What to Do When Law Practice Literally Makes You Sick

Paula Davis-Laack was killing it. Her practice was so busy lunch was a bag of peanuts and a contract. But then she hit a wall -- that wall every lawyer hits on the way to burn-out. She literally couldn't...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2OIcVpr

Etymology of Great Legal Words: Gerrymander

Great legal words are come in all shapes and sizes. Take for instance the word gerrymander. You might not believe it, but the word's origins are about as simple as they sound. It's a portmanteau of sorts of the...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2VivXF6

Beat Procrastination With Emotional Intelligence

Need help beating procrastination? Hang on, we'll get back to that in a minute. For now, let's talk about emotional intelligence. You know, it's that other IQ that starts with EQ? The point is, it's about time to use...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2JXZfYx

Cut and Paste Stops Working in Word Update, Lawyers Mourn

This morning, lawyers across the globe woke up to a twilight zone, of sorts. Microsoft Word has stopped allowing the copy/cut and paste function in their latest automatic update of Microsoft Word which pushed last night. Legal secretaries, paralegals,...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2OFZ82v

Why Defendants Call Demands Extortion

For plaintiff lawyers, it's a common and annoying refrain, every civil defendant thinks and feels like every demand letter is basically extortion. Yes, whenever a person or business has to pay up or face litigation and associated public condemnation,...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2JP6JNx

Marie Kondo for Lawyers: Tidying Up Your Clients

Are you locked into the KonMari method madness yet? Do you evaluate all your possessions in both your personal and professional life to see if each one sparks joy, or should be replaced or relinquished? If so, it may be...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2U4NLXd

Litigation Funding: Can I Get Some of That?

Litigation funding is a way to finance your cases, but it may not be your way. If you signed on a client to right a wrong, litigation funders are not really interested. They are in it for the money,...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2Wk6N9i

Mueller Report Done, Now What?

At the close of business Friday afternoon on the East Coast, Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report to Attorney General William Barr. Yes, THE Mueller report, after 22-months, and a whole lot of political drama, is done. Early...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2HKC2X2

Can Micro-Influencers Help Promote Your Firm?

Micro-influencers are online personalities who are not as popular as cat videos, yet have dedicated fans. That comparison may be mixing species, but you can't ignore 69 million views for a cat flipping head-over-heels. The point is, it's not...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2UQKFTw

Is It Time to Hire a Well-Being Specialist for Your Law Firm?

If law firm morale is slumping three months into the year, it's too late for a New Year's Eve party to cheer things up. Spring break might give people a chance to recharge, but it takes more to create...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2ujucf7

Marie Kondo for Lawyers: Tidying Up Your Law Office

If you're a living, breathing, person with a place to live and access to the internet, then the probability is high that you've at least heard of Marie Kondo and her magic of helping people tidy up. There's even a...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2TgTy7z

Proper Semicolon Usage for Lawyers

When it comes to punctuation, few marks are as dreaded or confused as the semicolon. It's more than comma, but less than period. Not surprisingly, even lawyers stumble over how and when to use them. Fortunately, if you're one of...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2UJMZf7

3 Better Ways to Welcome New Associates

For the most part, new associates are excited about starting jobs at law firms. After all, they are going to make real lawyer money. And they can't wait to get into the courtroom or the boardroom. But then reality...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2HtbI4o

Top 3 Tips for When Document Formatting Drives You Crazy

We've all been there ... it's late, you're trying to get your pleading finalized and ready for efiling, when all of a sudden, your formatting snaps out of place. And unfortunately, the age old remedy of just whacking your...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2UHH1LN

Missouri Legislating Against Joinder in Mass Torts

For mass tort plaintiffs, seeking relief in St. Louis, Missouri may soon no longer be a viable option. Although seen as a plaintiff-friendly venue, particularly given the recent massive multi-billion dollar award against Johnson & Johnson, the state's senate...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2THbxsI

Federal Judiciary Adopts New Ethics Rules

The United States judiciary adopted new ethics rules, forbidding sexual harassment, unlawful discrimination, and "egregious and hostile" treatment of workers in the federal courts. The rules evolved from complaints about Judge Alex Kozinski, who resigned from the U.S. Ninth...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2TAHRxr

Should You Ever Use an Exclamation Mark in a Pleading?

Even if you love exclamation marks as much as Elaine from Seinfeld, when drafting a pleading, there's really only one time when using one is appropriate. And no, it's not when you really need to put opposing counsel on blast. Much...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2F9FFUE

How to Kill Your Opponent With Laughter

Stand-up comedians say they are killing it when audiences laugh; lawyers just want to kill in their arena. It's the nature of the beast, the law of the jungle. Lawyers are trained to attack, but laughter could be their most...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2TAsOUs

Minnesota Judge Orders Snow to Stop, and It Worked

While the order itself may look authentic, one Minnesota state court judge is bound to have news station anchors and weather-reporters chuckling for years to come with his recent Order to Enjoin "Minnesota Meteorologists, Old Man Winter, and Mr. Snow"...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2HgOAGo

How Perfect Can Your Law Firm Be?

