Your Voice

A call to deal with impostor syndrome, a hidden source of attorney distress

It’s my third time reading Joanna Litt’s brave piece in the American Lawyer about the death by suicide of her beloved husband and accomplished lawyer Gabe MacConaill, and I’m still stumbling through it in tears. As she describes the pressures Gabe experienced as an attorney, I lose my breath because…

Nov 20, 2018 12:45 PM CST

The confessions of a legal technophobe

I wish to share my thoughts about a significant problem stressing many of our more senior colleagues in practice these days. Though there are several, I am talking about what I found to be a high stressor, namely the demon of rapidly changing technology. In 1974, I was called to…

Nov 20, 2018 7:00 AM CST

Are alimony rules antiquated in an era of greater equality?

I have spent more than 20 years mediating divorce settlements, and I have represented both men and women. While we have seen women gain greater access to financial stability over the years, I can’t help but wonder whether the way we approach alimony is still somewhat antiquated.

Nov 13, 2018 6:30 AM CST

Stop stabbing in the front: Bring balance and civility to work

Anger and frustration have been stirred up from many corners. Yet, while it’s not surprising that emotions run hot when the stakes are high, there is a fundamental takeaway from this current cultural climate: We need new ways of relating to each other.

Nov 6, 2018 6:30 AM CST

Rethink your law firm’s IT disaster recovery strategy

Information technology-related disasters are among the biggest contributors to long-term business disruption for law firms. Major data breaches that shut down entire systems, natural disasters that physically destroy data centers and purposeful cyberattacks threaten a law firm’s business continuity.

Oct 30, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

Are lawyers being trapped in their practice niches?

Specialization may have gone too far. The first generation of specialist lawyers got their initial training from the more generalist lawyers whose apprentices they were. This isn’t the case for the second generation of specialists we are seeing today.

Oct 23, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

6 keys to acing discovery

Before embarking on a legal career, many attorneys envision themselves trying cases in scenarios taken from iconic movies such as A Few Good Men and To Kill a Mockingbird. However, the reality is that most litigators spend relatively little time trying cases. The bulk of our time is spent researching, drafting, strategizing, communicating with clients and taking discovery.

Oct 16, 2018 6:30 AM CDT

Your Voice: I believe in Me Too, but I believe no one uncritically

I know women who have been sexually assaulted and who have not gotten justice. All I have is their side of the story, and that has been enough for me to believe them—because I know them and I know their character, and thus I believe them—without any reservation at all.

Oct 11, 2018 6:30 AM CDT

Legally bombed: Young millennial lawyers, same old alcoholism

“To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.”

That quote comes from Homer Simpson, a character who is not licensed to practice law in any of the several states that contain a city named Springfield. However, another classic Simpsons character with a drinking problem is Lionel Hutz, one of television’s most famous fictional lawyers.

Oct 9, 2018 6:05 AM CDT

Let’s trash ‘data dump’ litigation ploys

Lawyers become their own worst enemies when they abandon reasonable discovery compromise to chase the ever-elusive smoking gun. A second misconception that has to go is that only the manual review of produced documents will suffice.

Oct 5, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

I am a woman who left the law

I graduated with honors and landed an associate position at a respected, multistate law firm. I practiced for several years, then quit. I am one of the many female attorneys who show promise but never achieve “success,” leaving many asking “Why?”

Oct 2, 2018 6:02 AM CDT

IBM, GE, Facebook, Google and the law—lessons learned, or lessons forgotten?

How can newly powerful, global tech companies fulfill their legal responsibilities to customers, employees, shareholders and the different societies in which they operate? And how can lawyers help? Three developments this summer—as well as generations-old choices at IBM—highlight these questions: • On June 19, General Electric was removed from the…

Sep 20, 2018 8:00 AM CDT

What principle links great baseball and great lawyering? Stoicism

A lawyer once told me he’d been practicing law for 40 years, but he never lost a case. He did, however, “come in second many times.” Like a batter, a lawyer must make decisions. The challenge for a lawyer is to make the right decision more often than not.

Sep 18, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

May I finish? The case against interrupting

Recently, a colleague called to ask me for my “feedback and insight” on a case. He then proceeded to interrupt me every time I opened my mouth. Eventually, he finished and, apparently satisfied with his own “feedback and insight,” he ended the phone call and thanked me for my help.

Sep 11, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

Harvard’s racial diversity is worth investing in—and defending

As sometimes the only African-American student in my otherwise all-white classrooms at Harvard College, chatting in the dining hall surrounded by peers and friends, I have learned this: For a diverse learning environment to occur, racial diversity and not racial homogeneity is key. My classmates come from the varying socio-economic…

Sep 7, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

A call to deal with impostor syndrome, a hidden source of attorney distress

The confessions of a legal technophobe

Are alimony rules antiquated in an era of greater equality?

Stop stabbing in the front: Bring balance and civility to work

Rethink your law firm’s IT disaster recovery strategy

Are lawyers being trapped in their practice niches?

6 keys to acing discovery

Your Voice: I believe in Me Too, but I believe no one uncritically

Legally bombed: Young millennial lawyers, same old alcoholism

Let’s trash ‘data dump’ litigation ploys

I am a woman who left the law

IBM, GE, Facebook, Google and the law—lessons learned, or lessons forgotten?

What principle links great baseball and great lawyering? Stoicism

May I finish? The case against interrupting

Harvard’s racial diversity is worth investing in—and defending

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