USB Keys And Palms Help When You Travel

One useful item is the U3 USB key made by U3. Unlike traditional USB keys, this comes with built-in software that allows you to copy the appearance of your computer and recreate it on a public PC. Once inserted into the PC, you can use certain programs such as Firefox and Thunderbird that may not be present on that public computer but are installed on the flash drive. Some programs come pre-installed; others you can purchase and install. The beauty of this product is that when it is plugged into a public computer, your settings, background image, and programs appear beside what is already available on the host computer. You can then work on the client file in familiar surroundings, so to speak, with the programs you need nearby. When you unplug the unit, all the settings and changes disappear from the host computer and cannot be recovered by the next user.

Another product is the Palm T|X with wireless keyboard. Although there are a number of PDAs on the market and different options become available each year, I have found the Palm to be one of the best. Besides managing dates and contacts, the T|X comes with built-in wireless so that—with the help of some add-on programs such as Documents-To-Go from DataViz and a wireless keyboard (purchased separately from Palm)—a lawyer can write and edit Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations.

I used the Palm T|X while in law school and, since I started my practice, have used it to take notes at client meetings and conferences. The Palm T|X has almost completely replaced my laptop when I’m on the road. It’s much easier to carry the Palm T|X through airport security than a laptop. And unlike a laptop, the TSA is less inclined to check the lowly PDA and submit it to the usual extensive screening process.

Scanners Have Improved Greatly

A new type of scanner is the DocuPen from Planon. Although other portable scanners are on the market, many of those are sheet-fed; and the non sheet-fed units (such as pen scanners from IRIS and WizCom) require scanning across each line, word-by-redundant-word. For single pages, a sheet-fed scanner like the Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 could be appropriate whereas if you have bound material the Planon scanner will be far more useful. This scanner works well, but the results are not always what the promotional videos on the company’s website promise. The size of a long pen, you hold this scanner gently in one hand and slowly draw it down the page: some practice is required to use it well. You should be able to achieve a 60-70% success rate. The major shortcoming is that the slightest movement of your hand or a crease on the page can distort the image, occasionally ruining it. Because there is no display, you will not be able to view the image until it is connected to the computer. The scanner should not be used if what you are scanning is unavailable for a repeat scan if necessary, and/or the scan is important and needs to be done well quickly.

The DocuPen RC800 scanner has four scan modes (24 Bit, 12 Bit Color, Greyscale and Monochrome) to capture data. The scanner can store about 100 pages before it needs to be downloaded and emptied. In my experience, it holds considerably less, in part depending on the mode it is in. Nevertheless, I would still recommend it because it suits my needs. In one case it was particularly helpful when a client gave me a timeline consisting of a mosaic of taped-together pages. I could not run them through the sheet-feeder and they were too unwieldy for a copier, but the little DocuPen was able to make a usable copy with ease.

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He could see that I was taken aback and said, “You were expecting maybe Crazy Horse?” I was humbled.

Soon enough we were talking seriously about the plight of Native Americans (the white man has nothing to be proud of), the difficulty of keeping teenagers in school (see “nothing to be proud of”), and finally the Hopi religion. I was especially interested in the kachinas since I had bought a couple of the dolls on a previous trip.

My friend explained that the kachinas were an integral part of Hopi beliefs. They are spirits—there are over 200 different ones—who come down from the mountains in the Four Corners area for six months every year. According to “Rainmakers From The Gods,” an online exhibit (© 1997 President and Fellows of Harvard College), the kachinas are “messengers who accept Hopi gifts and prayers for health, fertility, and rain and carry them back to the gods. Their role as rainmakers is particularly important to the Hopi, whose agriculture in the high, arid desert of northeastern Arizona has always been precarious.”

The Hopi and their traditions have been around since long before the birth of Christ. It stands to reason that the rainmakers must be doing something right or the Hopis would have dropped corn production and tried to develop new recipes for cactus.

