Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) General Manager Floyd Mandiwa on Friday said that his institution was determined to gradually eliminate the shortage of housing in the country by constructing a minimum of 5,000 houses by 2012.
The institution also intends to construct and develop over 6,000 plots, 16 flats and 17 halls of residences across the country.
He told APA in Lilongwe that although the MHC had made tangible efforts to address the problem through the provision of houses and serviced plots, the majority of urban dwellers continued to look for accommodation in traditional housing areas due to lower rental charges and easy availability of housing.
“This time we would like to facilitate and provide habitable houses through plot development, construction and maintenance in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner,” he said.
Currently, he said, the institution was maintaining a total of over 6000 houses nationwide.
Friday, 12 September 2008
Irrigation Promises to Increase Food Security
Wyson Chandanga, a small-holder Malawian farmer from the northern district of Mzimba, does not care if the country receives enough rain this year. He is also not concerned on whether the rains come on time or not.
Chandanga's attitude is at first surprising, since Malawi is an agricultural economy which greatly depends on rain-fed farming. The country derives up to 70 percent of its foreign exchange revenue from agricultural production and 85 percent of the country's population depend on the same sector for their livelihood.
However, Chandanga says adverse weather, including erratic rains, experienced in the country in recent years, has persuaded him to find ways to reduce his dependence on rainfall.
Malawi has recently experienced three major episodes of drought; one in 1991, another in 2000 and the most recent happened in 2005. The country has also faced major flooding in some parts of the country -- last year, half of Malawi's 28 districts were hit by heavy flooding and most crops were swept away.
Looking dirty and tired but content after finishing a day's work cultivating his plot of land, Chandanga declares that he will be a more successful farmer now that he no longer cares for the rains.
"I have now ventured into irrigation farming and I grow maize twice a year even in the dry season. I could only produce the staple food once in a year when I practiced rain-fed agriculture and the yield was not enough for my family," says the farmer.
Chandanga is one of the 29,000 farmers being assisted by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to intensify farm production by developing small-scale irrigation systems and water harvesting schemes in Malawi's northern region.
The farmers are being trained to improve food security, diversify sources of household income, prevent waterborne diseases in water points and pit latrines, improve their dietary intake and conserve natural resources, according to FAO communications officer Muwuso Chawinga.
"Up to 90 percent of Malawi's agriculture is rain-fed but we need to diversify into more irrigation farming practices if we have to attain food security for the country," says Chawinga.
Seven out of 10 households in Malawi typically run out of food before the harvesting season, mainly because of drought and floods, according to Chawinga. "It is therefore important that the country should now be maximising on all the seasons and grow their crops even in the dry season and avoid the drought or flooding which may destroy their crops," says Chawinga.
The irrigation programme, which only started in January this year, is already showing signs of having promoted crop diversification in a country that is highly reliant on maize as a staple food. Chandanga, for example, is now also cultivating potatoes, beans and rice to supplement the maize that he has been growing.
Masuzgo Jere, who is also cultivating on a small piece of irrigated land, says she has already harvested enough maize this year to feed her family of five; most farmers are yet to even plant a first crop as they await the rains. She expects to bring in two more crops before April next year, which is when the country harvests maize from the rain-fed agricultural system.
"I not only manage to feed my family, I also sell the surplus food I grow. My family is now regarded as well-off by members of my community," says Jere.
The farmers involved in the irrigation project are provided with treadle pumps and water pipes which they use to pump water through canals from dams, rivers and streams closest to them.
Apart from irrigation, the farmers are being taught skills in water management, development of agro-business, promotion of afforestation and natural resource conservation.
"Our children are not left behind in this since we are also developing garden-based learning centres in primary schools. This is forming part of the agriculture lessons and it will ensure sustainability of the project since the kids will grow with the knowledge on the importance of irrigation farming," says Jere.
The irrigation programme was kick-started following a Poverty Rural Assessment (PRA) exercise which FAO carried out in May 2007. The assessment highlighted low crop yield and low income levels among rural households - the findings were mostly attributed to lack of irrigation opportunities, erratic rainfall and drought.
