Bottaro, a Massachusetts lawyer who recently took the plunge, founding the Bottaro Law Firm LLC. You should determine if you’re cut out for solo practice and therefore whether you could be really successful.

Bottaro was the guest on “The Landy Law Letter,” a podcast hosted by John Torvi of the Herbert H. Landy Insurance Agency in Needham, Mass.

The installment is called, “Going Solo – What You Need to Know in 2011.” Bottaro cites some books you ought to read and things you’ll want to think about, if you consider going solo. And if the answer is “yes,” he has tips on how to proceed in setting up your business.

To access the podcast, click here.

Take a listen and dream on.

Three partners at the Virginia Beach firm of Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton had a busy month of November going. Each had a big case in the works.

On Nov. 15, John Cooper, Jim Lewis and Rick Shapiro all left the office, wishing each other good luck.

Cooper went to a mediation session for a wrongful death case he filed in Portsmouth. After a day, a deal was struck.

He reached a settlement for $3.5 million.

Lewis went to trial in a medical-malpractice case in Norfolk. After five days, the jury came back for the plaintiff.

He got a verdict for $2.3 million.

And Shapiro went to Knoxville, Tenn., to try an FELA mesothelioma case. The trial schedule got caught up in the Thanksgiving long weekend. Earlier this week, the verdict came back.

He got a verdict for $8.6 million.

That’s a good month. Lewis said, “It doesn’t happen very often,” but when it does it’s pretty satisfying.

He added that he and his partners were calling it their “Perfect Storm November.” Indeed.

Tonight, two teams no one thought would be in the World Series square off — the San Francisco Giants, who haven’t won the big prize since 1954, when the team was in New York, and the Texas Rangers, who never have been to a World Series, despite playing in the American League since 1972. Actually they were the second-coming Washington Senators from 1961 to 1971, and they never made it to the Series either, making that a drought lasting 50 seasons.

Needless to say, Texas fans are deliriously happy. Maybe over-the-top happy.

There’s a Dallas lawyer named Darrell Cook, who months ago believed his beloved Rangers were tanking another season when he set a preliminary hearing for…Oct. 27, this morning. He bought tickets for Game 1 in San Francisco and he filed a motion for a continuance that Scribd calls the “Greatest Filing Ever from a Texas Rangers Fan.” You’ll have to read the motion, which makes reference to Darrell’s longstanding love for the team, the fact that the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez (ARod a/k/a AFraud, according to the motion), a former Ranger, took a called third strike to give Texas the pennant and numerous other events this season. Don’t overlook the footnotes.

Good news for Cook. About an hour ago, he tweeted (#dwcook), “The judge just granted my motion to continue Whew. .Good thing- I am on a plane in Houston. Go #Rangers. That’s how lawyering go.”

Indeed.

Then there’s Boris Briskin. A native of Plano, Texas, Briskin, a 2009 graduate of Loyola law school, was a law clerk at a Los Angeles firm, according to LinkedIn.

Briskin quit his job at the firm to attend the World Series, reports KDFW, a Dallas-Fort Worth television station.

Briskin’s explanation: “It’s the Rangers. I’ve loved the Rangers for so long. They haven’t been to the playoffs since ’99. They’ve gone through so much since then. I really couldn’t miss this,” he said, admitting that he will blow a wad of cash for tickets.

He added that he is confident he’ll get a new job once he returns to California. Wonder how he’ll answer that “Reason for leaving prior employment” section on any job applications.

HOT SPRINGS–Hey buddy, want to get your hands on a “dirty transcript”?

Attendees at the annual meeting of the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys perked up when Bill Archambault mentioned a “dirty transcript” in a seminar about using technology for courtroom presentations.

Seems most people weren’t familiar with the term. Was that something that came in a plain brown envelope? Was it something one might send over the cell phone to Jenn Sterger?

Nothing that spicy. A “dirty transcript” is one that the court reporter hasn’t edited and formatted just yet. It’s the raw data at the end of a day of trial. Archambault said he once used a dirty transcript to create part of a PowerPoint for closing.

So give Archambault credit for introducing a new term into the legal lexicon. But retired Richmond Circuit Judge Ted Markow, who was also on the panel, got the last word. He said he had never seen a “dirty transcript.” He added, “I don’t think I want to.”

Here’s one for the civil procedure junkies.

A veterinary supplies company says that a vet named Rasnic owes it $74,139.24 and wants to sue to collect. Can the company, Merial Ltd., sue in federal court?

It’s a contract action and there’s no federal statute involved, so the plaintiff has to rely on diversity of citizenship under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) to get into federal court. Company is based in Georgia, defendant is from Scott County. Check. The magic number for diversity jurisdiction, any one-L will tell you, is $75,000. So Merial is about 800 bucks short.

Wait, Merial also wants interest of about 15 grand and $2,500 in attorney’s fees, based on language in its invoices. However, the federal rule says $75K, “exclusive of interest and costs.” Rasnic asked that the claim be dismissed.

Merial still can go forward in federal court, according to U.S. Magistrate Judge Pamela Meade Sargent in Merial Ltd. v. Rasnic. The judge provides a handy primer on what to argue when you’re oh-so-close to that 75K figure. Tuck a copy of this one in your federal procedure file.

The judge noted there were a number of exceptions to the interest-doesn’t-count rule, although they didn’t apply here. And some states may allow interest as “incidental damages,” although Virginia doesn’t.

Merial argued the interest and attorney’s fees were part of the parties’ agreement, citing language in its invoices. The wording on the front of the invoices, copies attached to the pleadings, says the merchandise sold was subject to the terms and conditions printed on the back of the invoice. The words on the back allowed for 12 percent annual interest and reasonable attorney’s fees if the balance wasn’t paid, according to the complaint.

But the judge noted, “Merial has not provided copies of the back of these invoices.” So close, then again, so far away.

Actually, not a problem. Sargent applied the “legal certainty test” to Merial’s claim, which saved the day. That test provides that the defendant must show “to a legal certainty” that the plaintiff can’t meet the jurisdictional amount, a pretty tough task.

The judge wrote that the fact that Merial says the invoices have the interest and fees language on the back makes it easy to get over that bump, at least for the purpose of this motion. Rasnic’s claim that he didn’t agree to those terms can wait till later.

Sixteen pages later, Merial and its lawyer can relax, knowing they don’t have to start over in state court. Memo to counsel: Next time, copy both sides of the invoice.

It’s late August, so here’s a back-to-school item.

Every year since 1998, Beloit College in Wisconsin has released the “Beloit College Mindset List.”

This list provides a rundown of the cultural touchstones that have shaped the year’s entering freshmen.

It was started by a Beloit humanities professor, Tom McBride, and a former public affairs director at the school, Ron Nief, as a way to remind faculty to be aware of dated cultural references (i.e., such as that joking that “Francisco Franco is still dead.” A guaranteed blank stare).

What has shaped this year’s college kids? For starters, most of this group doesn’t know how to write in cursive, they know Fergie as a pop singer, not a princess, and their computers always have had a CD-ROM drive.

For the rest of the observations, take at look at the Beloit site for the Class of 2014.

These people will be hiring you someday.