The need for rainmakers, Native American or not, hasn’t slacked off. Most Native American cultures have some sort of rainmaking tradition, and we’ve all heard about barnstorming pilots dumping dry ice into clouds hoping to stir up a thunderstorm.

Translate The Hopi Spirit Into Boardroom Decisions

What does all this have to do with the legal profession and rainmaking? I’m certainly not suggesting that your chief business person don a kachina outfit and burst into the local country club. That tends to scare the diners and you wouldn’t want one of them choking on a crumpet. Besides, it might have a tiny tendency to reflect poorly on the firm. Also, rain dances, while certainly entertaining, are distracting in front of your building or outside an office. While I’m not personally aware of such activities, I’m fairly sure reactions from observers wouldn’t be positive.

So what’s the point other than to give you a hint of my interest in Native American culture? I have a great deal of respect for the culture of the Hopis and other tribes. (In Hopi families, by the way, the women own all the land and are the dominant members of the family. So there.) One of the reasons I respect them is their firm commitment to tradition and their patience and resolve in adhering to it.

Those of you who are charged with dragging new clients into the teepee might keep in mind that new clients are looking beyond the networking, sales pitches and snazzy brochures. They want to see who you really are, to see if you can keep a promise, and if they can trust you. They want to know about your traditions and hear your stories. While building a campfire and passing a peace pipe may be going over the edge, being at peace with yourself and transferring that to a new client isn’t.

“”Wisdom comes only when you stop looking for it and start living the life the Creator intended for you.” – Hopi Indian

Now you can go dump some dry ice on the conference room table.

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Suppose you could increase your ability to prioritize and manage tasks and goals, focus on specific information and stay alert to the environment.

Would you be a better lawyer? If you said yes, you’re in luck. There’s a certain practice, written about in the mainstream media and law reviews, that can allow you to do so and is easy to master.

One Supreme Court Justice employs this practice twice a day. In classrooms of law schools, and conference rooms and offices of law firms large and small, both budding and senior lawyers are engaging in this practice in growing numbers. What is this practice that seems to be reaching the tipping point among legal practitioners of all stripes?

Meditation.

Change Your Brain Chemistry Through Meditation

Meditation not only increases attention, enabling you to prioritize, focus and stay alert, it also changes the way the brain works, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. “Researchers [Amishi Jha and Michael Baime] found that even for those new to the practice, meditation enhanced performance and the ability to focus attention. Performance-based measures of cognitive function demonstrated improvements in a matter of weeks. The study . . . suggests a new, non-medical means for improving focus and cognitive ability among disparate populations and has implications for workplace performance and learning.” (Medical News Today, “Improved Attention With Mindfulness Training Demonstrated By Penn Researchers.”)

Although this area of research is not new, many new, peer-reviewed scientific studies confirm the value of meditation and its byproduct, mindfulness. Even skeptics can read about its benefits, ranging from enhanced immunity to lowered blood pressure. Today, no one needs to take it on faith.

Lawyers Are Becoming More Mindful

In October 2008, lawyer, author, and founding dean of City University of New York’s Law School, Charles Halpern, one of the original and long-time proponents of meditation in the legal profession, gave two Continuing Legal Education presentations at University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law during which he stressed mindfulness.

Having led several meditation retreats for lawyers, judges, and law students, he mentioned that the idea of such retreats is “of fairly recent vintage” and he is “pleased to see the increase.” He regards the increasing numbers of meditating lawyers within the larger context of “reviving wisdom in the legal profession.”

All lawyers can reach their wisdom, he believes, by:

• “Taking time for inner work” using meditation or some other strategy
• “Aligning our work with our values”
• “Thinking about how to live our lives in balance”

Halpern thinks that wisdom is “vocationally relevant” because it “increases our capacity to bring full, focused awareness,” which is a key strategy to building a bond with those in our professional lives ranging from clients to judges. He also believes that the practice of wisdom is a good way to “deal with a stressful profession.”

