Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

I Can See Clearly Now

You may have heard the story about the flight attendant who assisted an elderly gentleman by giving him a pillow and a blanket, and then asked him if he was comfortable. The man replied, “I make a living.”

When I was young, my parents were not comfortable, but they insisted that I obtain a university education. They expected me to earn whatever I could in the summer to fund my education, and they agreed to cover the balance. Luckily, this was back in the days when university and law school were affordable in Canada.

Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

Write About What You Don’t Know

We have all heard the expression, “write about what you know,” usually attributed to Mark Twain, who knew a thing or two about writing.

I don’t do that.

Categories
Legal Fees

The Client’s Damn Legal Budget

Sometimes clients call lawyers and announce what their legal budget is for a proposed project. New lawyers sometimes struggle to handle the situation because the scope of the work is uncertain or the proposed budget is insufficient to do the job properly.

Categories
Client Development

The Engagement Ring

The other day, my friend Martin, who was recently involuntarily retired from his law firm, was waxing eloquently, albeit somewhat sadly, on the topic of engagement rings and portable client bases. According to Martin there is a connection. Bear with me and I will try to explain.

Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Uncle Willie

I am on a cruise. A few days ago I was doing the tourist thing in Kauai, by which I mean that I was on a bus being driven around to see the sites and the sights.

The driver was an older gentleman who invited us to call him “Uncle Willie.” Uncle Willie gave us a great tour. He was friendly and knowledgeable and we had an excellent day. Especially compared to a day spent practicing law, or worse, attending a partner’s retreat.

Categories
Law Firm Management

The Story of Mark and Mary

Once there was a lawyer named Mark who considered himself to be an ‘idea man.’  Mark had a whole bunch of non-billable projects on his list of things to do, and he was always adding items to it.

Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Bread and Circuses

I keep reading about mental health issues in the legal profession. Too many lawyers are terminally unhappy. The problem appears to be impossible to fix. Even The Washington Post just ran an article titled, “Want to be happy? Then don’t be a lawyer.”

Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

Emboldened Articling Students

Warning

This article has three parts. Do not act on the suggestions in the first part until you consider the advice in the second part and the rebuttal in the third part. 

Part One: Murray’s Recommendations

Murray strongly recommends that articling students ask these probing questions and many similar ones before accepting a position:

Categories
Client Development

All Hail the Rain Makers

For today’s diatribe, we are going to need a definition of ‘success.’  Although the traditional definition which relates primarily to making a lot of money is deficient in more than a few ways, since it seems to be the standard used by so many in the legal profession, I am going to choose that one.

There are only three ways to make money in the legal profession.

Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

A Feminist Perspective on Carbon Taxes

With this post I venture onto dangerous ground, but what the hell.

Some years ago I came across a Canadian law school which was offering a course on “A Feminist Perspective on Corporate Tax.” More recently, I came across a law school course on “A Feminist Perspective on Carbon Taxes.” It all struck me as kind of stupid.