Home > Search for "name+change"

Thriving Beyond Midlife: Where Will You Live?

Written by

In 2008, leading edge Baby Boomers encountered the ultimate icon of the aging process: we turned 62 and become eligible for (reduced) Social Security benefits.

While most lawyers in practice will defer enrolling for benefits at least until their normal retirement age (66 for Boomers born between 1943 and 1954), the mere availability of Social Security often sets the mind wandering through the considerations associated with the transition from working to not working. “Where will you live?” is one of those important issues.

In turn, attempting to address “Where will you live?” begs two further interacting questions: “How will you pay for it?” and “How will you live.” Taken together, there’s much to consider.

Face Painful Questions Now To Ensure Easier Transitions Later

Where/how much will it cost/how you will live are key questions addressed by Authors MacBean and Simmons in their book Thriving Beyond Midlife. While the answers typically don’t confront us until we enter The Rest of Living phase of life (recall the Map discussed in the last column of this series on thriving), our willingness to look at the possibilities today will make the reality (whether 5 years or 20 years from now) a lot easier.

Because our homes are typically an important part of who we are, it’s useful to consider those things about home that will continue to be important—and those things that are no longer as valuable. Neighborhoods once chosen for good schools may simply represent additional property taxes after the kids have moved out. A one and a half acre homestead that once provided privacy, a pool and large garden may become a maintenance nightmare as we get older. Overly large homes are expensive to heat, cool, and clean.

It’s natural to put off these unpleasant thoughts of change and loss of independence, but think about older friends or parents who entered The Rest of Living phase, either through a dramatic medical event such as a stroke or accident, or a deteriorating condition that has finally forced them to address the reality that they could no longer live independently. Where did they then live? How traumatic was the transition, especially if there had been no prior process of planning? How did the rest of the family handle it? Now consider: where will you live?

Consider Which Of Five Scenarios Fits Your Future

The following is a brief introduction to the five strategic choices most people make. Ideally it will inspire more questions (and answers) that can make it easier to begin to tackle the conversation. We rarely find couples who—on their own—sit down to figure this out. Often, husbands and wives have different, not well-articulated or communicated ideas about how they want to spend the next 20-30 years of their lives. How does it look for you?

Consider:

• For many of us, the automatic answer is “Home Sweet Home.” It’s most often expressed as “This is my home, and they’ll have to carry me out of here in a wooden box.” After all, it’s where you’re most comfortable. But the neighborhood may not sustain you the way it once did; the house may no longer “work” for you. How will it be when there’s only one of you? Is this where you’re going to maximize your well-being through all the phases of living? At a very practical level, will the stairs between the living area and the bedrooms become an insurmountable barrier to living comfortably in this home? Are the halls and bathrooms wheelchair or walker “friendly?”

• While not as popular as it was one or two generations ago, the “Family Plan”—moving in with a family member—has its attractions. Certainly it’s based on expectations formed in prior generations. When it works, it’s the best expression of family values that we all romantically cherish. When it doesn’t work, it’s a disaster. Should you just show up one day with suitcases in hand? Probably not! If you can’t have a conversation about toileting another person, you probably shouldn’t consider the family plan…and most people can’t have that conversation. Make sure to communicate your intentions in advance and make sure you know what all the rules are going to be. From the kids’ standpoint, if Mom moves in after Dad has died and she later starts to date, will she have a curfew?! The Family Plan is a desirable image, but it’s more difficult in reality to make it work.

• Then there’s the “Life Style Resort” (more popularly known as a Continuing Care Retirement Community—or CCRC). It’s a lifestyle choice with care implications. You tend to move in when you’re relatively young (late 50’s-early 60’s) and can take advantage of all the facilities and social opportunities that are provided. The “con” may also be the “pro”—it’s the proverbial first day of the rest of your life. How will it be to be locked into something that you typically can’t unlock?

• Next is the “New Frontier.” It’s a trend we increasingly see in which people band together based on friendship or common interest to form a small community to age together. Examples can include one floor of an apartment building; or co-housing in which people build a whole community with common kitchen, meeting space, and even a gerontologist or health care professional “on staff.” The New Frontier provides both housing and services; it’s an intentional decision to age together in an intentional community.

• Finally, there is the “Progressive Retreat.” This is for those who don’t want to make a choice, but recognize that choices need to be made. It takes the form of saying and agreeing with family members, “I recognize the issues; I want to stay where I am as long as possible; when I can no longer do X, I’ll do Y. When I can no longer live in A, I’ll move to B.” In other words, the Progressive Retreat is about setting up the criteria in advance, especially for when others have to facilitate the change. “When I can no longer garden, I’ll move to an apartment. When I can no longer drive, I’ll move to assisted living.” Name the trigger points. It’s very logical and thought through and offers relief to those who will be assisting in the actual move when it needs to occur.

It’s easy to defer answering the question “Where will you live…” because of the uncomfortable follow-up: “…when I/we can no longer take care of myself/ourselves.” But it’s not just a future question. How you hope and expect to live in middle age will have an influence on your longer-term choices. A couple deeply involved in their grandchildren’s lives will likely make a choice that keeps them close by, possibly enabling a successful Family Plan later on. If you love golf or other activity, you may choose a CCRC. If these current decisions include the process of down-sizing from the family home, you’ll get an entirely new set of questions to resolve, starting with “What will I do with all my stuff?!”

Tags by users:

Categories: Retirement Planning - Tags: baby boomers, care retirement continuity, retired attorney, retired lawyers, retirement, social security, social security benefits, thriving beyond midlife

Create A Personal Vision And Change Your Life

Written by

Here we are at the end of the series on creating a Personal Vision for your life and career.  The approach I’ve outlined is certainly not a quick solution to finding success, happiness, and your “dream career.”  But I can personally attest to the fact that it is worth the time and effort.  Having a Personal Vision has made an incredible difference in my life.  My current career is fulfilling on many levels, uses my natural abilities, allows me to do what I am most passionate about, is connected to my most deeply held values, continues to incorporate my interests, gives me work/life balance, and allows me to feel like I am making a difference.  I look forward to each day and am energized by what I do.

How did I get here?   In 1998, when I decided to transition into a new career, I did the exercises and asked the questions I have been sharing in these articles, and then created a Personal Vision that specifically defined what I wanted to do next.  Then I began doing the things I needed to do to make it happen.  That was not the first time I used this process.  I went through the same self-assessment and creative envisioning in 1991 when I left the practice of law to start a company.  Truth be told, I plan on tweaking my Personal Vision and using it as a tool for the rest of my life to keep my career and life aligned with my values, interests, and goals.  To continue to have my life and my career my way, I believe it’s a must.

I share my story with you not to boast, but to reinforce what I have been saying since writing the first article in this series nine issues ago.  Creating a Personal Vision has changed my life, and I’ve helped many lawyers to create Personal Visions that have changed their lives as well.  If you don’t already have a life and career that are “your way,” you can.  But you have to know very clearly what “your way” is.  I hope by now you have some ideas about what that looks like.

Assuming you have done the exercises I have described in the past articles, you have taken some time to unplug from your current life and looked at yourself through different lenses to gain new perspectives.  Following this inside-out approach, you have analyzed your preferences, your abilities, and motivations; you’ve also decided the kind of environment and type of work that best suits you.  You then combined what you learned and integrated those pieces of information into a Personal Vision Statement that gave you some new ideas about the kind of career you want.  You may have come up with a specific direction, or you may be considering some ideas.  Either way, the next step is to translate your ideas into reality.

Whether you have a clear focus or just pieces of a puzzle, how do you take your idea and make it real in your life?  Or, if all you have is the pieces of the puzzle but no real idea yet, how do you turn your vague notion into a more focused idea you can pursue?  The process is the same.

Translate Your Vision Into Reality In Three Steps

Step One:  Write your idea down, no matter how vague.  If you have more than one idea, write each one up but on separate pieces of paper.  If it’s a specific idea, think about when you want to start working on it and identify the steps it will take to get you there.  Also identify the things you still need to investigate.  Ask yourself why this plan is attractive to you.

Step Two:  Talk with other people about your idea.  Go beyond your circle of family and friends and reach out to a wider network—but do not include people with whom you work or family.  Explain why you think your new career might be a good fit.  Use their feedback to help you refine and revise your idea.

If you don’t have a clear idea at this point, you can solicit other people’s input and insights.  Start by sharing information about your background and the factors you have identified that are important for your ideal job.  After they hear about your preferences, skills, abilities, interests, they may be able to offer you ideas about careers, jobs,
businesses, and even people with whom you can talk with next to get more information.   You can also ask people you meet what they do for a living—neighbors, people you run into at the doctor’s office, and other acquaintances.  You can even look at classifieds to see what fields are hot and read books that give you ideas of career options.  Ask people
what they are doing for fun both in and outside of law.  After investigating these broad possibilities, come up with a list that might satisfy the requirements of your Personal Vision.  Pick six to eight that most appeal to you and research them.  Then narrow it down to one or two fields that seem the most attractive to you.

Step Three:  Research your idea.  You can start by tapping into the usual information sources such as the library, the Internet, trade publications, seminars, and trade associations.