Mindfulness is an asset for lawyers because by increasing our awareness and attention we not only build stronger bonds with others, as Halpern mentions, but we also improve our decision-making and skilled improvising. Still another fundamental element in making good decisions is also fostered by mindfulness: metacognition, the ability to think about your thinking. University of California’s Professor Philip Tetlock memorably describes metacognition as “the art of self-overhearing.” No wonder a growing number of lawyers are studying—and practicing—mindfulness and meditation.

According to Halpern, Justice Stephen Breyer meditates twice a day, each time for 15 to 20 minutes. Through this practice, Breyer has reduced his blood pressure, and feels he is better able to focus and attend to the tasks at hand. If Breyer skips meditation, Halpern added, he “suffers.” Last May, Halpern and University of Denver law professor Tamara Kuennen led a program on mindfulness and meditation at a conference of the Association of American Law Schools; they were gratified and a bit surprised to have a large number of attendees. Halpern reported “a high level of engagement and enthusiasm.”

For more information about the profession’s increased interest in mindfulness, visit Contemplative Lawyers. This ever-expanding list of resources and articles is updated frequently. Is the day coming when a mindless lawyer will be a rarity?

Next in this three-part series, we will look at how to practice meditation and mindfulness and what these practices do to the brain; visit with a lawyer who is teaching mindfulness to lawyers using novel and creative methods; and consider other practices besides meditation that can increase mindfulness.

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Yes, yes, you know all that, I am sure. And yet you still find yourself occasionally pulled into conflict that, well, doesn’t much matter, right? More than occasionally? Even when you know better? Here are some of the most common reasons you fight about silly things at work:

Five Reasons You Get Riled And Strategies To Stay Calm

You can’t control your temper. Anger is a natural response to threat, and useful to rev up the energy necessary for a counter-attack. But many times, a counter-attack just isn’t called for. How do you control your temper as you decide whether a fight is worth it? The best answer involves a discussion of anger management, which is outside the scope of this article. But consider this one strategy: never respond in the moment. Do something to break up the anger-creating event and your response. Receive an arrogant voice mail? Wait until after lunch to return the call. Co-worker drop a bomb in a meeting? Revisit it later in the day. Anger does dissipate with time, and by then you’ll be more likely to calmly decide whether the issue is worth addressing.

You haven’t tapped your empathy. Another reason we get drawn into unnecessary battles is because we haven’t taken the time to consider where the other person or group is coming from. The explanation may be simple—the other person is in a lousy mood. But you won’t discover this unless you think through the other person’s frame of reference.

You’ve been publically challenged. We tend to fight more in public places because our ego kicks in to make us want to defend ourselves even more strongly. You don’t want the rest of the team thinking you are an idiot, do you? But just because you have an audience doesn’t mean that you should engage in a fight that otherwise doesn’t make sense. Moreover, most of us are disarmed by public conflict and don’t readily make our most reasoned arguments when others are watching.

This principle applies to fights brewing by email as well. If you receive an antagonistic email, especially one that’s copied to many others, make a point to respond by phone or in person—and alone. Resist the urge to smack-down the other party in a “reply-to-all” email. This may be hard but take the higher road—especially because your email can be so easily forwarded to others and read out of context.

You are taking the easy road. We all tend to focus on little problems at times because we can. It is easier for me to fight with my son over whether his room is tidy (relatively unimportant) than whether he is cultivating a good relationship with his grandparents (really important), just as it’s easier to debate at length the name of a new training program (relatively unimportant) than whether or not the needs analysis was completed well enough to move to instructional planning (really important). Like most people, I’d just rather think about easy stuff. But be on guard against the urge to weigh-in on the things that are “easy” rather than those that are vital.

You want to feel better about yourself. Ouch! But it’s true: most of us, at least from time to time, invest in disagreements so that we can prove ourselves correct or smart. Don’t let this natural urge lead you to fight about things that don’t matter. Being smart about small things is a small thing. As Dale Carnegie famously wrote, “Any fool can criticize, complain, condemn—and most fools do. Picking your battles is impressive and fighting them fairly is essential.”

