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…
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.
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.
On September 26, the day that Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I was a delegate at the “New Rules Summit: Women, Leadership and a Playbook for Change,” sponsored by the New York Times in Brooklyn. We were there to probe the edges of…
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.
Recently on the car radio there was an item on academic research that presented a troubling conclusion: Because of specialization in the medical profession, doctors are sometimes unable to make correct diagnoses; some symptoms are missed because they are outside the physician's specialty.
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.
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.
“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.
The natural progress of technology in our time reflects that technological change in a competitive market lowers cost. Readers of a certain age can recall going to a Radio Shack to buy a Texas Instruments calculator for $50. Now our phones come with a calculator that exceeds the capability of the one we would have bought at Radio Shack.
The ABA Journal wants to host and facilitate conversations among lawyers about their profession. We are now accepting thoughtful, non-promotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors.
