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BRIEF
donahoekearney.com
September 2020
DOES A NEWSPAPER ROUTE PREDICT SUCCESS? Some of the Most Successful People Started Out Delivering Newspapers Many of the most successful people in our country today started working at a very young age — often delivering newspapers: Walt Disney; Warren Buffett; John Bogle, (Vanguard CEO and inventor of stock index funds for small investors); and Martin Luther King Jr., who at 17 published a letter to the editor for the paper he delivered, the Atlanta Journal Constitution , which his father later said was the start of his civil rights work. Okay, so I’m not in that group, but speaking as someone who had a paper route as a kid, I have a few ideas.
First, a lot of responsibility came with the job. Back when my family first moved to D.C. when I was 12, I got a job delivering papers for the Washington Star . It was an afternoon publication, so I delivered the papers when I got home from school. I had to effectively buy the papers from the Star , then deliver them all to the right homes on my route. On top of that, I had to collect the subscription fees directly from the customers. This meant customer service — putting the paper where they wanted it, plus dealing with the occasional cheapskate who wouldn’t pay on time (can’t remember how much the paper cost, but there were coins involved). When the Star went out of business, one guy said he never got his last paper (which I knew I delivered) and wouldn’t pay up because it was a “collector’s item.” When my dad found out, he threatened to beat the guy up (Dad was from the South Side of Chicago and hadn’t yet acclimated to the new neighborhood … ). Anyway, the guy coughed it up. After the Star , I got a Washington Post route, which was great because I started in the mornings at 5 a.m. (I'd get up early) and usually finished by 6. Many of the people who lived on my route were up early, getting ready for their jobs in construction or at the Pentagon, and they wanted their paper before they left. And, of course, we passed the job along. My younger brother perfected the art of driving the route — not messing with rubber
bands, just loading the papers in the trunk, where to stop, how to efficiently backtrack back to the car — he had a good system. And when siblings were involved, things got competitive. By the time my youngest sister (the baby) got the route when she was about 12, we would time how long it took to complete the route. So, I would come home on breaks from college or Army training, and we would literally run the route, trying to “set the record.” A lot of cool lessons come with a paper route: providing customer service, dealing with different people, managing money. But these days, paper routes are a real job — a kid’s paper route is a thing of the past. We never see our paper delivery person — there is no collecting and no “under the mat” or “between the doors” service; they fling it from a moving van with remarkable accuracy, so you have to respect that. And we never call to complain if they miss the mark by a foot or two ... -Frank Kearney
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THE REAL REASON WHY CONSUMER REVIEWS MATTER KEVIN’S STORY
One of the things we love to do is tell our clients’ stories. So often, real people are treated like numbers: just another claim to the insurance company, just another case to the court system, and just another patient to their doctors. So, we tell your story. And what we love about this review is Kevin does a great job of telling his. The truth is that reviews like Kevin’s help us cut through all the noise and ads out there and reach people who will never get their
story told. So, if you like this newsletter and what we write about — how we try to help people and how we treat people — would you do us a favor? Would you please leave us a Google review? Just search for “Reviews for Donahoe Kearney” and let people know we’re a lot different than other lawyers! Thanks so much. We really appreciate it.
You, too, can leave a review on Google if we have exceeded your expectations at https://bit.ly/donahoekearneyreviews.
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4 COMMON MYTHS THAT COST YOU MONEY AFTER A CAR ACCIDENT
If you've been in a serious car accident, know that there is probably more to your settlement than what the insurance company is offering. Don't fall for the myths you hear from the insurance company or from well-meaning friends and family. Here are some of the myths: • You will get a reasonable settlement prop/osal. • You have to give the company a recorded statement or they won’t settle with you.
• •
Everyone has insurance.
There is a formula for determining settlement value.
There is a different level of risk involved when handling a serious car accident on your own. If you have been trying to juggle your health records, bills, and coordinating with an adjuster on your own, download this book. "The Ultimate Guide to Accident Cases in DC, Maryland, and Virginia" is now available for download at https://bit.ly/UtimateGuide
•
The insurance company for the person who hit you will pay your medical bills.
HOW TO LOOK GREAT DURING VIDEO CALLS USING SETTING, LIGHT, AND SOUND TO LOOK LIKE A PRO
While the pandemic may have forced us to do more and more of our business and personal lives online, there’s a good chance it will become the new normal for a lot of businesses long after COVID-19 has passed us by. That’s why we had one of our former clients, storyteller and award-winning documentary filmmaker Jerry G. Santos, give us his advice on how to perform meetings via video call and look good doing it. If you didn’t catch that seminar, don’t worry. Here are a few of Jerry’s tips — and you can catch the replay at DonahoeKearney.com/video/jerry-g-santos.cfm SETTING Your set should be both distraction-free and pleasing to the eye. Find a place that is both clean and decluttered but also not just a plain wall or bookshelf. Try to create a sense of depth with your background, and make sure it’s darker than you are so it stands in contrast to you. You want your audience to focus on you, not on your background. SOUND One of the best things you can do to improve your sound quality is to buy what’s called a lavalier microphone. Those are the microphones
newscasters attach to their lapels when they’re live on air, which carry their voices crisply and clearly to their audiences. You should also do away with your headset unless it’s absolutely necessary to hear or to be heard, since they can be distracting. LIGHT To catch the most flattering angle of yourself, shoot the camera down at your face, not up. That might mean putting your camera up on a box. Then, make sure the lights don’t create any unflattering shadows. Lighting yourself well could be as simple as using an inexpensive LED drop light, but however you light yourself, make sure to use warm tones at night and cooler ones during the day. Don’t ever have your screen face a window — then you risk having the sun drown you out. Don’t forget to catch the whole webinar with more great tips at DonahoeKearney.com/video/jerry-g-santos.cfm . See you looking good on the other screen!