“Choose your battles wisely”—the sentiment is obvious, the obstacles more subtle. Perhaps this short list helped you identify the hurdles so that your conflicts at work are better chosen, perhaps even chosen wisely.

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Fact #2: Despite the economic climate, some attorneys are growing their practices by bringing in new business and clients and, in some cases, expanding practice areas. These lawyers find more satisfaction because they’re working with clients they enjoy. They have more professional options and security because they know how to satisfy clients, generate referrals, and keep a steady stream of new work.

Fact #3: Rainmakers are the last lawyers to be cut and the first to be solicited for new employment. Client development and retention are key skills in today’s economy. No matter how times may change, if you can generate new work and new clients on a consistent basis, your practice will thrive.

Rainmaking isn’t a skill taught in law school, and far too often, lawyers fall prey to the mystique of the “natural rainmaker”—that if they don’t already know how to get new work, they can’t learn the skill. In fact, many lawyers secretly wish that they could simply provide excellent work product and let others get new business. That’s rarely an option in today’s economy for anyone other than junior associates in large law firms.

Networking Can Be A Natural Outgrowth Of Your Interests

Networking is a time-tested method of developing the relationships that lead to business. Unfortunately, networking often carries a vaguely distasteful image of crowded rooms in which aggressive people force business cards on anyone who will listen to their tales of business glory. Many lawyers (and certainly most introverts) who think of networking in that light shudder and resolve to try something less odious.

A lawyer once contacted me to ask how a nice but socially awkward introvert (her words, not mine!) could begin rainmaking. The lawyer, let’s call her Margaret, described her discomfort with small talk and braggadocio, both of which she perceived to be integral to business development success. Margaret further explained that she felt no desire to play golf and would prefer to make client connections due to her legal skill. Margaret’s quandary boiled down to one key question: “Can I bring in business and still be myself?” Especially because I consider myself to be somewhat of an introvert, I empathized with Margaret’s situation and shared the tactic that has always worked well for me: gaining contacts through substantive working groups of industry and bar associations.

Networking based on substantive work harnesses a lawyer’s technical skill, generates almost endless opportunities for conversation, and offers opportunities for attaining leadership positions. Because leadership creates the perception of expertise as well as increased visibility, lawyers who attain leadership roles have the chance to become known by the members of the association for their expertise without engaging in endless small talk at cocktail parties. Personal contact advances relationships, and using substantive work as a springboard for those conversations may feel more comfortable, especially for introverts and those who would prefer to focus on work. Through the substantive work, relationships grow and develop organically, often into professional friendships based on respect and trust, which sets the stage for client development.

Another advantage of this work is that it’s appropriate for lawyers at any stage of practice. More junior lawyers might take on a role in coordinating and assimilating others’ work, or they might find a way to work with more senior lawyers by writing profiles of the group’s leaders for publication in an association newsletter, for example. More senior lawyers are often in a position to be thought leaders who help shape the direction that the law or practice should take, and they’re often invited to speak or to write for the group. In addition, association work can yield mentorship opportunities that benefit both the junior and senior attorneys.

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As they left the store, my friend asked, “Where’s the contract, back at the office?” Her father explained that transactions were memorialized on a handshake. It’s how it had always been done. The business was based on trust and relationships. He had known this man’s father and this man had known his. Their handshakes were their word, which was as good as gold.

As she told me this story, I could see that she was struggling with the idea of doing business on such informal terms. It was a foreign concept given its blatant disregard of what we had been schooled to view as the bedrock of all business deals—the written contract. To reconcile what she had witnessed, she likened the transaction to one occurring in another country with its own legal system.

In his 2005 bestseller, The World Is Flat, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman informs us that globalization is not a new trend: ever since 1492, Friedman explains, our world has been shrinking from small to tiny. “We are now in the process of connecting all the knowledge pools in the world together,” he writes, and, as a result, “we are on the cusp of an incredible new era of innovation, an era that will be driven from left field and right field, from West and East and from North and South.”

