I am just interested in what first comes to your mind.

“We are glad to welcome Bob back to Maine, and thrilled that he has chosen to join Verrill Dana,” states Managing Partner K.C. Jones.  “His reputation as a respected practitioner and a leader among legal professionals is widely known from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon, and back again.”
Bob Hirshon served as the ABA President during 9/11 and its aftermath.  Previously, Mr. Hirshon was a prominent litigation attorney in Portland, Maine for 30 years, serving as President of the Maine State Bar Association and the Maine Bar Foundation, and Chair of the Tort, Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association (ABA).
Hirshon soon switched coasts to work with the Portland, OR firm, Tonkon Torp LLP, where he served as Chief Executive Officer. He also served as the Chief Operating Officer of Stoel Rives LLP, a 370 lawyer firm based in Portland, OR.
“Bob’s tremendous professional experience, while rooted in Maine, is national in scope,” says Jones.  “He brings fresh perspective, and inspiring enthusiasm.”

This fall, Hirshon will join the University of Michigan School of Law faculty as the school’s first Frank G. Millard Professor from Practice, and will maintain a part-time position at Verrill Dana.  
Hirshon has accepted numerous awards, including the Howard Dana Pro Bono Award from the Maine Bar Foundation, the Muskie Award for Public Service from the ABA, and the Muskie Access to Justice Award from the Muskie Fund for Legal Service.

Hirshon graduated from University of Michigan and the University of Michigan School of Law and has received degrees from Willamette College of Law, University of Denver School of Law, and the Suffolk University School of Law.

“Verrill Dana is so much more than a ‘Maine law firm,’” says Hirshon.  “They are preeminent in the region and their client base reaches across the map.  It’s a perfect fit for me.”

About Verrill Dana:
Verrill Dana, LLP is one of the top New England law firms, known for providing first-class legal services in an attentive and receptive manner that often exceed clients’ expectations. Verrill Dana is a full-service law firm with over 100 attorneys running a nationwide practice from offices in Portland and Augusta, Maine; Washington, D.C; Boston, Massachusetts; and Hartford, Connecticut.

About Verrill Dana’s Boston Office:

The Boston Attorneys in our Boston office provides its business, institutional, and individual clients with sophisticated legal services and the personal attention and sense of value that have been hallmarks of Verrill Dana since 1862.

Since its opening in 2004,our Boston office has been serving clients in both traditional and cutting-edge practice areas such as:  Higher Education, Stimulus Package, Health Technology, Immigration and H1B Visa Attorneys, Alternative Energy Law, Estate Planning, Matrimonial Law, and monitors the changing landscape of legal and business trends to provide services that address emerging issues critical to the needs of the firm’s clients.  Two attorneys in the Boston office have been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America and four have been honored as New England Super Lawyers.

We are getting out of the Medicare Advantage program because it is so limited on the doctors available.

The study, conducted in 2007 and reported in the Journal of Urology earlier this year, was led by Dr. Kathryn E. Richert-Boe, of Kaiser Permanente Northwest in Portland, Oregon. It’s objectives were to determine whether differences existed in prostate cancer treatment received by white and African American men at a health maintenance organization where access to medical care (was) theoretically equal for all members and, if so, to determine the reasons for these differences. The study found that African American patients in the early stages of prostate cancer were less likely than white patients to receive aggressive treatment for their disease.

Researchers conducting the study compared the likelihood of treatment with curative intent (TCI) between the two races, adjusting for age, tumor grade, stage, and the presence of comorbid conditions. What the study revealed was that 82 percent of 158 white prostate cancer patients underwent surgical removal of the prostate gland or radiation therapy for their illness; these are considered more aggressive treatments for the disease. Conversely, only 71 percent of 79 African-American patients received the same type of treatment. Dr. Richert-Boe and the team of researchers investigated whether other factors such as tumor grade, age, overall patient health, and even insurance coverage might explain the difference in treatment; they did not.

Prostate cancer is a leading cancer among men in the United States. In the year 2004, over 189,000 men were diagnosed with the disease. When found early, either through a DRE exam or PSA blood test, treatment is often successful. However, if the cancer goes undetected and reaches advanced stages before it is discovered, effective treatment can be much more difficult.

Prostate cancer in the early stages is often not treated aggressively, because the disease is slow-growing. Many doctors choose to monitor tumor growth and development rather than to prescribe more drastic or aggressive measures early on. The study found that while African American men were just as likely to agree to more aggressive treatments such as surgery or radiation therapy, they were only offered those options in 85 percent of the cases, versus 91 percent for white men.

In the end, the study concluded African American men were less likely to receive TCI than white men. Reasons for the findings in the study are not immediately clear. Additional studies including a larger patient sample is thought to be needed at this point to reveal the true nature of racial disparities in prostate cancer treatment.

