Boy scouts will go door to door on Saturday, March 26th to collect non-perishable canned foods.

Here is a link to the Utah Food Bank’s web-site for more information.  https://www.utahfoodbank.org/scouting

Check out our TV commercial on YouTube!    http://www.youtube.com/embed/M47y-6DiamQ

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greediest of them all?

$14.8 billion in pharmaceutical settlements have been paid out in the last five years!  Over half of those settlements were with just four drug makers: Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Merck.

They do the same bad things over and over. The FDA exacts hefty fines, but the dollar amounts are mere trifles to Big Pharma.

It’s cheaper to pay the fine and continue dishonest business.

Even with millions or even billions owed in settlements, there’s just too much money in it for them to stop. No self-correcting behavior is required or expected. Top management calls the shots. Management want share-holder return at any cost.

Even if the cost is in human lives.

Now, most of these are life-saving drugs. We know that. But wrapped up in that $300 billion spemt annually  are plenty of bad drugs, dangerous drugs and more than enough deceit in their marketing.

Off label marketing is the number one reason these companies are fined by the FDA. Another common violation these drug companies commit is over-charging state government health care programs These companies are injuring us and taking our tax money from Medicaid & Medicare. We talked about this previously with Zyprexa.

Other common reasons for fines include: overcharging public health departments, kickbacks, falsified clinical trial findings, illegal promotions and anti-trust violations.

Kick-backs to doctors is another disturbing reality. But it happens all the time. Doctors are human and many of them take the money and look the other way. It’s all about the money. Big money, billions of dollars worth of money.

$300 Billion dollars is spent annually in the US alone for prescription drugs. Big Pharma is addicted to their profits and just can’t stop. The FDA needs our support to make them.

Ned Siegfried wanted a Dory & Nemo theme to help children feel comfortable in a business setting. Children love it when they walk in and see our fish tank. They immediately run to the tank to see Dory & Nemo and the other dozen or so fish we have in our aquarium.

Dory is now seven years old and the orange and black song fish are about the same age. I think that’s a long time for a fish.

Yes, the fish get along so they’re no disturbing sights of floating fish or shark attacks in an eight hour day. Not a good look  for a business…

Our receptionist Gianna, feeds them twice daily. She tells me they anticipate feeding time when the see the red cup. How their fish brains know this I do not know. (See photo below.)

We have some new additions that change their color and camouflage themselves in the shrubbery. Sometimes it’s really hard to find them.  See what I mean?

The red flaming fish sits near the bottom when he’s hungry. He looks kind of sulky. He’s waiting for the sight of the red cup and then the food magically appears.

Our fish tank is professionally cleaned once a week. Keeps everything healthy. The folks at Alpine Marine Imports in Orem, Utah help us with that. Give John a call, he can put fish in your office too.

Let us know if you have any suggestions regarding fish in aquariums.

                    Art in the Workplace

I would have preferred original art, but it wasn’t in the budget. So I set aside my personal preference and went to work with what were given. Do the best with what you have. And we did just that. We chose framed prints on canvas. The company helping us was Windsor Castle Gallery and a gentleman named David Cuningham.

The process used to make these prints is something fairly new, Giclée is the name. It’s a production technique that creates the closest to original art you can get. The prints look like original oil paintings.  (Giclée is pronounced zhee-klay.  It’s really a made up French word, and kind of fun to say.) When framed appropriately, these prints will look like an original work of art at an affordable price.

Giclée is a very different process than lithography which is only a four color method. This high-tech approach to art reproduction has only been around since the early 1990’s. Prints are made from originals using digital files. So no corruption occurs from multiple copies of the same original. It’s claimed that these prints are color-faithful reproductions of art work that will last for about 25 years. Inkjet printers using 8-12 colors use fade resistant inks to make high resolution prints on a variety of paper canvas and other materials.

Up close, you’ll see that these have brighter colors and aren’t composed of tiny dots. So, for the most part, these paintings look as though they are original works of art.

However, In a good piece of art, there is energy to the painting that is missing in a print. That part is unavoidable, but true. The upside is having pleasant art work in the hall-ways at one’s workplace.

Check out the gallery here to see some of my favorites.

In 2002 Andres S. Alarcon graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in business management. He earned a Juris Doctorate in 2005 from the SJ Quinney School of Law.  He became a member of the Utah State Bar in 2006 and is licensed to practice in the State of Utah as well as Federal Court.