Relationship Skills Are More Important Than Ever

The U.S. legal profession and its constituents are at the epicenter of this new global marketplace. This is due to client demand and the practical realities of flatism—survival in a flattened competitive arena. While globalization touches a range of areas—political, economic, religious, social and cultural, among others—the one set of skills that the global lawyer simply can’t survive and thrive without is relationship building skills.

Relationships are essential to business success in the law. In the U.S., lawyers have grown accustomed to fostering and nurturing human-to-human connections through text messaging, email and various modes of networking. These exchanges are often fast-paced and fairly informal. They also typically include candid (though, perhaps, not completely unbiased or rational) accounts of our superior abilities and services. In other words, we tend to take the hard-and-fast sell approach to cultivating business relationships.

While this standard relationship building approach may work well in the U.S., it frequently doesn’t translate across cultural and social boundaries. I learned this first-hand when I recently presented a training and development program in Ghent, Belgium. Sixty lawyers from four continents (representing countries as diverse as Brazil, the U.S., the U.K., France, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Russia, China and Japan) participated. Before the program a European friend told me that I needed to temper my speaking style and content for this primarily European audience. In the U.S., he explained, it’s acceptable to speak of personal successes. But in certain parts of the world, people are very put off by self-promotion. Fortunately, my friend helped me avoid creating an obstacle to connecting with some of my program attendees.

It takes time to build client and key strategic relationships in the global arena. Some points along the learning curve that need to be addressed include:

Communication Gaps

Cultural Sensibilities

Legal Principles

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Even sole practitioners may represent clients with international problems and international clients with problems in the US. Today it is common for lawyers in every kind of firm to work with clients and agencies in other countries, deal with vendors around the world, and have co-workers or employees from different countries. In this practice environment, lawyers must be culturally competent—to operate effectively with people in other cultures.

Cultural Competence Needs To Be Clearly Defined

Cultural competence (sometimes referred to as “cultural intelligence”) is the ability to adapt, work and manage successfully in new and unfamiliar cultural settings. Culturally competent people can “grasp, reason and behave effectively” when faced with culturally diverse situations, where assumptions, values and traditions differ from those to which they are accustomed.2 They recognize that culture may impact the way people from different backgrounds perceive the same facts. When several competing interpretations of a situation may be valid, they can place apparent contradictions in cultural contexts and deal with the ambiguity.

Cultural competence has particular importance for lawyers:

• Whose practice involves interactions with clients, lawyers, agencies or vendors in other countries
• Who represent multinational or foreign clients
• Who manage or participate in global client teams or project teams
• Who take expatriate assignments, internal secondments (i.e., short-term assignments to one of the firm’s offices in another country), or extended business travel to other countries
• Who hire lawyers or manage law offices in other countries
• Who evaluate the performance of or make promotion decisions about lawyers in other countries.

It is also becoming critical for in-house counsel to be culturally intelligent. At a recent meeting of more than 100 senior corporate counsel, 38.2% said that readiness to meet the demands of global growth was the greatest challenge facing their legal departments.3 Today’s corporate counsel need to “think beyond the perspectives of the home country,” and many corporations are actively recruiting lawyers who have international work experience and multicultural points of view.4

Understand Cultural Competence—Which Goes Beyond Diversity

While the legal profession now devotes considerable resources to diversity training and initiatives, cultural competence goes beyond the kind of diversity that is usually addressed. American diversity programming deals with cultural differences but the focus is on diversity within the context of American culture. Cultural competence places diversity in a global framework. It involves the ability to function in settings where American values and norms do not prevail, and refers to the ability to navigate through a strange environment when you are the cultural outsider.

Employers who recognize the value of cultural competence and develop their lawyers’ cultural intelligence can have a distinct competitive advantage in the marketplace. By preparing lawyers to meet the especially demanding nature of working and managing in a global environment, employers can minimize culture-based misunderstandings and errors, leading to better quality legal work and higher satisfaction for both clients and lawyers.

