I wish you all a safe, sane, star-spangled Fourth of July.

As we celebrate our freedom, I’ll toast Albert Einstein who said, “Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.”

Einstein, who was Jewish, left Germany in 1932 as antisemitism was rising. He made his way to the United States where the sui generis scientist spent the rest of his genius life.

Boeing, Boeing, Gone

Five years after the second crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8, I’m gearing up my one remaining Max 8 case for trial in April 2025.

Additionally, my firm is representing 31 passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight where the door plug blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 at 16,000 feet.

Boeing has been delaying justice on Max 8 crash cases for years. The once great company has also been delaying reforms to its culture.

After negotiating a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the Department of Justice, Boeing violated the conditions of that agreement and faces further prosecution and penalties.

The Max 9 door plug blowout, among other incidents, demonstrates the continuing safety issues at Boeing. One of my clients and I appeared on a Dr. Phil Show episode, “Boeing Under Fire,” to discuss this. Dr. Phil, by the way, was smart and gracious.

In all of our cases against Boeing, I’m aiming not just for justice and accountability, but for Boeing to get its act together. Boeing management could take a lesson from Steve Jobs who said, “If you keep your eye on the profit, you’re going to skimp on the product. But if you focus on making great products, then the profits will follow.”

In the aviation arena, our firm is also representing and advocating for victims of sexual assault. There has been an unfortunate uptick in reports of in-flight sexual assaults according to the F.B.I.

Accountability is important for the perpetrators and for the airlines if company negligence contributes to the crime.

Epic Space

Mark Lindquist Law is now sharing office space with Evergreen Personal Injury Counsel, aka EPIC, in an iconic downtown Tacoma building. Come visit sometime.

The space is cool and so are the attorneys and staff at EPIC. We are associating on some cases.

You can see the new offices on the Mark Lindquist Law Google business page. While there, feel free to write a review, thank you.

You can also see the space in various interviews I did with FOX 13, or KOMO TV, or KING 5, or KIRO TV in our conference room.

While most of my cases are aviation related, or wrongful death and serious injury cases against the government, we handle other types of personal injury cases as well.

If we aren’t the right firm for you, I’ll refer you to someone who’s a good fit for your case. Happy to help friends.

Finally, I continue to do “expert legal commentary” for local and national media and I appreciate your feedback, even if it’s just, “Maybe you should wear something other than the same blue and red Rep ties.”

Books & Movies

Good news! Ryan Holiday has a new book out — Right Thing, Right Now: Good Values. Good Character. Good Deeds.

This is his third book in the Stoic Virtues series. I just started it, but I’m confident in recommending it to all my friends.

If you don’t buy it, I’ll likely buy it for you come Christmas. Books are the best gifts.

As for movies, well, Sloane and I are revisiting everything by the Farrelly brothers, especially Dumb and Dumber, Sloane’s favorite.

Peter Farrelly, a good friend from the Bad Old Days, has invited Sloane to the set of his new movie, Balls Up, to play a small, small part.

This means we are flying to Australia in August, which is winter there. Winter in Australia, however, is a lot like summer in the Northwest.

Sloane, by the way, starts high school this coming fall. She’s Chelsea’s height.

One More Thing

Steve Jobs used to say that a lot, “one more thing.” Walter Issacson’s biography of Jobs is one of the best I’ve read. I’m now into Isaacson’s bio of Elon Musk, which is equally fascinating for similar reasons.

Sticking with the theme of freedom and creativity, here is what Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, says about our country, which he, like Einstein, made his home.

“If someone wants to accomplish great things, there is no better place than the U.S.”

Sure, sometimes we see enough dumbness to make Harry Dunn and Lloyd Christmas blush, but so it goes. I’m going to focus this Fourth of July on our everlong greatness.

And speaking of greatness, congratulations to R.E.M. on their induction to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Enjoy this video clip of “Losing My Religion” from the ceremony.

Thanks for reading.

Here we go again. New year, new beginnings, new mutations. 

