text:
Trial record 1 of 1 for: NCT01585766
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Safety and Tolerability Study of MEDI-551, a B-cell Depleting Agent, to Treat Relapsing Forms of Multiple Sclerosis
This study has been completed.
MedImmune LLC
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
MedImmune LLC
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: April 9, 2012
Last updated: August 15, 2016
Last verified: August 2016
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Detailed Description:
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of ascending intravenous (IV) and subcutaneous (SC) doses of MEDI-551 in adult subjects with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS).
|Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing Forms
|Biological: MEDI-551 IV Biological: MEDI-551 SC Drug: Placebo IV Drug: Placebo SC
|Phase 1
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Official Title:
|A Phase 1 Randomized Study of MEDI-551 in Subjects With Relapsing Forms of Multiple Sclerosis
Resource links provided by NLM:
Genetics Home Reference related topics: multiple sclerosis
MedlinePlus related topics: Multiple SclerosisU.S. FDA Resources
Further study details as provided by MedImmune LLC:
Primary Outcome Measures:
- Safety and Tolerability [ Time Frame: Day 1 to Day 169 ]To evaluate the safety and tolerability of ascending IV and SC doses of MEDI-551 in adult subjects with relapsing forms of MS through the assessment of treatment-emergent adverse events and serious adverse events
Secondary Outcome Measures:
- Pharmacokinetics of MEDI-551 [ Time Frame: Day 1 to Day 169 ]To evaluate the pharmacokinetics (PK) of MEDI-551 in the subject population (including but not limited to Cmax, Tmax, T1/2, AUC)
- Pharmacodynamic Effect of MEDI-551 [ Time Frame: Day 1 to Day 169 ]To describe the pharmacodynamic (PD) effects of MEDI-551 as measured by the change in B cell count from baseline
- Immunogenicity of MEDI-551 [ Time Frame: Day 1 to Day 169 ]To evaluate the immunogenicity (IM) of MEDI-551 in the subject population
|Study Start Date:
|April 2012
|Study Completion Date:
|June 2016
|Primary Completion Date:
|January 2015 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Assigned Interventions
Experimental: MEDI-551 Dosage 1
Dosage Level 1 x 2 MEDI-551 IV
Biological: MEDI-551 IV
Associated Dosage Level x 2 MEDI-551 IV
Experimental: MEDI-551 Dosage 2
Dosage Level 2 x 2 MEDI-551 IV
Biological: MEDI-551 IV
Associated Dosage Level x 2 MEDI-551 IV
Experimental: MEDI-551 Dosage 3
Dosage Level 3 x 1 MEDI-551 SC
Biological: MEDI-551 SC
Associated Dosage Level X 1 MEDI-551 SC
Experimental: MEDI-551 Dosage 4
Dosage Level 4 x 1 MEDI-551 SC
Biological: MEDI-551 SC
Associated Dosage Level X 1 MEDI-551 SC
Experimental: MEDI-551 Dosage 5
Dosage Level 5 x 2 MEDI-551 IV
Biological: MEDI-551 IV
Associated Dosage Level x 2 MEDI-551 IV
Placebo Comparator: Placebo IV
Placebo IV x 2
Drug: Placebo IV
Placebo IV x 2
Placebo Comparator: Placebo SC
Placebo SC x 1
Drug: Placebo SC
Placebo SC x 1
Detailed Description:
This is a Phase 1, multicenter, multinational, randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of IV and SC doses of MEDI-551 in adult subjects with relapsing forms of MS.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years to 65 Years (Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- Confirmed relapsing form of MS (ie, RRMS, SPMS, PRMS, or CIS) according to revised 2010 McDonald criteria and MRI brain lesions consistent with MS on screening
- At least 1 documented relapse within the past 3 years prior to screening
- EDSS between 0.0 and 6.5 at screening
- Have no more than 20 Gd-enhancing T1 brain lesions detected by cranial MRI scan
Exclusion Criteria:
- Subjects with impaired renal function
- Major surgery within 8 weeks of the screening visit
- Subjects who are unable to undergo cranial MRI scan
- A history of hypersensitivity to Gd-containing MRI contrast agents
- Has received within 1 year prior to screening: monoclonal antibodies, experimental B-cell depleting agents, or treatment with natalizumab (Tysabri) for greater than 3 months
- Receiving monthly methylprednisone or equivalent glucocorticoid for disease modification of a relapsing form of MS
- Known sensitivity to acetaminophen/paracetamol, diphenhydramine or equivalent antihistamine, methylprednisolone or equivalent glucocorticoid, or to any component of the investigational drug
- Diagnosis of PPMS, neuromyelitis optica, or other non-MS variant of neuro-inflammatory or demyelinating diseases
- Any history of opportunistic infection or the presence of active infection within two months prior to screening or any herpes zoster infection that has not resolved within 12 weeks prior to screening
- Any clinically significant findings during the screening phase, including physical, neurological, laboratory, or ECG examination as per protocol
Contacts and Locations
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below. For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01585766
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01585766
|United States, Arizona
|Research Site
|Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
|United States, California
|Research Site
|Long Beach, California, United States
|Research Site
|Sacramento, California, United States
|United States, Colorado
|Research Site
|Denver, Colorado, United States
|United States, Florida
|Research Site
|Tampa, Florida, United States
|United States, New Jersey
|Research Site
|Marlton, New Jersey, United States
|United States, North Carolina
|Research Site
|Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States
|United States, Tennessee
|Research Site
|Cordova, Tennessee, United States
|United States, Texas
|Research Site
|Houston, Texas, United States
|Research Site
|Katowice, Poland
|Research Site
|Szczecin, Poland
|Research Site
|Barcelona, Spain
|Research Site
|Girona, Spain
|Research Site
|Sevilla, Spain
|Research Site
|Donetsk, Ukraine
|Research Site
|Kyiv, Ukraine
Sponsors and Collaborators
MedImmune LLC
|Study Director:
|Armando Flor
|MedImmune LLC
More Information
Keywords provided by MedImmune LLC:
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017
|Responsible Party:
|MedImmune LLC
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT01585766 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|April 9, 2012
|Last Updated:
|August 15, 2016
Keywords provided by MedImmune LLC:
MAb, B cell, depletion, RMS
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Multiple Sclerosis
Pathologic Processes
Demyelinating Autoimmune Diseases, CNS
Autoimmune Diseases of the Nervous System
Nervous System Diseases
Demyelinating Diseases
Autoimmune Diseases
Immune System Diseases
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


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Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 67108864 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 35 bytes) in /var/www/includes/functions_search.php on line 197
I continually get this error when trying to start a new thread. It appears to be related to the title of the thread, as, if I change (shorten) the title, it goes away.
Anyways, it's not that big of a deal, I just thought I'd make the admins aware of it if they weren't already.

subset: commoncrawl


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I think Zeller can get Hammons frustrated tonight much like he did Meyers Leonard last year.
Printable View
I think Zeller can get Hammons frustrated tonight much like he did Meyers Leonard last year.
I wouldn't say his recruiting fell off. His *******-d-ness caught up with him.
Wow, IU has never focused their offense around Zeller like they have in the first four minutes tonight. He's already drawn two fouls on Hammons. Excellent...
Bye Oladipo
The Hoosier fans in Mackey are audible on TV.
The offensive rebounding for IU has been outstanding. The Hoosiers are doing a good job of blocking out and tracking the ball.
I am trying to understand how the game passed knight by. I didn't see it. What I did see though was an increasingly talent-depleted roster. Too many end of the bench guys and guys who were doing a year of prep school after high school. Those prep school guys never panned out. And while I did see other big program head coaches going to those summer all star games etc. I didn't see bob going to those things. I did hear about his hunting and fishing but not much work by bob at getting essential pieces needed to contend.
Not gonna lie--I'm happy to see Elston out there instead of Perea.
Crean should have called a timeout after that dunk.
Btw, that was a garbage call on Hammons. Refs, come on. That's his third and that was weak as ****.
Let's see if Indiana can do something they haven't done since the North Carolina game--step on a team's throat when you have them down by 10.
That was a good block. Just glad we have 22 to try and get another shot
He pronounces Rapheal Ray-fell? The Ninja Turtles are outraged.
Purdont is pressing. Honestly, there is a huge talent gap between these two teams. My how much things have changed in just two years. I don't suspect in two more years it will have reversed again :devil:
I am really liking us hitting our FTs.
I'm not sure I could have asked for a better first half for the Hoosiers. Dang.
+20 at the half. Put 'em down early in the second and then bring on Michigan.
Ok if we can beat Michigan and Kansas struggles again, assuming we keep this up. We should be the number 1 team in the nation. Will the voters agree, I doubt it.
Pour it on.
That was a charge.


