Pearls of Wisdom

Pearls of Wisdom

What Is a Philosopher?
By SIMON CRITCHLEY

Socrates introduces the “digression” by making a distinction between the philosopher and the lawyer, or what Benardete nicely renders as the “pettifogger.” The lawyer is compelled to present a case in court and time is of the essence. In Greek legal proceedings, a strictly limited amount of time was allotted for the presentation of cases. Time was measured with a water clock or clepsydra, which literally steals time, as in the Greek kleptes, a thief or embezzler. The pettifogger, the jury, and by implication the whole society, live with the constant pressure of time. The water of time’s flow is constantly threatening to drown them.


By contrast, we might say, the philosopher is the person who has time or who takes time. Theodorus, Socrates’ interlocutor, introduces the “digression” with the words, “Aren’t we at leisure, Socrates?” The latter’s response is interesting. He says, “It appears we are.” As we know, in philosophy appearances can be deceptive. But the basic contrast here is that between the lawyer, who has no time, or for whom time is money, and the philosopher, who takes time. The freedom of the philosopher consists in either moving freely from topic to topic or simply spending years returning to the same topic out of perplexity, fascination and curiosity.

(Can you be both pettifogger and philosopher? Or are they mutually exclusive?)

You Said It, Not Me

"To tell you the truth, man, [being a] lawyer isn't something I wanted to do. Nobody wants to be a lawyer -- it's hard work. But it was kind of my academic route."
(Noting that if he were to practice, he'd go into "business or corporate law.")
-Vinny Guadagnino (aka. "Vinny" of The Jersey Shore)

Samir ChowChow

The Legal Profession Blog reported on Wednesday about a strange disciplinary complaint filed against an Illinois attorney over an ad the lawyer reportedly posted on Craigslist. The attorney at issue, according to the complaint, Samir Chowhan, worked as a solo practitioner in an office with a handful of other solo practitioners.

The post, listed in the “Adult Gigs” section of the site, was entitled: “Loop lawyers hiring secretary/legal assistant.” It read as follows:

Loop law firm looking to hire am [sic] energetic woman for their open secretary/legal assistant position. Duties will include general secretarial work, some paralegal work and additional duties for two lawyers in the firm. No experience required, training will be provided. Generous annual salary and benefits will be provided, including medical, dental, life, disability, 401(k) etc. If interested, please send current resume and a few pictures along with a description of your physical features, including measurements. We look forward to meeting you.

According to the Illinois disciplinary complaint, an applicant shortly thereafter responded to the ad. The next day, the attorney reportedly responded with this email:

As this is posted in the “adult gigs” section, in addition to the legal work, you would be required to have sexual interaction with me and my partner, sometimes together sometimes separate. This part of the job would require sexy dressing and flirtatious interaction with me and my partner, as well as sexual interaction. You will have to be comfortable doing this with us.

If you think you’re comfortable so far, please let me know and we can proceed with the process.

The next step is to set up an interview. When are you available to interview? I am free to interview today. Please let me know what your availability is.

Lastly, we’ve actually hired a couple of girls in the past for this position. But they have not been able to handle the sexual aspect of the job later. We have to be sure you’re comfortable with that aspect, because I don’t want you to do anything that you’re not comfortable with. So since that time, we’ve decided that as part of the interview process you’ll be required to perform for us sexually (i didn’t do this before with the other girls i hired, now i think i have to because they couldn’t handle it). Because that aspect is an integral part of the job, I think it’s necessary to see if you can do that, because it’ll predict future behavior of you being able to handle it when you have the job.

If you’re still okay with everything, let me know what you’re availability is and we can figure out a time for you to come in and interview. Let me know. Thanks for your interest.

[http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/10/22/illinois-lawyer-in-hot-water-over-lurid-craigslist-posting/]

Lawyers re: Halston

"Let’s visualize for a moment a bunch of lawyers in court armed with all sorts of pictures of versions of this dress trying to arguing about the definition of ’substantially similar’ and whether or not it applies. “But they’re all wrap dresses!” “But the new Halston is not a ‘wrap’ dress!” “But this one is short!” “But this one is plaid!” (A copyright lawyer for the fashion industry pointed out to me with the smug superiority that only a lawyer can have that this phrase is what ‘clarified’ this proposed law and made it viable.)

Where do we draw the line? And given that fashion, by definition, is such a rapidly expanding, moving, morphing target, this line will have to be drawn over and over again, for each trial. Since human female bodies, with their two legs, two arms, two breasts and a torso are pretty ’substantially similar’, take a look at the slopers in basic patternmaking texts and note the similarity of those. What makes a design truly superior to the knock off are the subtle differences in proportion and fit painstakingly created by shaving or adding those 1/4 inch here and 1/8 inch there. When you take printed fabric design out of the equation (currently the only thing protected under the copyright law and where my lawyer friend makes her living) and compare the flat pattern of a designer piece to the crummy autoCAD generated knock off in Forever 21, any substantial similarities on a dress form devolve into confusing technical nuance. This, my friends, is no territory for lawyers."

[http://collectiveselection.com/?p=289]