Chelsea, Sloane and I have been fortunate to see most of you this year and we hope to see more of you in a glorious 2022. According to internet numerology, which you can always trust, “2022 stands for success and making your dreams come true.”

I’m good with that.

Life

Chelsea has been especially busy with Bates Technical College communications thanks to the never-ending pandemic. She also serves on the board of St. Vincent de Paul of Tacoma-Pierce County, which “isn’t just a thrift store.” Their long-standing mission includes homelessness prevention, a timely goal.  

Sloane enjoyed learning about the Egyptian pyramids at Saint Pat’s school this year. Chelsea and I introduced her to the Steve Martin King Tut video from SNL, which survives on YouTube. Sloane is back to playing tennis three to four times a week. Ah, to have the schedule of an eleven-year-old. 

After successfully resolving our Lion Air cases against Boeing, I have a new case against Boeing: the crash of Sriwijaya Air Flight 182. You can read more on my lawyer website or my author website blog. I also have several wrongful death cases, including two against the City of Seattle. You can read more in the New York Post, local media, or my lawyer website.  

As always, please let me know if I can help with anything. I feel grateful every day for my continuing and expanding ability to fight the good fight and serve.

Books

‘Twas a good year for books. My favorites included Live Like a Monk by Jay Shetty, The Lives of the Stoics by Ryan Holiday, and Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion. Kazuo Ishiguro has a new novel out, but I confess I haven’t read it yet. 

I did read some novels this year, but mostly classics and pop fiction I reread, including – another confession – Jacqueline Susann. I recommend returning to books you’ve already read for the order and grounding they momentarily provide in topsy turvy times. 

I was jazzed to discover there is a graphic novel version of The Great Gatsby and this was my favorite Christmas gift to Sloane. When she was about two, I read her the entire book as she was going to sleep each night. She’ll get to it after she finishes Twilight, but right now she’s more into her new Apple watch.

Movies

Sloane’s pop culture education took a leap forward this year when she watched a trifecta of holiday movies: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Die Hard, which she declined to finish with me. Next year.   

I don’t see as many movies as I used to, but for 2021 I recommend Don’t Look Up, a smart satire for strange days. While writer-director Adam McKay misfires a few times, he keeps it entertaining. McKay, by the way, also directed Anchorman.

Podcasts

I’m late to the podcast world, but I’ve discovered three good ones for roadtrips to Seabrook: 

Brian Koppelman’s “The Moment.” Brian interviews icons like Elvis Costello and Quentin Tarantino and a variety of lesser-known cool people. Smart, curious, connected and pop culture savvy, Brian does amazing interviews.  

Lili Anolik’s “Once Upon a Time in Bennington.” Lili covers the careers of Bennington grads who became semi-famous writers, most specifically Bret Easton Ellis, author of Less Than Zero and American Pyscho. Lili artfully elevates gossip into literary history. 

“Bret Easton Ellis Podcast.” Bret interviews writers, actors, musicians, and anyone else he feels like talking with. It’s like having dinner with Bret, but without the cocktails, cigarettes and substances. 

Seabrook

As the legal profession and other occupations catch up to the modern remote world, we’re spending more time in the surreal town of Seabrook with a meditative view of the ocean.

When we are not there, Urban Ocean is in the rental pool. Contact me about the friends and family discount.

New year’s resolutions

I believe in the power of goals, but I’m still working on mine for 2022. Meanwhile, here are some smart suggestions for a “happy and productive life” from Ryan Holiday:

Keep texting for friends only.

Walk during phone calls.

Fire crazies from your life.

Don’t set up voicemail.

Avoid conference calls.

Don’t watch the news.

Keep a journal.

Avoid stimulants.

Exercise daily.

Say no. 

I practice seven out of ten. 

People who died

The eighties were spectacular years for music. One of the better tunes was “People Who Died” by poet Jim Carroll. I listened to it a lot this year as people who had significance of some sort in my life kept dying. 

