Frequent Flier: Training the Dirty Harry Stare on an Unruly Flight Mate

After that, I knew I wanted to see the world. But I never thought I would be a member of the million-mile club. There was a time early in my career, and I’ve been with the Gerber Group for about 20 years, where I was one of those passengers who would listen for every noise and hang on to my armrests, and hated turbulence because I figured the plane was going to drop out of the sky or something.

Now, that kind of stuff doesn’t even bother me, but I still really don’t like heights.

Being in the food and beverage hospitality business, I can’t help noticing how companies treat people. It’s no secret that air travel has lost its luster. There’s a lot less of “thanks for flying with us,” and too much of “aren’t you lucky to fly with us.”

I have hope, though. On some recent flights, I’ve seen changes like seats being taken out so there’s more legroom, updated onboard entertainment, even a gratis snack. So maybe things are changing and who knows? Maybe on my next flight I’ll get a cookie.

But no matter how dismal things are, there’s no excuse for rude behavior. It’s amazing to me how crazy people can get.

I was flying from Los Angeles to Chicago, and the plane was absolutely packed. A man came on at the last minute. His seat was right behind mine. When he approached my row, he looked like he was going to blow a gasket. He got to his row and opened a bin and saw there was no room. He opened another, and that apparently was filled, too. Of course, he opened one more. Same thing. At this point, his skin tone turned what I would call a lovely shade of fuchsia.

Instead of asking for assistance, he decided to curse at what was now his in-flight audience and began throwing out bags from one of the bins. He threw one bag so hard it went about 10 rows up the aisle.

A crew member tried to help, but he wouldn’t have anything to do with her. He placed his bag in the now-open bin, slammed it shut and sat in his seat, still cursing and now looking like a beet. The crew member picked up the bags in the immediate area and found room for them. When I poked my head into the aisle to see what happened to the bag thrown up the aisle, I saw it was still there. It was mine.

So I stood up, got my bag, brought it back to the row, opened up the bin that had his bag in it and placed mine right next to his. There was room.

It was kind of funny because he kept looking at me like I was going to do something to him. I am so not that guy. But I kept looking back at him with my best Dirty Harry stare, which apparently worked. He stopped cursing and talking to himself and kept quiet the rest of the flight. That was great because it was Christmas Eve and no one wanted to deal with Scrooge.

By Oliver Kroll, as told to Joan Raymond. E-mail: joan.raymond@nytimes.com.

UC Irvine Plans Summer Training for In-House Counsel

The exterior of UC Irvine School of Law
Image: courtesy photo

Call it a summer boot camp for in-house counsel.

The University of California, Irvine School of Law plans to launch a Center for Corporate Law next summer, offering extensive training for attorneys in legal departments and those who hope to move in-house.

A handful of law schools already offer executive education for lawyers, most notably Harvard, Georgetown and Northwestern, but their corporate counsel programs tend to last just a few days.

By contrast, Irvine administrators plan an annual six-week slate of summer courses, broken into five-day modules. The six modules will cover management and business skills plus areas of law pertinent to in-house counsel, such as intellectual property. Lawyers can take as many modules as they like, but those who complete at least three of the modules within three years will earn a "corporate counsel" certificate, while experienced attorneys can obtain a "general counsel" certificate upon completing four modules within four years, according to administrators. The program is intended both for experienced corporate counsel and for those entering legal departments or hoping to move in-house.

"I think this will become one of the signature programs of the law school," dean Erwin Chemerinsky said.

The idea for the center emerged from the law school's business advisory council, which noted a lack of robust training opportunities for in-house counsel, Chemerinsky said. That role requires skills most lawyers don't learn at firms or in law school, he said, such as how to advise business clients regarding risk. "We also heard that there are different ethical issues that in-house counsel face."

The law school is in the final stages of raising the approximately $150,000 it needs to hire an executive director and get the center off the ground. Irvine intends to hire a director with in-house counsel experience and offer participants help in finding legal department jobs. The plans include establishing an alumni network. The center will produce research and practical guidance on matters relevant to corporate counsel.

Chemerinsky said the summer program likely would start off small and grow over time. The school plans to recruit students not only in Southern California, but also in China and Korea, where Irvine already has relationships with universities and business leaders. Thus far, local firms and general counsel have been enthusiastic about the idea, he said.

While executive education programs can be solid revenue generators for law schools, Chemerinsky said the new center likely would just break even at first. The curriculum and program costs are still being finalized.

The initial module would cover the basics of the in-house counsel role, including business structures, dealing with outside counsel and ethical issues. Subsequent modules will focus on finance, accounting and corporate governance; corporate strategy and innovation; managing risk; the global business environment; and legal department management. The modules would run from Wednesday through Sunday.

UC Irvine Plans Summer Training for In-House Counsel

The exterior of UC Irvine School of Law
Image: courtesy photo

Call it a summer boot camp for in-house counsel.

The University of California, Irvine School of Law plans to launch a Center for Corporate Law next summer, offering extensive training for attorneys in legal departments and those who hope to move in-house.

A handful of law schools already offer executive education for lawyers, most notably Harvard, Georgetown and Northwestern, but their corporate counsel programs tend to last just a few days.

By contrast, Irvine administrators plan an annual six-week slate of summer courses, broken into five-day modules. The six modules will cover management and business skills plus areas of law pertinent to in-house counsel, such as intellectual property. Lawyers can take as many modules as they like, but those who complete at least three of the modules within three years will earn a "corporate counsel" certificate, while experienced attorneys can obtain a "general counsel" certificate upon completing four modules within four years, according to administrators. The program is intended both for experienced corporate counsel and for those entering legal departments or hoping to move in-house.

"I think this will become one of the signature programs of the law school," dean Erwin Chemerinsky said.

The idea for the center emerged from the law school's business advisory council, which noted a lack of robust training opportunities for in-house counsel, Chemerinsky said. That role requires skills most lawyers don't learn at firms or in law school, he said, such as how to advise business clients regarding risk. "We also heard that there are different ethical issues that in-house counsel face."

The law school is in the final stages of raising the approximately $150,000 it needs to hire an executive director and get the center off the ground. Irvine intends to hire a director with in-house counsel experience and offer participants help in finding legal department jobs. The plans include establishing an alumni network. The center will produce research and practical guidance on matters relevant to corporate counsel.

Chemerinsky said the summer program likely would start off small and grow over time. The school plans to recruit students not only in Southern California, but also in China and Korea, where Irvine already has relationships with universities and business leaders. Thus far, local firms and general counsel have been enthusiastic about the idea, he said.

While executive education programs can be solid revenue generators for law schools, Chemerinsky said the new center likely would just break even at first. The curriculum and program costs are still being finalized.

The initial module would cover the basics of the in-house counsel role, including business structures, dealing with outside counsel and ethical issues. Subsequent modules will focus on finance, accounting and corporate governance; corporate strategy and innovation; managing risk; the global business environment; and legal department management. The modules would run from Wednesday through Sunday.