Malawi is only irrigating 72,000 of 400,000 hectares of irrigable land, according to the government. However the country's president Bingu wa Mutharika, who is also Minister of Agriculture, told reporters at an August press conference that government is creating a "green belt" along Lake Malawi, which will entail the creation of irrigation schemes along the lake. Lake Malawi is a fresh water lake -- the ninth largest lake in the world, it extends the length of the country.
Small-holder farmers will be assisted by government to establish irrigation schemes along the lake. In Malawi's 2008/2009 national budget, the allocation to the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development has been increased by 50 percent to $55 million.
"The funds will be used in the ministry's development programme, considered to be crucial for the attainment of food security. This year, (the programme) is expected to construct some 16 earth dams in addition to 20 that have been constructed so far," said the country's Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe when he presented the budget statement.
The Ministry of Agriculture has since indicated that the country is expected to produce up to 300,000 tonnes of maize from irrigation by November. The country usually receives its first rains between November and December.
Chandanga's attitude is at first surprising, since Malawi is an agricultural economy which greatly depends on rain-fed farming. The country derives up to 70 percent of its foreign exchange revenue from agricultural production and 85 percent of the country's population depend on the same sector for their livelihood.
However, Chandanga says adverse weather, including erratic rains, experienced in the country in recent years, has persuaded him to find ways to reduce his dependence on rainfall.
Malawi has recently experienced three major episodes of drought; one in 1991, another in 2000 and the most recent happened in 2005. The country has also faced major flooding in some parts of the country -- last year, half of Malawi's 28 districts were hit by heavy flooding and most crops were swept away.
Looking dirty and tired but content after finishing a day's work cultivating his plot of land, Chandanga declares that he will be a more successful farmer now that he no longer cares for the rains.
"I have now ventured into irrigation farming and I grow maize twice a year even in the dry season. I could only produce the staple food once in a year when I practiced rain-fed agriculture and the yield was not enough for my family," says the farmer.
Chandanga is one of the 29,000 farmers being assisted by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to intensify farm production by developing small-scale irrigation systems and water harvesting schemes in Malawi's northern region.
The farmers are being trained to improve food security, diversify sources of household income, prevent waterborne diseases in water points and pit latrines, improve their dietary intake and conserve natural resources, according to FAO communications officer Muwuso Chawinga.
"Up to 90 percent of Malawi's agriculture is rain-fed but we need to diversify into more irrigation farming practices if we have to attain food security for the country," says Chawinga.
Seven out of 10 households in Malawi typically run out of food before the harvesting season, mainly because of drought and floods, according to Chawinga. "It is therefore important that the country should now be maximising on all the seasons and grow their crops even in the dry season and avoid the drought or flooding which may destroy their crops," says Chawinga.
The irrigation programme, which only started in January this year, is already showing signs of having promoted crop diversification in a country that is highly reliant on maize as a staple food. Chandanga, for example, is now also cultivating potatoes, beans and rice to supplement the maize that he has been growing.
Masuzgo Jere, who is also cultivating on a small piece of irrigated land, says she has already harvested enough maize this year to feed her family of five; most farmers are yet to even plant a first crop as they await the rains. She expects to bring in two more crops before April next year, which is when the country harvests maize from the rain-fed agricultural system.
"I not only manage to feed my family, I also sell the surplus food I grow. My family is now regarded as well-off by members of my community," says Jere.
The farmers involved in the irrigation project are provided with treadle pumps and water pipes which they use to pump water through canals from dams, rivers and streams closest to them.
Apart from irrigation, the farmers are being taught skills in water management, development of agro-business, promotion of afforestation and natural resource conservation.
"Our children are not left behind in this since we are also developing garden-based learning centres in primary schools. This is forming part of the agriculture lessons and it will ensure sustainability of the project since the kids will grow with the knowledge on the importance of irrigation farming," says Jere.
The irrigation programme was kick-started following a Poverty Rural Assessment (PRA) exercise which FAO carried out in May 2007. The assessment highlighted low crop yield and low income levels among rural households - the findings were mostly attributed to lack of irrigation opportunities, erratic rainfall and drought.
Malawi is only irrigating 72,000 of 400,000 hectares of irrigable land, according to the government. However the country's president Bingu wa Mutharika, who is also Minister of Agriculture, told reporters at an August press conference that government is creating a "green belt" along Lake Malawi, which will entail the creation of irrigation schemes along the lake. Lake Malawi is a fresh water lake -- the ninth largest lake in the world, it extends the length of the country.