Improving cultural competence can also result in greater profitability. In a survey of 450 managers in multi-national companies, McKinsey found that effective management of cultural diversity in a global setting was highly correlated with financial success as measured by profit per employee.5 In companies with proficient cross-cultural management, they found that foreign office profits increased through higher productivity, more cross-selling, client expansion, work referrals from other offices, and leveraging of global resources.

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Still, Pam never gave up on her original idea. “If I were a lawyer,” she remembered thinking, “I could make things happen for people.” After eight years of selling electrical switch gear to contractors for General Electric, she took the LSAT and announced her intentions to leave. GE, not wanting to lose one of its top sales engineers, promoted her and moved her from Denver to San Diego. Two years later, though, she felt as if “nothing was new anymore.” Again she announced her intention to start law school; this time, GE hired her as a part-time consultant the summer before she started law school, paying her twice as much as her previous salary. When law school began, she worked for GE distributors who had once been her customers.

Her work with contractors as a GE consultant ten years ago is what led her to develop the passion for the legal work that occupies her time today. “Contractors put up with a lot of risk in their daily work, and I enjoy ‘speaking their language’ and giving them straightforward, practical advice that directly relates to their businesses,” she said. “Recently, we started offering estimates on our legal work, just like a ‘time and materials bid’ that they have to produce to win a job; and we can give them ‘change orders’ when the opposing party files motions or when our original legal strategy changes. I also address a common complaint about lawyers—that they are too evasive when a client wants advice on making a decision,” she continued, “and I have no problem telling clients what I would do, based on an assessment of the risks and their values.” Her client base includes developers and contractors in the construction industry from all walks of life and all cultures. “I can talk to anyone, and I truly enjoy what I do,” she said. “People notice that, including the judges, mediators, and opposing counsel.”

Stuff Happens

“I started out the hard way—on my own,” Pam said. “I taught myself procedural and substantive law, took CLE classes in construction litigation and mechanics’ lien law, and mistakenly took on a partner who did not share my goals in building up the practice. I did not seek out a mentor at first, which was stupid, because mentors were available through my local bar association. I didn’t understand that mentors enjoy the process of giving something back without looking for something in return. My first law suit was sent back to me by the court because the summons was improper,” Pam said, with a laugh. She survived as a solo practitioner because she was both humble and driven, and because she accepted the advice of a friend who said she had to specialize to make it work.

Finding A Niche

Pam doesn’t mind taking an unconventional approach to her law practice, employing her husband as a technical consultant, as well as two other attorneys and a paralegal. Recently, Pam made national news in the legal community when she advertised for a “sales attorney” whose sole responsibility was to develop and evaluate new business for the firm. She also advertises her practice at construction sites using banner ads, announcing that the company’s construction contracts were drafted by her firm; and joined a chief executive organization specializing in executive and business coaching for medium and small businesses. Away from work, Pam enjoys riding her motorcycle and walking Doberman rescue dogs four times a week.

Defining Success

“Success is fairly simple,” Pam said. “It has two components: liking what you do, and achieving your financial goals while doing it.” She said that attorneys must discover their specific passion for being a lawyer, and then move confidently in that direction. Pam advises young attorneys to seek out mentors as soon as they begin their careers, and explains that professionals need to look at their core values before launching into a career of service. Good values, to her, are those from which “you benefit and others do too,” and rotten values are those from which “only you benefit.” She also advises that “a young attorney should be humble, look at no job as too menial, and treat everyone—from the courthouse judge to the janitor—with the utmost respect. That’s good training for life.”

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The Intensity Of The Workplace Fosters Romance

The workplace can become so intense that boundaries blur and we’re tempted to throw caution to the winds. When strong feelings develop, often unexpectedly, it’s easy to conclude that you’re in love. But instead of surrendering, or reacting with stupefied surprise, it’s best to make intentional decisions, which are easier to make if you’re prepared for them.

