October 21, 2016 nº 1,803 - Vol. 13

"If you don't get noticed, you don't have anything. You just have to be noticed, but the art is in getting noticed naturally, without screaming or without tricks."

Leo Burnett

In today's Law Firm Marketing, The enviable marketing position that's yours for the taking

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• Top News

Bank legal costs cited as drag on economic growth

A heightened emphasis by banking regulators and law-enforcement officials on financial misconduct may be constraining global growth. Legal expenses are among the burdens weighing on banks, policy makers say. The roughly $275 billion in legal costs for global banks since 2008 translates into more than $5 trillion of reduced lending capacity to the real economy. Policy makers have expressed concern that strict crackdowns on banks' lapses in carrying out anti-money-laundering regulations have led banks to nearly cut off several emerging markets from the global financial system, damping their economies. The International Monetary Fund, in particular, has sounded that alarm repeatedly this year and held a conference highlighting the issue at its annual meeting in early October. Regulators say the fines and their enforcement actions reflect widespread misconduct in the industry, and that the way to reduce compliance costs is for banks to improve their behavior. Indeed, the event focused largely on new strategies that governments could adopt to further pressure banks to alter practices to better comply with existing laws.

Lawsuit over cellphones and cancer hits a stumbling block

An appeals court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday dealt a setback to a long-running lawsuit against the wireless industry over health concerns surrounding cellphones, deciding that a different legal standard for evidence should have been applied. The decision by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals will further prolong the litigation, initially filed in 2001, as plaintiffs must now produce arguments on why previously submitted evidence should continue to be included under the new standard. Jeffrey Morganroth, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said they wouldn’t back down, and that the ruling may even help get new testimony included. The lawsuit, Murray v. Motorola, has been combined with more than a dozen other cases involving brain tumors and cellphones. Defendants include Apple Inc., AT&T Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and Verizon Communications Inc. Plaintiffs seek more than $1.9 billion in damages. At least eight plaintiffs have died since the first case was filed.

'Turing's Law' will pardon thousands of men convicted in UK for being gay

Thousands of gay and bisexual men convicted under Britain's now-defunct sexual offense laws will be posthumously pardoned. The Ministry of Justice announced the proposed amendment Thursday that would posthumously pardon thousands convicted under those outdated laws. The so-called "Turing's Law" would also allow those who are living to apply to have their names removed from criminal records. Lord John Sharkey, the man behind the amendment, called the development "momentous" and said that of the 65,000 men convicted under the laws, 15,000 are still alive. The UK justice minister also hailed the proposal. "It is hugely important that we pardon people convicted of historical sexual offences who would be innocent of any crime today," Justice Minister Sam Gyimah said. The pardon plan has been named after the British mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing, who played a crucial role in cracking Nazi Germany's Enigma code, greatly helping the Allies reduce casualties and accelerate the end of the war. Homosexual acts were not decriminalized in England and Wales until 1967. The laws were changed in Scotland in 1980 and in Northern Ireland two years later. Other members of Parliament are backing a more expansive measure that would not require people to apply for the pardon. The UK justice minister said he is not supporting that idea. (Click here)

EU top court rules website operators can store visitors' IP addresses

The European Court of Justice ruled Wednesday that a website operator is legally permitted to store visitors' Internet protocol addresses (IP addresses) because they have a legitimate interest in protecting themselves against cyber attacks. Under EU law, personal information can be processed if it is necessary to accomplish a legitimate objective and if it does not override the person's fundamental freedoms. The ruling is also applicable to some dynamic IP addresses, which are IP addresses that change with every change in Internet connection. The court found that a dynamic IP address is personal data if the website operator is also able to obtain additional information from the visitor through the internet service provider.

Hedge funds hurt as investors remove $28 billion in 3 months

It has been a bruising year for hedge funds. Big bets have been disastrous, investors have voiced discontent and some managers have been forced to rewrite their playbooks or call it quits. And now, there is new data to rub salt into the industry's wounds: Over the last three months, investors pulled $28 billion out of hedge funds, according to the research firm Hedge Fund Research. It is the biggest quarterly outflow of dollars since the depths of the financial crisis in 2009. So far this year, more than $50 billion has flowed out of hedge funds — much of that from the industry's biggest and best-known hedge funds.

• Crumbs

1 - White House seeks to answer complaints of aggrieved air travelers - click here.

