In the spirit of “Miracle on 34th Street,” in which a Macy’s Santa famously sends a shopper to its rival department store Gimbels (R.I.P.), I’d like to direct readers to run, not walk, over to Popehat, the witty and cantankerous blog that often covers similar territory as Ethics Alarms. There Ken, a practicing lawyer, has penned as strong an essay on ethical issues as you are likely to encounter. Writing about an unethical marketer’s outrageous tactics that included posing as a lawyer to intimidate bloggers, Ken powerfully expounds on the use of bogus lawsuit threats to stifle free speech and opinion on the web, and how to fight it.
This has been a continuing theme of his for a long time, to the point of qualifying as a crusade. It is a worthy crusade, and Ken, along with Popehat, is performing a public service with posts such as this one, colorfully entitled, in the Popehat fashion, “Junk Science And Marketeers and Legal Threats, Oh My!”
Good work, Ken.
I second Jack’s thought. That specific post is something that I think most of the personalities here can agree on.
That was delicious. I enjoyed it and the follow-up. I want more!
His followup was even better.
http://www.popehat.com/2011/12/07/tell-me-about-the-rabbit-marc-stephens/
Why thank you, sir.
My problem is that “Ken” uses everyone else’s real name, calls them out, marks them but he hides his identity. It just makes him seem like a coward. Isn’t Ken = Kenneth P. White? Own it. Why not?
As you have demonstrated, he’s not exactly hiding—anyone who wants to know his name can find out easily. He is a professional and a lawyer, and wants to keep his professional life and blogger activities separate.I’m not sure it’s worth the effort, but remember that a lawyer’s personal opinions have nothing to do with the cases he takes on. Lawyers have an absolute right to express any opinion as long as it doesn’t interfere with serving their clients. If Ken feels that not putting his whole name front and center provides some protection of his clients in this regard, I’m not going to challenge that.