Small-holder farmers will be assisted by government to establish irrigation schemes along the lake. In Malawi's 2008/2009 national budget, the allocation to the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development has been increased by 50 percent to $55 million.
"The funds will be used in the ministry's development programme, considered to be crucial for the attainment of food security. This year, (the programme) is expected to construct some 16 earth dams in addition to 20 that have been constructed so far," said the country's Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe when he presented the budget statement.
The Ministry of Agriculture has since indicated that the country is expected to produce up to 300,000 tonnes of maize from irrigation by November. The country usually receives its first rains between November and December.
Comair's Malawi Venture 'Part of Africa Expansion'
AIRLINE group Comair's talks with the Malawian government to buy a stake in Air Malawi are part of the group's plans to expand in Africa.
"We see opportunities to work with progressive governments in Africa that realise that they don't need to own their national airline and that they can benefit from the expertise we offer," Gidon Novick, joint CEO of Comair, said yesterday.
Novick said the intention was to set up a new airline in Malawi. Talks between the two parties had been going for more than a year and were progressing well. However, there was still a lot of detail to be thrashed out, including the size of the stake and the capital required to relaunch the struggling airline.
Malawi's deputy transport minister Roy Commsy this week said the government had agreed to sell a 49% stake in the airline to Comair. "Comair wanted 80% but we have insisted that they get 49% and we believe that this is in the best interest of the nation," he said.
The government, which decided to sell Air Malawi in 2000, has said Comair's share in the airline will gradually grow to 80% and the government will guarantee loans for the new company through the issuance of bonds.
Comair has its eye on other opportunities on the continent and was in talks to take over the management of Air Botswana.
"We see opportunities to work with progressive governments in Africa that realise that they don't need to own their national airline and that they can benefit from the expertise we offer," Gidon Novick, joint CEO of Comair, said yesterday.
Novick said the intention was to set up a new airline in Malawi. Talks between the two parties had been going for more than a year and were progressing well. However, there was still a lot of detail to be thrashed out, including the size of the stake and the capital required to relaunch the struggling airline.
Malawi's deputy transport minister Roy Commsy this week said the government had agreed to sell a 49% stake in the airline to Comair. "Comair wanted 80% but we have insisted that they get 49% and we believe that this is in the best interest of the nation," he said.
The government, which decided to sell Air Malawi in 2000, has said Comair's share in the airline will gradually grow to 80% and the government will guarantee loans for the new company through the issuance of bonds.
Comair has its eye on other opportunities on the continent and was in talks to take over the management of Air Botswana.
Malawi’s Flames to play Bafana named
Seven South African-based players have been included in Malawi’s squad for an international friendly against Bafana Bafana at Germiston Stadium on September 30.
The players are:
* Joseph Kamwendo (Orlando Pirates),
* Swadwick Sanudi (Dynamos),
* Peter Mponda (Black Leopards),
* Moses Chavula (Nathi Lions),
* Robert Ng’ambi (Black Leopards),
* Tawonga Chimodzi (Santos) and
* Jimmy Zakazaka (Bay United).
The team, which also includes the former Jomo Cosmos duo of Esau Kanyenda (KamaZ, Russia) and Russel Mwafulirwa (IFK Norrkoping, Sweden), was named by Kinnah Phiri at a media briefing in Blantyre on Friday.
Phiri, former coach of Free State Stars, told Sowetan that they were using the friendly against South Africa to prepare themselves for the 2010 World Cup/ Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against DR Congo in Blantyre on October 11.
The new-look Flames need to beat the Congolese in order to qualify for finals of the biennial continental soccer show piece.
“We are geared up for the game against Bafana Bafana, which will help us a lot to identify the areas where we have to improve before facing the Congolese.”
The team to tour South Africa is:
Goalkeepers – Swadick Sanudi (Dynamos, South Africa), Trust Lunda (Bullets), Fiskani Mwafulirwa ( Civo United), Dave Mphaya (Escom United), Varis Kamzere (MTL Wanderers).
