Dan Gross: Lawyer tells tales
THE PHILADELPHIA LAWYER who has blogged for four years at PhilaLawyer.net is celebrating his first book, "Happy Hour is for Amateurs: A Lost Decade in the World's Worst Profession" (HarperCollins, $23.95). The amusing and cautionary tale of sex, drugs, and litigation is "mostly all true though some characters are composites," the Philadelphia Lawyer said in a recent phone interview.
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HE PHILADELPHIA LAWYER
who has blogged for four years at PhilaLawyer.net is celebrating his first book, "Happy Hour is for Amateurs: A Lost Decade in the World's Worst Profession" (HarperCollins, $23.95). The amusing and cautionary tale of sex, drugs, and litigation is "mostly all true though some characters are composites," the Philadelphia Lawyer said in a recent phone interview.
Despite our suggestion that he may sell more books if he outed himself, the author has never shared his real identity. (If any reader knows who he is, feel free to contact us, as we warned him we would out him if we could.)
"People should go into the career with a very open eye," says Philadelphia Lawyer, who spent 10 years at area law firms.
"I was disgusted with some of the cases I was involved in," says the now-married 38-year-old, who lives in the suburbs and is still licensed to practice law. "I got tired of corporations billing tons of money from their clients for doing things that don't matter."
TPL declined to reveal the names of any firms he's worked at and admits that the popular blog and the book blur together certain characters, but swears his material is all fact, not fiction.
Cameras follow Cashman crew
Besides a few local news crews, there were a few more TV cameras at the Monday- night-opening party for Stephen Starr's new steakhouse, Butcher & Singer (1500 Walnut), site of his recently closed Striped Bass.
Marc Summers and a crew from Center City's Shooters Post and Transfer were at the party taping Nicole Cashman and the women of her Cashman and Associates PR and special- events firm for a potential reality show.
"It's very flattering," said Cashman yesterday of being approached by Summers with the idea that the work of her company could be turned into a show.
At the moment the project is entirely on spec, meaning once completed, it may be shopped to networks, though there is no guarantee the material ever will see air.
Summers, former host of Nickelodeon's "Double Dare," now works on several Food Network shows. The crew started taping the Cashman gang on Monday.
Out and about
_ Who knew Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh was really a little girl? The 6-foot-10 baller ordered a Shirley Temple while dining Tuesday night at Davio's (111 S. 17th), where 1980 Phillies pitcher Larry Christensen had been earlier in the day for lunch.
* Country star Toby Keith and
three other fellas found their way the other night to Saloon (750 S. 7th), where he went for the Dover sole and was quite a gentleman.
Comic's not playing dress-up
Even though he once raided her underwear drawer, comedian Danny Ozark will not be dressed as NBC 10's LuAnn Cahn for Halloween when he opens for musician Bilk at noon tomorrow at LOVE Park at the last of Fairmount Park's Summer in LOVE concert series.
Scary stuff
_ M. Night Shyamalan believes in the "Devil." The filmmaker will produce a film by that name, based on a story he wrote, with Sam Mercer and Drew Dowdle, whose brother John Erick Dowdle, behind "Quarantine," will direct. The movie will be written by Brian Nelson, who wrote "30 Days of Night," reports Variety. Next up for Shyamalan is "The Last Airbender."
* Just in time for Halloween,
Suze DiPietro will sign her rock 'n' roll vampire novel "Between Keys" at the Borders in the Springfield Shopping Center at 7 tonight and from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Penn Bookstore. The Upper Darby native and Penn grad also wrote, sang and produced an accompanying CD inspired by French Kiss, the fictional band in her book.
Business coach has conference
Business consultant and diversity coach Tony Moore gave sensitivity training to Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman after she made an inappropriate comment in January about Tiger Woods. Moore, whose Corporate Development Center is based in the Cira Centre, across from 30th Street Station, is holding a lunch conference Nov. 12 called "Sustaining Double Digit Growth in Any Economy." Good luck with that. Registration's at corpdevcenter.com. *
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phillynews.com. For recent columns, visit go.philly.com/dangross.