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LABOR DAY HISTORY
HOW BOB CORBEY'S ANCESTOR FOUGHT FOR WORKERS' RIGHTS IN AMERICA
Former client and longtime friend Bob Corbey shares his personal family history of organized labor for this Labor Day story: Because of my own family history, Labor Day has a particularly special significance. My great-granduncle helped the first major American labor union rise to prominence in the 1870s and 1880s. His name was Terence Vincent Powderly, and while his role in helping American labor unions grow in the United States is often overshadowed by Samuel Gompers, who pioneered the use of labor strikes, my great- granduncle deserves to be remembered for leading the Knights of Labor. Because my mother died when I was in high school, I grew up pretty close to my aunt, Ruth Powderly-Zebarth. She was the one who got me interested in my family’s history and particularly in the role T.V. Powderly played in starting America’s first popular labor union. She had all sorts of artifacts and photos for me to pore over, much of which had to do with the Holy Order of the Knights of Labor. It was the first union in the United States to have over a million members, and it was also the first to welcome Black workers, women, and unskilled workers of many professions. T.V. Powderly’s role in fighting for laborers to have a seat at the table with their bosses cannot be understated. T.V. Powderly was born in 1849 in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, the son of Irish immigrants and the youngest of 11 siblings. He held his first recorded job
when he was just 13 years old, guarding rail switches from mischievous other kids. When he was 14, he became a “car examiner” and then, at age 17, an apprentice to a machinist. In 1871, he joined the Machinist and Blacksmiths Union. Things were much different back then, and because of his union involvement, he was fired from his job
Stevens, the Knights of Labor had to be a relatively secret society. The Catholic Church deemed that unions were cults and forbade their parishioners from joining them. Powderly, however, successfully lobbied for what became known as the “Rerum Novarum” — a church document that would recognize the importance of workers’ rights and allow Catholics to join unions. Because of that, Knights of Labor membership swelled, and there was no more secrecy. Unfortunately, Powderly’s downfall as a union leader came about because of his opposition to strikes. He believed they would hurt workers and their families more than they would help them — something that I also believe is the case. Then, the Knights of Labor unfairly took the blame for the 1891 Haymarket Riot in Chicago. After that, membership steadily dwindled from 700,000 to 50,000 by the mid-1890s. After the Knights of Labor lost all prominence, my great-granduncle went on to be Commissioner General of Immigration for the United States under President McKinley, among other high-ranking government positions. He died in 1924 in his home in Washington, D.C. You won’t find more than a mention of T.V. Powderly in any modern history book, but as we celebrate Labor Day this year, I think his role in fighting for workers’ rights should be remembered.
Terence Vincent Powderly
just two years later. It was probably because of this firing that he was inspired to become involved in labor unions and workers’ rights. At around that time, Uriah Stevens founded the Holy Order of Knights of Labor, even though T.V. Powderly is credited with its founding when he took the reins in 1876. The reason my great-granduncle gets credit is because of how much the union grew under his leadership. Under Uriah
-Bob Corbey
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THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER
Director of Client Services, Brooke Birkey, had a fantastic time recharging on vacation last month. Here she is at New Smyrna Beach on the east coast of Florida and generally enjoying the sunshine and rest!
TWICE-BAKED CAULIFLOWER CASSEROLE
INGREDIENTS •
4 cups cauliflower, chopped into bite-size pieces 1/2 cup bacon pieces
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1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
Fresh cracked pepper, to taste 1/2 tbsp dehydrated onion 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded 4. Add garlic power, salt (omit if using salted butter), fresh pepper, and dehydrated onion and mix until incorporated. Stir in cheddar cheese. 5. Pour mixture into a 9x13-
• • • •
4 1/2 tbsp butter, softened
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1/2 cup sour cream 4 oz cream cheese
DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 350 F. 2. In a microwave-safe
glass dish, add chopped cauliflower pieces and microwave on high for 4–6 minutes or until tender but not mushy.
3. In a medium bowl, mix
inch glass baking dish. Bake for about 25–30 minutes or until browned and bubbly.
steamed cauliflower, bacon, butter, sour cream, and cream cheese. Blend well.
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Donahoe Kearney A T T O R N E Y S A T L A W 1901 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Suite 900 Washington, DC 20006 202.393.3320 DonahoeKearney.com
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1 Does a Newspaper Route Predict Success? 2 The Real Reason Why Consumer Reviews Matter 3 The Myths About Insurance Settlements How to Look Good On Camera (In the Era of Zoom) 4 The Hero of the Labor Movement That Time Forgot 5 The Dog Days of Summer Twice-Baked Cauliflower Casserole 6 Frank’s Column: ‘You Can Never Over Invest in Education’
FRANK’S COLUMN
‘You Can Never Over Invest in Education’
That’s a quote from Hugh Jackman’s father — I heard it on a Tim Ferriss podcast interview with Jackman recently (and I recommend the Tim Ferriss podcast — he’s a great interviewer with interesting guests, most of whom I’ve never heard of, or only
vaguely, including Jackman, an actor). And that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?
We need to be stretching, taking action, and educating ourselves now more than ever so we can adapt to whatever is coming next. No one predicted a disruptive virus and all the changes it caused. Now more than ever, people are responsible for their own education, learning, changing attitudes, adapting (ask any high school or college student how much responsibility they now have for their own education). One of the basic conversations we have with clients before a case settles starts with: What’s next? Where do you go from here? How do you get there and how can we help? So, what’s next?
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