Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

C’s Get Degrees

I was spending time with some young folks the other night. I heard a phrase which was new to me, but apparently not to the rest of the world. “C’s get degrees” has something to do with prioritizing the enjoyment of life, and physical and mental health, over stressing out to achieve high grades. Are the people who live by this adage low on ambition or high on life? I really don’t know. I suppose that it depends on your perspective.

Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Being Smart is Not What it is Cracked Up to Be

You, who are on the road; must have a code you try to live by; and so become yourself; because the past is just a goodbye; teach your children well.

~ Graham Nash

Parents teach their children about success by reference to how things were during their productive years. To my grandparents, success was a job in the front office at the factory, rather than on the production floor. My parents hoped that their children would become professionals. I wanted my children to achieve some work/life balance.

Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Shit Rolls Downhill

Out here in the country where I now live, it is a good thing if your septic tank is located on a lower elevation than your house. If it is not, you need something called a macerator to grind up the poop so that it can be pumped up to your septic tank, because as we all know, shit rolls downhill.

To put this in the context of a law firm, one might note that the most senior partners are usually on the highest floor of the office building.

Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

Let’s Kill Their Ambition and Blame it on Them

This is my very first article that is not about the legal profession – but it might as well be.

I know a recently graduated professional, finally free to make his mark on the world, and eager as hell to go out and make something of himself. It is not an easy job market out there, as we have all heard. It apparently has something to do with us evil Boomers having ruined the world, but that is a topic for another day.

Categories
Mental Health and Work/Life Balance

The Implications of My Ice Cream Diet for Law Firm Management

I have been over-weight for a good long while. My wife, Maureen, is not shallow. She loves me exactly as I am.  But she is smart, beautiful and talented, and her marketability far exceeds mine, so why take chances?

For about 15 years, I stopped eating chocolate, cake, pie, muffins, ice-cream, fudge, etc., etc., but I substituted bread, goat cheese, nut butter, and organic honey, and kept gaining weight.

Categories
Client Development

I Care Very Little About What You Think of Me

Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember ~ the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.     ~ Zig Ziglar

A friend of mine told me that my name had come up in a conversation with another lawyer, who said that some of what I have posted of a personal nature is inappropriate, bad, and blameworthy, and that by extension I am a bad, bad, man.

Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

Observing Plans For Your Demise

My friends Jim and Sheila love dogs.  They used to share their residence with a rescue dog named Henry. Dragons live forever, but not so little dogs. So when Henry got sick and his demise was imminent, Jim built a coffin for Henry so that it would be ready when needed to carry Henry to his final resting place in the woods.

While Jim was building his coffin, Henry would see him working on it. After it was finished, Henry could see the coffin, just sitting there and waiting for him.

Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

A Sad Tale of Love Gone Bad

Many years ago, I knew a young couple who were very much in love. The young lady loved the idea of pleasing her parents and impressing her friends by marrying a good-looking boy with a promising career. The young man was in love with the idea of having a pretty girl on his arm who would respect and adore him. They were both in love with the idea of moving on to the stage of life that today’s young people call “adulting.”

Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

Happiness May Buy You Money

A holocaust survivor who I know once asked me, “who says you are supposed to be happy?” 

Categories
Legal Tech

Where There’s A Will

This Article is about what lawyers need from LegalTech providers. I use Wills and Estates as an example, but the principles apply to many areas of practice.

You can read the article here: https://appara.ai/news-and-insights/where-theres-a-will