To name only a few of many, there was Joan Didion, Anne Rice, Norm Macdonald, John Madden, Hank Aaron, Charlie Watts, old-fashioned public servants like Walter Mondale and Bob Dole, former Washington Supreme Court Justice Mary Fairhurst, who served with grace and empathy, as well as two good friends of mine, Kris Brannon, aka “Sonics Guy,” and Willie Garson from “Sex and the City” and a slew of other shows and movies.

I wrote a homage to Kris on my lawyer website and an homage to Willie in a previous blog post on this site.

Onward and thanks

2021 reminded us life is short and uncertain. My counsel is to reconnect with friends and family, be present while we’re here, live with gratitude.

I wish you success in 2022.

Today, January 31, is the last day I greet people with “Happy New Year!”

I am always enthused about starting a new year. I’m extra enthused this year. We sent out our New Year e-card with a Lindquist family update on New Year’s Day.

If you’re not already on our email list please join. Thank you.

Sad Movies

Meanwhile, in Spain, it’s the 30th Anniversary of the publication of my first novel, Sad Movies. Published in the U.S. by Atlantic Monthly Press, the book caught on and was published in seven languages. At the time, I thought this was pretty cool. I still do.

Outside of the U.S., it did best in Japan, Italy, Germany, and Spain.

Due to the anniversary, I was asked to do an interview for Vox Neuva. I think I said I look forward to visiting Spain again.

More Movies

As part of her ongoing pop culture education, my daughter Sloane and I watched Planet of the Apes. We started with the 2001 version. Next, we are turning to the 1968 original. The concept has aged well in our rancorous, divisive times.

Thanks to the pandemic, Sloane and I watched the entire Star Wars saga. We screened the movies in chronological rather than release order, which I recommend.

At some point, Sloane decided she needed a light saber. I bought her one. My wife Chelsea thinks I’m a sucker that way.

When the battery-powered light saber arrived, Sloane tested it out with joy. Still, after a while she wanted to know if she could have “a real one.” I asked Sloane’s friend and Congressman and fellow Star Wars fan Derek Kilmer if there were any real ones for sale. Apparently not.

New Books

I recommend Ryan Holiday‘s latest to begin your new year. The author of The Obstacle is the Way and Stillness is the Key explores stoicism further in Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius.

Organized into mini-biographies of various stoics, Holiday shares a highlight reel of life lessons.

“All things end. Philosophy is there to remind us of that fact and to prepare us for the blows of life.”

You can study in a few hours what it took some extraordinarily smart men decades of successes and failures to learn.

“Is it possible to be free from error? Not by any means, but it is possible to be a person stretching to avoid error. That’s what Stoicism is. It’s stretching. Training. To be better.”

For fiction, I recommend Jonathan Lethem’s new novel, The Arrest. It’s a dystopian, post-apocalyptic, Hollywood novel. The title refers to a day when technology stops working. Your iPhone, your car, your gun, your toaster, all of it stops.

This is difficult to imagine, but Lethem has a lively imagination.

As always, Lethem’s writing is smart, strange, sentence-driven and visual. “It was a season of burning leaves, burning light. Heaps of things burning.”

Personally, I’m a fan of his brief, cryptic chapters, though some might find a chapter consisting of a single sentence to be a tad too short.

This is Lethem’s 12th published book. About 15 years ago, I reviewed a collection of his essays, The Disappointment Artist. I’ve remained a fan.

Sriwijaya Air

Meanwhile, we’ve successfully resolved our cases against Boeing in the crash of Lion Air Flight 610. We were honored to represent 46 victim families. Assisting the families and getting to know the culture and country of Indonesia was a highlight of my legal career.

Sadly, another Boeing plane crashed in Indonesia recently, Sriwijaya Air Flight 182. While it’s too soon to say what exactly caused the crash, some theories and prime suspects have emerged. You can read more about it at my lawyer website.

Please let me know if I can help with anything.

Thank You

During this pandemic, I am especially grateful to everyone who has stayed in contact through this blog and my email list.

Thanks for reading.

