Today is a day I treat much like Memorial Day, with the difference that I’m not uncomfortable about receiving greetings today. (Memorial Day is for fallen servicemembers; I’m not in that category nor have I been in harm’s way. Many others have; think of them today.

This LinkedIn question asked about mission drift for non-profits. There are a couple different layers of answer, depending on what’s going on and who’s asking. First, the fundamental concern: will the change of mission jeopardize nonprofit status (and that typically means jeopardize 501(c)(3) status, which means deductibility of donations by donors)? The answer depends on…

This interesting Neuromarketing post on a proposed Australian law to eviscerate the branding value of cigarette packaging is a doozy. Separate from the inherent interest in the notion that the pack may be far more powerful than the cigarette (and I like both Why We Buy and Call of the Mall by Paco Underhill as…

What would Supreme Court originalism look like in other disciplines? This delightful little post is sort of an originalist approach to geography.

Today I was asked about my recent Five-minute lawyer series of posts. To me, these sorts of posts add lots of value for readers who have these questions at little real detriment to me; after all, I already know the answers to these general questions. Is sharing knowledge a good strategy? I obviously think so,…

A manager recently asked how he could go about reconciling his implementation of cultural changes that enhanced the teamwork of his department in the face of corporate-level directives that didn’t support, if not detract from, his plans. This manager did not understand why this company did not want to support his ideas and why employees,…

Gina Trapani, formerly of Lifehacker, recently posted this picture and the accompanying text. It’s a short set of rules that are, in effect, a simple team SOP (standard operating procedure). With even a small set of agreements about how they will operate, expectations and execution will more closely match up. When these rules are known…

This boingboing post refers to two compounds as “powerful yet nontoxic” and “safe.” Luckily the commenters are smarter and note the fact that sodium hydroxide, conveniently labeled as NaOH for those who passed high school chemisty, is LYE. Ugh. Not recommended. Knowledge is not a dangerous thing. Stupidity is dangerous. Thinking you have knowledge is…

The WSJ Law Blog recently noted a suggestion by — that law firms reduce starting salaries for their lawyers in exchange for some sort of (read: unenforceable) promise to keep things together for some period of time. There are a range of problems that I see with this proposal, and here are some suggestions as…

Eliminate words no one uses from your writing to make it flow more smoothly.