Why is it anyone else’s business if two people who work together fall in love or begin an affair? Putting aside practical concerns like lawsuits, malpractice claims and ethics charges, organizations are complex systems and unbalanced relationships impact the whole team. There really isn’t any way to insulate the work environment. Questions about fairness, confidentiality, and the team’s survival if the relationship dies inevitably arise; communication is often disrupted and trust compromised.

To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Here are a few situations to be on guard for.

Office Parties Often Create Havoc

Office parties have a notorious reputation—and with good reason. During work hours, we all experience a variety of feelings we don’t act on, ranging from anger toward others to attraction. Throwing an annual office party is a way we all get to let off a little steam. It’s a socially acceptable outlet, like a roast, or Mardi Gras. Granted, we all have fantasies, but once we act on them, we can’t always fit them back into the neat little box of our imagination. Remember: most of what happens in the heat of an alcohol-based event doesn’t survive the hangover, except as an embarrassing (and occasionally career-ending) bad dream.

Trials Can Become Romantic Hotbeds

Preparing for a trial can be akin to producing, directing and starring in a play—both are dramatic, intense situations in which the stakes are high, hours are long, and you are on the same team. It’s not unusual for a romance to blossom, even though it will most likely fade after the wrap. None of the players is immune—lawyers, clients, witnesses, experts, investment bankers. Wise attorneys will postpone any undying declarations of love until after the cast party is long over.

Rescuing A Client In Distress Can Be Sexy

Like therapists, lawyers have to work hard to not confuse the admiration and gratitude they receive from their clients for love. This is easier said than done. When people entrust you with their most difficult, and sometimes most intimate matters, it can be a heady experience. Who doesn’t love to be flattered, admired, appreciated and deferred to—especially if we don’t receive quite the same attention from our families. In these situations, your clients need to believe that you are the most brilliant, experienced, and dedicated lawyer in the world; this allows them to weather situations over which they have lost control. Just make sure you don’t mistake these intense feelings for something they’re not.

Avoid The Mentor/Protégé Mix-up

In most offices, an informal mentoring relationship often develops between people who like each other. People generally choose to mentor someone who shares their interests, outlook, or values. Proteges admire and appreciate those who single them out for attention and guidance—but these are often the same feelings that can lead to attraction and romance. But a mentoring relationship is, by definition, not between equals, and mentors bear the responsibility for protecting their protégés from the inherent vulnerability of this relationship. Wise protégés need to recognize that their mentors may not have completed Romance 101 and, therefore, should keep their own eyes open.

Don’t Become A Fool For Love

Some wonderful, passionate, caring and intense people—men and women—simply fall in love time after time. Often, they are charismatic, attractive and charming. They thrive on the depth and intensity of true love and seem to have a difficult time adjusting to ordinary life when the bloom fades. The last thing they want is to hurt anyone, but unfortunately they do. Men may be especially susceptible to this since our culture doesn’t allow them much room for emotional expression, and falling in love is an acceptable outlet. To protect yourself, notice patterns—your own or your suitor’s. Once you’ve been down this path a couple times, ask yourself what role romance plays in your life. Is it a substitute for coming to terms with yourself? How are your serial romances impacting the lives of the people you care about? Conversely, if you are the latest object of affection, you need to ask yourself what happened to the most recent flame—because you’re probably going to wind up like her (or him).

If you find yourself in one of these situations, the best thing to do is pause. Don’t enter into romantic relationships in charged circumstances until you can test your feelings in the cold, mundane light of day. If you can’t extricate yourself, talk to your firm’s risk manager or Human Resources representative. The conversation may be hard, but the one you initiate will undoubtedly go better than the one you are summoned to.

For law office managers, an ounce of prevention will save you tons of cure. Talk to the people involved before a relationship becomes an “issue.” When people understand the risks inherent in charged situations, they are much more likely to handle themselves admirably without your intervention. Second, establish clearly articulated norms about office relationships; that way, people will know what to avoid. Third, establish that “don’t ask, don’t tell” won’t work in your firm. Talking to people about personal relationships violates a host of cultural taboos, so the default expectation is that no one is going to raise the subject until it’s unavoidable—at which point it’s usually too late to salvage. Let it be known that you are determined to have difficult conversations early. In fact, read the book: Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss what Matters Most by Stone, Patton, Heen and Fisher (Penguin Paperback,2000).

