Pavlov’s dog had nothing on most BlackBerry/iPhone/BlackJack/other PDA users.
All too often, we (and I include myself) hear the “beep” or feel the vibration and pounce immediately, even in the middle of a sentence — our own or someone else’s. And I’ve seen (and though I’d prefer not to admit it, experienced) the discomfort that can occur when (Read the rest of the entry…)
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I
magine, for a moment, a world in which a lawyer’s work and life are completely separate.
No, I’m serious. Pause and imagine it.
When I try to envision that world, I get deeply distressed. If work and life are separate, and if life has no part in work, what does that imply? Work = no life, and the absence of life = death. So, work = death.
Ouch. (Read the rest of the entry…)
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Surely you know that May 1 is Law Day, and I do hope you remembered Administrative Professionals’ Day last Wednesday.
But did you miss Lawyerpalooza 2008 (which offered “great rock n’ roll from your favorite Seattle law firm bands to benefit Seattle elementary school music programs”) or the Columbia Law School Law Revue Spring Show, both held on April 24? If you’re in Minnesota, did you know that May 1 is also Legal Assistant/Paralegal Day? Or that Colorado, Utah, and Ohio also celebrate Paralegal Day in May?
Not to worry. The Billable Hour Company knows you have plenty of things you need to keep track of, so they’ve created the Billable Hour Company Legal Holidays and Events Calendar to spread information about all of the local, state and federal holidays that celebrate lawyers and legal professionals. (Read the rest of the entry…)
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Lawyers who are or aspire to be leaders must learn to self-manage. Especially when stressed or under pressure (and who isn’t, at least part of the time?) it’s easy to let self-management slide in the face of provocation. Some attorneys I know offer a blanket apology to staff and colleagues — something like, “I’m feeling stressed, so please excuse me if I blow up or yell at you or throw things, ok?” I don’t recommend that approach; it’s been than nothing, I suppose, but it’s actually announcing that bad behavior is coming, apparently largely unchecked.
Let’s be real: attorneys are often faced with statements, actions, arguments, behavior, etc. that is galling in the extreme. It’s a common practice in litigation among some to make an effort to find their opponents’ hot buttons; push the button and out pops an ugly, crazy person - not someone a jury would respect or believe. (Same goes for witnesses, too.) So how can you handle it when faced with provocation that would make the Buddha quiver with rage? (Read the rest of the entry…)
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Just a few months ago, I wrote a blog entry titled, Social networking, yea or nay?, in which I reviewed an issue of Law Practice Management that featured several article advocating the use of social networking. Since then, I’ve networked on LinkedIn and I even set up a Facebook profile, though I drew the line at Twitter — microblogging is not for me. Meanwhile, I’m getting pelted with Plaxo requests and trying to figure out how social networking can work for me. My next step was to listen to a few teleseminars, on how to use Facebook and LinkedIn, and I was aghast at the amount of time people were spending. An hour or two a day??? Is it just me, or does that sound insane to anyone else?
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It’s been quiet on the blog this week because I’ve been busy working behind the scenes on revamping the blog. It all started last week when the fantastic person who handles all of my online activites (blog, website, hosting, you name it) sent me an email reminding me that the blog software I was using had serious security issues — something that I’d been working to ignore. Hearing it from him made it real, though, and within a day we were well on the way to getting the new software uploaded and configured, proving (yet again) that almost any step is better started than just dreaded.
You’ll notice a few differences now: if you don’t yet subscribe to my weekly email newsletter Leadership Matters for Lawyers, you can do so simply by filling out the sign-up form at the top of the middle column. And if you’re wondering what LML is, you can click on the “View the LML Archives” box to see back issues. In addition, you can get blog posts delivered directly to you either by using the RSS feed (click the orange button at the top of the far right column) or by signing up to receive posts by email in the subscription box in the middle column. As always, you have my personal guarantee that I won’t use your email for any other purpose (no spam!) and I won’t provide your information to anyone else for any reason.
We’re still updating a few things, such as bringing back the Blogroll, so you’ll notice changes here and there. If you see anything that bugs you, or if there’s something you’d like to see, please leave a comment to let me know, or you can email me directly if you’d prefer.
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In listening to conversations about leadership development, I’ve noticed a tendency that at first I attributed to a slip of the tongue. People say things like, “So good management – I mean, leadership – requires [this that and the other].” Some people even suggest that management and leadership are really the same thing and that “leadership” sounds more enticing, so more lawyers (both at the associate and partner/management levels) are willing to play along.
I completely disagree. (Read the rest of the entry…)
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Think back to elementary school. My guess is (depending on your generation), when the teacher called roll most students responded by saying, “Here!” And usually, especially by 5th grade or so, one wise guy (were there gunners in elementary school?!) would respond by answering, “Present!” The other kids would snicker and the teacher might look up with that slightly annoyed look. But, you know what? That kid was onto something, as an email I received recently reminded me.
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Generally speaking, law firms use the phrase “client development” to refer to the process of signing clients that the firm will represent in litigation, transactions, etc. Today, I’d like to consider another type of client development associates must consider: internal client development.
As an associate, particularly a junior associate who receives work from more senior lawyers, you must consider two kinds of clients: those who are external, meaning the people we typically call clients, and those who are internal, meaning those firm attorneys for whom you do work, your supervising attorneys. The more junior you are, the more important your internal client development skills are and the longer those skills may serve you. Let’s consider an example.
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May 05, 2008 
