TheCorporateCounsel.net

I know that Liz was incredibly grateful for the outpouring of good wishes that she received when she blogged about her career transition.  You folks were wonderful – and she deserved every bit of the praise you gave her. I told her that if she felt like Sally Field at the Oscars after reading your emails, that’s because she should. I’ve definitely got some very big shoes to fill.

As I read through the messages that Liz shared with us, I got the impression that a lot of people thought that Liz wasn’t going to be around much anymore. That’s decidedly NOT the case. Liz will continue in the blogging rotation, she’ll help organize and moderate some webcasts, and she’ll also be involved in helping me with our Proxy Disclosure and Executive Compensation Conference. So, from our members’ perspective, I don’t think a lot is going to change in terms of Liz’s role here – and we’re as happy about that as you are.

Liz did seem particularly anxious to ensure that she was involved in planning for next year’s Conference, although for the life of me, I don’t know why.  You may not know this because I’m not one to brag, but I was the mastermind behind the1997 Cleveland Securities Law Institute. As I’m sure you know, that epic event has been described as “The Woodstock of flyover state bar association sponsored securities law conferences held in markets too small to get anybody from the SEC to speak.”  People still talk about the set of coasters emblazoned with the Cleveland Bar Association’s logo that we gave away as speaker’s gifts.  Ah, glory days. . .  

I’m also more than a little relieved that Liz will continue to be a part of the team, because frankly, the transition has been a little rocky. First, management shot down what I viewed as an entirely reasonable request to change the title of my new position from “Managing Editor” to “Emperor of the Editors.”  Then, I proposed a couple of much needed reforms to improve the discipline and esprit de corps of the editorial team. Nothing major – just a daily 6:00 am Zoom meeting for calisthenics and a mandatory dress code for working from home. Regrettably, these reform proposals have not been well received.

Liz did caution me about not making drastic changes, but gee whiz, I didn’t consider any of this stuff to be drastic, and I admit that I was kind of bummed out by the reaction to my administration’s reforms. But then this morning I thought of something that I can do to celebrate my newly elevated station in life without needing management’s approval or buy-in from my editorial colleagues. When I was in college, one of my history profs shared an anecdote about Bavaria’s legendary “Mad King Ludwig.”  Apparently, in one of his less lucid moments, Ludwig forgot that he was the king.  When his advisors informed him that he was, his response was something like “I am King? Very well, then I shall have noodles for lunch.”

So now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a package of ramen to boil.

– John Jenkins