The Informational Interview Is An Essential Tool

The most powerful research tool you can use is the informational interview.  These are conversations with people about their careers that will help you gain a better understanding of an occupation or industry, and build a network of contacts in that field.  Informational interviews clarify your Personal Vision and check it against the reality of the workplace.  As an added bonus, they are also the foundation of a successful job hunt.  Once you feel certain about what you want to do, they will also give you valuable information about the field you ultimately choose to pursue and prepare you for marketing yourself.

Researching and informational interviewing operate like a spiral:  The more you learn, the more new and important questions you will come up with.  The better your questions are, the clearer and more useful the answers will be.  Your idea will become more focused as you gather information from talking with people about what they do and know.

These interviews can sometimes take you in unexpected directions and open up possibilities you were not aware of.  For example, when you start to research a potential career path, you may realize it is not what you thought and uncover another direction that more closely matches your Personal Vision.  This will eliminate dead ends.  If you
use the informational interview well, your idea will become more precise and aligned with what you really want.  In addition, when you’re ready to propose your new job to an employer, you will be able to connect your career needs with the employer’s needs.

Whom Should You Interview?

Start by interviewing anyone whose occupation is even remotely close to the one you envision.  (Naturally, talk first to those who are doing exactly what you’d like to do.)  Ask people for introductions to others.  If you read about a position in an article or on a website, try to contact the person directly.  Your goal is to gather information from Start by interviewing anyone whose occupation is even remotely close to the one you envision.  (Naturally, talk first to those who are doing exactly what you’d like to do.)  Ask people for introductions to others.  If you read about a position in an article or on a website, try to contact the person directly.  Your goal is to gather information from

Prepare For The Interview

How you approach someone to ask for an informational interview sets the tone for the interview itself.  Call the person and state who you are and how you were referred to him or her.  You want to make it clear you are not looking for a job and are merely researching options.  Be respectful and appreciative of the person’s time.  Here is an example of what you may want to say:

“Good afternoon.  My name is Amy Patton.  John Smith gave me your name and said you were very experienced in graphic design.  I am investigating making a career change and want to find out as much about the field as I can before making my decision.  I would appreciate it if I could have 20 – 30 minutes of your time at your convenience to ask you some questions about your work.  May I buy you a cup of coffee or meet you some place convenient sometime this week or next?”

Before the meeting, research the field so you’ll know what to ask, and compile a list of questions to bring with you.  During the meeting, listen with interest and an open mind; don’t judge or try to sell yourself.  A good rule of thumb is to let the other person do 90 percent of the talking.  You are there to gather information and obtain a reality-check; you are also creating a future networking contact should you decide to go forward with this idea.  The following is a list of generic questions to get you started.

• How did you decide to get into your present career?
• How did you move into your present position?
• What do you like about it?  Dislike?
• Describe a recent day that you feel was productive and that you enjoyed.  What made it enjoyable?  Productive?
• Describe a recent bad day or unproductive day.  What made it bad or unproductive?
• How much of your day do you spend working with people (or computers, merchandise, etc?)
• What personality attributes, talents, and skills would someone need to enjoy or be satisfied with your job?
• What education, certification and other requirements are required for this type of work?
• What do you see for your own future?
• What do you see for the future of this field/industry/company?  What changes are occurring?
• How can my legal skills or training benefit this field?
• What books and trade publications do you recommend I read to learn more?
• What or who has helped and guided you most over the years?
• What advice would you have for someone just starting out?
• May I contact you if other questions arise?
• Who else should I talk to, and where else should I go for more information?  May I use your name as a referral?

Alternately, make your own list, but keep it reasonably short and focused.

After the meeting, be sure to write a thank you note.  Also, if you leave the interview with a referral or a suggested next step, follow up by letting the person know what happened as a result of their help.

Continue informational interviewing until you have a clear vision for the job you are researching.  You should be able to see what the job entails and how it fits with your Personal Vision factors—your abilities, personality, values, interests, and goals.  You also need to know how your idea meets a need in the workplace so that you can market it to others.

Make Your Case

After you’ve gathered all the information you can, you need to convince others that your idea—whether you want to take on new responsibilities in your current job or change careers altogether—is a good one.  You do this by creating a convincing presentation.

Start by talking about yourself.  Communicate who you are and what you have to offer.  Use what you have learned about yourself:  your abilities, interests, personality, skills, experience, goals, even your stage of adult development.  Then talk about what the person or organization you are addressing needs, and give examples of how you can fulfill those needs.  Thanks to all the informational interviewing you did, you will be able to speak knowledgeably about the field.  Share with others your vision for this job—what it entails, how you would work and with whom, what the potential problems might be, and what the factors are that will make it successful.

You can use this approach for moving into an entirely new career or for just making changes in your existing career.  It takes some time but yields great results for getting exactly what you want.

Change Happens? And Vision Statements Need To Be Retuned

I hope that this series has been helpful and that you have been able to develop a clear vision for your career and life that will bring you great joy and satisfaction.  Even if you have only been able to do part of the process, at least that is a start.  Perhaps you are not at a Turning Point or you need the assistance of a career coach to give you structure and accountability.  Whatever the reason, it is never too late to start this work.

Also, it is never really over.  Once you have crafted a Personal Vision Statement Template and taken the steps to make it real, you will need to renew the process at some point in your future.  One thing is for certain—change will occur.  Remember that our lives move in regular cycles from Turning Points to periods of stability back to Turning Points again.  We all long for change at some point, no matter how satisfied we have been with a career.  The work you do to create a Personal Vision now will continue to help you in the future.  When you reach future Turning Points, use the same process to decide what is right for you.  Keep these articles handy!  And don’t forget to “tune up” your vision as often as you need to.

There’s an inscription on an old English church I think of often, and hope you will, too – “A vision without a task is but a dream, a task without a vision is drudgery; a vision and a task is the hope of the world.”

If you are new to the series, you may want to take a look at the previous articles:
-Personal Vision: How To Make Your Vocation Your Vacation
-Moving From The Stress Cycle To The Balance Cycle
-What Are Your Natural Talents and Abilities?
-The 8 Critical Turning Points Of Your Life
-Pay Attention To Your Skills And Interests
-How Core Values And Family Of Origin Impact Your Career
-Match Your Personality With Your Job
-Use Your Long-Term Goals To Motivate You
-Your Personal Vision Statement: A Template For Change

About the author of this article series: Anne H. Whitaker, vice president of Counsel On Call’s Atlanta office, has more than 20 years of combined experience in coaching, consulting, marketing, law and education. In 1991, she co-founded In-House Counsel, Inc., a pioneering contract attorney placement company in Atlanta. Prior to entering the business world, Ms. Whitaker practiced real estate law in private practice for five years.  She received her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1986, where she served on the editorial board of the Georgia Law Review.  She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the Atlanta Bar Association, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, and Georgia Association of Women Lawyers (GAWL) and has created, chaired and spoken at numerous seminars for lawyers on career development and transition.  She provides career development coaching for lawyers, is founding member and co- chair of the Atlanta Bar Career Management Committee, and is a licensed provider of the Highlands Ability Battery and other career-related assessments.   To contact Ms. Whitaker, visit www.counseloncall.com.

Notes
1.  McDonald, Bob, Ph.D., and Hutcheson, Don, E., Don’t Waste Your Talent: The 8 Critical Steps to Discovering What You Do Best, The Highlands Company, 2005.
____
Resources
1. Arron, Deborah, What Can You Do With a Law Degree?: A Lawyer’s Guide to CareerAlternatives Inside, Outside & Around the Law.  Chapter 17 is on researching options and contains specific questions to ask in informational interviews.
2. Lore, Nicholas,  The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetimeof Satisfaction and Success.  Chapter 10 is about researching and informational interviews and gives a good list of questions to ask.
3. Stoodley, Martha, Information Interviewing: How to Tap Your Hidden Job Market, 2ndedition, Ferguson Publishing, 1996.
4. Crowther, Karmen, Researching Your Way to a Good Job, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.(April 1993).
5. Levine, Michael, The Address Book: How to Reach anyone who is anyone (Address Book, 10th ed), Perigee, 2004.  Websites, e-mail addresses, and street addresses to assisting making a personal contact.
6. Kaufman, George W., The Lawyer’s Guide to Balancing Life and Work: Taking the Stress Out of Success, 1999, ABA Law Practice Management Section.  A good resource for having a balanced and fulfilling career as a lawyer.

Tags by users:

Categories: Professional Development - Tags: law career development, law career tips, natural talents, personal vision, personal vision statement, personal vision statement template, professional development, what are talents

Effective Storytelling Helps Attorneys Help Their Clients

Written by

Why do we tell stories? As my University of San Diego School of Law Professor, Steve Hartwell, often reminded me, “As  homo narrans’, we naturally know that the story is the relationship.” Stories give our lives their meaning. We order the chaos of the universe, we learn, we teach, we mourn, we celebrate all through our stories.

The story is the relationship. We tell tales to connect with another, and to find the meaning we crave. We crave meaning because we are human. The stories we hear and tell humanize us. The best way I know to make a connection: tell a story and ask to hear one.