text:
A Study of Aleglitazar in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
This study has been completed.
Hoffmann-La Roche
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Hoffmann-La Roche
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: October 16, 2006
Last updated: November 1, 2016
Last verified: November 2016
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
This 6 arm study will assess the efficacy, safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of aleglitazar therapy in patients with Type 2 diabetes. Patients will be randomised to one of 6 treatment arms, to receive one of 4 doses of aleglitazar, Actos as an open-label active comparator, or placebo. Aleglitazar will be administered starting from a dose of 0.05mg po daily, and Actos will be administered at a dose of 45mg once daily. The anticipated time on study treatment is 3-12 months, and the target sample size is 100-500 individuals.
|Diabetes Mellitus Type 2
|Drug: Actos Drug: Placebo Drug: aleglitazar
|Phase 2
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Investigator)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Official Title:
|A Randomized, Double-blind Study to Investigate the Effect of Aleglitazar on Glycemic Control in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
Further study details as provided by Hoffmann-La Roche:
Primary Outcome Measures:
- Absolute change from baseline in Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ]
Secondary Outcome Measures:
- Absolute change from baseline in Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG), HbA1c response rate, insulin sensitivity, beta cell function and cardiovascular markers. [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ]
- Adverse Events (AEs), laboratory parameters. [ Time Frame: Throughout study ]
|Study Start Date:
|November 2006
|Study Completion Date:
|March 2008
|Primary Completion Date:
|March 2008 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Assigned Interventions
|Active Comparator: Actos
Drug: Actos
45mg po daily
|Experimental: Aleglitazar 1
Drug: aleglitazar
Administered po daily, at ascending doses with a starting dose (arm 1) of 0.05mg.
|Experimental: Aleglitazar 2
Drug: aleglitazar
Administered po daily, at ascending doses with a starting dose (arm 1) of 0.05mg.
|Experimental: Aleglitazar 3
Drug: aleglitazar
Administered po daily, at ascending doses with a starting dose (arm 1) of 0.05mg.
|Experimental: Aleglitazar 4
Drug: aleglitazar
Administered po daily, at ascending doses with a starting dose (arm 1) of 0.05mg.
|Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Drug: Placebo
po daily
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years to 75 Years (Adult, Senior)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- adult patients, 18-75 years of age;
- type 2 diabetes, diagnosed >=1 month of screening;
- either drug-naive, or pretreated with a maximum of 2 oral antihyperglycemic agents at submaximal doses;
- HbA1c <=10.0% at screening, and 7.0-10.0% at pre-randomisation visit.
Exclusion Criteria:
- type 1 diabetes;
- currently or previously treated with insulin, a thiazolidinedione, or a dual Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor (PPAR) agonist;
- clinically significant cardiovascular disease;
- Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) New York Heart Association (NYHA) 3-4.
Contacts and Locations
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below. For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00388518
Hide Study Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00388518
Hide Study Locations
|United States, Arizona
|Phoenix, Arizona, United States, 85006
|Phoenix, Arizona, United States, 85029
|United States, California
|Beverly Hills, California, United States, 90211
|Palm Springs, California, United States, 92262
|San Diego, California, United States, 92161
|United States, Florida
|Chiefland, Florida, United States, 32626
|Hollywood, Florida, United States, 33023
|West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, 33401
|United States, Georgia
|Augusta, Georgia, United States, 30909
|United States, Idaho
|Idaho Falls, Idaho, United States, 83404
|United States, Illinois
|Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
|United States, Louisiana
|Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, 70809
|United States, Maryland
|Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21229
|United States, Mississippi
|Olive Branch, Mississippi, United States, 38654
|United States, New Jersey
|Hamilton, New Jersey, United States, 08610
|United States, New York
|New Hyde Park, New York, United States, 11042
|United States, Tennessee
|Johnson City, Tennessee, United States, 37604
|United States, Washington
|Spokane, Washington, United States, 99216
|Athens, Greece, 12462
|Thessaloniki, Greece, 56429
|Hong Kong
|Hong Kong, Hong Kong
|Bologna, Italy, 40138
|Genova, Italy, 16132
|Napoli, Italy, 80100
|Olbia, Italy, 07026
|Pavia, Italy, 27100
|Perugia, Italy, 06126
|Roma, Italy, 00133
|Siena, Italy, 53100
|Torino, Italy, 10126
|Aguascalientes, Mexico, 20230
|Chihuahua, Mexico, 31238
|Cuernavaca, Mexico, 62250
|Durango, Mexico, 34080
|Guadalajara, Mexico, 44340
|Guadalajara, Mexico, 44650
|Mexico City, Mexico, 10700
|Monterrey, Mexico, 66260
|Pachuca, Mexico, 42086
|Bucharest, Romania, 020475
|Bucharest, Romania
|Cluj-napoca, Romania, 400006
|Galati, Romania, 800352
|Ploiesti, Romania, 100163
|Russian Federation
|Moscow, Russian Federation, 117036
|Moscow, Russian Federation, 125315
|Moscow, Russian Federation, 129090
|Moscow, Russian Federation, 129110
|Moscow, Russian Federation, 129327
|Saratov, Russian Federation, 410038
|St Petersburg, Russian Federation, 197089
|St Petersburg, Russian Federation, 197198
|Belgrade, Serbia, 11000
|Kragujevac, Serbia, 34000
|NIS, Serbia, 18000
Sponsors and Collaborators
Hoffmann-La Roche
|Study Director:
|Clinical Trials
|Hoffmann-La Roche
More Information
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
Henry RR, Lincoff AM, Mudaliar S, Rabbia M, Chognot C, Herz M. Effect of the dual peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha/gamma agonist aleglitazar on risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes (SYNCHRONY): a phase II, randomised, dose-ranging study. Lancet. 2009 Jul 11;374(9684):126-35. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60870-9. Epub 2009 Jun 8.
|Responsible Party:
|Hoffmann-La Roche
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00388518 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|October 16, 2006
|Last Updated:
|November 1, 2016
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
Glucose Metabolism Disorders
Metabolic Diseases
Endocrine System Diseases
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


text:
Big Bad Wolf (vs. Lord Underwearface von Schtinker)
Ticket sales are currently not available for this venue.
Big Bad Wolf (vs. Lord Underwearface von Schtinker) is a hilarious musical romp that takes a new look at a children's classic. Framed for heinous crimes by the evil von Schtinker, our unlikely hero, Big Bad Wolf, must enlist the help of his fairy tale friends to prove that things aren't always as they seem. Featuring sing-alongs, goofy chases, and a true lesson in friendship, the interactive nature of the show will engage and delight children, while Second City's sly humour ensures that parents chuckling along as well.
Suitable for all agesOn Stage: July 2 - August 29, 2014Matinee performances! Each Wednesday & Thursday at 1pm
Tickets $14.00 Family 4-Packs $45.00Group pricing available for parties of 12 or more. Contact firstname.lastname@example.com
Learn more about Second City's summer camps for Grades 2 & up. Click for info
The Second City Theatre - 51 Mercer St., TorontoBox Office: 416-343-0011


text:
To Evaluate Clinical Outcome and Injection Compliance of Scilin (SEAS)
This study has been completed.
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: April 27, 2012
Last updated: January 11, 2015
Last verified: January 2015
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
No Study Results Posted on ClinicalTrials.gov for this Study
|Study Status:
|This study has been completed.
|Study Completion Date:
|January 2014
|Primary Completion Date:
|October 2013 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)


text:
Come see us at REI on Boone and Monroe to pick up your season pass for the 2015-2016 season! Beat the rush at the mountain on opening day by getting it early.
We will be located upstairs in the meeting room on the west side of the building. Bring your ID and a smile to pick up your pass.
College season pass holders need to bring proof of 12 current college credits and current student ID. College graduates need proof of at least 8 current college credits and current student ID. Military season pass holders must bring Active Duty ID.
If you are under 18 you must have a parent signature to pick up your pass. Print a sample contract and have them sign it, then bring it in to get your pass.
REI is located at 1125 N. Monroe St. Spokane, WA. 99201
We will be there on October 3rd and 4th, 10th and 11th, 17th and 18th, 24th and 25th, and November 8th.
Saturdays: 9:30am-5pm
Sundays: 10:00am-5pm