Defenders – Elvis Kafoteka, Jacob Ngwira (Escom United), Godfrey Banda, Lesley Tamutamu (Silver Strikers), Benard Kalirani, Harry Nyirenda, Foster Namwela (MTL Wanderers), Chiku Kanyenda (Bullets FC), James Sangala (free agent), Elias Tsabalaka (Escom United), Wisdom Ndlovu (Young Africans, Tanzania), Peter Mponda (Black Leopards, South Africa), Moses Chavula (Nathi Lions, South Africa).
Midfielders – Dave Banda (Red Lions), Charles Kalaile (Bullets), Clement Mvula (Tigers), Peter Mwenda (Eagle Strikers), Blessings Kawanga (Michiru Castles), Raquub Milanzi (Caps United, Zimbabwe), Joseph Kamwendo (Orlando Pirates), Robert Ng’ambi (Black Leopards), Tawonga Chimodzi (Engen Santos, South Africa), Noel Mkandawire (Escom United), Anthony Banda (Eagle Beaks), Chikondi Kadzombe (Molese, UK), Dan Chitsulo (Weiss Ahlen, Germany), Hellings Mwakasungula (unattached).
Strikers – Atusaye Nyondo (Silver Strikers), Chiukepo Msowoya, Zicco Mkanda, Peter Wadabwa (Escom United), Dickson Mbetewa (Pakeezah), Lusekelo Mwathengere (Civo United), Jimmy Zakazaka (Bay United, South Africa), Esau Kanyenda (KamaZ, Russia) and Russel Mwafulirwa (IFK Norrkoping, Sweden).
The players are:
* Joseph Kamwendo (Orlando Pirates),
* Swadwick Sanudi (Dynamos),
* Peter Mponda (Black Leopards),
* Moses Chavula (Nathi Lions),
* Robert Ng’ambi (Black Leopards),
* Tawonga Chimodzi (Santos) and
* Jimmy Zakazaka (Bay United).
The team, which also includes the former Jomo Cosmos duo of Esau Kanyenda (KamaZ, Russia) and Russel Mwafulirwa (IFK Norrkoping, Sweden), was named by Kinnah Phiri at a media briefing in Blantyre on Friday.
Phiri, former coach of Free State Stars, told Sowetan that they were using the friendly against South Africa to prepare themselves for the 2010 World Cup/ Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against DR Congo in Blantyre on October 11.
The new-look Flames need to beat the Congolese in order to qualify for finals of the biennial continental soccer show piece.
“We are geared up for the game against Bafana Bafana, which will help us a lot to identify the areas where we have to improve before facing the Congolese.”
The team to tour South Africa is:
Goalkeepers – Swadick Sanudi (Dynamos, South Africa), Trust Lunda (Bullets), Fiskani Mwafulirwa ( Civo United), Dave Mphaya (Escom United), Varis Kamzere (MTL Wanderers).
Defenders – Elvis Kafoteka, Jacob Ngwira (Escom United), Godfrey Banda, Lesley Tamutamu (Silver Strikers), Benard Kalirani, Harry Nyirenda, Foster Namwela (MTL Wanderers), Chiku Kanyenda (Bullets FC), James Sangala (free agent), Elias Tsabalaka (Escom United), Wisdom Ndlovu (Young Africans, Tanzania), Peter Mponda (Black Leopards, South Africa), Moses Chavula (Nathi Lions, South Africa).
Midfielders – Dave Banda (Red Lions), Charles Kalaile (Bullets), Clement Mvula (Tigers), Peter Mwenda (Eagle Strikers), Blessings Kawanga (Michiru Castles), Raquub Milanzi (Caps United, Zimbabwe), Joseph Kamwendo (Orlando Pirates), Robert Ng’ambi (Black Leopards), Tawonga Chimodzi (Engen Santos, South Africa), Noel Mkandawire (Escom United), Anthony Banda (Eagle Beaks), Chikondi Kadzombe (Molese, UK), Dan Chitsulo (Weiss Ahlen, Germany), Hellings Mwakasungula (unattached).
Strikers – Atusaye Nyondo (Silver Strikers), Chiukepo Msowoya, Zicco Mkanda, Peter Wadabwa (Escom United), Dickson Mbetewa (Pakeezah), Lusekelo Mwathengere (Civo United), Jimmy Zakazaka (Bay United, South Africa), Esau Kanyenda (KamaZ, Russia) and Russel Mwafulirwa (IFK Norrkoping, Sweden).