About this time last year I met a man named Max. Max is an artist but not the traditional sort. He works for a company that designs and manufactures sports trading cards and trading card games where he creates spectacular, magical characters from dark monsters to ninja fighters to mythical lords and ladies. With his exquisite eye for color, he earned a reputation for highly detailed designs. Though he appears professionally trained, he is self-taught. Curious, I asked him how he learned to do his art.

Max pulled a creased 8 x 10 glossy out of his wallet. He unfolded it crease by careful crease and handed it to me, asking me what I thought of the car in the picture. I told him it reminded me of something that happened in my early adolescence. He asked what memory could his 1965 Ford Mustang have for me. I told Max this story.

It was an early summer evening in South Jersey. My father, who worked for Bell Telephone Laboratories, brought home Vince, a fellow who had just started working with him. Vince was Polish as we were. My dad wanted to give Vince a proper welcome so he invited him to our house for dinner, mid-week. Vince drove up to our house in a yellow 1965 Ford Mustang convertible. The top was down, and the radio was playing Frank Sinatra singing “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” He asked us kids if we wanted to go for a spin around the block. Would we? All five of us piled in onto the white leather upholstery. I sat in the front seat right next to Vince as he shifted gears into first, then second, then third. We cruised along Scotch Plains Avenue. And I fell in love. That there must have been some 15 years between us was a small detail.

In time, Vince married. He and my father still keep in touch. To this day Ford Mustang convertibles have a special place in my once-adolescent heart. Standing there with the photo of his red Mustang in my hand I told Max I hadn’t thought of that memory in years.

I bet that now, Gentle Reader, you are wondering how Max’s picture of a 1965 cherry red Ford Mustang convertible would tell me the story of how he learned to draw. Here’s how: Max grew up on a small Hawaiian island. The roads on his island were mostly dirt roads. Few people owned cars. And the cars they owned were utilitarian, working cars dusty, dirty, wired together. But there was one that caught his eye: a 1965 red Ford Mustang convertible. It was the pride and joy of a farmer’s college son.

As a child, Max drew cars with crayons. He copied them out of magazines, comic books and the Sears Roebuck catalogue. He told me that his older brother was always after him to improve his drawings. Max could learn this, his brother told him, by paying attention to details. So after school and in their free time, Max and his older brother sat by the side of the road waiting for a car to drive by. When one did, the boys focused on a single, pre-determined detail. Maybe it was the silhouette of the car as it approached. Another time the line of the fenders. Then the shape of the windshield or the side view mirrors. Or the color of the paint as the light struck at various times of day.

They especially paid attention when that 1965 cherry red Mustang purred on by. Then, Max would stand and watch. That car slid by so slowly you could see yourself in the glossy paint. Over and over again Max would draw what he saw. He learned to draw cars so well you could just about hear the engines, smell the exhaust, and feel the heat glancing off a shiny window.

The story does not end there. When Max was older and had saved some money, he began to search online for a 1965 Ford Mustang to rebuild. Eventually he located the chassis of the car in a barn. He bought it, and over time, piece by piece, he restored it to its present mint condition. It was his car pictured in the creased 8 x 10 glossy he keeps in his wallet. Every detail was perfect, down to the cherry red paint. Just like the trading cards he designs.

I am an RN, JD and professionally-trained storyteller who is lucky to be working with attorneys. I help them identify the story they need to tell on behalf of their clients. I test the legal story in front of focus groups to learn how they respond to the story. As Frank Luntz reminds us, “It’s not what we say; it’s what they hear.” Once I know how research participants respond to the story, we have the power to change and reshape the message so we have the best chance at a favorable outcome at trial or alternative dispute resolution.

This article kicks off a series on storytelling for your professional and personal lives. I have a great deal to say, and I welcome what you want to learn. Please keep me posted on what interests you, how you are experiencing the exercises I’ve suggested, and what burning question about storytelling can we quench.

Here’s your first exercise: Buy a notebook and keep it handy. Use it to jot down images, ideas, phrases, impressions, and events as they occur to you that you might like to feature in a story. One of the first challenges of writing a story will be to allow yourself to  puke on the page.’ As my mentors told me, first the right brain creates and then the left brain edits. It’s always in that order. Give the right brain its due and let it  puke on the page.’ The left brain will clean it up.

Now, your first reading assignment: The Power Of Personal Storytelling by Jack Maguire, (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam), 1998. It will help you shape your personal story.

Tags by users:

Categories: Legal writing - Tags: attorneys, law professor, legal writing, public speaking, storytelling for lawyers, university of sandiego

What Makes Stephanie Lewis Successful?

Written by

TCL: What’s Your Personal Definition Of Success?
Success is making a difference in others’ lives and maintaining joy, passion, and excellence in life and work. I believe that my life is a success when I use my gifts in ways that best serve my family, friends, community, clients, and partners.

TCL: Who Is The Most Successful Person You Know?
I have been blessed to learn from and work with some of the most talented and successful people in their respective fields throughout my professional career, so I can’t limit this answer to one person. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, one of my professors was Jack Boger, who continues to build on his past successes as a longtime professor and civil rights champion to reach and influence bigger audiences as the current Dean of UNC Law School. I was fortunate to clerk for Chief Judge Karen J. Williams of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and Judge P. Michael Duffy of the United States District Court of South Carolina. Their careers as practitioners and jurists epitomize the success that comes from hard work, humility, intelligence, charisma, and skill. I now work with Andy Satterfield, who is widely recognized as one of the most successful and knowledgeable employment lawyers in the country. Andy has taught me that success comes not only from providing the highest quality legal services but also from building personal relationships with our clients.

TCL: What Have Been Your Greatest Accomplishments?
My greatest accomplishment so far has been working with Abby Edwards of the Charleston School of Law and Jeff Yungman of Crisis Ministries to start a legal clinic for the Crisis Ministries homeless shelter in Charleston, South Carolina. The legal clinic is changing communities and lives by serving a segment of the population that lacked the resources and abilities to navigate legal barriers. Law can be a great instrument of positive change and hope, and that’s illustrated in the successes of the Crisis Ministries Legal Clinic.

TCL: What Have Been Your Setbacks Or Disappointments?
I am sure that I have suffered setbacks and disappointments, but I think it’s important not to dwell on past disappointments and instead learn from them and use them as opportunities for bigger successes.

TCL: What Influence Did Your Mother Have On Your Life?
My mother taught me the importance of hard work and independence.

TCL: What Influence Did Your Father Have On Your Life?
My father is easily the most influential person in my life. We are best friends, and he is the first person I go to with any problem or question. He is the reason I decided to become a lawyer, and his law practice showed me the positive impact lawyers can have on their communities as problem solvers and trusted confidantes.

TCL: Name One Of Your Heroes (Other Than Your Parents) AndTell Why He Or She Is Heroic To You
Apart from my father, my personal heroes are Ronald Reagan, Justice Antonin Scalia, and Winston Churchill. Each has made contributions to society that I find inspirational. I am also awed by the sacrifices made by the men and women serving in our armed forces.

TCL: What Talents Or Natural Abilities Make You Good At What You Do?
I have a great deal of energy and focus which have served me well in my practice. I also love legal research and writing.

TCL: What Have You Learned To Do That Was Not A Natural Talent But Has Helped You Be Successful?
I have become somewhat obsessive about proper grammar and bluebooking which definitely did not come naturally to me.

TCL: What Would A Person Starting Out Today Have To Do To Enter Your Profession Or Position?
There is no substitute for hard work and preparation. I recommend that all young attorneys find an area of law that they love and work hard to learn it. I also believe that mentors are critical to building a successful career.

TCL: What Values Do You Hold In Highest Regard?
I prize loyalty, hard work, wisdom, and public service.

TCL: How Would You Characterize Your Personal Style?
I like classic, tailored pieces and love heels.

TCL: Do You Have A Personal Vision, A Positive Picture Of Yourself In The Future? If Yes, What Is It?
My personal vision for the future is to continue to build a successful employment practice at Jackson Lewis and to help my clients’ businesses grow and strengthen. I also remain committed to public service with a focus on public education and advocacy for the homeless and indigent.

TCL: What Are You Most Interested In Or Passionate About?
I am passionate about my work. I love employment law and get a great deal of satisfaction from every aspect of my practice, but I especially love litigating and trying cases. I am equally passionate about serving others through politics, volunteering, and pro bono work.

TCL: Which Life Skills Have You Developed That Serve You Best?
Hard work and discipline.

TCL: What magazines, newspapers or journals do you read regularly?
The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time, and Newsweek.

TCL: What Internet Websites Do You Frequent?
Realclearpolitics.com, Washingtonpost.com, Slate.com, weeklystandard.com, and howappealing.law.com.

TCL: What Are Your Favorite Books? What Books Have You Read Recently That You Would Recommend And Why?
My favorite books are The Screwtape Letters, Celebration of Discipline, and The Kite Runner. I recently read Eat Love Pray, and it resonated with me on a number of different levels. I would recommend it to anyone who is going through a time of change.

TCL: What Are Your Favorite Films? What Films Have You Seen Recently That You Would Recommend And Why?
My favorite films are classics, including Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Miracle on 34th Street, and Casablanca.

TCL: What Is Your Biggest Concern About Life On The Planet?
Terrorism.

