Tag: mental health

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The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Being Smart is Not What it is Cracked Up to Be

Man with glasses in a formal pose.
Photo by Elsimage at Pexels.

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.

read more about whether being smart is the key to success “Being Smart is Not What it is Cracked Up to Be”
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The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Shit Rolls Downhill

legs on a bobsled going downhill
Phto by minan at Pexels.

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.

read more about hierarchy, delgation, and teamwork in a lawfirm “Shit Rolls Downhill”
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Mental Health and Work/Life Balance

The Implications of My Ice Cream Diet for Law Firm Management

The author eating an icecream cone at a cafe in Pars.

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.

read more about my diet and what it might suggest for law firm managers “The Implications of My Ice Cream Diet for Law Firm Management”
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Law Students and Young Lawyers

Happiness May Buy You Money

Two people jumping for joy against a background of the ocean and a sunset.
Photo by Jill Willington at Pexels.

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

read more about happiness leading to success in law school “Happiness May Buy You Money”
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Mental Health and Work/Life Balance

Working From Hell

Call Centre Workers.
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko at Pexels.

I was at the receiving end of a rant from a young associate recently, who I will call Mike. I don’t mind when Mike calls me to rant, usually late at night on his commute home from work. He needs to unload, and I am happy to be a sympathetic audience.

read more about working from home “Working From Hell”
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Mental Health and Work/Life Balance

An Action Plan for Becoming Less Miserable

Poster on a theatre for Les Miserables
Photo by Martino Battista at Pexels.

I understand that newbies to the legal profession who have student debt and no client base often feel locked into jobs that they hate.

I do not understand mid-level and senior lawyers who are financially stable and have a client base who stay in law firms that make them sick. I should understand them because I was one of them, but that is another story. Do as I say, not what I did.

Read more about reclaiming control over your life “An Action Plan for Becoming Less Miserable”
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Mental Health and Work/Life Balance

Look at Me, I’m Murray N.D.

After.

Aaron Baer sent me an invitation to speak at the Authentic Legal Professionals Summit. He said, and I quote, “I’m going to gamble and say that  you’re able to speak about one of those (autism, ADHD, Tourettes, or other neurodivergences.)”

All of this was a bit of an eye-opener to me, because at 69 ¾ years old, I was unaware that I was neurodivergent, but it seemed to be a pretty safe bet for Aaron.

read more about not knowing that you are neurodivergent “Look at Me, I’m Murray N.D.”
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Firm Culture

The Latest Law Firm Scam

Man and Woman standing in a field and embracing in the sunlight.
Photo by Jonathan Borba at Pexels.

There is an old story about a young  man who, after finally meeting the love of his life following years searching the globe for his one true soulmate, took his girlfriend’s hands in his own one starlit summer evening, stared deeply into her beautiful eyes, and whispered to her in a husky, excited voice: “since I met you, I can’t eat. I can’t drink. I can’t sleep… I’m completely broke.”

read more about firms with no billable hours target “The Latest Law Firm Scam”
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Mental Health and Work/Life Balance

A Tale of Two Law Firms

City skyline at night.
Photo by Jame Wheeler at Pexels.

Let me tell you about two different law firms.

Big Law Group One is a well-respected Canadian firm with many hundreds of lawyers, some of whom appear to be happier than others. Some of their dearly departed professionals have told me distressing stories about their lives at that firm, and the effect that the work demands had on their mental health. They also shared with me their feeling that the firm let them down when they required accommodation to recover from their mental health problems. They painted a picture of a firm which did not care much about its people, especially after those people became unable or unwilling to continue to sacrifice their health on the altar of billable hours.

read more about mental health in law firms “A Tale of Two Law Firms”
Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

To Everything There is A Season

Trees changing colour on a long country road.

I was the managing partner of a law firm for a while. At that time I saw myself as being something like Cassandra, who the Gods punished by giving her the ability to foresee the future while dooming her to never be believed. I used to try my best to convince my partners to see things my way. After all, I knew how things were going to turn out if they did not listen to me.  Not only did some of them not listen, but they actively tried to subvert the things that I was doing for their benefit. 

read more about getting over yourself “To Everything There is A Season”