Malawi / U.S. Department of State Facilitates Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding
The Department of State today facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Government of Malawi (GOM), the Rodale Institute (RI) and Women’s Campaign International (WCI). The MOU facilitates the advancement of an innovative multi-sector partnership that addresses some of today’s most critical issues – food security, women’s empowerment and economic and environmental sustainability.
By teaching women leadership skills, as well as providing hands-on training in sustainable agriculture, the program will help women farmers in rural areas of Malawi to provide for their communities. It contains a number of key characteristics:
* Country Ownership – The GOM has been involved from the project’s initial design and will follow it through to completion. The program focus is not on aid but on generating self-sufficiency.
* Holistic Design – The program is designed to simultaneously address crucial needs of food security, women’s empowerment and environmental and economic sustainability.
* Leverage a Multi-Sector Approach – The program builds upon the inherent strengths of each of the partners to create a model that is stronger and more viable than either party could attempt alone.
* Partnership Pilot – This multi-sector partnership pilot can serve as a model for other rural communities within Malawi as well as for other countries facing similar challenges. The strength of the partnership model allows for flexibility in program design and nimbleness in response to changing conditions.
* Sustainability – The program aims to be both environmentally and economically sustainable by including organic methods of agriculture and train the trainer capacity.
* Top Management Support – The MOU enjoys the support of the senior leadership of the all parties to the agreement.
By teaching women leadership skills, as well as providing hands-on training in sustainable agriculture, the program will help women farmers in rural areas of Malawi to provide for their communities. It contains a number of key characteristics:
* Country Ownership – The GOM has been involved from the project’s initial design and will follow it through to completion. The program focus is not on aid but on generating self-sufficiency.
* Holistic Design – The program is designed to simultaneously address crucial needs of food security, women’s empowerment and environmental and economic sustainability.
* Leverage a Multi-Sector Approach – The program builds upon the inherent strengths of each of the partners to create a model that is stronger and more viable than either party could attempt alone.
* Partnership Pilot – This multi-sector partnership pilot can serve as a model for other rural communities within Malawi as well as for other countries facing similar challenges. The strength of the partnership model allows for flexibility in program design and nimbleness in response to changing conditions.
* Sustainability – The program aims to be both environmentally and economically sustainable by including organic methods of agriculture and train the trainer capacity.
* Top Management Support – The MOU enjoys the support of the senior leadership of the all parties to the agreement.
Improved sanitation keeps more girls in school in Malawi
DOWA, Malawi, 11 September 2008 – Eveless Mayenje purposefully walks to school knowing that she only has two terms before she goes to secondary school. At 18, she is much older than most of her classmates in the eighth grade. This does not in any way daunt her as she is focused on staying in school to be sure that she becomes a nurse.
School has not always been enjoyable though as, two years ago, Eveless had to drop out. When she reached puberty the school environment no longer offered her the protection and facilities she needed, such a separate latrines for girls.
"I decided to drop out. When I told my elder sister she laughed and told me that school is for boys and girls are for marriage," she explains.
Outreach activities
Two years at home did not change anything for Eveless. Her two sisters who had dropped out of school to get married came back home poorer than they had left. For Eveless, the only way out of poverty was to go to school so she could fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse. An outreach activity by the Kawale Primary School sanitation club gave her an opportunity to return to school.
"When we visit communities, we provide information on good hygiene and sanitation methods. Most villagers do not know the link between disease and poor hygienic methods," noted the patron of the Sanitation Club Alfred Mazibuko.
This awareness is conducted by members of the sanitation club who are pupils at the school. The members also impart this knowledge to fellow students during the morning assembly once a month.
It was at this meeting that Eveless realized that Kawale Primary School now had separate toilets for boys and girls courtesy of UNICEF.
Conducive to learning
This initiative is under the Child Friendly Schools package, an intervention that seeks to create an environment that is conducive to learning.
Under this package, Kawale Primary School was provided with a water point and ten toilets for boys and girls. As soon as these were built, a substantial rise in girls' enrollment was noted – up from 355 in 2007 to 404 in 2008.
This new friendly learning environment will perhaps make Eveless realize her dream of not only becoming a nurse but also becoming the first woman from her family to graduate from college.
