Running From the Law

Gabe reveals his shocking ignorance of Shark Week and his powerful disdain for lawyer rating sites. Then, a bit of advice for selecting a good lawyer, thinking about bias, and the sweet ersatz joy of running on treadmills. Featuring a special comment on creepy hotel pools.

Erika has completed her first marathon! Mostly fantastic, but it turns out a few aspects of the experience can be supremely annoying. Gels were consumed, lessons were learned. And, while running in generally good, cybersquatting is very bad. Gabe responds to a listener question about sitting on Internet domains with bad faith intent. Squat on curbs, not on names!

Most TV lawyers appear in heated courtroom confrontations. In real life, however, the best lawyer is the one who keeps you from ever going to court. Gabe risks alienating some colleagues by differentiating the many kinds of bad lawsuits from the few types that are truly worthwhile. Then, with Erika's marathon looming, talk turns to the importance of having a marathon plan. It's so much more than "nothing new on race day".

Erika and Gabe discuss the ins and outs of the infamous "kill fee", an important (and totally reasonable) tool in any contractor's belt. Then conversation turns to the equally notorious pre-race carb load. Is gorging yourself on spaghetti still legit in these neo-paleo times?

The race is nigh! Gabe and Erika talk tapering and end up making an Ironman pact. Then the conversation turns to various equity compensation scenarios. Acceleration good. Dilution bad. And according to Gabe, Canadian bartenders also bad.

What to eat after a run and what to do when a client goes MIA and stops returning your calls. Erika and Gabe discuss the merits of burritos, beer, and the pause clause. Thanks to our listener Nicole for the terrific topic suggestions.

There's good crazy and bad crazy. Bad crazy is suing charity organizations and the California State Attorney General because when you're on the wrong side of a beef with a rudely funny cartoonist. Good crazy is running a 100-mile race in the high Sierra. Or is it? Your vocabulary words for this episode are misanthropophilanthropy and hyponatremia.

Gabe straps on the feedbag to chat about his Metabolic Efficiency Training. Erika devises some innovative approaches to the low-carb burrito. Then they cover the details of how much it actually costs to hire a lawyer.

How do we keep our workplaces fun and irreverent without fostering a hostile environment and inviting legal action? Also, more women are marathoning than ever before. Gabe and Erika talk about the brave pioneers of the sport who were forced to dodge the clutches of sexist race officials just to earn the right to run.

Gabe Levine, Hamster of Pain, explains how to price your work based on the risk your client asks you to assume. (Hint: More risk = more money.) As he says, you just have to put your foot in the sand. Be ready to negotiate with lawyers from the largest corporations. And what is up with rude runners on tracks? Slower traffic to right isn't wrong...except in the UK.

Fight. Fight. Fight. Mediation sounds like the ticket out of a legal dispute, but Gabe asks what happens when no one wants to settle. And, Erika makes an impassioned plea for road manners no matter what you ride or drive. More alert and polite = less death.

The return of Gabe's bloody nipples! Not really, but there is talk of chafing and tender tendons. Also, when everyone on the internet is always sort of working, how do you track overtime and why should you care? Document or suffer the consequences!

Gabe laments his mile-18 tummy trouble during the otherwise terrific Oakland Marathon. Erika and Gabe talk about best practices for employee reviews and dealing with people who aren't working out. As always, clear expectations and clear communication save a lot of trouble in the long run. And keep eating those orange slices!

After a quick survey of the Bay Area fitness scene, Gabe rhapsodizes about Outlook and his genetic lawyering heritage. Erika attempts to describe the interplay between startup and design culture.

What is illegal to ask during a job interview? And what do employers really want to find out? Gabe discusses good interviewing practices and Erika shares a bit about the Mule approach. A discussion of personal informatics follows and Gabe divulges the metric that makes him feel most competitive.