TCL: What Is Fun For You?
Traveling, running, swimming, wine tasting, and politics.

TCL: What Especially Galls You?
Laziness and bad attitudes.

TCL: If You Had It To Do All Over Again, What Would You Do Differently? Why?
Nothing. I think my failures and mistakes have been as important in defining my character as any successes.

TCL: What Do You Want To Make Sure You Accomplish Before You Die?
I would like to live in Italy for a year.

TCL: Is There Anything You?d Like To Add?
Thank you!

Stephanie E. Lewis, an associate at Jackson Lewis LLP in Greenville, South Carolina, practices in the area of labor and employment law. She represents employers in all aspects of employment law before state and federal agencies and courts, including Title VII discrimination and sexual harassment claims, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wrongful termination, and breach of handbook claims. Ms. Lewis served on the Executive Board of Directors for the Charleston County Bar (2005-2007). She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Crisis Ministries and United Ministries and is a co-founder of the Crisis Ministries Legal Clinic. In 2006-2007, Ms. Lewis was an adjunct Legal Research and Writing professor at the Charleston School of Law. Ms. Lewis received the 2006 South Carolina Bar Pro Bono Award.

Tags by users:

Categories: South Carolina Bar - Tags: associate, employment law, federal agencies, lawyer, legal research, south carolina bar, south carolina bar pro bono award, stephanie lewis, women lawyers

What Are Your Options? Exploring Alternative Careers Before Leaving The Law

Written by

You spent three years getting your J.D., followed by years of practicing law, only to realize that you are dissatisfied.  You may have always thought you wanted to be a lawyer, only to find now that you have become one, you are disgruntled, stressed, and simply can’t continue to live the way you are.  Or perhaps you went to law school by default, not really knowing much about the practice of law, but you thought that a J.D. degree would open up possibilities for other careers.  You found yourself swept up in the current of interviews for a traditional law job and now here you are, practicing law and wondering why.

If either of these describes you, know that you have a lot of company.  Many studies show that between 33% to 50% of lawyers today are dissatisfied with their jobs.  The biggest reason given for this dissatisfaction is loss of control—over the kind of work they get to do, the interactions they have daily with other people, and their work/life balance.

There Are Many More Opportunities Now For Lawyers To Find Success On Their Own Terms

Regardless of the situation or reason for dissatisfaction, the questions asked are usually the same.  “What in the world do I do now?  Remain where I am and suffer, abandon my career as a lawyer, or is there an in-between?”  Of course, the answers to these questions are different for each person.  While many lawyers decide to keep plugging along, silently suffering, many are choosing to make a change.  In the past 15 years that I have been coaching lawyers in their career choices, I have seen many lawyers transition from a traditional law practice into successful and fulfilling careers in a multitude of other areas.  Some of these careers are related to the legal profession and some are outside of the law.  There are many more opportunities now for lawyers to find success on their own terms than there were when I left the practice of law in 1991 to start my company.

Many successful law-trained professionals have gone on to contribute great things beyond the traditional practice of law.  You would be amazed at the number of former practicing lawyers you may know of already.  Some famous
examples include Mahondas Gandhi (Indian political/spiritual leader), Tony LaRussa (St. Louis Cardinal’s manager), Herb Kelleher (chairman of Southwest Airlines), David E. Kelley (television and film producer, Richard Thalheimer (president of the Sharper Image), Rossana Brazzi (actor), and Fred Graham (CBS TV reporter).  Once you start looking for them, you will find many other examples—they write novels, operate businesses, run schools, counsel people, and develop real estate, to name a few.

Lawyers Have A Superb Background And Work Experience That Will Assist In Pursuing Many Other Careers

What are your options outside of the traditional practice of law?  What job can you get with a law degree?  I have some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that there is no list of other careers I can give you that are definite options for you—your options are unlimited and the sky really is the limit.  You can do pretty much whatever you want to do. Lawyers have been able to move into almost every field that exists.  The truth is that a legal education is one of the most challenging, broadening educational experiences there is.  We have a superb background through our legal education and work experience that will assist in pursuing many other careers.

For some, that is also the bad news—the options are limitless.  There is no list of other careers for which lawyers may get hired, and no one-size-fits-all formula.  It overwhelms many to hear that, as most professionals want a ready-made list of careers for former lawyers that guarantees they can find something else.  It is no wonder it’s overwhelming—it is very different from the law school experience.  Deciding where to go after graduation was much more structured and established.  There was a set list of places to go, roles to play, and a procedure to follow.

Once you realize that the traditional list of options has failed you, it’s natural to want someone to hand you another list. Even if there was such a list, I wouldn’t recommend that approach.  You would probably end up in another stressful, unfulfilling job.

You Need To Know Whether You Are In The Wrong Career Or Just The Wrong Job

So what is a lawyer to do?  First, you need to do some self-assessment about what is causing your dissatisfaction and what it is that you want in your career.  Take some time, either by yourself or with the assistance of a career coach, to figure out what matters most to you.  You need to know whether you are in the wrong career or just in the wrong job.  Are you dissatisfied with the practice of law entirely or is it really the place where you are working or your colleagues who are creating the problem?  Or perhaps it is the schedule that you are keeping, the long hours, and lack of balance.

Once you have assessed what is important to you and what you really want to be doing, then you can decide if you are going to be able to achieve those things as a lawyer. Do you need to switch practice areas?  Working as a lawyer doing labor and employment law could be as different from being a divorce lawyer as it is from many of the non-legal jobs.  Or maybe you still like practicing law but it takes so much out of you that there is no time left for anything else.  If you could find a way to have more work/life balance, you might actually like practicing law again.  Don’t give up on being a lawyer until you have done some self-assessment and examined the possibilities for change.

Career Options Within The Law

If you have decided that you want to continue to practice law in some manner, start thinking outside of the box and consider what changes would make you happier.  Would changing practice areas give you more of what you want?  Explore that option and maybe even do pro bono work to experience it first-hand before making a change.  Maybe you need to switch to a smaller firm, explore part-time work options, or approach your employer about telecommuting.  Do you want to start your own solo practice or small firm?  This is not for everyone but is very rewarding for many.  There are also opportunities with the government, with nonprofits, for-profit corporations, and universities.

Another avenue to consider is practicing law on a contract basis.  I have seen this alternative blossom since the late 1980s from a new option considered strictly for lawyers who couldn’t land a regular job, to a viable and fulfilling career choice for very talented lawyers.  I can tell you of many examples of lawyers through the years who have decided to practice law this way, from those with four years of experience to former partners and general counsels.  Some want to have more control over their lives and more work/life balance.  They enjoy the predictable hours contract work affords, while still being able to do substantive work and work with great people.  If you chose to do it through a company that specializes in this kind of placement, it is critical to make sure that you choose the firm carefully and work with one that has the same professional standards that you do.  Your reputation is one of your most valuable assets, and working with a well- respected company on contract assignments that are in line with your career goals is a key part of making this path a good option for you.

Working on a contract basis can also allow you to explore nontraditional and non-law career alternatives, which we will examine next.  Many of my clients have practiced on a contract basis as a stepping stone to a new career.  Some have used the additional free time that contract work affords them to write books, return to graduate school, do volunteer work to test a new area of interest, or to turn the heat up on their career search. Others have used it to fund starting a new business.

If you have decided that you no longer want to practice law in any shape, fashion, or form and you want to look at careers where you can wear a completely different hat, then it is time to research what your nontraditional options are.  You can look at what is available in law-related areas, and those that are completely outside of the law.  The following is an overview of these options to get you thinking about what you might want to explore next.

Law-Related Careers

There are a variety of career options that are connected to the practice of law.  Some of them require a J.D. and some do not.  There are positions in almost every type of organization and every employment sector that are related to the law, including the private, public, nonprofit and international areas.  There are few places where lawyers do not work these days.  Great inroads have been made over the past 15 years and the opportunities continue to expand.

This is where you can put your creativity to use.  Do some research through general career websites, networking, and informational interviewing to learn more about a particular option and how it meshes with your goals and your
personal vision for your life.  Remember that there are many skills you have developed as a lawyer that are transferable to other fields.  For example, lawyers have developed good analytical skills, oral and written communication skills, and negotiation skills.  Research, critical thinking, and attention to detail are all skills that are honed in law school and in practice. Your problem-solving skills will continue to help you in many other professions and roles.  If you have practiced in-house, you often have developed some of the same skills that are required in non-lawyer jobs:  business acumen, management skills and industry expertise.

Consider corporations, trade and professional associations, large and small businesses.  Take a look at federal, state and special district governments; international organizations; colleges and universities; and law firms. Politics,
international business, and compliance or regulatory bodies are additional areas to examine.  What kinds of roles can lawyers play in those settings?  Common ones include consulting, mediation, journalism, sales, contracting, and legal
administration.

The most obvious are bar associations and law firms that have a variety of needs, for which former lawyers are well suited.  So do companies who provide services and products to lawyers such as computer software companies, financial planners, staffing agencies, and legal publishing companies.  Start examining all of the various companies and positions that are related to the practice of law and generate a running list.  Then check it out to see if any of them interest you.