Alarcon began his legal career at Legal Aid Society. This is a non-profit organization helping low income individuals in court.

Alarcon was born in Provo, Utah but spent much of his life in Chile. He is fluent in Spanish.

El abogado Alarcón se graduó de la universidad de Utah con títulos de Administración de Negocios en el 2002 y Doctorado en Leyes en el 2005.  El abogado Alarcón nació en Utah pero vivió en Chile con su familia gran parte de su vida.

El abogado Alarcón le encanta viajar, conocer distintas culturas y aprender idiomas.

STEVE JENSEN

Steven K .Jensen graduated from Brigham Young University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. In 2010, he earned his Juris Doctorate from Texas Tech University School of Law, where he graduated magna cum laude. Jensen served as an Articles Editor on Texas Tech Law Review and as an intern for the Supreme Court of Texas.

When he is not at the office, Jensen enjoys fishing, golfing, reading, waterskiing and spending time with his wife and daughter.

ALEX EVANS

W. Alexander Evans graduated from the University of Utah in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Anthropology.  In 2008, he earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Nevada , Las Vegas , where he graduated cum laude and served as the Articles Editor of the Nevada Law Journal. 

Alex is currently a member of the Utah State Bar and is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the District of Utah. 

Outside of work, Alex is an avid collector of gems and minerals and he enjoys surfing, snowboarding and live music.

We have several new attorneys here at Siegfried & Jensen. Here is one of the new faces in our office.

ANDREW DRAXTON

Andrew Erickson Draxton graduated from the University of Utah in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.  In December of 2009, he earned his Juris Doctorate from the S.J. Quinney College of Law, where he was a semi-finalist in the Traynor Moot Court Competition in which he won the Third-Place Brief Award and where he also served as a Note and Comment Editor for the Journal of Law and Family Studies. 

Prior to joining Siegfried and Jensen as an attorney, Andrew served as a law clerk at Siegfried and Jensen under Kenneth Lougee, where he honed his motions drafting skills and was exposed to a variety of litigation. 

Andrew is currently a member of the Utah State Bar and is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the District of Utah.  

Outside of work, Andrew is an accomplished trumpet player and he enjoys skiing and spending time with his family and friends.

Why are the letters of our name scrambled on the lawn in front of our building?

Along with remodeling the third floor of our building, we thought we would change out the building sign.  We want it to be easy for folks to spot our location from the freeway. The guys from Impact Signs are here this afternoon. They placed all the letters from our name on the grass in front of the building. Soon, the letters will be lifted into position on the building. 

Mary was a repeat client from 2002, we withdrew from her case at that time since after the police report, she was found at fault. This year she had another accident so she called me, to help her again.

It was always nice to talk to Mary; she had a way of speaking with kindness that always made you feel happy and peaceful. You know how sometimes we have either a client or situation at work that makes you feel very stressful and sets the tone for the day? (I know we all have had those experiences at one time or the other)

Well, Mary’s phone calls could cure that! She would call to get an update on her case or just to update you on information, or just sometimes it seemed to just “talk” to someone.  I would tell her how her case was going and she would reply “Okay honey” in her small sweet voice several times in the conversation and then “Okay baby” thank you. 

She would always ask me how my day was going (I would think, just great now that I’ve talked to you) and I would say, good and you?  She would reply likewise.  Mary had a sweet and humble spirit, when she talked to me, I felt she truly cared about me, it was really sweet.  After hanging up the phone, no matter how bad my day was going prior to her call “I felt better about my day”.

Actually, I was just talking to some of  my co-workers last week about her, I told them that I wish Mary would call me every morning, just to set the tone for my day…and how much I loved that lady.

Mary’s case was in settlement negotiation and I thought to myself, that I would keep contact after settlement with this little lady, because she brought such sunshine to my day whenever we talked.

Mary called me last week to tell me she would be having surgery, I asked her for what? She said, “I don’t know baby” I haven’t been feeling well”.  I told her that with modern medicine now days that she would be okay and that I would call her afterwards to see how things went.

Mary died two days ago during her operation, they found ovarian cancer.

I am sad…, but Mary left an impression with me that I will always remember. She gave me the insight of how kindness, should be. 
I hope I can remember that …”To be like Mary”.

Lupe Grover