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• MiMIC Journal

US seeks clarity on Duterte 'separation' comments

The US has said it will seek clarity on the Philippine president's announcement of a "separation from the US". Rodrigo Duterte made the comments in China on Thursday at an economic forum, saying the separation applied to military and economic co-operation. US State Department said the remarks were "at odds" with the "close relationship" shared by the countries. This is not the first mention of a separation from the US by Duterte.

China's internet stars embrace lowbrow — and aim for high profits

China's Internet stars are widely panned as vulgar, vapid and materialistic. But China's fierce demand for online content is helping the newly minted celebs to surpass A-list movie stars in earnings.

• Law Firm Marketing

The enviable marketing position that's yours for the taking
By Tom Trush

Legendary copywriter Gary Bencivenga recommends what I believe is the ultimate barometer for testing any marketing piece.

While his suggestion specifically focuses on advertising, there's little chance the responses to your marketing materials won't improve when you apply it. The truth is, however, few people will dedicate the effort required to create promotional pieces that meet the high standard Gary suggests.

This is good news for you because it presents an incredible opportunity.

But before I explain why, here's Gary's advice:

Make your advertising too valuable to throw away.

The concept is simple, but the execution is anything but easy.

You see, too often marketing is viewed as a repetitive practice of placing logos, product descriptions and prices, facts about services, and contact information in as many locations as possible -- actions that rely on blind luck and do little to address what prospects truly want.

To make your marketing materials valuable, you must create exceptional content. Fortunately, you have the ability to deliver unlimited value to your prospects by giving them information that helps address their problems related to your product or service.

In turn, each time you share your knowledge, you further establish yourself as an authority in your industry. And wouldn't you agree people prefer working with experts they know, like and trust?

So don't wait around for someone to designate you an expert. Grab that title today -- it's your position!

You don't need a large audience ... you don't need a big budget ... you don't need any special equipment or training ...

You just need the guts to give advice (even better if in a public setting), share what you know and demonstrate why you are an authority.

Remember, each time you start writing a marketing piece, you begin with a blank document -- a virtual piece of paper that's worthless.

However, as you add words, the value increases based on the knowledge you share. The more you reveal, the greater the value.

Tom Trush is available at https://www.writewaysolutions.com.

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© Trey Ryder
FREE LAWYER MARKETING ALERT: If you'd like to receive Trey Ryder's weekly Lawyer Marketing Alert, send an e-mail to [email protected]. Write "Subscribe LMA" in the subject line and write your name and e-mail address in the body of the message.

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• Historia Verdadera

La Fiscalía de Brasil acusó de homicidio calificado a 21 personas por 19 muertes en la ruptura de un dique de contención de residuos mineros de la compañía Samarco el 5/11/2015. Samarco es una empresa conjunta de la brasileña Vale y de la anglo-australiana BHP Billiton, que operaba una reserva minera en Mariana, en el estado de Minas Gerais (sureste). (Presione aquí)

The European Court of Justice ruled Wednesday that Germany's price floor for prescription drugs violates free trade. Germany currently has a statutory scheme for medical insurance in which patients pay some out of pocket for prescriptions. However, foreign medical providers, such as Dutch pharmacies, found loopholes around the statutory scheme in order to pay additional costs for patients going around the price minimum. Germany, seeking to stop such practices, attempted to pass the price floor, but the EU, unconvinced that the price floor would accomplish such a goal, struck it down as unfair to fair trade in particular with foreign governments. Germany related that the government would review the holding and its implications. (Click here)

Apple has complained of a "flood" of counterfeit goods masquerading as its products being sold on Amazon.com. The claim relates to items sold via Amazon's "fulfilment" scheme, whereby third parties list their goods on the retail giant's site, store their inventory in its warehouses and rely on it for deliveries. Apple warns the alleged fakes are potentially life-threatening. But it is suing one of the vendors rather than Amazon itself. (Click here)

An administrative court in Lille, France, on Tuesday rejected requests from almost a dozen aid groups and permitted the closure process of the "Jungle" migrant camp near Calais to continue. President François Hollande has promised closure of the camp as pressure for such a result grows while the April election approaches, and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve stated that the demolition project is only days away. The groups were seeking postponement of the closure in order to better organize relocation of the migrants, but the court determined that the closure seeks to prevent inhuman treatment that migrants are currently subjected to at the camp. While another concern was the transport of unaccompanied minors, the transfers are to be done pursuant to the Dublin Regulations, which in part governs family reunification. (Click here)