Non-Law Career Options

If you want to consider options completely unrelated to law, the choices are even broader.  Using a J.D. to go into a career outside of the law is becoming more common.  According to a survey by NALP, nearly 10% of new law graduates are going into non-legal careers.  There are no studies that show which jobs outside of the law are the most satisfying or successful for lawyers, but there are some areas that our legal training can point us towards.  Your legal experience can transfer very well into the communications fields, including creative and technical writing, contracting, reporting, training, editing, writing novels, publishing, and public relations.  There are also many positions in the business world for which lawyer’s skills can be of value including director, analyst, human resources, and the compliance area.  In real estate, lawyers can transfer their skills into real estate development or become an agent or a broker.  Many lawyers decide they want to be their own boss and so start their own businesses.  You can also consider using your teaching or training skills in another field, or if it’s counseling you enjoy take a look at doing that as a psychologist, corporate coach, or career counselor.

Just a reminder that you first need to spend some time deciding which interests, skills, and abilities you want to take with you into your next career.  You can then do some market research to identify what careers and roles would offer you those opportunities.  Take the planning and strategic thinking that comprises so much of what you do as a lawyer and focus it on analyzing “what is out there.”  You can read a good general resource book that surveys other fields in detail, and contact your undergraduate career services center as well.  Once you have identified a few options, do informational interviews to learn more about them and how they mesh with your goals and your personal vision for your life.

Most People Make A Gradual Transition Instead Of A Leap—It Helps To Have Support

A word of caution here.  You may encounter a case of “paralysis by analysis” when you are looking at too many options.  There is a natural resistance to change, no matter how much you may need it and want it.  It helps to have someone else’s support and guidance with the assessment process and creating an action plan.  Consider using a career coach or get the support of a friend who is going through a career change as well.  There are also a multitude of resources you can tap into, including books on alternative careers for lawyers1, websites that are lawyer-
specific and materials on generic career options.

Most people do not make a drastic change overnight.  The majority of my clients who have made successful career changes have done it a step at a time—a gradual transition instead of a leap.  Just asking the questions “What else do I want to do?” and “Where can I do that?” is a powerful beginning to making a change.  “The only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible.”  – Richard M. DeVos

Tags by users:

Categories: Professional Development - Tags: career outside the law, law related careers, leaving the law, non-law career options, professional development

Your Personal Vision Statement: A Template For Change

Written by

“I have learned this, at least, by my experiments; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
- Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Are you living your life your way? Is your career what you want it to be? How do you feel when you think about going to the office? Is it with a sense of excitement and anticipation for what you will be doing, or does it feel like drudgery and something that you have to do to make money? This article is a part of a series that’s all about what you can do to ensure you have the kind of life you want—where you wake up and look forward to your day, and at the end of the day feel fulfilled and satisfied with what you have accomplished. You can have your life and your career your way.

Over the past months I have taken you through a process of thinking about various aspects of your life by considering eight critical success factors that make up your Personal Vision. I hope you have been able to do all or even some of the exercises and explored how you envision your life, picking up information about yourself along the way. The next step is to combine what you have learned and integrate those pieces of information into a Personal Vision Statement. Your Personal Vision Statement is a unique, complete expression of what is important to you and how you want your life to be. It will be the guide for crafting your life going forward.

You Need To Both Analyze And Synthesize

The creative process for creating a Personal Vision uses both the left and the right sides of the brain. Almost all of the exercises I have recommended previously have tapped into the left side of your brain, the part that is logical and arranges things in order. As a lawyer, you use that part of your brain even more than most people. Every time you analyze a client’s case, research, write a memo or brief, prepare for a deposition or for trial, or simply debate, you are relying heavily on the left side of your brain. The left brain operates like a computer and works through words; it plans, figures things out and tells you what makes sense.

But you also have to engage the right side of your brain, which thinks holistically, solves problems in a nonlinear fashion, and discovers new ways to put together disparate elements. The right brain is not tied to the present, to facts or realities; it has insight into new possibilities and can solve different problems simultaneously. I’m sure you have had times when you are more relaxed and all of a sudden a solution to a problem you have been wrestling with springs to mind, seemingly out of nowhere. That is your right brain providing you with an insight. It has been behind the scenes subconsciously working on the problem for you.

Many lawyers I work with are skeptical at first when I talk about using their right brains. But the right brain can be a great friend when you are creating a life that is truly yours rather than continuing down the path that others have set for you. You’ll need both sides of your brain to write your Personal Vision Statement—and you can do it in three steps.

Step One: Gather Information

First you need to put your left brain back to work again. Gather together the results of all the exercises you have done. (If you have not done them all, then take some time and complete them before doing this.) Spread them out in front of you so that you can see what you have written. There should be information about you in all eight areas: your abilities (hard-wiring), personality, skills, interests, values, goals, stage of adult development, and family of origin. You can create a Personal Vision Statement without one of those areas, but it will be incomplete. It’s very much like preparing a recipe and leaving out an important ingredient—you won’t get what you really want.

Once you have the information in view, think about what your purpose is for creating a Personal Vision Statement and write that at the top of a blank sheet of paper. Some examples are “What I need to be satisfied in my life” or “What I need to have balance in my career and personal life.” Next, take your time and look through the information you have gathered about yourself in each of the eight areas. Select the key things in each area that you want to have in your life and write them on your sheet. You may also identify some key things you know you must avoid, so put those down, too. For those who crave more organization, create a grid with a “must have” and “must avoid” box for each success factor. However you do it, complete your list and then set it aside for the moment.

Step Two: Conduct A Guided Imagery Exercise

Now, switch gears and focus on your right brain. It already has been working behind the scenes over the past months, during the self-discovery phase, as you completed the exercises.

To access the insights you’ve gained, try the following guided imagery exercise.

Make sure you’re alone and that you won’t be disturbed. Sit in a comfortable position, take some deep breaths and relax your muscles, and tune out the world around you for the time being.

Then, ask yourself to envision your ideal day. Imagine that you woke up one morning and found that someone had left you millions of dollars, no strings attached. You have a virtually limitless bank account that you can draw on any time you want with no need to worry about earning money again. You can start each day asking yourself, “What do I want to do today?”

Now read over the following text and questions and think about them each, without writing anything down. See what images come to mind as you ask yourself the questions. You can also speak and record your answers and play it back while you listen with your eyes closed.

“Imagine yourself in your bed waking up in the morning. Imagine yourself thinking about your day ahead and feeling curious, excited and energetic about what is to come. Today is your ideal day.

•    What is your relationship like with your spouse or partner?
•    What is your relationship like with your children?
•    What is it like with your parents?
•    Who are your friends?
•    What things do you do together? What do you talk about?
•    How do you feel about your life?

Now describe what a typical day would be like and picture yourself preparing for your day, however you would like to.

•    What would your routine be?
•    Where would you go?
•    What would give your life and career meaning?

Imagine what your work day surroundings are like.

•    Where do you work?
•    How is your schedule arranged?
•    What are you doing?
•    Who is in your day?
•    Which talents are you using?
•    What are you working to accomplish and what are your activities?
•    How much variety do you have?
•    What is the pace of work like?
•    How much challenge is there?

What gives your day and life the most meaning? What would be the most important thing you would do with your life?”

This is the end of the guided imagery.

Open your eyes and write down, tape record, or tell someone all that you can remember about your answers to the questions.  (This brings your left brain into the process as it translates what the right brain has summoned up and is trying to communicate.)  Include any images that came to mind with as much detail as you can; don’t leave anything out even if you don’t understand its meaning.   It does not have to make sense right now.  You may have to repeat this exercise or try additional integrative exercises before you understand the message your right brain is trying to give you.  (I’d be happy to send you some other guided imagery exercises if you email me.)  I hope  the ideas and images you gain from them will help you start to crystallize a vision—an image of what you want your future to look like and how you want to live in it.

Step Three:  Write Your Personal Vision Statement

Even if the details of what you’ve learned so far are unclear, you can use the left side of your brain to start to develop your Personal Vision Statement.   Refer to what you have written for the exercises above and think about how you want your life to be.  Picture it as if you are living it already.

Start writing your Personal Vision Statement by describing that life in detail in the present tense.  For example, write, “I am…,”  “I have…,”My family is…,” and “My career includes…”  Make sure you incorporate all eight factors, and include who is in your life, how you spend your time, and what you are doing for work (both paying and non-paying).   Afterwards, you can create a vision statement focused just on your career, but first craft one about your whole life.   This will probably take a great deal of reflection and refinement, so don’t expect it to come out fully developed the first time.

A Personal Vision Statement Helps You Make Concrete Changes In Your Life

This statement can help you in many ways.  One of my clients, Keith (2), realized from the exercises  that he had chosen the right career path but needed to make some focused and strategic changes in the way he was practicing law.  His Personal Vision Statement was his template for those changes; it helped him add meaningful and interesting aspects to his practice and let go of some of the more tedious aspects.  His feelings about his work changed dramatically and he was able to move out of the stress cycle into the balance cycle without revamping his
entire life.