School has not always been enjoyable though as, two years ago, Eveless had to drop out. When she reached puberty the school environment no longer offered her the protection and facilities she needed, such a separate latrines for girls.
"I decided to drop out. When I told my elder sister she laughed and told me that school is for boys and girls are for marriage," she explains.
Outreach activities
Two years at home did not change anything for Eveless. Her two sisters who had dropped out of school to get married came back home poorer than they had left. For Eveless, the only way out of poverty was to go to school so she could fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse. An outreach activity by the Kawale Primary School sanitation club gave her an opportunity to return to school.
"When we visit communities, we provide information on good hygiene and sanitation methods. Most villagers do not know the link between disease and poor hygienic methods," noted the patron of the Sanitation Club Alfred Mazibuko.
This awareness is conducted by members of the sanitation club who are pupils at the school. The members also impart this knowledge to fellow students during the morning assembly once a month.
It was at this meeting that Eveless realized that Kawale Primary School now had separate toilets for boys and girls courtesy of UNICEF.
Conducive to learning
This initiative is under the Child Friendly Schools package, an intervention that seeks to create an environment that is conducive to learning.
Under this package, Kawale Primary School was provided with a water point and ten toilets for boys and girls. As soon as these were built, a substantial rise in girls' enrollment was noted – up from 355 in 2007 to 404 in 2008.
This new friendly learning environment will perhaps make Eveless realize her dream of not only becoming a nurse but also becoming the first woman from her family to graduate from college.
This Week in Law: The Malawi Lawyer Edition
Forty dollars won’t even buy a decent shirt these days. But when two twenties are all that stand between you and an exit stamp from one of the poorest countries on Earth--and, let's say, your debit card doesn’t work at the only ATM in the airport, and your wife is a hairsbreadth from a meltdown because if you miss this flight you will be stuck for at least four more days, and you are making your fellow travelers nervous because you’ve begun to unconsciously lick your lips when they discuss money--well, it feels like it might as well be $4 million.
As you might have guessed, this is more than a hypothetical predicament. Out of cash at the end of our summer vacation to Malawi, a tiny finger-shaped country in southeast Africa, This Week in Law found ourselves turned back by customs officials who demanded an exit fee that, in our defense, we didn’t know we needed to pay.
There was no time to return to town. Tears were shed. There may have also been recriminations. Then, just as Mrs. TWIL was preparing to mug a German tourist with the hand-carved mahogany salad tongs she had bought from a roadside stand, we were saved--by a lawyer, no less. Herbert, a kindly Malawian corporate attorney from the industrial city of Blantyre (we wrote his last name in a now-missing guidebook), loaned us the money we needed to return home and resume our TWIL duties. Zikomo (thank you) Herbert!
And while we are at it, more zikomos for Ross Todd, who filled in admirably while we were away. (At least, until he selfishly left town to attend his wedding).
We can hear our editor clearing his throat. On to the best legal news of the week.
On Monday, we learned that the old Oscar mothballed in your closet is worth somewhere between $10 and $1.5 million. As you may have guessed, there is a legal dispute here, explained in this AmLaw Daily story. The descendants of Charles "Buddy" Rogers, the former husband of silent film star Mary Pickford, hope to sell her 1929 Best Actress statuette on the open market for a million dollars or more. But the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (represented by Christopher Tayback of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges) says it has the first option to buy the statute, and that the price it should pay is just $10, under a rule established by the Academy in 1950. Regardless of when Pickford first received the Oscar, the Academy says, she signed away her rights to sell it when she won an honorary Oscar in 1975. A Los Angeles trial court judge has ordered a jury trial. Stay tuned.
Most people stop making news after they go to prison. Not Bill Lerach. In May, AmLaw colleague Ross Todd wrote this piece about what the fallen king of the plaintiffs bar can expect in prison (cavity searches, sure, but also 300 minutes a month in calls). In June, Lerach authored this not-quite mea culpa in Portfolio (upshot: paying plaintiffs was an industry practice).
Then, on Tuesday, our sibling publication The Recorder reported that Lerach was put in “administrative segregation”—that’s lockdown to you and me—for 23 hours a day. His offense? He allegedly offered a corrections officer use of his San Diego Chargers season tickets. Up next, an administrative hearing, which could result in Lerach being sent to a higher-security facility. He could also lose any "good time" he had accumulated toward early release.
