Litigation Value: $0. Now that we’re into the summer season of recycled shows, we’ll assume that all stale claims are time-barred.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. Or so we thought. With a doubleheader of The Office repeats on last night’s schedule, this blogger was getting ready to post a rehash of two episodes from last season: The Banker and Sabre. (Before I forget, allow me to give obligatory yet sincere props to two of my colleagues, Brian Kurtz in Chicago and Chris Butler in Atlanta, for their prior write-ups on those shows.)
But news recently reached me, out here west of the Mississippi, that Steve Carell may be ending his run as our favorite show’s most (in)famous character, Michael Scott. That, in turn, has suggested that I write on a recurring and unavoidable topic: change.
In these challenging economic times, few of us have not experienced -– or at least witnessed through family members, friends or coworkers -– significant workplace adaptations. Just as Michael was resistant to the changes wrought by Sabre’s acquisition of Dunder Mifflin, we are reluctant to embrace the notion of Scranton’s most well-known printer company (that also sells paper) being (co-)managed by someone else. No matter what a rainbow tastes like, and with all due respect to Christian Slater, “[t]oo much change is not a good thing.” (Just ask the climate.)
Taking a step back from the sitcom world, those of us who spend our days practicing law note that a distinguished member of our profession, Justice John Paul Stevens, has relinquished his longtime post. While the great institution for which he shared custodial responsibility for over three decades will no doubt endure, it is fitting to raise an aluminum water bottle (or other container) to him -– even if, like Michael, you are “not really one for making speeches.”