Another client, Melissa(3), was at a turning point.  She was ready to leave the practice of law, and used her Personal Vision to craft what her new life needed to look like.  The insights she gained from doing the exercises gave her some
creative ideas to explore.  Using her Personal Vision as a template for making choices about her next steps, she eventually left law for a new career that was more fulfilling.

If you still are vague about what it is you want to do, or you have some ideas but are not sure if they are pure fantasy or real possibilities, take heart: there is a process that you can go through to clarify your  ideas and insights.  We will
explore those in the next article when we also discuss ways to turn your dream into reality.

In the meantime, unplug from the day-to-day routine when you can and tap into your creative side.  You may be pleasantly surprised at the new ideas that come to mind—get  ready to listen.

____
Notes
1.  McDonald, Bob, Ph.D., and Hutcheson, Don, E., Don’t Waste Your Talent: The
8 Critical Steps to Discovering What You Do Best, The Highlands Company,
2005.

2. and 3.  Keith and Melissa are real clients whose names have been changed.

Tags by users:

Categories: Professional Development - Tags: career, developing skills for lawyers, how to develop the skills of an attorney, personal vision, professional development

Master Metaphors To Win Judgements

Written by

In medias res: Let’s look at some examples of arguments in which lawyers can use metaphoric re-framing to shift readers’ understanding of their arguments and smooth the way toward conclusions favorable to their clients. First, suppose a lawyer wants to help a client maintain primary custody of Melissa, a child in changed circumstances: the client has a full-time, but low-paying, job, requiring Melissa to be cared for during the day by other caregivers. The more affluent former spouse has remarried and re-formed a “family” the word “family” in this case a metaphor for the traditional “nuclear” family that includes a married husband and wife, one or more children, and a division of responsibility between wage earning and care giving. In contrast, the lawyer’s client and child, a single parent family, will appear to be an incomplete or insufficient “family,” and they will lose the beneath-the-surface contest of images.

To combat this, the lawyer can bring the metaphoric nature of the nuclear “family” to the surface, reminding the decision-maker that the traditional nuclear family is a fiction for a majority of families today. But that’s not enough. The lawyer must also persuade the decision maker that other images of parent-child relationships are more salient for example, that Melissa is growing up within a family network consisting of parent, child, extended family members, friends, and neighbors; and that Melissa’s family is not a closed unit but a living system marked by the length and the strength of the bonds between parent, child, and others in the family network. These symbols and images can be woven implicitly throughout the arguments and testimony:

“Melissa’s mother cares for her family’s needs by working . . . .”

“Melissa’s family cares for Melissa . . . . ”

“Melissa’s family, including her aunt, cousins, and grandmother . . . . .”

“Melissa spends her days with another mother in a home filled with children.”

“Family members and family friends pitch in . . . .”

At another extreme, consider the criminal defendant who is depicted as possessing an object called “free will.” How can the defense lawyer re-frame this metaphor in a way that will keep the jury from inferring that all the defendant’s choices were voluntary? First, it probably will not be helpful to point out the metaphoric nature of this image. Instead, the lawyer can envision another metaphor and use it to shape arguments; for example, free will might be thought of not as an equally sized container that is given to everyone, but as a seed that is planted in a small child and grows only when nurtured. Squashed, uprooted or deprived of water and nutrients, free will shrivels, rots, and eventually dies. Again, this metaphoric image should not be explicitly stated, but used to shape arguments:

“The range of Roger’s choices began to narrow early . . . .”

“While growing up, Roger had very little say about . . . .”

“During Roger’s childhood, his father demanded that he . . . .”

“Among his friends, Roger was required to . . . .”

“As time went on, Roger had fewer opportunities to choose. . . .”

Conceptual metaphors underlie not only our characterizations of the people and objects involved in legal stories; they also are at work in legal rules and processes. It is only metaphorically that we understand such concepts as the “weight of the evidence,” a “balancing test,” and a “slippery slope.” If an advocate can describe the applicable rule as a balancing test, it may seem more attractive simply because of the common-sense yet metaphoric view that when things are in balance, we are all better off. If the lawyer can deride an argument as constituting a slippery slope, the audience may picture the consequences at the bottom of the hill.

Talking about metaphor reminds us of the familiar warning by Justice Cardozo that “metaphors in law are to be narrowly watched, for starting as devices to liberate thought, they end often by enslaving it.”Because metaphor is both powerful and unavoidable and can mislead as well as illuminate we need to study it more rather than use it less.

____________
FOOTNOTES

1. For more discussion of this concept, see Stephanie A. Gore, “A Rose by Any Other Name”: Judicial Use of Metaphors for New Technologies, 2003 U. Ill. J. L. Tech. & Policy 403; Robert Reilly, Mapping Legal Metaphors in Cyberspace: Evolving the Underlying Paradigm, 16 John Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 579 (1998).

2. See George Lakoff & Mark Johnson, Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought (1999) for a comprehensive explanation.

3. George Lakoff, Don’t Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate – The Essential Guide for Progressives (2004).

4. Linda L. Berger, What is the Sound of a Corporation Speaking? How the Cognitive Theory of Metaphor Can Help Lawyers Shape the Law, 2 J. ALWD 169 (2004).5. Berky v. Third Ave. Ry. Co., 155 N.E. 58 (1926)

Tags by users:

Categories: Law Practice Communications - Tags: law practice communication, lawyer, metaphors, public speaking, speaking, using metaphors to win judgements

Can You Analyze A Property-Casualty Insurance Policy?

Written by

Practicing attorneys may need to read and critique an insurance policy for a variety of reasons. In litigation, your client may wonder if his liability insurance will properly pay for defense costs and damages. A client might have suffered a loss and then encountered a reluctant claims adjuster: are the coverage denials defensible? A business client might be considering a change of insurance carriers, but is astute enough to know that the policy forms being proposed don’t read exactly the same as the current policy and asks for your analysis. As a practice manager, you might be curious about the details of the insurance program protecting your own business. Here are a few tips about analyzing the coverage elements both features and limitations provided by an insurance policy.

How Policies Are Organized

Almost all Property-Casualty (as distinct from Life, Accident and Health) policies are constructed in a similar fashion. A simple, “Monoline” (providing one “line” of insurance coverage like Workers Compensation, or Professional Liability) policy is composed of:

-Declarations Pages
-Conditions
-Coverage Form
-Endorsements

It is not unusual to encounter a “Package” policy, which provides several lines of insurance coverage (one example would be a Commercial Package policy that insures Commercial Property, Commercial General Liability, Inland Marine and Crime lines). A Package policy has a hierarchical format:

-Common (applicable to the entire policy) Policy Declarations Pages
-Common Policy Conditions
-Common Policy Endorsements
-Individual Coverage Parts (e.g., Property, or Crime), each one of which typically will contain:

  • Declarations Pages for that Coverage Part
  • Conditions for that Coverage Part
  • Coverage Form for that Coverage Part
  • Endorsements applicable to that Coverage Part

To Study a Policy, Start with the Declarations Pages

First, look at the name of the insurance company underwriting the policy; if it’s not familiar, go to the web site of A.M. Best Company (the most generally-referred to and respected financial security rating organization).* If the Financial Strength Rating is below A- (or some would say B++), further investigation might be needed into the company’s financials. Depending on the risk being insured, Best’s Financial Size Categories below V (which indicates an Adjusted Policyholder Surplus of at least $10 million USD) might be questioned. The “Outlook” from Best is also important: are the ratings “Stable” or “Under Review Positive Implications” (these are good), or are the ratings “Under Review Negative Implications” (a warning sign)?

Near the top of the Declarations you will find the “Named Insured and Mailing Address.” Check to see if the proper entity is identified accurately. The producing agent or broker will be listed. The Policy Period, usually one year, will be listed. If it is a Package policy, there will be a listing of Coverage Parts that might be included. Even though a Package policy might contain language relating to several coverage parts, a Premium dollar amount must appear on the Policy Declarations page next to that Coverage Part’s listing in order for that Coverage Part’s coverage to be applicable. There should be a Countersignature by an authorized representative of the insurer on the first page.

On the Policy Declarations page you should also find a Forms Schedule which will list all of the Forms and Endorsements that make up part of the policy. Package policies will list Common Policy forms on the main Declarations Pages, and will also list the form number of the various Coverage Parts’ Declarations Pages. Turning to those Coverage Parts Declarations Pages, you will find additional listings of Forms and Endorsements that apply just to each coverage part, respectively. Cross-checking the Forms Schedules with the body of the insurance policy is an important step; if one of the Declarations Pages lists a Form or Endorsement as being part of the policy, and one or more of those forms is missing (or a form appears in the policy that is not listed on any of the Forms Schedules), yellow lights should start flashing and someone should inquire, “What’s up?”

A Location Schedule will appear if an insured is covering operations at multiple sites: is the list complete and accurate? Where involved, there should be a schedule of Mortgagees and Lienholders (either on the Policy Declarations page or the Property Coverage Part Declarations): are they up to date and correctly listed? Sometimes policies cover additional insureds for a variety of reasons: are they correctly identified for all the appropriate Coverage Parts? Is there any conflict between various business contracts’ obligations and how those obligations are handled in the insurance policies?