But it’s not all bad news for Bill. Even as Lerach was sitting in solitaire, bouncing his baseball against the wall—this is how we imagine we would spend our time, at least, Steve McQueen-style—he was making money. A lot of it. On Monday Houston federal district court judge Melinda Harmon approved an award of $688 million in attorneys' fees to the plaintiffs lawyers who recovered $7.2 billion for former Enron shareholders. As lead counsel, Lerach's old firm, Couglin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, will take home the lion's share of those fees, which also set a class action record. Lerach’s take: $50 million. (For more on a potential fee fight, read AmLaw Daily Brian Baxter's story here).
TWIL used to live with a pig. No, this is not a euphemism for a messy roommate. We lived with an honest-to-God, snorting, grunting, po bellied pig. And before you ask: It’s purely coincidental that we are also from Alabama. (Ours was a spiteful pig, but these are details better saved for another anecdote.) Anyway, as we do every morning, we scan the newswire for any swine-related legal news. On Wednesday, we discovered that PETA has asked the Department of Agriculture to investigate the circumstances of the killing of a pig in Florida. According to a press release, an attorney for Dollar General Corp. was seeking to gather evidence for a lawsuit involving a woman who fell in a Dollar General in Gainesville. A pig’s body, the PETA release says, “was repeatedly dropped on a concrete surface” in an experiment, we assume, to gauge what type of damage the carcass sustained. PETA says the experiment was “cruel and irrelevant” and that there may have been Animal Welfare Act violations in regards to the method used to euthanase the pig. That’s right, TWIL readers: The pig was killed before it was dropped on the concrete floor. Yet PETA’s beef (sorry) seems to also be with what happened to the pig after it was dead. Here’s our question: Does federal law protect dead animals?
Our colleague Vivia Chen had high hopes when she was invited to a Sheppard Mullin-sponsored event called “How not to Trip on the Catwalk” at Fashion Group International Headquarters in New York. But it turns out Chen was a victim of a marketing metaphor. As she wrote on Thursday, instead of supermodels and fashionistas, Sheppard put on a glorified CLE course (“but with duller graphics”). And don’t even get her started on the food (“cubed cheese, fruit on skewers, and suspiciously uniform squares of pate”). Chen, we should point out, scores way more invites to law firm soirees than TWIL. She is also a more discerning guest. At a Greenberg Traurig networking event in June, she critiqued the chocolate distributed to guests as “rather puny in size, like the kind you find on pillows in hotels.” But she’s not afraid to dole out the credit when due, either. A Paul, Weiss annual gay and lesbian networking party would have been worthy of (Sex and the City’s) Carrie Bradshaw, she previously reported.
Friday bonus: Did we mention we were in Africa? So, too, are a growing number of American and British lawyers, the AmLaw Daily's Zach Lowe writes. Mkono & Co., a leading firm out of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Hunton & Williams,he reports. “Recent events prove there is big money to be made in Africa for dealmaking lawyers,” Lowe writes. We know a guy in Malawi.
As you might have guessed, this is more than a hypothetical predicament. Out of cash at the end of our summer vacation to Malawi, a tiny finger-shaped country in southeast Africa, This Week in Law found ourselves turned back by customs officials who demanded an exit fee that, in our defense, we didn’t know we needed to pay.
There was no time to return to town. Tears were shed. There may have also been recriminations. Then, just as Mrs. TWIL was preparing to mug a German tourist with the hand-carved mahogany salad tongs she had bought from a roadside stand, we were saved--by a lawyer, no less. Herbert, a kindly Malawian corporate attorney from the industrial city of Blantyre (we wrote his last name in a now-missing guidebook), loaned us the money we needed to return home and resume our TWIL duties. Zikomo (thank you) Herbert!
And while we are at it, more zikomos for Ross Todd, who filled in admirably while we were away. (At least, until he selfishly left town to attend his wedding).
We can hear our editor clearing his throat. On to the best legal news of the week.
