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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
The fine line between ethics, free speech
Dear Jim, I have
some relatives living in
Savannah. They have
been telling me about the
Port Wentworth sugar
refinery fire and how
devastating it has been
for the local community.
They have also told me
that lawyers, even from
out-of-state, are adver
tising about suing. Why
can’t a community mourn
without having attorneys
acting like this?
Dear Readers, Attorneys
struggle mightily with this
very issue. What does the
profession collectively do to
stop such callousness? What
do we, as individual attor
neys, do in structuring our
marketing practices?
Your observation shines a
light on the nebulous zone
between ethics and consti
tutionally-protected free
Exploring the three questions of strategy
This week, about a
dozen professional
coaches and I spoke
with Dr. Laurence Lyons, the
most highly regarded execu
tive coach in Great Britain
(www.lslyons.com). To pre
pare for the conversation,
I read his contributions to
Coaching for Leadership,
a collection of essays by
respected executive coaches
from around the world.
Among his comments, Dr.
Lyons’ spent a few moments
addressing the three ques
tions of strategy:
• Where are we now?
• Where do we want to be
at some specific future time?
• How do we get there?
Consultants and coaches
keep these three questions
in mind as they serve their
clients. If you’ve not given
thought to these questions
recently in your organiza
tion, I invite you to do so.
My appreciation for these
three aspects of organization
al planning were enhanced a
few days later as I spoke with
a colleague named James
“Rip” Rainey. Rip is a pilot,
and he related the questions
to filing a flight plan with the
air traffic controllers.
Where are we now? A
pilot starts the flight plan by
identifying the airport where
the takeoff will occur.
Identifying where your
organization is at any point
in time is likely not as easy.
IMPACT
From page lA
more locations, including
one near the Georgia nation
al Fairgrounds, one in the
Houston Springs area, and
- still later - one near Kings
Chapel and Arena Roads and
one on Langston Road.
City council members also
are considering funding the
development of additional
parks through impact fees,
which can only be used for
land acquisition and build
ings - not for ongoing opera
tions.
Ron Cooper, speaking for
the realtors and builders,
told the council that impact
fees would hinder industri
al growth. He argued that
industries seeking new sites
would learn on the Internet
that Perry had impact fees
and would not even consider
coming here. He also said
that Perry already had the
highest permitting fees and
highest millage rate of the
area.
The Impact Fee Advisor
Committee, which has voted
not to have impact fees, made
recommendations earlier in
case the impact fees were
voted in anyway. These, as
reported by City Planner
Mike Beecham, included
limiting the expenditures to
one fire station with appa
ratus and not funding any
parks.
Realtor Scott Free, who is
a member of the committee,
said that he did not think
the parks that Perry already
has were being used, but also
argued that with the trend
toward building Planned
Unit Developments, devel
The'Law'Man
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Jim
Rockefeller
Attorney,
Rockefeller
Law Center
speech. In past columns, I
have discussed free speech
issues, observing how this
right is integral to our suc
cess as a country.
We are currently in the
midst of a presidential
election where the nexus
between controlling how
money affects our govern
ment and speech can be at
odds with each other. Many
are very unhappy with
attempts to control how
money is raised and spent in
Building Future Leaders
f i
Dennis
Hooper
Leadership
Development
Coach
Most of us believe we can
describe “current state” easi
ly, but accuracy is often quite
difficult to achieve.
A skilled individual can
conduct an organizational
assessment by interviewing
a cross-section of the employ
ees. I prefer to utilize ques
tions drawn from the crite
ria for the National Quality
Award (www.quality.nist.
gov). This allows the leaders
to compare their organization
against a legitimate defini
tion of excellence. Typically,
the results of an assessment
include some significant sur
prises.
Where do we want the
organization to be at
some specified time in the
future? The pilot includes
in the flight plan a destina
tion airport and an estimated
time of arrival.
An amazing number of
leaders have a difficult time
expressing their desired
organizational future state.
One of your primary jobs
as a leader is to set your
"We will miss him
as a friend and as a
concerned citizen."
- Perry Mayor Jim Worrall, on
E.L. Lewis who passed away last
week
opers were already including
green space and recreational
» Ms 1
— <... •
Wayne Morris Ford
Welcomes Steve Aragona to
their Sales Team. Steve invites
all of his friends and customers
to give him a call for the
“Best Deal in Middle Georgia!”
WAYNE MOflfllS
1-75 to EXIT 136 IN PERRY
(478) 987-2411
CO/VWIENT ARY
Federal elections, and sneer
of the so-called “McCain-
Feingold” bill to control the
flow of money in presidential
elections. Frankly, most of
these attempts have failed
to accomplish much of any
thing because the United
States Supreme Court, since
considering post-Watergate
finance campaign laws, has
pretty consistently equated
money with speech and made
it difficult to regulate the
financing of political cam
paigns and advertising.
