The Complete Lawyer

According to an African proverb, a poor worker blames his tools. In disentangling clients’ issues, the attorney’s legal skill, more than anything else, will determine the outcome. Nevertheless, a number of new tools on the market, such as computer accessories, may ease the task. (Note: I am not endorsing any of the companies or products featured in this article.) USB Keys And Palms Help When You Travel One useful item is the U3 USB key made by U3. Unlike traditional USB keys, ...

I was in northern Arizona recently doing a video about 18-wheelers with triple trailers (it’s a living) and had a chance to go to a Hopi reservation and meet a medicine man. He was a fascinating character. I had expected a lot of feathers and war paint—like the Frederick Remington paintings—but instead, he was a gracious elderly gentleman in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki slacks. He could see that I was taken aback and said, “You were expecting maybe Crazy Horse?” ...

This is the first of a three-part series on mindful lawyers. 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 ...

How many times have you heard someone say, “Choose your battles wisely”? It is a wise sentiment, surely correct, and of course we’d all benefit by heeding it. Your work-life could be better: As with all time management, prioritizing conflict is important in a workday of limited (emotional) resources. And given that there are always relationship costs to friction—even productive friction—you owe it to your coworkers and colleagues to pick fights wisely. There are also reputational gains to be made ...

Fact #1: We're in an uncertain economy. The legal market is down. Revered law firms are dissolving. Lawyers—good lawyers—are getting fired, and those who remain are often worried they'll be next. Budgets are getting tighter and there's no end in sight. Some experts estimate that the economy won't begin to recover until late 2009. 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 ...

Not long ago, a law school friend of mine was walking with her father in New York City’s crowded diamond district. Entering a showroom, she watched as her father warmly greeted another man and handed him some gems. The man examined the goods, put them in a drawer and shook her father’s hand with a quick exchange in Yiddish. As they left the store, my friend asked, “Where’s the contract, back at the office?” Her father explained that transactions were memorialized ...

The globalization of the legal industry is changing the skills lawyers need to succeed in practice. Thanks to technology, travel, and global business expansion, lawyers increasingly operate in a world of disappearing borders. A growing number of law firms have offices, lawyers and operations worldwide. The National Law Journal’s largest 250 US law firms employed 15,231 lawyers in their foreign offices in 2007, an increase of more than 11% from the year before.1 Even sole practitioners may represent clients with international ...

“When I was finishing college, my mother and I talked about my pursuing a law degree,” Pam Scholefield said while sitting in her San Diego law office where she practices breach-of-contract litigation and transactional work in the commercial construction industry. “But because I’d just finished five years of an intense electrical engineering program at the University of Florida, I decided that it would be better to get out into the work force.” Still, Pam never gave up on her original idea. ...

A TCL Interview: Douglas Bates 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, ...

In spite of having been a staunch supporter of “family-friendly” workplace policies throughout my career, I have modified my position. Ultimately, deep change, whether at the personal or the organizational level, is a spiritual process. Loss of alignment occurs when, for whatever reason, we begin to pursue the wrong end. This process begins innocently enough. In pursuing some justifiable end, we make a trade-off of some kind. We know it is wrong, but we rationalize our choice. We use the end ...

Most law students and lawyers know quite a bit about finding a job—how to write a compelling cover letter and an attention-grabbing resume, how to navigate tricky interview questions and how to make contacts who can help with the job search. With all the time we expend finding a job, it’s not surprising that we never focus on the flip side: leaving a job. Yet, how you leave your place of employment—whether it’s a firm, government or corporation—can have more ...

Principled Negotiation Satisfies All Parties: Diane Levin As someone who helps people negotiate for a living, I've seen how useful negotiation is for solving many of life's dilemmas. Most of us are familiar with two ways to negotiate—gladiator-style, in which only one of us emerges victorious from the sand of the arena; or the split-the-difference approach in which we all give and get a little, leaving everyone equally unhappy. In both cases, we leave value on the negotiating table—and all ...

As an international lawyer coach, I get many email inquiries from lawyers who are interested in working abroad. Some want to gain a particular legal expertise by practicing abroad. Other lawyers are being—or want to be—transferred abroad by their employers. Still others simply seek the thrill and adventure of practicing law in a foreign country. Whatever the reason, lawyers face many challenges as well as exciting possibilities when contemplating an international move. Plan Well Attorneys wishing to relocate abroad should examine their ...

TCL:  What’s your personal definition of success? For me, success requires excellence as a professional, as a parent and as a person. Having success in a balanced life such as this is quite rare. TCL:  Who is the most successful person you know? John Maley. TCL:  What have been your greatest accomplishments? Without a doubt, my greatest accomplishment has been raising three children to be adults of whom I am proud. TCL:  What have been your setbacks or disappointments? I have often disappointed myself with my lack ...

“Unnecessarily dense.” “Unintelligible.” “What the heck does it mean?!” How many times have you heard friends, colleagues or clients take a jab at the poor communication skills of lawyers? Often, however, our clients write more poorly—and to disastrous consequences. In today’s political climate, truth and disclosure during an investigation can become more important than the alleged crime (just ask a pro baseball player), and sarcasm can become a national event (remember the FEMA Director’s job-compromising line during Hurricane Katrina, “Can I ...

An early adopter and tracker of legal blogs (or blawgs), William Gratsch estimates that there are now more than 2,000 law-related blogs since they began to sprout about six years ago. As you probably know, blog content is now becoming admissible as evidence in some court cases. The media are quoting blogs, and people are using them to talk across the globe. While communicating online might be as natural to you as texting on your cell phone, it’s easy to develop ...

TCL: What's Your Personal Definition Of Success? To have work that I enjoy doing, that is of service to others, and that allows me to support my family. TCL: Who Is The Most Successful Person You Know? My law partner Harmon Caldwell, who I have been working with now for 26 years. Harmon enjoys his practice, loves his family, and enjoys hobbies and interests befitting a Renaissance man. TCL: What Have Been Your Greatest Accomplishments? Professionally, three cases come to mind. As a first year ...

Good legal talent is hard to find and harder to keep: that’s the business reality that drives the trend for executive coaching for lawyers. Constantly needing to stay competitive, companies and law firms view coaching as a way to help valued employees develop swiftly in a rapidly changing business environment. Whether hiring external coaches or training their own lawyers in coaching skills, law firms are finding that coaching is essential for improving self-awareness, building interpersonal skills, and creating change. A ...

If you have an insurance policy issued 10, and especially 15-20 years ago, it was probably projected to endow (i.e. cash value grows to equal the face amount) at age 95 or 100—or at least to stay in force well beyond your life expectancy. However, these policies are now in danger of lapsing well before you will. This is a result of several factors, including a recent lower interest rate environment, which translates into lower company current interest crediting rates ...