On Monday, we learned that the old Oscar mothballed in your closet is worth somewhere between $10 and $1.5 million. As you may have guessed, there is a legal dispute here, explained in this AmLaw Daily story. The descendants of Charles "Buddy" Rogers, the former husband of silent film star Mary Pickford, hope to sell her 1929 Best Actress statuette on the open market for a million dollars or more. But the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (represented by Christopher Tayback of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges) says it has the first option to buy the statute, and that the price it should pay is just $10, under a rule established by the Academy in 1950. Regardless of when Pickford first received the Oscar, the Academy says, she signed away her rights to sell it when she won an honorary Oscar in 1975. A Los Angeles trial court judge has ordered a jury trial. Stay tuned.
Most people stop making news after they go to prison. Not Bill Lerach. In May, AmLaw colleague Ross Todd wrote this piece about what the fallen king of the plaintiffs bar can expect in prison (cavity searches, sure, but also 300 minutes a month in calls). In June, Lerach authored this not-quite mea culpa in Portfolio (upshot: paying plaintiffs was an industry practice).
Then, on Tuesday, our sibling publication The Recorder reported that Lerach was put in “administrative segregation”—that’s lockdown to you and me—for 23 hours a day. His offense? He allegedly offered a corrections officer use of his San Diego Chargers season tickets. Up next, an administrative hearing, which could result in Lerach being sent to a higher-security facility. He could also lose any "good time" he had accumulated toward early release.
But it’s not all bad news for Bill. Even as Lerach was sitting in solitaire, bouncing his baseball against the wall—this is how we imagine we would spend our time, at least, Steve McQueen-style—he was making money. A lot of it. On Monday Houston federal district court judge Melinda Harmon approved an award of $688 million in attorneys' fees to the plaintiffs lawyers who recovered $7.2 billion for former Enron shareholders. As lead counsel, Lerach's old firm, Couglin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, will take home the lion's share of those fees, which also set a class action record. Lerach’s take: $50 million. (For more on a potential fee fight, read AmLaw Daily Brian Baxter's story here).
TWIL used to live with a pig. No, this is not a euphemism for a messy roommate. We lived with an honest-to-God, snorting, grunting, po bellied pig. And before you ask: It’s purely coincidental that we are also from Alabama. (Ours was a spiteful pig, but these are details better saved for another anecdote.) Anyway, as we do every morning, we scan the newswire for any swine-related legal news. On Wednesday, we discovered that PETA has asked the Department of Agriculture to investigate the circumstances of the killing of a pig in Florida. According to a press release, an attorney for Dollar General Corp. was seeking to gather evidence for a lawsuit involving a woman who fell in a Dollar General in Gainesville. A pig’s body, the PETA release says, “was repeatedly dropped on a concrete surface” in an experiment, we assume, to gauge what type of damage the carcass sustained. PETA says the experiment was “cruel and irrelevant” and that there may have been Animal Welfare Act violations in regards to the method used to euthanase the pig. That’s right, TWIL readers: The pig was killed before it was dropped on the concrete floor. Yet PETA’s beef (sorry) seems to also be with what happened to the pig after it was dead. Here’s our question: Does federal law protect dead animals?
Our colleague Vivia Chen had high hopes when she was invited to a Sheppard Mullin-sponsored event called “How not to Trip on the Catwalk” at Fashion Group International Headquarters in New York. But it turns out Chen was a victim of a marketing metaphor. As she wrote on Thursday, instead of supermodels and fashionistas, Sheppard put on a glorified CLE course (“but with duller graphics”). And don’t even get her started on the food (“cubed cheese, fruit on skewers, and suspiciously uniform squares of pate”). Chen, we should point out, scores way more invites to law firm soirees than TWIL. She is also a more discerning guest. At a Greenberg Traurig networking event in June, she critiqued the chocolate distributed to guests as “rather puny in size, like the kind you find on pillows in hotels.” But she’s not afraid to dole out the credit when due, either. A Paul, Weiss annual gay and lesbian networking party would have been worthy of (Sex and the City’s) Carrie Bradshaw, she previously reported.
Friday bonus: Did we mention we were in Africa? So, too, are a growing number of American and British lawyers, the AmLaw Daily's Zach Lowe writes. Mkono & Co., a leading firm out of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Hunton & Williams,he reports. “Recent events prove there is big money to be made in Africa for dealmaking lawyers,” Lowe writes. We know a guy in Malawi.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