This is the same problem
we in the legal profession
face, e.g., money is speech. For
example, the State of Florida
Bar Association has adopted
professional rules requiring
all television advertisemepts
to be screened by the State
Bar. That rule is now being
challenged in Court and I
predict it will be struck down
organization’s direction and
articulate a vision of “what
could be.”
Your colleagues will engage
their creativity and power
to move forward into the
future only to the extent they
can imagine the improved
state that will exist when
they arrive there! Your job
as leader is to inspire their
imaginations.
How do we move our
organization toward that
future state? The pilot’s
flight plan includes the antic
ipated altitude, speed, and
direction. (Not every flight
is a straight line - weather
and restricted air space may
require the trip to be com
posed of two or more seg
ments).
Organizationally, the stra
tegic planning process iden
tifies behavioral initiatives
that will move the organi
zation toward its vision of
“what could be.” Deploying
and gaining alignment to
these initiatives is another
of the leader’s responsibili
ties.
Have you recently consid
ered these three questions
for your organization? Maybe
this article will stimulate you
to evaluate your organiza
tion’s current health and the
clarity of its future direction.
Rarely does a pilot’s flight
plan last longer than a few
hours. Your organization
al plan will hopefully last
parks in their subdivisions.
Also at the meeting, Mayor
Jim Worrall spoke in honor
of E.L. Lewis, who died last
week, honoring Lewis for his
dedication to the community
and his attendance at count
less city council meetings.
“We will miss him as a
friend and as a concerned
citizen,” the mayor said.
as unconstitutional censor
ing of free speech.
Similarly, judicial raises,
which should be about the
law and judicial tempera
ment, are no longer quite
so “high-minded.” Judicial
ethical rules circumscribing
what candidates can say in
elections have been oblit
erated by the right to free
speech.
Still, there are a fairly
complicated web of rules
governing how attorneys
may advertise. The overrid
ing principal is that the pub
lic is entitled to be informed
of its legal rights through
advertisements. However,
lawyers may not “make any
false, fraudulent, deceptive,
or misleading communica
tion about the lawyer or the
lawyer’s services.” Also, any
direct mailing to a prospec
tive client, such as a direct
much longer! The realities
of leading an organization
in today’s world require that
you continuously reevaluate
where you are, where you are
headed, and how your orga
nization will move in that
direction.
Dr. Laurence Lyons sug
gested that one of the func
tions of a good coach is to
help leaders evaluate these
three questions for their
organizations.
As a certified leadership
development coach, Dennis
Hooper helps leaders move
their organizations toward
excellence by developing the
capabilities of future lead
ers. Call Dennis at 478-
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Sizzling Steaks
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I*7B Exit 138’ 987*8877
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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2008 ♦
mail campaign, must clearly
label the media as “adver
tisement.”
Finally, lawyers are pro
hibited from directly contact
ing victims of an accident or
natural disaster for thirty
(30) days. This last rule is
designed to protect individ
ual solicitation, but it does
not encompass television or
radio appeals. Thus, if I am
driving by a car wreck, I
am prohibited from stopping
and handing out my busi
ness card. Sadly, there are
many unscrupulous lawyers
who have surrogates doing
this for them.
As a lawyer, I recognize
that marketing is as impor
tant to me as it is to the
local restaurant or retail out
let. News of my reputation
(good or bad) only reaches
so many people. Yet, I have
had many clients who origi
988-0237, or e-mail him at dhooper2@juno.com
Assessing Your
Leadership Skills
-SBS/person
r I
-
A Safeguard Worth Noticing
In this country, politicians understand that the more you
know about government, the better oil we all are. So. they
created public notices to be printed in the newspaper.
Georgia’s newspapers go one step further and also make
public notices, from all 159 counties in the state, available in a
free and searchable database online. It’s fast. It’s easy.
It Serves The Public’s Right To Know.
GeorgiaPublicNotice.com
159153
Georgia Statewide Database of Public Notices
nally hired“TV attorneys”
and found them lacking.
Unfortunately, I really don’t
have any easy response to
your observation. There are
tasteless ads and then there
are lawyers who use vari
ous media, like TV to reach
a wider audience. All I can
do is apologize for the base
activities of my brethren in
Port Wentworth who failed
to recognize the line they
clearly crossed.
Local attorney Jim
Rockefeller owns the
Rockefeller Law Center and
is a former Houston County
Chief Assistant District
Attorney, and a former
Miami Prosecutor. E-mail
confidential legal questions
to ajr@rockefellerlawcenter.
com. Visit www.rockefeller
lawcenter.com for Frequently
Asked Questions and Jim’s
blog, The Rockefeller Report.
F. Dennis Hooper
Certified
Leadership Development Coach
Building leaders and
organizations of excellence
(478) 988-0237
5A
57016
dhooper2(ajuno.com'
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