Happy Thanksgiving. Christmas is coming. ‘Tis the season for gratitude and books.

Books are, of course, the best gifts. While a bottle of single malt Islay Scotch is nothing to scoff at, liquor is still second to literature. I’m defining literature broadly to include “the entire body of writings of a specific language, period, people.”

Along with miscellaneous updates and life lessons, the main mission of this blog is to recommend good books and movies. This is especially true in the shopping season.

Stillness is the Key

My first recommendation of the season is non-fiction by the author of The Obstacle is the Way, Ryan Holiday. His latest, Stillness is the Key, is the perfect antidote to the toxic noise of our modern world.

“Stillness is what aims the archer’s arrow. It inspires new ideas. It sharpens perspective and illuminates connections…. Stillness is the key to, well, just about everything.”

Blending stories from Marcus Aurelius to Buddha, from Winston Churchill to Confucius, from artists to athletes, there is no better book about self-mastery, discipline, and focus.

If you are a friend of mine, you may be receiving a signed copy for Christmas. Don’t bank on this though. Buy it for yourself. Buy it for friends.

On the subject of toxic noise antidotes, you should also read Ryan’s first book, a smart study of media, Trust Me, I’m Lying. The epigraph by novelist, screenwriter, and film critic James Agee sums it up. “The very blood and semen of journalism, on the contrary, is a broad and successful form of lying. Remove that form of lying and you no longer have journalism.” Agee, a posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner, penned this decades before Twitter and Facebook.

Sex and Murder

My second recommendation is also non-fiction, but reads like a top drawer novel. Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder, and the Trial that Changed America by Chris DeRose proves once again history can be entertaining and edifying.

With a title like that, you do not need a synopsis or quote. The book is as good as it sounds.

Chris is a fellow author/lawyer. I’m a booster. As Robert Pirsig, the author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, said, “Quality tends to fan out like waves.” I do my part to help.

Trial Lawyer Literature

My third recommendation has a more limited audience. On Becoming a Trial Lawyer is about exactly that. The author, Rick Friedman, a Seattle trial lawyer, sees trial work as “an inward journey” of “applied spirituality.” I concur.

I am halfway into Friedman’s book as I blog this. Later I will likely follow-up with more. Meanwhile, I am far enough along to recommend it to any lawyer who is a learner. It’s a cross between memoir and handbook for elevating personal and professional performance.

As someone who has read everything on trial tactics I can find, I feel qualified to recommend Friedman’s short book as one of the best. Power-to-weight ratio is perfect.

Fans of Ryan Holiday may notice some philosophical and practical similarities with Friedman. For example, both appreciate the power of observation and the advantage of detaching from opponents .

If you’re a lawyer, buy it for yourself or a colleague. If you’re not a lawyer, buy it for a lawyer you like. Amazon is your best bet.

#BooksAreBestGifts

Next blog post I will recommend novels to those who still read these artifacts of literacy. God bless you.

Reading novels increases empathy. The Brazilian government figured this out. NPR did a cool story about how Brazilian prisoners reduce their sentences by reading fiction and how this actually makes sense.

In prison or not, books are the best gifts.

Lion Air Update

Finally, stay tuned for developments on our lawsuit against Boeing for the 737 Max disasters. As I discussed with CNN, we recently settled four of our cases. That leaves 42 more.

Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times wrote a good story about the human cost of the Lion Air crash. The story features a client I get to know quite well.

Whether we get there by settlement or trial, our goal is justice for our clients, accountability for Boeing, and safer skies for all. The fight goes well. I’ll keep you posted.

Public Speaking

I recently spoke to the Gig Harbor Republican Club about our cases against Boeing, personal injury law, and Indonesia. As a Democrat, I appreciate there are still patches of bipartisanship and common sense in our divisive times.

After cutting back in 2019, I am going to be available to talk to service groups more often in 2020.

Live with Gratitude

In this season of gratitude, I feel blessed by my work, family, and friends. Thank you all.

And thank you for reading.