DATELINE: IRVINE, CA…

Greg Bishop, founder of Boot Camp for New Dads, a non-profit orientation program for fathers-to-be, operating in more than 260 hospitals, clinics, schools, fire stations and churches around North America and internationally, and author of two books on fathering, advises parents who are expecting to prepare a list of items to bring to the hospital, and keep it with the hospital bag to double check before heading out.

Below, Bishop shares the “19 Essential Items” that are listed in his most recent book Crash Course for New Dads: Tools, Checklists and Cheat Sheets:

A folder containing important documents including insurance cards, pre-admission forms, birth plan (two or three copies), etc.

Baby book (many nurseries will put your baby’s footprint in the book).

A watch with a second hand or digital readout.

Change of clothes and pajamas for mom (and dad, if staying overnight)

Warm shirt because hospital rooms are kept cool.

Basic toiletries such as a toothbrush, shaver, shampoo and deodorant.

Comfortable shoes, as you may do a lot of walking.

Something to read to mom.

CD, iPod or other music player with mom’s favorite music.

Pain-easing tools recommended at your birthing classes such as tennis balls, hot or cold packs, massagers, lotion, etc.

A bathing suit for dad to help mom take a shower which eases labor pains.

Something to eat and drink such as sandwich or power bars and juice, in a small cooler. Pack snacks for both of you for after the birth.

Cash to have on hand.

Pen and pad of paper.

Camera (photos and/or video), with extra film, battery, etc.

Address book and/or a list of phone numbers to announce birth.

Cell phone or calling card.

Champagne to celebrate. (Put your name on it and ask a nurse to store it in the fridge.)

Childbirth Coaching Guide from Crash Course for New Dads.

According to Bishop, “When you’re trying to get out the door and to the hospital, it’s guaranteed that you’ll forget one or more important items. Being prepared ahead of time is half the battle. In addition to considering our list of 19 Essential Items, expectant parents should talk to staff at the hospital; other attendees in birthing classes or someone they know who recently delivered a baby to get even more ideas for their list. Time is of the essence and you don’t want to have to drop mom at the hospital then rush back home to retrieve insurance papers or something else you must have. Every moment counts.”

Tips, Advice, Instructions and more

Greg Bishop offers strategies from more than 200,000 new dads that have gone through the Boot Camp for New Dads program in his second book, Crash Course for New Dads: Tools, Checklists and Cheat Sheets. His first book, Hit the Ground Crawling, covers work balance, being a dad, caring for a new mom and much more. Both books are available online at www.DadsAdventure.com.

New Dads Learn What to Expect at Boot Camp Workshops

Dads-to-be will be better equipped to face the challenges and opportunities of fatherhood after attending a Boot Camp “hands on” educational workshop. Men attend the class when they are expecting their first baby, and are joined in the workshop by “veterans” who had previously attended and have returned with their two to four-month-old baby in tow. They are able to give the dads-to-be a realistic idea of what to do and what to expect when their first baby comes. For many men attending, it’s their first time holding a baby.

Boot Camp for New Dads

Now celebrating their 18th year, Boot Camp for New Dads is nationally acclaimed as the “Best Practice” for preparing men to be fathers and has been named a U.S. Navy Model Program. Boot Camp for New Dads has prepared more than 200,000 men for fatherhood over the years.

With more than 4.1 million births (National Center for Health Statistics), and approximately 1.5 million men becoming new dads every year, it’s more important than ever for fathers to realize that being a “good provider” is only part of the very central role they have in their children’s lives.

For more information about Boot Camp for New Dads, visit www.bcnd.org, or to visit Dads Adventure, go to www.Dadsadventure.com. To arrange an interview with Greg Bishop, please contact sdubin@prworkzone.com, (781) 582-1061.