If a Liability policy incorporates “Claims-made” language, the Declarations Page will list a Retroactive Date (and/or a “Prior and Pending Litigation Date”): are these dates correct (which almost always means, are these dates the same as the inception date when the insured first entered into uninterrupted Claims-made coverage for this type of insurance)? If a “retro date” or a “prior and pending date” has been improperly advanced on a renewal, a coverage gap has been created.

Next, Study the Endorsements and Conditions

After studying the Declarations Pages and checking the Forms Schedules, it might seem counterintuitive to next jump to a policy’s Endorsements instead of reading the Coverage Form or Conditions. Frequently, though, Endorsements replace, delete or add to language that appears in the Coverage Form or Conditions. If an Endorsement says something like, “Part (b) of Exclusion 21 in the General Liability Coverage Part is deleted in its entirety and replaced by the followingÖ.” then I would go to that exclusion (in the Coverage Part) and pencil in a note, reminding myself to later look at “Endorsement #5″ instead of the language originally appearing. It wastes time to study a policy’s core language only to find out later that the language is not applicable, or has been modified, by endorsement.

In a Package policy, pay attention to whether each particular endorsement applies to the entire policy, or just to one or more Coverage Parts contained in the policy.

Common Policy Conditions (as well as Coverage Part Conditions) are critically important components of an insurance policy; they are overlooked or ignored at the peril of the insured. The Conditions talk about how and when coverage will be applied, and how it will operate under special situations. To get an idea of the sort of subject matter contained in policy conditions, here are the section headings in the Commercial Property Conditions (ISO form CP 00 90):

-Concealment, Misrepresentation or Fraud
-Control of Property
-Insurance Under Two or More Coverages
-Legal Action Against Us (the insurance company)
-Liberalization
-No Benefit to Bailee
-Other Insurance
-Policy Period, Coverage Territory
-Transfer of Rights of Recovery Against Others to Us

Any attorney can appreciate the import of topics like these.

Now Read the Coverage Form(s)

The Coverage Forms themselves make up the heart of any insurance policy, and I suggest you study them last, after reviewing their contractual context (the Declarations, Endorsements and Conditions). The main elements of a Coverage Form will vary by line of insurance, but you will find many of the following main sections in any Coverage Form:

-Coverage (sometimes called “Insuring Agreement”)
-Causes of Loss
-Exclusions
-Definitions
-Who Is an Insured
-Additional Coverages
-Extensions of Coverage
-Limits of Insurance
-Deductible
-Coinsurance
-Supplementary Payments
-Duties in the Event of Loss
-Conditions (applicable to just this Coverage Form)

Using these main headings for guidance, a reader can easily find the particular points that need to be communicated to clients about their insurance policies. Each section is contractually important, and many reference or modify other sections. For example, some peril or event may appear to be “covered” by reading the Insuring Agreement, but further study will reveal that certain particulars are limited or excluded by other sections.

Understand The Advantages Of Both Standard and Non-standard Policy Language

Unless there are compelling business reasons to do otherwise, insurance companies prefer to use industry-standard Forms and Endorsements in their policies. This is because there are years (sometimes decades) of precedent and court decisions that have established precisely what certain insurance policy language does, and does not, provide.

For those familiar with the insurance industry, standardized, widely-used policy Forms and Endorsements make it comparatively easy to analyze policy coverages. The most common forms in use in the United States today are provided by Insurance Services Office, Inc., or ISO. The second most widely used source of “standard” policy wording, used by more than 600 insurance companies, comes from American Association of Insurance Services, or AAIS. Any veteran of the commercial insurance business in the US will be very familiar with the wording, structure and import of a standard Form like ISO’s “Commercial General Liability Form” ISO Form #CG 00 01.

ISO and AAIS will modify and update various elements of various Forms from time to time; sometimes knowing the “edition date” of a Form is an important analytical element. The complete numerical designation of an ISO Form will look like “CG 00 01 12 04″ the last four digits refer to the edition date of that Form’s language (in this case, the December, 2004 Edition). AAIS and many other companies put the edition date in parenthesis following the Form number (“AG 100 20 (10/94″).

It may be that the exact type of insurance coverage that an underwriting company wants to provide may not be practicable to deliver using standardized Forms. For example, Directors and Officers Liability policies’ wordings are not standard from company to company; rather, one company (Chubb, for example, or Travelers) will develop its own wording for policy Forms of this type, and it will use this internally-standardized wording for most or all of its customers for this line of insurance. When the language details of such policies differs among companies for the same line of insurance, more care obviously needs to be given to reading every line and noting the differences (and analyzing the import of those differences).

If even a company’s own proprietary policy language cannot meet the needs of a particular insured, and if that insured is important enough to the insurer, an underwriting department can sometimes be persuaded to “manuscript” policy language that meets these refined needs. This type of manuscripted wording has usually never been tested by the courts. If your client is in a position to need such insurance policy customization, he or she might be well advised to bring you into the discussion with their underwriters to help make sure that the language winds up having the desired and intended effect.

Insurance policies are contracts, but they occupy a special niche in the wide field of contracts; knowing how to read and analyze them will be important for most attorneys.

*On your first visit to A.M. Best’s web site, you’ll be asked to register, providing your e-mail address and a password you select. Near the upper left-hand corner of the home page, enter the insurance company’s name, exactly as it appears on the policy, in the “Ratings and Analysis” box. On the Search Results page that appears, click on the insurance company’s name – this will take you to the Best rating for that company – including the Financial Strength Rating, Financial Size Category, and the Outlook.

Tags by users:

Categories: Risk Management - Tags: analyze a policy, business, commercial property, financial strength rating, insurance policy, policy, professional liability, property casualty insurance, property insurance policy

In China, You Play By Another Set Of Rules

Written by

Most businesses are aware of the lure of the Chinese market, and stories abound of unbridled opportunities and potential for financial gain. But with all great opportunities come significant risks. My experience practicing at an international law firm in Beijing, China, taught me first-hand that not every business can, or should, go to China. This experience also helped me gain some insight as to what any attorney advising a client about doing business in China should keep in mind.

Engage Competent Counsel

If you are advising clients about doing business in China, it is essential you ensure that your clients engage with counsel that is able to handle both foreign (non-Chinese) and domestic issues, from drafting sophisticated agreements, often governed by laws outside of China, to submitting the right forms to the appropriate Chinese governmental entities and obtaining the proper licenses or permits. Because the quality and competence of law firms in China can vary tremendously an attorney should do appropriate due diligence about the law firms and the lawyers to whom a client is being recommended.

Large cities like Beijing and Shanghai have been inundated by foreign law firms (American, British, Canadian, and German, to name a few) that employ both Chinese and foreign attorneys, as do many well-established Chinese law firms. Many of the Chinese attorneys employed at either of these types of firms have obtained both a Chinese law degree and a degree from a foreign country, in particular from the United States (with a license to practice in New York or California). Either type can also provide a variety of corporate services to foreign clients. Keep in mind that foreign firms are prohibited from actually practicing Chinese law, which means that even if you engage a foreign law firm, it is likely that a Chinese law firm will eventually need to be involved. For example, if you need a legal opinion, the Chinese firm will need to provide it.

Structure The Business Deal

While China’s legal system has rapidly developed to accommodate a tremendous influx of foreign investment, significant gaps in both the language of the laws themselves and their enforcement still remain. Chinese businesses are heavily regulated and there are various restrictions that foreign investors must be aware of. For example, China restricts or even prohibits foreign investment in certain industries, and the Chinese government exerts significant control over the flow of foreign currency.

Of particular concern to clients, the remedies that a foreign party can seek in the event that the Chinese party breaches an agreement are somewhat limited. For example, in the event of a breach, attempting to enforce a contract in a Chinese court can be a daunting task. The judges are not bound to any kind of precedent, and many foreign companies believe that Chinese courts are inherently biased against them. In the event that a judgment outside of China is obtained, it may not be possible to get a Chinese court to recognize the judgment, making it basically unenforceable. Good legal counsel can help protect your client at the outset, and good advice can help prepare clients in advance for legal realities that may be quite different from what they have experienced elsewhere.

Five Tips Will Help Prepare You To Do Business In China

Here are a few tips for advising your clients about entering the Chinese market.

Before you make a deal:

Make sure that you and your client observe some of the most basic Chinese rules of business etiquette. For example, always present and accept a business card with two handsóand do not shove someone’s business card into your back pocket! When dealing with a sophisticated entrepreneur, small gestures that demonstrate a basic understanding of what is considered polite can go a long way towards impressing potential business partners and can distinguish your client from competitors. When working with a businessperson who has had less exposure to other cultures, observing basic rules of etiquette is essential to allow your client to get his or her foot in the door in order to begin to establish a professional relationship.

Do not assume that a business deal will proceed in the same manner as it would in the United States. The Chinese legal system is unique, newly-developed and constantly changing. In 2008 alone, the employment law in China and the entire tax code were both revised. In the field of foreign investment, various changes to the laws significantly altering the way that transactions must be structured have been going on since 2005. Your client should not be surprised if some things take longer to accomplish than expected, or are handled in a way that is different from what he or she had anticipated.