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NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
The heart beats using an intricate electrical system that allows the correct portion of the heart to beat at the exact right moment it is needed. Disruptions in this system are called arrhythmias, and arrhythmias can range from mild, causing no symptoms, to severe, with major symptoms leading to extreme disruptions in the electrical system. Listed below are some heart rhythm disorders:
Last Reviewed: Sep 04, 2013


text:
Affirmative Sweatshirts are an Idakoos specialtiy! Idakoos has many things to offer. Whether you want to get a Affirmative Sweatshirt for a special occasion, give a Affirmative Jumper as a present or need to represent with a funny Affirmative Crewneck Sweatshirt during Holidays or Family and Friends get-togethers, Idakoos is sure to have the right Affirmative Sweatshirt for you! Even if it turns out you can't find the right Affirmative Pullover with the perfect design for your mother, father or children (or friends!); Idakoos offers all of its men's women's and children's Affirmative Sweatshirts as Custom Affirmative Sweatshirts. Personalize any Affirmative Crewneck Sweatshirt the way you want to ensure the perfect gift.
Showing 1 - 24 of 68 Sweatshirt


text:
42 U.S. Code § 2373 - Transfer to governmental or other legal entity; determination of transferee
§ 2373.
Transfer to governmental or other legal entity; determination of transferee
(a) Transfer may be made to one or more of the following, if the transferee has the legal authority to receive and operate the utility.
(b) In determining the transferee for any utility, the Commission may consider the following:
the pattern of ownership of the comparable utilities in the State in which the community is located;
the probable price of the sale of the utility, the ability of the transferee to pay that price, and any probable expense;
the desires of the eligible voters of the community as directly expressed in any vote in any officially recognized procedure or in any procedure established by the Commission; and
(Aug. 4, 1955, ch. 543, ch. 7, § 73, 69 Stat. 480.)
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


text:
New York -- Walmart confirmed in an op-ed in the Washington Post that it will pull the plug on three planned stores in the Washington, D.C., area if the D.C. Council passes a bill setting a higher minimum wage for large retailers. The bill, the Large Retailer Accountability Act (LRAA) of 2013, is scheduled for a vote on Wednesday.
The bill would require large retailers with stores over 75,000 sq. ft. and parent companies grossing at least $1 billion per year to pay a "living wage" of $12.50 an hour. (The District has a minimum wage of $8.25.)
"Like any business, we have a responsibility to our customers, employees and shareholders to re-evaluate our options when it looks like local rules may significantly change," Alex Barron, a regional general manager for Wal-Mart U.S. responsible for about 90 stores, including all planned stores for Washington, D.C., wrote in the op-ed. "The LRAA would clearly inject unforeseen costs into the equation that will create an uneven playing field and challenge the fiscal health of our planned D.C. stores.
As a result, Barron wrote, Wal-Mart will not pursue stores at Skyland, Capitol Gateway, and New York Avenue, if the LRAA is passed.
"What's more, passage will also jeopardize the three stores already under construction as we will thoroughly review the financial and legal implications of the bill on those projects," Barron wrote.
The D.C. Council is set to take its second vote on the bill tomorrow, after it passed it on an 8-5 first vote last month. If it passes again, it will go to Mayor Vince Gray, who has not stated whether he will sign or veto it.


