NOW THAT’S A MOUTHFUL
While some law firms are taking measures to shorten long, cumbersome names, Allen Matkins Leck Gamble & Mallory are headed in the opposite direction and adding name No. 6: partner Anton Natsis.
“It’s sort of a recognition for me that both internally and externally I’ve risen to that level of quality of practice and reputation,” Natsis said. “All of the other firms are shortening names, and our firm decided to honor me by putting me on it.”
At 47, Natsis is significantly younger than other partners on the door, most of whom are in their 60s.
While the idea to add the name was Natsis’, it was embraced by the partnership and accepted in a vote. Adding No. 6 won’t affect firm branding because it often goes by the shortened “Allen Matkins” anyway, firm representatives said.
As for logistics, no one’s running out to order new business cards right away. But what about the poor receptionists who have to deal with the added name?
“We don’t answer the phone [with the full name], because people would die by the time we got that out,” Natsis said, adding that they would continue to answer with the shortened “Allen Matkins.”
� Kellie Schmitt
MUM ON STEROIDS
The spokesman for the San Francisco U.S. attorney’s office cited the Balco steroid case as one of the office’s big successes in last week’s Recorder story about the office’s performance. The Balco prosecution so far hasn’t resulted in much jail time for anyone, but questions were resurrected Tuesday about whether more indictments could be in the works.
The gossip comes thanks to a big Sports Illustrated story that uses a wide range of sources to conclude that Barry Bonds used enough steroids to, well, start breaking home run records as he neared an unjuiced baseball player’s retirement age.
Reached last week, Bonds’ lawyer, Michael Rains, said he wasn’t expecting any big legal fallout from the story, but limited further comments to an e-mail he sent to reporters Tuesday afternoon.
And what an e-mail it was. It began by saying that Bonds does not intend to read the story (he’s apparently a fan of the pre-emptive denial), and went on to claim that the San Francisco Chronicle reporters who wrote the book from which the story was excerpted obtained Bond’s grand jury testimony illegally (it’s not clear what was illegal). It also criticizes the reporters for using anonymous sources and reprinting information they already published.
“The exploitation of Barry’s good name and these attempts to eviscerate his sensational accomplishments … may make those responsible wealthy, but in the end, they need to live with themselves,” Rains wrote.
And Luke Macaulay, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan, had much less to say about whether the muscle-bound slugger would be prosecuted for allegedly perjuring himself in front of a federal grand jury (the Chronicle has reported that Bonds told the grand jury he didn’t use steroids).
Macaulay said his office couldn’t comment, but such a prosecution seems like a long shot, given that, from the Tuesday story, it’s not obvious whether Bonds clearly lied � rather than obfuscated the truth � about his alleged steroid use.
And such perjury charges are relatively rare, but certainly not unheard of. Just look at Chris Webber. The basketball star � currently with the Philadelphia 76ers � pleaded guilty in 2003 for lying to a Michigan federal grand jury about perks players received when he was in college.
� Justin Scheck