Negotiating the Business Deal

Maneuvering the Chinese legal system, whether to complete the paperwork needed to obtain a mandatory license or to ensure that one’s employment contracts are in compliance with Chinese law, requires significant, highly-specialized expertise. Good legal counsel will not only be able to handle these tasks, but will also help your client understand the unique legal risks of doing business in China, including, for example, the risk of working with an ever-evolving body of laws (including laws that have retroactive effect). Counsel should also help your client to anticipate the sometimes vastly different understandings parties may have of the most basic business and transactional terms, including at what point have the parties reached an agreement, and whether a contract represents the beginning or the end of negotiations.
Do not underestimate the importance of good due diligence and reasonable time lines. I have seen many investors rush to complete a business deal with a Chinese company only to discover, too late, that the company had significant accounting, intellectual property, or other issues that could easily have been uncoveredóand handledówith basic due diligence. One common phenomenon, for example, is that Chinese companies keep two sets of records, one for the authorities, and one with the ‘real’ numbers. Practices like these, and the fact that most of the due diligence is conducted in Chinese, help to demonstrate the extensive time and effort that may be needed to do a thorough job investigating a potential Chinese business partner.
Be aware that corruption remains an on-going concern in China despite massive reforms undertaken by the government to try to eliminate the most abusive practices. The recent, terrible scandals involving baby formula or toys made in China highlight the extent and gravity of the problem of corrupt officials. Good legal counsel can help prepare clients to anticipate and avoid this, and similar problems.

My favorite adage about China is that the foreigner who travels to China for a week believes that he fully understands everything about the country. The foreigner who stays in China for a year thinks that he knows a little bit. And the foreigner who lives in China for decades recognizes that he does not understand China at all, but certainly enjoys trying! In other words, while many aspects of doing business in China are similar to those in other countries, China presents some unique challenges, and clients need to be fully aware of these.

Tags by users:

Categories: Asia - Tags: business deal, business in china, chinese attorneys, chinese court, chinese legal system, employment law in china, foreign investment, legal problems in china

What Makes Cynthia Doll Successful?

Written by

Our clients need us to hear both what they are trying to express and the emotions behind it.

An interview with Cynthia Doll:

TCL:  What’s your personal definition of success?
Success is achieving satisfaction and respect in your field, while also creating the time to nurture the important relationships in your life, like family, friends and community.

TCL:  Who is the most successful person you know?
I would say anyone who can actually achieve both professional success and maintain strong and stable personal relationships would be successful. It sounds simple, but because of the demands of our profession, it can be easier said than done. It’s a constant balancing act sometimes work wins the battle for first place on our minds and agendas. Other times, your family demands first priority. The most successful people are those who realize that and try not to get too stressed out during those times of ever-shifting priorities.

TCL:  What have been your greatest accomplishments?
Professionally, maintaining a dynamic practice in employment law and litigation for almost 16 years and acting as co-chair of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs’ Labor and Employment law practice group for approximately five years have been most fulfilling. More fundamentally, I feel a great sense of accomplishment any time a client entrusts me with a new matter or case.
On the personal front, I have a wonderfully supportive husband of 20 years and two awesome kids, and they are my greatest personal accomplishments.

TCL:  What have been your setbacks or disappointments?
Like any lawyer, at times I have allowed the practice of law to consume me and have had trouble making time for the truly important things in life. I have had to struggle to cultivate the ability to leave work at work. I have also competed for new business and not received the nod, which again can be discouraging. My advice (which I have to remind myself when these things happen to me) is to dust yourself off and find the next prospect or try the next case without beating yourself up too much about what you did wrong.

TCL:  What influence did your mother have on your life?
My mother was in many ways the primary influence on me. She was the valedictorian of her high school class, and I’m sure good genes from both her and my professor father helped me to do well in school. My mom worked outside the home and favored women’s rights (then called “women’s lib”) in the 1970s. Although she led the life of a minister/professor’s wife, I remember her yelling “Right on!” at the TV when news came on about the women’s movement. She encouraged me to excel academically and pursue my professional goals. She also was a devoted mother who set an excellent example that I try to emulate with my own kids.

TCL:  What influence did your father have on your life?
As a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a minister, my father was devoted to his scholarship and his students. I took after him in loving to read and having an affinity for school and for research and writing. The law is a learned profession, and his example provided a firm grounding for a legal education. I like to think that from his devotion to his students and love of teaching, I learned to be passionate about what I do and to care deeply about my clients and their welfare.

TCL:  Name one of your heroes (other than your parents) and tell why he or she is heroic to you
Sandra Day O’Connor, because of the obstacles she faced as a woman lawyer when they were scarce and because of her role as the first female Supreme Court Justice. I was privileged to meet her when she visited the University of Louisville School of Law in 1992 to accept the Brandeis medal. A picture of us together at that event now hangs on my office wall.

TCL:  What talents or natural abilities make you good at what you do?
Again, I love to read and write. I also am a good listener. We lawyers have a tendency to like to hear ourselves talk. But it is equally important to listen, especially to our clients. Listen to what they are saying and also listen for the subtext or the emotional message. Our clients are going through stressful and unfamiliar experiences like getting sued for the first time. They need someone who will both hear what they are trying to express and tune in to the emotions behind it.

TCL:  What have you learned to do that was not a natural talent but has helped you be successful?
Marketing, marketing, marketing. You can’t sit at your desk and wait for clients to magically show up. I’ve had to build a practice, make my own contacts and make a name for myself in the profession. Client development can be challenging. I have had to push myself to engage in structured marketing efforts including joining networking groups, making presentations, “doing” lunches, even attending cocktail parties, which, honestly, aren’t my favorite places to be.

TCL:  What would a person starting out today have to do to enter your profession or position?
First, they should take a deep breath and be sure this is what they want to do because the legal profession can be consuming. A solid liberal arts education is the best foundation for moving on to law school. At law school, future lawyers should do their absolute best and should spend the summers working at firms or for government agencies in areas in which they have an interest.

TCL:  What values do you hold in highest regard?
Unquestionably, honesty and integrity, particularly as they relate to the practice of law. The reputation of the law has suffered as lawyers have lost sight of these overarching principles. There is no client so important, and no result so critical, that they would justify compromising your honesty and ethics.

TCL:  How would you characterize your personal style?
Diligent and persistent, but not too serious to have fun with the practice of law. I like to think I bring creativity to my practice and have the ability to see a case or problem from a novel angle that some might not have considered.

TCL:  Do you have a personal vision, a positive picture of yourself in the future? If yes, what is it?
I learn something new as a lawyer every day. I hope to spend more time mentoring young lawyers and growing our practice group regionally. I have a long-term vision of creating time for writing, travel and creative projects.

TCL:  What are you most interested in or passionate about?
Aside from work and the law, I am passionate about my family and love to travel with them. I devour books of all types and am always looking for new authors in fiction and subject areas in nonfiction. I am passionate about the continued progress of women in the profession and at my firm.

TCL:  Which life skills have you developed that serve you best?
Perseverance, diligence and the ability to work hard toward a goal, whether for a case or client or in my personal life.

TCL:  What magazines, newspapers or journals do you read regularly?
I read the Courier-Journal just about every day. I read many legal publications and also make time for fun magazines like Self.

TCL:  What Internet websites do you frequent?
The Courier’s website, MSN.com, Google, various law blogs, eBay for bargains. I drop by at The Onion for satire on occasion.

TCL:  What are your favorite books? What books have you read recently that you would recommend and why?
I don’t have one favorite author. I am always reading a new book and feel at a loss when I run out of books to read. One I read recently and enjoyed was The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Diodge. The book summarizes recent research in the field of neuroscience that shows the brain is capable of healing itself, including from injury, stroke and even mental illness. It was fascinating.

TCL:  What are your favorite films? What films have you seen recently that you would recommend and why?
It can be difficult to find time to go to the movies, and when I do, it tends to be for kids’ films. I try to see most or all of the Oscar-nominated films each year. I enjoyed Little Miss Sunshine, which was nominated for best picture in 2007. It was an offbeat but hilarious departure from the big budget pictures that the Academy usually prefers. I have profound hope for the future of us as humans, so I really don’t have a concern per se about “life on the planet.” The largest challenge for this country is combating the forces trying to tear down democracy, such as terrorism, while still maintaining our way of life.

TCL:  What is fun for you?
Dancing, exercise (cardio and weights), travel, any fun activity with my family.

TCL:  What especially galls you?
In the practice of law, it is the appalling decline in respect and courtesy for one another as lawyers. Come to think of it, you see these same trends in every day life as well. On the flip side, I always make sure to thank people when they do something kind or courteous, like holding the door or saying “excuse me,” “please,” etc.

TCL:  If you had it to do all over again, what would you do differently? Why?
I really don’t see myself doing anything much differently if I had it to do over again. I have been blessed to have made some great decisions as to career and family that provide deep meaning to my life.

TCL:  What do you want to make sure you accomplish before you die?
I would like to learn to play the piano, learn at least one foreign language (I know some German, but it’s extremely rusty) and travel, travel, travel.

TCL:  Is there anything you’d like to add?
Thank you!

Tags by users:

Categories: Kentucky Bar Association - Tags: cynthia doll, cynthia doll lawyer, how to build a successful law practice, law career profile, law practice, successful lawyer

Next Page »