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Springer's return still a mystery
HOUSTON -- When will George Springer be activated from the disabled list? That remains a mystery. Springer, who tweaked his injured left quad during a Minor League rehab assignment earlier this week, took batting practice on the field prior to Saturday's game.
The rookie, who has 20 homers and 51 RBIs in 78 games in his Major League debut this year, has been on the disabled list since July 20.
"We'll re-evaluate him tomorrow," manager Bo Porter said. "It depends on how it goes today. We'll see."
Springer seemed to indicate the quad is going to have to be 100 percent before he gets back on the field in a Major League setting because he's going to play the game hard. The rookie outfielder pushed it a little too hard in his third game for Class A Quad Cities on Wednesday, so he's not about to do that again.
"My speed is my game and it's hard not to have that, so it's one of those things you just to be smart and go whenever I can go," he said. "The ultimate goal is to be 100 percent, so hopefully I can get back out there soon."
Brian McTaggart is reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, Tag's Lines. Follow @brianmctaggart on Twitter. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Back to basic basketball defensive discussions today, after a brief hiatus from posting for a couple of weeks. If you are interested in going back and reviewing the previous four threads in this series, we already discussed the following:
I. Defense at the point of attack
II. Defending the wing
III Defending the low post
IV Help side defense
Some of today's topic has been discussed ad nauseum before, but we have several new posters who have joined since then, so I feel like a review of this very critical defensive topic is merited. As always, I hope to get a high quality discussion going on the nuts and bolts fundamentals of the game, and how our own Pacers can get better in these specific areas.
When discussing screen/roll defense, there are many nuances and details to discuss from a coaching perspective. I'll try to hit as many of them as I can in this thread, but if I leave anything out you want to discuss, just ask it within the thread and we can all give our opinions.
Here are some of the decisions a coach must make in game planning screen/roll defense:
1. Do I as coach decide how we will play each screen/roll, or do I let my players read the situation and make their own decision?
2. Do we play the screen/roll differently depending on who has the basketball as the ballhandler for the opponent? Do we play it differently from a defensive planning standpoint depending on who the defenders are specifically?
3. Do we play it differently depending on part of the floor we are on? Do we defend it differently if it is a side screen/roll vs a top screen/roll for instance?
Once you make those decisions, then you have the following options on how to play this situation from a strategic standpoint:
4. Do we simply switch? If so, who calls the switch, the person being screened or the person who's man is setting the screen? (in the archives of PD, I wrote a long article about this very question a couple of years ago....look it up and read it if you wish)
5. Do we go "under" the screen, possibly risking an open jumpshot by the ballhandler right in rhythm, but hopefully preventing a drive?
6. Do we "show and go", having our big show or "hedge hard" outside the screen, hopefully slowing the ballhandler enough to allow his own original man to recover to him, and not allowing the ballhandler to turn the corner with a head of steam?
7. Do we just "trap" the ballhandler, aggressively attacking him with the screener's man and his own man, and rotating quickly behind ot cover up the "screener" now either rolling to the basket or possibly popping back out for an open jumper?
There is alot to this obviously, so lets discuss all the aspects of this, and Ill sprinkle in my opinion in general and for this particular roster. Be prepared for me to argue something a bit uncoventional as a solution for this roster at the end of this original post.
On the first point, I believe it is the job of the coaching staff to tell the players directly in each game plan how they are going to play this screen/roll situation. You do this by film work, scouting, and game prep, which is something more easily done with the technological advancies in those areas that all NBA teams have at their disposal. This is conventional wisdom of coaching, to not overload your players with decisions such as these. It is somewhat of a oddity that many coaches (such as myself) value and demand that their players read situations from an OFFENSIVE standpoint, but don't trust them from a DEFENSIVE one, but experience and perhaps a control freak nature of coaches in general has made this true.
There was one famous basketball mind who felt that players COULD in fact handle reading this situation on their own. I heard him discuss it and heard others discuss his opinion of the matter before he finally became a head coach and got to try his theory out. His name? Isiah Thomas.
I admired at the time Isiah's willingness to think outside the box in this matter. Since no one really at the NBA level had a great idea for defending the screen/roll anyway that was really working well, alot of coaches were interested to see how that would play out for him.
Unfortunately for Thomas, his teams were notably abysmal at defending the screen/roll, often looking like they had no clue what they were supposed to be doing to defend it. In fact, that was true! Isiah Thomas wanted players to be able to read this on the fly, thought he could teach them to make judgments like that based on time and score, situation, who had the ball, etc etc, but it just failed miserably. For most coaches, that settled this question once and for all.
This is a closer call as a coach I think. In an ideal world, you would have smart enough players to be able to say something like :"OK guys, if Rondo and Garnett run screen/roll here, go ahead and go underneath it and don't switch. But if it is Pierce and Garnett, go ahead and show hard, and if it is Ray Allen go ahead and switch it since he likely won't drive".
Now, all of that I just wrote might be the most sensible thing to do in a given situation against the Celtics. But, CAN YOU TEACH IT THAT WELL?
Defending this way, while it makes the most sense logically, is actually in my opinion mostly a mistake. This would require all of your players to be keenly aware and alert, and all of them able to rotate properly on the fly in many different various ways. This becomes even a more difficult thing to execute if you have multiple screen/roll situations within a single possession.
Now, most NBA coaches who think they are brilliant teachers will indeed to try to plan this way. Most of them would be better off not complicating the game so much for their players, and simply letting them have a clear understanding of what was going to happen and letting them execute it. I think Jim O'Brien, no matter what you may read in the paper or in his quotes, will often out think himself with stuff like this, and try to give his admittedly poor defensive athletes an "uber specific" gameplan that they arent able to execute. To use a coaching phrase, the Pacers sometimes appear to be "overcoached and undertaught" in this regard I think.
I do believe a coach can sort of adjust on area of the floor, just not as easily on personnel. Whether they SHOULD or not might be another question however.
Much was made in the pre-season when O'Brien announced he was tweaking our team defense to always force the side screen/roll to the baseline, remember?
But if you really watch the Pacers in depth with a critical eye, has that really worked? Do the Pacers in fact actually do that, or is that just something they announced but don't really do? Do they actually FORCE a team to the baseline side, even when the screen is designed to let the ballhandler drive to the middle? Or do teams ballscreen from the baseline side against us anyway, drive baseline by their own choosing, and then skip the ball across the floor to open shooters, using our so called design against us?
I actually don't think the Pacers struggle as badly with the side screen/roll as they do with the screen/roll at the top of the circle. But that in and of itself is an issue, because that means you have to learn multiple techniques depending on where on the floor you are, making it even harder to execute something consistently well.
Isiah Thomas wanted his players to switch this situation if it made sense to do so, and he wanted his players to read that on their own. We know that didnt work.
But can you as a coach DECIDE YOURSELF a switch, and get your team to execute? I think in limited cases you can, but not often, especially when you have limited personnel.
In Donnie Walsh's dream world toward the end of his career here, I think he envisioned an entire team of 6-10 guys with long arms, able to play multiple positions and almost be interchangeable on the floor. That would be awesome if you could pull it off, but it is unrealistic in the normal world we live in.
But you can do this on a limited basis. For instance, I think you could do it on the Pacers if your defenders were Granger and Rush, or perhaps you may be able to add Daniels in to that mix. But that is really it. We have too many guys who would give you serious mismatches if you tried it very much. Envision playing New Orleans for instance, and seeing a Tyson Chandler ball screen for Chris Paul. If you were a switching team, you could end up with Rasho on Paul, and TJ on Chandler barreling down the lane. Not going to work!
There are probably fewer than 10 players in the league that you can afford to switch a smaller man onto in the low post and get away with it. Unfortunately, two of them play for us: Dunleavy and Foster. In fairness, Foster has learned ot finish somewhat better when he can catch the ball and get a head of steam headed toward the basket. But if the timing isnt right, he isnt reliable posting up being guarded, even by a much smaller man.
And this to me is a major flaw in Dunleavy's game.....the inability to be used in a screen/roll situation as the screener. Teams just switch a smaller man onto him and dare the Pacers to have Dunleavy post up, which he does remarkably bad for whatever reason.
But getting back to defense, I think we can all agree that switching the screen/roll isnt a very viable option for us.
This is a viable strategy on rare occasions, when you play someone who clearly cannot make consistently an outside shot.
One of the players I thought could be a decent backup point guard but who has shocked me with his shooting improvement is Rajon Rondo. I specifically didnt want him coming out of college because in college at Kentucky he was one of the worst shooters I saw play that season. He was of the "Chris Reynolds" ilk, for all of you old IU basketball fans. But unlike 90% of pro players, Rondo actually improved as an individual at the pro level, and now is able to make that shot enough to be a near all star level guard, since he has so many other strengths on the floor as ballhandler and defender.
But, there are others in the league you can afford to do this to. When on the rare occasion you play a team with someone like this, you should be able to have your guys just go underneath the screen and live with the consequence. This would be a pretty good idea for our second unit to try more than it does, since often back up point guards dont make that shot well, which of course is why they are backups!
Now, here is another idea: Maybe the Pacers should do this MUCH MORE OFTEN than I would normally recommend. With all the giant problems we have in rotating to help, and getting beat off the dribble from the top. maybe we'd be better off just giving up even trying to guard someone correctly, just slide under all ballscreens at the top, and just let people shoot.
While Im being somewhat silly and condescending with that, how many point guards would actually go ahead and take 20 open three pointers a game from there at the top anyway? It might screw them up, and it definitely would throw them out of rhythm. Maybe we'd be better off letting Tony Parker, Chris Paul, and Ramon Sessions get 50 points or more, just to keep them out of the lane and killing us that way. I can't really recommend it of course, but watching our horrendous defense occasionally has me screaming such lunacy at times.
Having your screener's defender show hard to the outside of the screen, and hopefully stop the ballhandler from turning the corner long enough to let his original man recover to him, the having your "big" recover back to his own man as quickly as he can while his teammates temporarily cover for him is the oldest and most time honored way to defend the ball screen.
Most coaches believe it is the best way to do it....although I am not one of them.
This is the Pacers and Jim O'Brien's way to play this as well usually, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that from a strategic standpoint. Where we mess up too often is one fundamental issue, and one odd quirk that Jim O'Brien has taught that others like me find maddening.
The fundamental issue is the same one all coaches who try and teach this "show and go" or "hard hedge" have: Getting your screener's man (normally on of your bigs) to "hedge" high enough and aggressively enough out on the floor to prevent the ballhandler from turning the corner at a sharp angle.
This is easier to teach when the screener sets up early and is stationary somewhere on the floor. In this situation, the Pacers slower bigs are at least mediocre in stepping out far enough to make this plan work. In fact, this is probably Foster's one major strength as a defender....the ability to hedge fairly well and then recover to his man.
Of course, this is mitigated by a couple of other issues. Often Foster in particular will leave the ball too soon, and before our man who was screened has recovered to the basketball. We lost a game in fact earlier this season when Jeff made this critical mistake against the Celtics in Conseco Fieldhouse, letting Ray Allen bury a three before Marquis Daniels had recovered to the ball.
But this in itself wouldnt be an issue of our players recovered to the ball quicker to start with, and didnt leave players like Foster out to dry so long. One of my major disappointments in this team and it's defense has been our horrific defensive play from Ford and Jack, who I thought would be a major upgrade but in fact have not been. In a ballscreen situation, Ford and Jack have each lacked the toughness, quickness, and quite frankly in my opinion the EFFORT to recover quick enough to their own men playing this basic scheme of screen/roll defense on the ball. This is a weakness of some bigs anyway (who don't want to see their own man get the ball anyway so they tend to cheat back to their responsibility too soon) so guards being slow and lazy to recover to the ball only make that worse.
This really shows itself when our bigs hustle and actually do a decent job at showing and turning the ballhandler back. Because our point guards consistently don't put forth the defensive effort, we get "split" alot by good point guards. Our already slower bigs can't help that, and I mostly absolve them of responsibilty. It is our others who let us down here, especially Jack and Ford, and we simply have to solve that moving forward. As of right now, I have no real answers why two guys who should be better defenders arent getting the job done.
Where all the Pacers bigs struggle is when a team sprints a big from the block to the perimeter quickly. Our slow bigs like to hang back a step or two too long into their help responsibilities, and let their own men sprint to the perimeter ahead of them. This leaves them sunk in too low, and lets the ballhandler turn the corner with a head of steam and the advantage.
This is smart coaching by our opponents in taking advantage of a clear weakness we have in both scheme and personnel. What needs to happen is our guys need to just sprint to the perimeter with their own men and not be encumbered so much with help responsibilities that they can be able to do this. But irregardless, guys like Hibbert, Murphy, and Nesterovic are very slow, and will likely struggle with this anyway. This often leads to our bigs either giving up easy shots passively (Murphy) being ineffective even though trying due to lack of mobility (Nesterovic) or fouling while trying to help from out of position (Hibbert).
Now, even though we are playing it conventionally near the ball, there is still some "wackiness" I detect from the Jim O'Brien defensive scheme. This is what I often see, which is an overtendency to help by our bigs.
What should happen is you run the "show and go", and your big defending the screen needs some brief help to cover his man rolling to the basket until he recovers back to him. This leaves you vilnerable for an instant admittedly, but that is the entire point of the offense running this play to start with! Everyone has to sprint and work hard and be in sync, but this method is taught everyday by coaches all across the country, and it can be done. It isn't easy, but since defending the screen/roll is the hardest play in hoops to guard some think, it's not supposed to be easy! This causes limited disruption and movement among your bigs, which is why 99% of teams who use the show and go do it this way.
But not always our Pacers! Instead I sometimes see our Pacers bigs in helpside SWITCH to the original screener on a permanent basis, which means that ANOTHER player has to rotate to that guy's man, which means that our entire defense is scrambling around trying to figure out who has who on the run. It is no wonder that guys screw this up so often, and why we struggle at it so badly, especially when you consider that IT IS THE SLOWEST GUYS ON OUR TEAM WE ASK TO MOVE THE MOST!
Now, what I believe but can't prove is that O'Brien tried this as an experiement, and that at the end of the year he will reevaluate. But I can't prove that. And, I must say that it is inventive, and maybe would work better with better personnel who are experienced and more athletic (by a bunch!). It also is death doing this to a team who has its screener float to the perimeter instead of rolling to the hoop....remember Mehmet Okur getting 40 plus against us for Utah? This wacky rotation after a ball screen is why I believe that happened.
This is unconventional thinking, but this is the way I believe the screen/roll should be defended in general, and even by our admittedly glacially slow Pacers. It's probably too late in the season to do it now, but if I were in charge this is what I would make as my staple in training camp.
Trapping the screen/roll hard every time lets you as a defense attack the offense, instead of being passive. It lets you play more free, and easier, with less thinking required. It lets you practice your rotations easier, and be better at them considering they will be similar almost every time. It lets you create turnovers hopefully that will lead to punishing the offense.
The most important things I think it can do for you is to be consistent from night to night, and change your defensive mentality from being reactive to instead being PROACTIVE!
You will almost surely if you do this right never give up an easy jumper by the ballhandler, and you will rarely give up a easy shot to the original screener (because you can see a sittuation developing, you should be able to clearly know where and how to rotate, there is no reading involved). You will give up some open jump shots to players spotting up, but at least you'll be making the offense make two passes instead of one, and if you are smart you can try to rotate in such a way that you leave pen their worst shooter.
Another key to this would be something we discussed in the "defense at the point of attack thread" which is to have our point guards work hard to disrupt the oppoent bringing the ball up court, thereby using valuable time against the shot clock. If a team against us was forced to not run their screen/roll play against us until the clock was winding down, and bobble or mistake they make will result in a turnover, and any shot they take will be against the shot clock buzzer. Often, if this works right, they may not have time to make that second pass to the open guy....there may not be time to make it, even if he is wide open!
But Tbird, doesnt this have problems too?
Q. Won't our bigs get in foul trouble trying to trap away from the bucket?
A. Our bigs are in foul trouble anyway most of the time.
Q. Wont this require our bigs to move too much like you complain about now?
A. Not if we cause a turnover or missed shot from the perimeter, but yes it can at times. That is why we need to let guys like Rasho go and maybe have Foster dealt, and why Murphy needs to be benched if he can't handle it. Hibbert only projects to me to be a 24 minute a game guy anyway, so I'm not real concerned about his foul trouble anyway....plus, I think Hibbert will actually be able to do this well in fact, as he has such size and intelligence I think he will be a force at it, not a problem. All Hibbert needs for this to work is a little coaching and some help from our porous point guards.
Q. If we do this every game against every opponent, won't we be so predictable that teams will be able to gameplan us pretty easily?
A. Not really a concern. I'd rather do something well that is sound and well concieved than trying to outsmart everybody all the time. This goes into the attitude and mentality change I want: "This is what we are going to do opponents....we are going to trap you hard for 48 minutes, and if you try to split our trap we will either steal it from you or knock you on your ***, and if you think you are going to dunk it on us inside we are going to punish that with force. When you come to play the Pacers, you better wear your camoflouge, becase it is going to be a war"
If teams want to go small against us to run screen/rolls against us, that's fine. We will punish them on the other end with Hibbert.
Ok, so lots to comment on, and lots of ground to cover on screen/roll defense. Next topic will be something I think we actually do fairly well, which is fighting over screens AWAY from the ball.
As always, the above is just my opinion.