National and International Locations

Boot Camp For New Dads locations include ALASKA (Anchorage); ARIZONA (Chandler, Flagstaff, Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sun City); ARKANSAS (Jonesboro, Paragould, Springdale); CALIFORNIA (Apple Valley, Bakersfield, , Fresno, Garden Grove, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Madera, Merced, Mission Hills, , Oakland, Orange, Pomona, Port Hueneme, San Diego, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara, , S. Lake Tahoe, Travis, Valley Springs); COLORADO (Aurora, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver, Durango, Fort Collins, Fort Carson, Greeley, Longmont, Thornton, Wheat Ridge); CONNECTICUT (Bristol, Danbury, New London); FLORIDA (Brandon, Clearwater, Hollywood, Jacksonville, North Palm Beach, Orlando, St. Petersburg, West Palm Beach, Sarasota, Tampa); GEORGIA (Atlanta, Elberton, Gainesville, Marietta, Savannah); HAWAII (Pearl Harbor, Schofield); ILLINOIS (Aurora, Carbondale, Champaign, Chicago, East St. Louis, Evanston, Freeport, Geneva, Great Lakes, Highland Park, Libertyville, Moline, Oak Park, Rockford, Springfield, Urbana, Winfield); INDIANA (Anderson, Bluffton, Hammond, Indianapolis, Jeffersonville, Kokomo); IOWA (Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Jefferson, Sioux City); KANSAS (Junction City, Topeka); KENTUCKY (Paducah); LOUISIANA (Covington); MAINE (Auburn, Augusta, Bangor, Brunswick, Ellsworth, Waterville); MARYLAND (Annapolis) MASSACHUSETTS (Beverly, Ipswich, Lowell, Nantucket, Plymouth, Weymouth, Springfield); MICHIGAN (, Ann Arbor, Bay City, Centreville, Iron Mountain, Ithaca, Kalamazoo, Niles, St Joseph, Ypsilanti); MINNESOTA (Brainerd, Duluth, Robbinsdale); MISSISSIPPI (Tupelo); MISSOURI (Jefferson City) MONTANA (Billings, Helena, Miles City); NEBRASKA (Kearney, Lincoln, Omaha); NEVADA (Las Vegas) NEW HAMPSHIRE (Manchester, Portsmouth); NEW JERSEY (Princeton) NEW YORK (Glens Falls, Little Falls, Mineola, Rome, Utica); NORTH CAROLINA (Burlington, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Concord, Ft. Bragg, Greensboro, Monroe, Raleigh, Shelby); NORTH DAKOTA (Grand Forks); OHIO (Akron, Cleveland, Columbus, East Cleveland, East Liverpool, Garfield Heights, Lima, Lorain, Mayfield Heights, Middleburg Heights, Orange Village, Portsmouth, Toledo, Warren, Westlake, Youngstown); OKLAHOMA (Claremore, Oklahoma City, Tulsa); OREGON (Corvalis, McMinnville, Salem, Silverton); SOUTH CAROLINA (Columbia, Pickens, Walhalla); TENNESSEE (Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis); TEXAS (Amarillo, Dallas, Fort Hood, Longview, Lubbock, Plano, San Antonio, Texarkana, Waco, Webster); VERMONT (Barre, Brattleboro, Middlebury); VIRGINIA (Charlottesville, Chesapeake, Hampton, Richmond) WASHINGTON (Everett, Fairchild AFB, Longview, Olympia, Puyallup, Yakima); WEST VIRGINIA (Wheeling); WISCONSIN (Florence, Green Bay, Madison, Oshkosh, Watertown, Wausau); JAPAN (Atsugi, Yokosuka), ITALY (Sicily); UNITED KINGDOM [a.k.a. Hit the Ground Crawling] (Birmingham, Liverpool)

After examining a number of the bills proposed and voted into action for 2009, leading research indicates some overall legislative trends emerging in three major areas of human resources:

Healthcare Reform

As the number of Americans without insurance continues to rise, finding a way to provide individuals with better access to affordable healthcare was at the forefront of heated issues in the 2008 election. While already a major issue in 2008, the incoming Congress has recently announced that healthcare reform will be among its top priorities this year. Just prior to the start of 2009, for example, Congress passed the Mental Health Parity Act, a measure requiring many employers to broaden their mental health and substance abuse coverage for employees.

Meanwhile, a number of states and municipalities introduced new legislation addressing employers’ responsibilities concerning the health of their employees. Washington, DC and Milwaukee, for instance, passed initiatives mandating that employers provide paid sick leave for workers. New Jersey joined the movement by signing into law a bill requiring employers to give six weeks paid leave to staff members caring for a sick relative or new child.

However, in light of the economic crisis, further healthcare legislation may not increase quite as dramatically as once expected – on the state level, at least. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) predicts that in light of “widespread budget shortfalls predicted in nearly half of the nation, health care reform is likely to be less of a front-burner issue in the states.” Instead, SRHM predicts that cash-strapped state legislatures will be looking to the new administration to handle this issue on a federal level.

Immigration Reform

A hot-button issue with immediate implications for employers and HR professionals, immigration was the topic of a significant number of bills introduced in 2008. A total of 26 states passed new legislation addressing immigration concerns, many of which imposed new penalties on companies employing undocumented aliens.

Playing a large role in much of the new immigration legislation was E-Verify, the government’s Employment Eligibility Verification System. In 2009, all federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to use the system. Likewise on the state level, many immigration bills passed in 2008 require employers to use E-Verify or similar systems to ensure they are not hiring illegal workers.

Unlike the issue of healthcare reform, immigration legislation is predicted to continue occurring mainly at the state level while, according to SHRM, any sort of comprehensive reform at the congressional level is considered “unlikely.” Again, however, due to the budget shortfalls and the economic crisis it is difficult to predict whether states across the country will see a continued push for immigration reform. However, in some more conservative U.S. regions like the South and Midwest, employer penalties for hiring illegal workers may be more severe.