RESOURCES

Stone, Patton, Heen and Fisher; Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss what Matters Most, Penguin Paperback, 2000.

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Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of Source Interlink Companies, Inc.

“The Client,” is a new feature of The Complete Lawyer. We bring you candid, thought-provoking interviews with the world’s leading corporate counsel conducted by long-time TCL contributor, Marcie Shunk of BTI Consulting. BTI’s senior researchers conduct thousands of interviews each year with corporate counsel, delving into the nuances of client satisfaction, probing for new, undefined issues and delineating drivers behind key market trends.

This month, we are delighted to feature Douglas Bates, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of Source Interlink Companies, Inc.

MS: Thank you very much for joining us today. Our topic is one that many corporate counsel have expressed extraordinary interest in—alternate billing and ways to reduce legal costs. I’ll begin with some background. Could you please describe your role and your key responsibilities at Source Interlink?

DB: I am the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Source Interlink Companies. I handle and supervise all of the legal affairs of the company. I’m also responsible for the Real Estate portfolio management—strategic decisions regarding some 130-odd facilities that comprise our Real Estate portfolio. I also spend a lot of time advising and consulting with senior executives on a variety of strategic tactical and operational matters.

MS: What are your top goals and your priorities for your legal department for 2008?

DB: We’re focused primarily on improving and streamlining processes. One of our key performance indicators for this year is what we call cycle time—the time between first learning of a contract and signing it.

MS: What are some of the steps you are taking to achieve this goal?

DB: Well, there are a variety of things. Like many legal departments, we need to improve our objective measurement of what really is happening. For example, we’ve found that the biggest impediment to improving cycle time has nothing to do with the law department—although every business person will tell you that it’s those lawyers who always delay the project. It’s the documents sitting on the salesman’s desk. Generally, we’ve been improving processes throughout our department to be able to track information, develop performance indicators, and then monitor and measure these to look for ways to improve.

MS: And then make it known throughout the company.

DB: That’s right.

MS: One of the key areas we have heard you, your peers and other corporate counsel discuss in recent months is how better to manage outside counsel and the rising cost of legal services. Could you discuss what strategies Source Interlink is currently employing to help reduce legal costs?

DB: Our first step, when we looked back at costs for outside legal services, was to try to gather as much information as we could. We wanted to simply understand what we were doing and how we were doing it. Then, we tried to identify opportunities to streamline that process and reduce costs. Having information is the most important factor in making sound business judgments. Most legal departments are small—we have five attorneys here—and they don’t think about gathering information. So, the first step was to gather that.

Second, we’ve undertaken a wholesale revision of our outside counsel billing guidelines. After meeting and talking with each of our principal contacts at all our outside firms we developed, in partnership with them, guidelines that worked for them and for us. We must have spent five months doing this and it’s fairly tight. That is a huge help for us. Sometimes it seemed as if we were negotiating over seemingly silly things, but the amount we spend for copy charges and those sorts of things makes a big difference.

MS: What has been the actual impact on your legal costs after you finished this process?

DB: We’re still measuring the return; however, our preliminary results indicate that the cost of outside legal services is down about 13 to 14% this year over what it would have been had we not put in place these guidelines. So that’s an actual decrease.

MS: Do these guidelines include alternative billing with your firms?

DB: We do use alternative billing arrangements. They are not in our guidelines other than a general statement that we want to talk about them. Alternative billing arrangements have been hotly discussed and of great interest to inside counsel for years. The problem for alternative billing arrangements is they’re promising but difficult to implement. In theory, everything works, but there are so many variables, not all of which can you control. That is, whether you’re working on a transaction or working in litigation, you have to be responsive to your opposition, and they may do things that increase your costs significantly.

Post from: The Complete Lawyer

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