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To read this story in its original print format, download the PDF here.
To learn about how AFAs go hand in hand with sharp project management skills, read the online exclusive here.
If you think your biggest hurdle to using value-based billing arrangements is getting your law firm to agree, there's good news. It's still a buyer's market, and firms know their clients may be interested in alternative fee arrangements (AFAs). And they're more than willing to play ball--many of them are just waiting for you to throw the first pitch.
Over and over again, law firms InsideCounsel interviewed for this story lamented that it's still rare for their clients to step up and request such arrangements. After all, that's how things happen--it was a single client request in 2001 that first led Aronberg Goldgehn down the path of AFAs, and today value-based billing is part of the firm's culture. Maybe your law department is still working things out internally, or you don't think you have the purchasing power of Microsoft, or you're simply satisfied with the billable hour. But if AFAs are something you just haven't gotten around to pursuing, your law firms are waiting to hear from you.
Case study: Aronberg Goldgehn
Power of a Request
Don't be afraid to ask your firms what they can do for you. Chicago-based Aronberg Goldgehn was more or less forced into the alternative fee arena in 2001 when a major client sent a letter that was in essence an open-ended RFP (request for proposal). The client's instructions were simple: It wanted to move away from the billable hour and to achieve that, it wanted law firms to make their best offer. Of the 35 firms that received the letter, only 15 responded, and Aronberg Goldgehn was the only one to dig deeper into the client's goals and history.
Eventually, co-managing member John Riccione and the firm's litigation chair, Bill Serritella, proposed an arrangement based on flat fees with a success-based bonus and no volume requirements. One of the client's main goals was quick resolution, so the firm came up with a stage-based deal. The first stage was pleading, the second discovery, the third post-discovery and the fourth, trial. At each stage the case reached, the bonus the law firm received would diminish.
In one complex case they handled for the client--which was preceded by months of due diligence before they would take it on an AFA basis--this arrangement resulted in a recovery that exceeded the client's expectations, and that the law firm team finalized way ahead of schedule, resulting in a sizeable bonus for the firm.
"We were nervous about how the client would react, because we got a pretty good fee," Riccione says. "The client called us up that night and said they were ecstatic, but they were worried about whether we thought we did OK. It's one example of being on the same page with your client and partnering and succeeding with your client."
Aronberg Goldgehn's Takeaways
- Give smaller and midsized firms a chance. "The challenge for us is in-house counsel's comfort level with not using the megafirms," Serritella says. "The economy has relieved this to some extent."
- Look at law firms' compensation structures. Most big law firms, with their armies of associates and partners, rely heavily on compensating their employees based on the billable hours. "Until the culture of law firms changes to something other than, 'I'm going to be paid X dollars if I'm working Y hours,' I don't see how things will change," Riccione says. Aronberg Goldgehn uses a more subjective, merit-based employee assessment system to determine compensation, allowing the firm more flexibility in billing.
- The incentives really do change when outside counsel has skin in the game. "We think differently to a certain extent, we may even work differently when we're working on an alternative fee basis and the goals are aligned," Serritella says. "It's intangible, it won't show up on the hourly budget or AFA proposal. But it's there, it's real."
Case study: Bartlit Beck
Masters of the Game
"We've been doing this for 17 years," says Fred Bartlit, a founding partner of Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott. "As far as I can tell, we're the only firm that does billion-dollar litigation for Fortune 20 companies--and never by the hour. We don't keep track of hours."
Andrew Schaeffer at DuPont cites Bartlit Beck as an excellent firm with a stellar track record, and Valorem Law Group cites the firm as a model.
"They make boatloads of money, but other people have not really copied them, and they've never really understood why," says Pat Lamb, a partner and founder of Valorem Law, a Chicago-based commercial litigation firm that focuses on alternative billing.
Bartlit's not holding his breath for a paradigm shift. "Say you're head of a big hourly firm, making a nice $4 million a year," Bartlit says. "You're going to be head for five or six years, then retire. Are you going to tear the firm apart, change the entire business model?" He compares law firms' unwillingness to change with the American auto industry's.
At Bartlit Beck, the first step is negotiating a monthly fixed fee based on past similar cases with the client. Then they negotiate a discount to that fee that the client holds back. At the end of the case, the client decides whether and how much of the holdback Bartlit Beck receives.
Since it's such a drastic departure from the law firm status quo, Bartlit helps clients wade in. "Sometimes, a brand new client will negotiate benchmarks--if we recover X or hold a judgment to X, we get one part of the holdback. But after we deal with them for a while, we tend to rely more on client discretion," Bartlit explains.
The result is assurance for the client that they are getting value in harmony with what they're paying. "If you're an in-house lawyer it's nice to have an arrangement where you're certain the fees you're paying are consistent with the results achieved," Bartlit says. "The hourly rate doesn't
do that."
Bartlit Beck's Takeaways
- Firm structure is important. Where big firms see turnover rates that can approach 85 percent, Bartlit Beck aims to cultivate talent and keep lawyers around for a long time. That saves money on turnover and recruitment, and provides depth of experience. "My model works best if you have highly experienced people and small numbers of them," Bartlit says.
- Historical data analysis helps. "We have a big database on what we do, and a guy who can now tell us, 'This can be done with three experienced partners and one associate,'" Bartlit says. "So figuring out the cost is simpler now."
- Results count. "It's not just processing things," Bartlit says. When law firms take on risk through AFAs, their financial future hangs on getting good results, "so we try."
Case study: 84 Lumber and Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney
True Partnership
As the sole lawyer and general counsel at 84 Lumber, an $84 billion private company, Bob Bosilovic is used to relying heavily on strong relationships with outside counsel. So when increased commercial litigation stemming from the housing market crash forced him to cut spending, he cultivated one of those pre-existing relationships to form a true partnership in crafting creative billing arrangements.
"I decided, why not centralize it?" Bosilovic says. "I'll take business to one local firm I have a relationship with and ask them if they can handle this commercial litigation for us nationwide, and in doing so we can work out an alternative fee arrangement."
He thought it might take a few tries before he'd find an outside lawyer to come along for the ride, but it didn't. The first time he pitched the idea, he found a partner in Manoj Jegasothy, a Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney shareholder who has worked with Bosilovic for almost five years. That history, with its foundation of friendship, trust and knowledge, has made their collaboration particularly effective.
With an eye on cutting costs, they sat down together to structure a billing arrangement that incorporates flat rates, straight contingencies and blended rates, depending on different types of cases or aspects of the cases. Jegasothy's team also handles counterclaims and appeals flowing out of that work.
"It's really a lot of different things that are centralized," Jegasothy says. "Bob's seen a lot of savings, partly from the fee arrangement and partly from the centralization. Honestly, I think a lot of firms, including Buchanan, may not have approved these ideas several years ago, but in 2009 the firm management was great about encouraging a partnership that could benefit us both."
Bosilovic and Jegasothy's Takeaways
- Underlying efficiency matters. Since Bosilovic came on as 84's sole lawyer in 1986, he's been working to establish procedures and systems to streamline the department, centralize billing and track spending. That made going back to analyze his litigation costs and draft a contract with Jegasothy easy. Four years ago 84's legal department went paperless, so Jegasothy's team had easy electronic access to the company's agreements, contracts and systems (see "Looking for Efficiency").
- Even small departments can benefit from such nontraditional arrangements. "Being a one-lawyer legal department for a good-sized national retailer, having this type of arrangement really helps me in terms of saving time," Bosilovic adds. "You don't have to recreate the wheel in every matter. Manoj's team understands how we work, and that makes us more streamlined, more efficient.
- Give each other some outs. "When we were negotiating, we did say, 'Well, if this doesn't work for you--if Buchanan doesn't feel it's generating the fees to support its work--we don't want that,'" Bosilovic says. "And certainly Manoj didn't want us to be unhappy."
What Should In-House Counsel Know About AFAs?
Appreciate the partnership dynamic. In-house counsel always think they'll be gouged, and outside counsel think in-house counsel don't understand the realities of practice from the other side--that it's expensive and time-consuming. [So] clients are not typically willing to invest all their eggs in the basket of alternative billing. We need to get beyond that, to sit down and have genuine, honest conversations with existing clients. -- Donald Prophete, former in-house counsel and a director at Ogletree Deakins
AFAs don't have to be intimidating, they can be very simple. A simple budget--I'm still surprised how many in-house counsel don't require a budget. Once you have one you can shop it among firms for the best deal. Another simple thing is to work on a contingency fee basis. The holdback--where law firms work at a reduced rate and get the holdback if they succeed--can also be simple. If you want to get creative, you can come up with all kinds of structures--but it's not necessary. -- Tom Ajamie, founder of Houston firm Ajamie LLP
What's most important is being open to the ideas and being willing to think outside the box. Sit down and share with your firms the concerns you have so they can address them. Oftentimes some of those misperceptions or concerns--say, about total cost or staffing--can be worked out if you bring issues to the table and work through them. -- Peter Devlin, president of Fish & Richardson
AFAs work best when clients are both invested in the relationship in the long term and are viewing value in the broadest sense--not just a specific bill. If the sole motivation is lowering your costs, in the long term they're much less likely to be successful for both the client and law firm. It's a better fit if they measure the cost of legal services in terms of what they pay outside counsel, losses the company bears that are avoidable and the cost of in-house counsel's time and effort. If you're thinking about cost certainty, aligned interests, the value of risk avoidance and the value of having outside counsel who thoroughly understand your business--AFAs are fabulous. -- David Fries, chief client service officer at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Reality Check
Confusing the alternative fee arrangement (AFA) landscape even more is the fact that what some law firms present as AFAs aren't alternatives to the billable hour at all, or don't present much added value or increased risk-sharing for clients. A "real" alternative is more likely to be a pure contingency fee or a fixed fee with success-based bonus.
"Clients should always ask their law firms, 'If you're quoting me an alternative fee, how did you get to it?'" advises Pat Lamb, a partner and founder of Valorem Law Group, which focuses on AFAs. "If the answer is something like, 'I figured out it would be this many hours, and then I started multiplying...' What you're hearing is 'hours x rate = revenue.'"
The most common "fake" alternative rate is simply a discounted hourly rate, which does nothing to shift risk. "It's like going to an expensive hotel and seeing that their rate is $600 and negotiating a $580 rate," says Mike Roster, chairman of the ACC Value Challenge steering committee. "Negotiating the 5 to 10 percent discount is nibbling at an already inflated price. Better yet, pick the hotel that's giving you service you want."
Lamb reveals another "tell" of a valueless AFA: built-in trial components in alternative fees--a waste because 99 percent of cases settle. It's better to handle the possibility of trial separately, writing in that the client will pay extra or on an hourly basis for trial work, or that the client and firm will re-evaluate.
Get references. "Like any major purchase," Lamb says, "if your supplier is good at what they're doing they should have lots of happy customers."
If your arrangement truly is a win-win, you should be happy with outcomes. "Our goal is always the second or third case, the next one," Lamb says.
Lamb claims that if your fee agreement truly aligns interests, "you may never have to review another legal bill again."