Workplace Safety

Concerns about workplace safety and efforts to increase employee health and wellness were evident in a number of new state laws put into effect in 2009. Safety concerns ranged from matters such as office air quality to more grave issues like gun control in the workplace.

On a federal level, increased attention to workplace safety was made clear in a large increase in government money directed toward the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for its 2009 fiscal year. OSHA received a budget increase of $15.7 million, part of which is being used to conduct increased workplace inspections in 2009. Likewise, the incoming presidential administration has touted workplace safety as a priority, and is predicted to take a second look at several previously failed workplace safety bills, including the regulation of combustible dusts in the workplace and mandating stricter ergonomics requirements for employees working in the healthcare industry.

On a state level, Oregon passed a law requiring all workplaces to be “smoke free,” prohibiting smoking within ten feet of the entrance to a building or worksite. In the meantime, eight other states, concerned with a growing number of gun-related incidents in the workplace, have enacted various laws concerning an employer’s right to limit the possession of weapons on company property.

While only time will tell how these potential changes to federal and state policies will play out over the course of the next year, staying aware and informed of proposed legislation can help employers and HR professionals prepare in advance for new regulations, develop appropriate contingency plans, and ensure a smooth and compliant transition if and when the changes occur.

The first commercial nursery in the U.S. was established by Robert Prince in 1737 in Flushing, N.Y. George Washington visited this nursery by river barge in the spring of 1789 just after being elected the nation’s first President. During the Revolutionary War, General Washington sent armed guards to surround and protect this valuable nursery that contained American filbert trees and “Barcelona” filbert trees that were imported from Spain. When Lewis and Clark conducted their exploration of the Northwest during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, they returned with collected specimen plants to be used as nursery stock at Prince Nursery for propagation, research, and sale. Professor of Horticulture and Pomology, Dr. MacDaniels, of Cornell University, did much filbert hazelnut research at a very large nut orchard that he established early during the last century near Ithaca, New York.

Filberts are alleged to conjure up mystical powers by certain cult members and have been thought since ancient times to be used as ‘divining rods’ to locate underground springheads of water, buried treasure, minerals, ores, and as various remedies for illness and ailments of many kinds.

The European filbert (hazelnut) tree, ‘Corylus avellana L.,’ is the world’s most common and commercially advantageous filbert that is familiar and available to markets of today. This European filbert tree grows to 20 feet in orchards when trained into a tree by removing the lower limbs. Orchardists there expect filbert trees to bear after three years of planting and a mature tree averages 20-25 pounds of nuts per year. Two different trees are necessary to insure nut production through cross pollination.

The developing nuts are green in color, but when mature, the nuts turn a chocolate brown; however, the filberts (hazelnuts) are not released from the hull until 6 weeks later, after drying. The nuts may grow in clusters up to 12 nuts, about the size of acorns, and are usually mature during the last week of August, being collected during the last of September. Although filberts are gathered by hand in Europe for commercial markets, they are gathered mechanically in nut orchards of Washington State and Oregon in the United States.

American filberts, ‘Corylus Americana Walt.,’ were described in historical literature as growing among native forests in bush form, although commercially the plant can be formed into a small tree up to 12 feet tall by removing the lower limbs. This filbert tree is very cold hardy, surviving cold extremes down to minus 30 degrees F; Zone 3 to 9, from a range that extends from Maine south to Georgia and westward to Missouri and Oklahoma. The American filbert (hazelnut) tree is commonly propagated by dividing clumps. This filbert tree is very aggressive and can emerge from severely burned over forests to become reestablished from the very woody, large rhizomes that grow about six inches beneath the soil; the American filbert is very shade tolerant and grows in light intensity as low as 1% along streams, woodlands, pastures, roadsides, and forest edges. The tree can produce nuts as early as the second year. Filberts are eaten by mammals, quail, deer, and large birds. The kernels of filberts are used in cereals, confections, candies, cakes, and canned as pure hazelnuts or mixed nuts for sale at Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Filbert hazelnuts are also used to flavor soups, to be eaten raw or to be ground into a flour to form a cake like bread.

One report from the University of Georgia farm claims that filberts (hazelnuts) have matured on plants that are located there at the trial orchard.

World production of filbert hazelnuts is dominated by Europe and the Mideast; 75-80% of the world’s nuts are harvested from orchards near the Black sea, bordering Turkey. Another 15% of filberts are produced from Italy and Sicily, and a 2% share of the market comes from Washington State and Oregon.

As a health concern, many people need to reduce their risk for heart disease. The FDA claimed “consuming just 1.5 ounces of hazelnuts per day may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease” as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Doctors have proven at a Boston, MA hospital health study that states, “men who consumed nuts twice or more in a week had a 47% lower risk of sudden cardiac (heart attack) death, and 30% lower risk of coronary heart disease death.”