Good lawyers don’t only point out problems, they offer solutions

Understanding how to give an unfettered opinion and drive the client’s decision-making can make the difference between great lawyers and those seen as just OK. With smart guardrails, you shouldn’t be afraid to loosen the strict restraints on your opinions—because at the end of the day, your client wants to know what you think.

Aug 1, 2024 1:50 AM CDT

Lawyers as Explainers: Remember, you are writing for intelligent people

As professional workers with words, lawyers above all must be good explainers. The basic approach of expert explainers is to say what would need to be said clearly, simply and pleasantly to a small mixed audience of intelligent people. You think all this is obvious? It’s not. The qualities we’re discussing here aren’t commonplace. They’re rare.

Aug 1, 2024 1:40 AM CDT

Early career success can come from developing your ‘ownership mindset’

Ownership mindset. Is it the secret to success, or something everyone talks about but no one really knows what it means? Maybe both. The purpose of this installment of Survival Guide, Esq. is to demystify the concept of ownership mindset as well as provide a few practical tips on how to cultivate and demonstrate it.

Jun 1, 2024 2:10 AM CDT

In some lawyers’ hands, the lexicographer rule can run amok

As a professional lexicographer myself, I can attest that writing definitions is an extremely demanding discipline. Dilettantes invariably go awry. Yet we have this doctrine that every lawyer is a lexicographer without the need for other credentials. It’s called the lexicographer rule.

Jun 1, 2024 2:00 AM CDT

Assignment load for public defenders needs to decrease, says data-based study

With the RAND Corp., the National Center for State Courts and the ABA’s Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense, a new study was created that contains “reliable, data-based workload standards.” The 166-page National Public Defense Workload Study calls for a significant reduction in workloads for those who do criminal justice work in the public sector.

Jun 1, 2024 1:50 AM CDT

Carnegie and Me: Refuting the culture war on American libraries

Our Carnegie library was a dignified brick edifice built for $6,000. It was an oasis for knowledge, not some bogus den of “literary filth” that today’s shortsighted cynics might pretend.

Apr 1, 2024 2:00 AM CDT

Lawyer’s actions in discipline matter lead to worse penalty

Knowing when to fight a charge, or accept it when the evidence isn’t great and you’re offered a decent outcome, is a significant part of practicing law. Mike Mbanza, an Iowa lawyer, may have learned that the hard way.

Apr 1, 2024 1:50 AM CDT

New Legalese: You may have heard a deepfake, but what about ‘Twiqbal’?

In many ways, the new legal vocabulary reflects the time in which we live. As you look through the terms that have arisen over the last 24 years, you’ll see much of our recent history.

Apr 1, 2024 1:40 AM CDT

Unwritten Rules: What they expect you to know on Day 1 but don’t tell you

It’s time to open up the clock and show you what your managers expect you to know when you walk in the door on Day 1.

Apr 1, 2024 1:30 AM CDT

ABA Well-Being Pledge Turns 5: Progress has been made, but more is needed

Discussions have their limits, conversations their constraints, and when it comes to bettering mental health in the legal profession, the ratio of words to actions is often quite lopsided. There are, however, notable exceptions.

Feb 1, 2024 2:00 AM CST

Can you spot the wrong words in Bryan Garner’s quiz?

The tough thing about English isn’t grammar so much as word choice. There are so many homophones, or words that sound the same but mean completely different things and may be spelled differently. Let’s see whether you’d have made the right choice. If you’ve read a lot over the years and paid attention, you’ll do well here. Most of the choices don’t involve true homophones but instead similar-sounding words.

Feb 1, 2024 1:50 AM CST

Municipal residency requirement for elected official leads to disbarment

Feb 1, 2024 1:40 AM CST

My career approach could have killed me

“As dedicated as I was to my work, I was more determined to stay alive. Something had to give, but in truth, it wasn’t just one thing—I had to change almost everything,” writes Andrea “Lee” Negroni, an adjunct professor at the American University Washington College of Law.

Dec 1, 2023 2:00 AM CST

Blissful Ignorance: Bad writers may be happier than good ones

“For some, it’s probably better to know little to nothing of English usage,” writes Bryan Garner. “They’ll be happy. Ineffectual, but happy. When teaching lawyers, one technique I use is to see whether the participants recognize good writing when they see it.”

Dec 1, 2023 1:50 AM CST

What lawyers can and can’t do when preparing witnesses

Lawyers have an ethical duty to prepare clients and witnesses before hearings and testimony, but they may not cross the line into manipulating testimony or engaging in improper coaching—a problem exacerbated during the pandemic by the rise in remote court proceedings.

Dec 1, 2023 1:40 AM CST