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Namdrol wrote:Will wrote:I have yet to find online Namkhai Norbu's "Dzogchen and Zen" booklet. If anyone knows where it (a PDF?) might be or can summarize his points about the differences or similarities, that would be helpful.
It is a summary of Nubchen Sangye Yeshes position on the gradual path, Chan, Mahayoga and Dzogchen.
So Chan is Dzogchen lite? or a needed (or helpful) preliminary to DZ?


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Treatment for compulsive sexual behavior typically involves psychotherapy, medications and self-help groups. A primary goal of treatment is to help you manage urges and reduce excessive behaviors while maintaining healthy sexual activities.
If you have compulsive sexual behavior, you may also need treatment for another mental health condition. People with compulsive sexual behavior often have alcohol or drug abuse problems or other mental health problems that need treatment — such as obsessive-compulsive behaviors, anxiety, or a mood disorder such as depression.
People with other addictions or severe mental health problems or who pose a danger to others may benefit from inpatient treatment initially. Whether inpatient or outpatient, treatment may be intense at first. And you may find periodic, ongoing treatment through the years helpful to prevent relapses.
Certain forms of psychotherapy, also called talk therapy, may help you learn how to manage your compulsive sexual behavior. These include:
These therapies can be provided in an individual, group, family or couples format.
Certain medications may be helpful because they act on brain chemicals linked to obsessive thoughts and behaviors and reduce the chemical "rewards" these behaviors provide when you act on them.
Which medication or medications are best for you depend on your situation and other mental health conditions or addictions you may have. You may have to try several medications, or a combination, to find what works best for you with the fewest side effects.
Medications used to treat compulsive sexual behavior are often prescribed primarily for other conditions. They include:
Self-help and support groups can be helpful for people with compulsive sexual behavior and for dealing with all the issues it can cause. Many groups are modeled after the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).
In addition to helping you make changes directly, these groups can help you:
These groups may be Internet-based or have local in-person meetings, or both. If you're interested in a self-help group, look for one that has a good reputation and that makes you feel comfortable. Such groups don't suit everyone's taste, so ask your mental health provider about alternatives.
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text: Equal parts Led Zeppelin, Cream and King Crimson, Rush burst out of Canada in the early 1970s with one of the most powerful and bombastic sounds of the decade. Their 1976 magnum opus 2112 represents progressive rock at its grandiose heights, but just a half decade later they had the guts to put epic songs aside in favor of shorter (but no less dynamic) tunes like "Tom Sawyer" and "The Spirit Of Radio" that remain in constant rotation on radio to this day. Absolutely uncompromising in every conceivable way, the trio has spent the last forty years cultivating the largest cult fan base in rock while still managing to sell out every arena in the country. While they have never gotten the critical respect they so richly deserve, Neil Peart has inspired more young drummers to take up the instrument than any other drummer of the past thirty years. No less impressive is Geddy Lee's ability to play keyboards and bass in concert while never missing a note of his lead vocals, and guitarist Alex Lifeson is a virtuoso simply without peer. They are a band completely removed from the mainstream music scene, and yet somehow also one of the most popular rock bands in the country. It is a dichotomy that has fueled them from the very beginning. Their newest release, Clockwork Angels, is as bold and ambitious as any of their works of the 1970s, and even though the members are now pushing sixty it is hard to shake the feeling that they are just getting started.


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Posted 5 years ago
(167 items)
Serving up Plum pudding & Christmas Wishes for all CW members.
This PC is from my Grandfathers collection, & is one of those items that could appeal to many different collectors.
So if you collect militaria, PC's, or Christmas items this is for you.
There is no US flag so it must date prior to Apr. 1917.
Reggie would have been around 8 - 11 yrs old.
Valentine & Sons Limited
John Valentine, an engraver, started the company in 1825, with his son James becoming a partner five years later. Valentines became a limited company in 1896, becoming a public company in 1907.
Valentine used a large number of artists including Louis Wain and Mabel Lucie Attwell. Among Valentine's noted series are Disney, Bonzo, Chloë Preston and the Nipper series by Brian White. Barribal, noted glamour artist, was also published by them. Among the landscape artists contributing to the "Art Colour Series" are Brian Gerald, E.W. Haslehurst, Geo. Melvin Rennie, E.H. Thompson and E.W. Trick.
Merry Christmas everyone
aka David


text: Steelhammer: When the snow hits the fan By Rick Steelhammer October 20, 2012 Story Share A recycling project taking shape at an Arizona ski resort this season could leave skiers and snowboarders flushed with excitement -- or maybe just anxious to flush.Arizona Snowbowl near Flagstaff is poised to become the world's first ski area to make snow from water that is 100 percent treated sewage fluids. The accomplishment proves that with the right attitude, it's possible to make honey when life deals you a honey wagon, and create a place where the affluent connect with the effluent.While the concept is being contested by environmentalists worried about contaminating groundwater supplies and by American Indian groups who consider the mountain a sacred place, Flagstaff city officials argue that treated sewage is already being safely used to water golf courses and parks.While that may be true, riding a half-pipe at a ski resort could lose some of its appeal, if skiers and snowboarders knew that a pipe full of sewer water was used to produce it. I suspect that skiers and riders suffering the discomfort and indignity of face plants at Arizona Snowbowl will be among those most fervently longing for the days when only natural snow covered their slopes.While winter sports fans in Arizona will be dealing with off-color white stuff when it hits the snowmaking fans this winter, skiers and snowboarders in Vermont will be riding the world's first ski lift powered by cow poop.According to a Reuters News Service article on Friday, Killington ski area will use 300,000 kilowatts of electricity made from cow patties collected from 13 dairy farms to run its K-I Express gondola lift to the top of Killington Peak.Waste dropped on barn and milking parlor floors will be mixed with water used to sanitize milking equipment to produce a slurry that, when mixed with bacteria in an anaerobic digester, creates methane gas. That gas, in turn, is burned to generate power.With cow pie power and sewer snow hitting the slopes this winter, some colorful new ski run and lift names need to be created to pay homage to the recyclables that created them. Here are a few possibilities:Plunger Cowabunga!Dark Side of the MooWaste Line Urinary TrackPowder RoomWipe Out Slalom DootyPoo CornersUdder Terror Story Share Story Share Trending Now 1 Former State Police captain now chief in Winfield 2 Innerviews: Dual-identity surgeon riding high in horse racing world 3 Huggins, WVU tap South Florida hoops talent 4 WVU seeking improvements during off week 5 Man charged after motorcycle pursuit early Sunday AmeriCorps: Make truancy a community problem Previous Story Early look at Windows 8 baffles consumers Next Story


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Eternias Most Wanted Caught in Polystone...
Pop Culture Shock Collectibles presents their next 1:4th scale statue in their Masters of the Universe collection: BEASTMAN.
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PRAIRIEVILLE — Officials and residents in Ascension Parish are optimistic about a possible four-lane, north-south parkway that would connect Interstates 10 and 12.
The parkway, an alternative to a private toll road that has been discussed for the past two years, would use mostly existing state highways to connect I-10 in Gonzales and Sorrento with I-12 near Livingston and Walker.
The three possible alternatives — one using the existing bridge over the Amite River at Port Vincent, and two that would construct new bridges east and west of Port Vincent — were presented by designers at a public meeting in order to get feedback from Ascension residents.
Ray Miller, the senior project manager for Ascension Parish, said officials do not have a preferred alternative at the moment, but he said there were several reasons for supporting the project.
"It would provide a better, safer, faster connection" between the two parishes, he said.
Ben Laurie, Ascension Parish government's chief engineer, said the parkway would help "lessen the load" on parish roads. Many people commute from Livingston Parish into Ascension Parish because they work at plants near the Mississippi River. When La. 431 gets backed up, Laurie said, drivers cut over to parish roads such as Roddy and Joe Sevario roads, as well as La. 44.
"It would help pull a lot of traffic off a lot of local roads," he said.
Designers with Burk-Kleinpeter Inc., the engineering firm serving as the lead consultant on the project, were on hand to answer questions about the project, as well as take feedback from the public.
Those suggestions, as well as others gathered from a similar open meeting in Livingston Parish on Tuesday, will be consolidated in a new report and delivered to parish officials.
Gonzales resident Don Weinell said he attended Wednesday's meeting to make sure designers are including bicycle and pedestrian access into plans for the parkway.
"It's a brand-new project, and now's the perfect time to make sure that it's bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly," he said.
Weinell said he didn't have a preference among the three alternatives, but he's hopeful the project can move forward.
"Livingston and Ascension parishes are both going to continue to grow," he said. "There's no doubt about it. You can either be proactive and plan for growth, or 20 years from now you can shake your head and say, 'What happened?' "
Skeptics, however, wondered if the project would even get started in that time frame anyway. Because the project is still in the feasibility study segment, there's no real timetable as to when funding from the state Department of Transportation and Development would be available.
Miller said construction could begin in eight to 10 years. However, Ascension Parish Councilman Todd Lambert isn't a believer yet.
"They say 10 years, but that's kind of doubtful," he said.
Lambert, who joined the Parish Council in 1996, said council members were discussing expanding La. 42 then. That project is expected to begin construction later this year.
The top priority would be funding the parkway project, which is estimated to cost between $225 million and $285 million. Lambert joked with state Rep. Johnny Berthelot, R-Gonzales, Wednesday night about where the legislator would find $250 million for the project.
"The federal government is cutting back. The state is cutting back. That's where the majority of the funding comes from," Lambert said.
His skepticism, however, doesn't mean Lambert doesn't support the project. While he said he believes it would help Livingston residents more than Ascension residents, he said a new route across the Amite River has been needed for quite some time.
"I think it would be a heavily used highway both ways," Lambert said.


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Southern 76 — By Capt. Bill Pike
April 2001
|Steel construction and Aussie savvy make the Great Southern 76 an ABS-certified bruiser of a cruiser.
The hardest class I
ever took was based on the book Stability and Trim for the Ship's
Officer, written by U.S. Merchant Marine Academy instructors John
Ladage and Lee van Gemert. It was a deceptively trim little volume but
so dense and difficult that several of my fellow deck cadets stumbled
on one prolix, trigonometrical chapter or another and flunked out. Besides
being a stumbling block, the book was also an intensely practical exegesis
of seafaring stability, or "the tendency of a vessel to return to
its original position after it has been inclined due to external forces."
Thanks be to merciful providence, I've had virtually nothing to do
with the terrible little tome for years, until just recently when the
subject of stability came up during a test of a salty, Australian-built
passagemaker called the Great Southern 76.
This article originally appeared in the January 2003 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.


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Jean Longstreth White died August 9, 2013 in Los Altos, CA. Her kind and generous heart couldn't sustain her any longer, although it will continue to be an inspiration to family and friends.
She is survived by her daughter, Marilyn Waterman of Houston TX, her son, Richard White of Los Altos, her granddaughters, Sara Waterman Hicks of San Antonio,TX, Lauren White of Seattle, WA, Katherine White of Oakland, CA, and her grandson, David Waterman of Houston, TX. Her loving husband of 59 years, Lester White preceded her in death in 2001.
Alice Jean Longstreth was born on August 31, 1917 in Richmond, IN. Her musical talents were evident at a young age -- she became an accomplished pianist, cellist and vocalist during her high school years. She attended Miami University and went on to nursing school at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, OH. She was working as an RN in San Antonio, TX in 1941 when her brother, Joseph introduced her to a fellow air cadet at Kelly Field, Lester White. They were married in March of 1942, just a few months before he left for European and North African WWII service. After military service they settled in Miami, FL and started a family. They later moved to rural, eastern OH in 1954 where she dedicated herself to supporting her husband and raising two young children on a working farm, sometimes on her own when her husband was traveling on business. Jean also returned to nursing part-time at the local county nursing home when her children were older.
Upon retirement, they moved back to the place she really loved, Florida. There she enjoyed playing tennis, swimming and social bridge games with her many friends. In 2007, when her health required it, she relocated to Los Altos to be near family. Her ashes will be buried with her husband and parents in Richmond, IN in a private ceremony at a later date.
Her children feel so blessed to have had such strong and loving parents. Now Mom can rest in the loving arms of God with the spirits of all those who loved her. Her family would like to express their sincerest gratitude for the professional and compassionate care received by Jean from Bridgepoint of Los Altos, Vitas Hospice and the Morningstar caregivers in the final phase of her life.


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Hello Teachers/Friends,
As I understand, the Buddha obtained his supreme enlightenment after obtaining the three true knowledges, especially the four noble truths. I'm wondering if he obtained all the 10 Tathagata powers that night, or developed them later? This question is important since it's relevant to the development of his teachings. Is there a chronology of the important suttas (taught by the Buddha) available to learn the development of his teachings?
In his 1st sermon (SN56.11), he introduced the Four Noble Truths as:
"Suffering, as a noble truth, is this: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering; association with the loathed is suffering, dissociation from the loved is suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering — in short, suffering is the five categories of clinging objects [five clinging aggregates].
"The origin of suffering, as a noble truth, is this: It is the craving that produces renewal of being accompanied by enjoyment and lust, and enjoying this and that; in other words, craving for sensual desires [pleasures?], craving for being, craving for non-being. [[How about ignorance or delusion??]]
"Cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, is this: It is remainderless fading and ceasing, giving up, relinquishing, letting go and rejecting, of that same craving. [[How about ignorance or delusion??]]
"The way leading to cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, is this: It is simply the noble eightfold path, that is to say, right view, right intention; right speech, right action, right livelihood; right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.""
I wonder why the assava of ignorance/delusion was not included in the origin of suffering here, which is the most fundamental cause/origin of suffering to me. Nevertheless, the Buddha did teach his 1st five disciples to break this delusion by introducing anicca/dukkha/anatta during his 2nd sermon, and later by introducing Dependant Origination.
If a chronology of the important suttas (taught by the Buddha) is available, I guess it would probably be better to learn his later teachings in addition to his earlier teachings. By the way, which discourse(s) is the most important/representative teaching on Dependent Origination?
My thanks and metta to all,


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I plan to visit Manchester UK from 28 September to 1/2 October to watch a football match (Manchester United - Tottenham Hotspur on 29 Sept.).
From those who live in Manchester, I would really appreciate some advice. What hotel would you recommend that I stay at (I guess closer to the airport would be best)? What places/attractions are must-to-visit? And most importantly, any Theravada temples/centres you would recommend that I see?
Thanks a lot!!


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Why would Juan want to parlay his career year into being insurance for Barry?
Why would Juan want to parlay his career year into being insurance for Barry?
Lance McAlister
How about D'Angelo at SS next year. He's been lights out all season at 2B, and shown that he could indeed handle SS. I don't know what the reasons where in the minors that he was switched over, but it could have been mental, he seemed to have some baggage when he was younger.
Then let the Reds worry about plugging in a 2B, which is easier than a SS, IMO.
Why did Larkin wait to announce this until Jack McKeon gave him his retirement gift, do you think? Or do you not view it that way?
I don't think most people remember stars for their last year (if it was a bad year).
Nolan Ryan had an almost 5.00 ERA in his last season. No one remembers that.
I have a hard time remembering the teams Steve Charlton bounced around.
Few remember that Frank Viola played with the Reds in his twilight years.
Barry is obviously playing at a high level this year. I see nothing wrong with
him coming back next year, particularly given the derth of talent at SS in this
organization. And if he does have a bad year in 2005, it wouldn't change
the great memories I have of him. More power to him.
And it's nice to see John Allen is at least being graceful publicly about it
this time. It might be really burning him up in reality, but at least he's acting
Thank you Walt and Bob for bringing winning baseball back to Cincy -- it was nice while it lasted..
Nov. 13, 2007: One of the greatest days in Reds history: John Allen gets the boot!
Juans career has been being "insurance" that's his role and given more than 300 ab's a season one can see why.Originally Posted by Lance McAlister
Nolan Ryan was an all-star at 42. At age 44, he logged 157.1 innings with a 3.79 ERA.
At age 42, Rickey Henderson's wheels were still good enough to swipe 25 bags in 32 attempts.
At age 40, Randy Johnson is leading the majors with 139 Ks. Roger Clemens, who turns 42 in less than a month, is 4th with 113 punchouts.
Occasionally, someone comes along & breaks the mold. Barry is one of those rare birds.
And without any heir apparent in the system, he's as good an option as any other to trot out to short on Opening Day 2005.
I say keep on keepin on.
I doubt it is bothering Allen. Larkin will make about the same as he did this year. He's probably more worried about Graves and Casey's bump for next season, and impnding raises for Dunn, LaRue, Jimenez & WMP. The million they'll give to Larkin is peanuts for his production if he can maintain it through the rest of this season.
"There was like a softness to it, a glow to it. I felt... I felt warm."
-- Joseph Daniel Votto 7/10/2017
15-- the difference between Larkin and the other guys you mentioned is health. Those other players have generally stayed in the line-up from year to year. Barry is so unreliable in the injury-dept. right now. I feel like his tendons and muscles are all going to snap simultaneously one of these days. Considering our black hole at SS, and considering he's my all-time favorite Red, I would enjoy seeing him out there.
But I do fear that his return gives the FO yet another reason to delay finding a SS for the future.
And besides that, everyone knows that Barry wants to finish his career as a Red, and I'm sure Larkin said I'd like to come back next year to Allen when he asked him to cancel the "day" and Allen must have said we want you back as well. So I'm sure Allen already knows what it will cost to bring Barry back and is OK with it.Originally Posted by TRF
And I'm all for him coming back, as the Reds are a much better team this year with Barry in the lineup. He is as indispensible as anyone after the big three (Griffey, Casey and Dunn).
"I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I'm all out of bubble gum."
- - Rowdy Roddy Piper
"It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong. I am not a big man"
- - Fletch
Another year of Larkin would be very valuable for the team, as long as they have someone who can play the other 60 games at a decent level.
Last edited by Eric_Davis; 07-06-2004 at 02:55 PM.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, what Larkin's doing -- playing SS everyday at age 40 - has only been done by three others in history, Honus Wagner, Luke Appling and Ozzie Smith (and Ozzie barely qualifies on the everyday count).
It's impossible to benchmark him. What can he do? How long can he continue his current performance?
The Reds don't have a replacement for him. They'd need to go out and find one if he retired (something he never committed to in the first place). As long as he's willing to play for something like his current contract, I don't see the problem with taking the chance that he can milk another year out of his talent.
If he finally hits the wall, then that will be the end. Yet he could also go on an Applingesque run the next two years, helping the team and cementing his legend in the process. I've always been of the opinion that you have to allow the greats a chance at greatness. Only they can define it.
Larkin coming back could be a mistake or it could be one of the coolest things we ever get to see in the game of baseball. Time will tell and, personally, I'm looking forward to discovering the answer.
Wait until the year after next year.
I've heard talk of the Reds bringing Larkin back as a player/coach next season. Talk to anyone with access to the Reds' clubhouse and they'll tell you that Barry is the heart of this team. O'Brien has acknowledged the intent to return the organization to the days when there was a Reds-way to do things. They even brought back Oester for good measure. I think bringing back Larkin as a player/coach would be a brilliant, forward-thinking move for an organization not known for such recently.
I HEART Barry Larkin as much as the next guy, but let's not get all crazy and everything.Originally Posted by Eric_Davis
100+Plate Appearances at the #2 slot in the order, Larkin ranks 21st in RC/27 (which equalizes PA's).
"But I do know Joey's sister indirectly (or foster sister) and I have heard stories of Joey being into shopping, designer wear, fancy coffees, and pedicures."
I'm happy. If he feels he can still continue and play at a solid - to - good level, like he is this season, then more power to him! He certainly deserves it. There is absolutely no one here who should, or has the right to tell, or suggest Barry to retire. It's his decesion, and he's done the right thing leaving it open. Sure, he hasn't been 100% healthy this season - but neither has Casey, Kearns, Griffey, LaRue, Larson, etc. .. - half our team. I appluad Larkin.
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