Being perfect is a relative term, of course. "Perfect form" in tennis, for example, may define how a player strokes the ball. In law practice, "perfect writing" may be a brief without blemish. Some law firms, however, may put...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2J8LRjM

How to Celebrate RBG's Birthday

For law firms and lawyers, celebrating Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's birthday is becoming more than just a fun trend, though it most certainly is that. This year, several different groups are planning to celebrate in a few different ways....

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2CbHu1y

Is Your Firm Making or Repeating History?

Lawyers often ask themselves what their legal legacy will be. After all, not every lawyer will set new precedent with a novel case; heck, some won't ever even argue a case in court. But that doesn't mean that you...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2HwEssp

Tips to Improve Your Creative Thinking in the Office

Thinking outside the box is not what it used to be. The idea suggests that you can find solutions to problems by going outside your usual boundaries. But the saying apparently came from a puzzle-maker in the 1960s, so...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2VLdtNt

International Women's Day 2019: Celebrating 2018's Milestones

On March 8, 2019, across the globe, the world will be celebrating International Women's Day. And this year is a big one for celebrating, especially for the U.S. legal community, as it has continued to make history. Not only...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2EGmwZ7

R. Kelly and the Case for Not Letting Clients Speak to the Media

R. Kelly took the wrong page from Roger Stone's playbook. Kelly ranted on television about sex abuse charges against him, following a pattern that put Roger Stone in the news recently. A judge threatened to jail Stone for airing...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2VKg75V

Stone Cold Denial of Roger Stone's 'Motion to Clarify' Gag Order

The Roger Stone case is certainly the center of quite a bit of media fanfare, and for those in the legal community, it's starting to get even more interesting as Stone's lawyers appear to be scrambling over surprises. Most...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2tPRzNc

3 Tips for Expanding Into Elder Law

Over the next decade, elder law is expected to start booming. Given the fact that the average age of the population is increasing as the younger Baby Boomers are now entering their golden years, some practitioners might be wondering...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2NKU4tb

Protip: Don't Call a Judge a 'Succubus'

Lawyers know better than to call a judge a ... succubus? If you didn't know, a succubus is a mythical female demon that has sex with men in their sleep. But even if you didn't know that, you know...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2IUzV5k

How Law Firms Can Stop Striking Out on Diversity

When it comes to diversity within law firms, the numbers may be getting better, but are still nowhere near ideal. Unfortunately for those firms that don't get a passing grade when it comes to diversity, more and more clients...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2UlaTgX

Can DNA Tests Tell Identical Twins Apart?

The twins paradox is an issue in physics, and a problem in DNA testing. In the physics paradox, one twin zooms into space at light speed and comes back younger than his twin. That's awkward. In DNA testing, identical...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2GYp603

Innocence Project Taking a Bite Out of Bite Mark Evidence

While CSI-style forensics make for compelling TV and really damning evidence in a courtroom, the truth is, forensics aren't always accurate. Sure, DNA evidence is pretty much rock-solid, but things like hair and fingerprints even have been discredited, right...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2tMZg6C

Cohen Review: When Your Career Is Over, Should You Burn It Down?

Michael Cohen wasn't squeamish in his testimony against President Trump; the former attorney dragged the skeletons out of the closet and stomped on them. If there were any more dead bodies in the Trump Organization, it would be a...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2UeEuZf

Forget Twinkies - Enter the 'Hash Brown Defense'

One Connecticut attorney just argued the case of a lifetime before the state's appellate court. And unlike other gimmicky defenses like affluenza, or the Twinkie defense, his "hash brown defense" sounds like an actual winner. It involved a cell...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2GRVUYL

Why Lawyers Need Cartoons Like These

By now, lawyers are getting pretty tired of lawyer jokes. Even if they haven't heard them all, they've heard enough. The thing is, attorneys still need something to laugh about. That's why lawyer cartoons are important, and the American...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2NBn5aS

How to Deal With a Bullying Judge

Nobody likes a bully, especially the ones in black robes. They are like ogres, trolls that drag people under the bridge and eat them raw. Only judicial bullies do it front a courtroom audience, and no one dares come...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2GNYaA3

Emoji Evidence Is More Than a Thing

If a court uses a poop emoji, what does that say about the law? Is it a sign that the law has gone to poop? Or is it a sign that the law is catching up to the times? If...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2C5F58P

Offensive Lawyers: That's Not How the Force Works

Social media has become a force in the law, forcing changes in everything from law firms to the judiciary. So it makes sense that lawyers use Twitter, Facebook, and other social media to fight for legal rights. Unfortunately, some...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2ICLOfQ

Delaying Is a Lawyer's Best Friend, Isn't It?

We lawyers are problem solvers. And as any problem solver knows, the best time to deal with any problem is tomorrow. For clients facing criminal charges that don't require remaining in physical custody, this is often a welcome tactic,...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2TexWwr

5 Ways to Get Paid for Your Knowledge

After jamming all that law into your head, the way you make money is by getting it out. Typically, lawyers do it by advising clients, drafting legal documents, and making arguments in court. But there are other ways, and...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2T8wOKV

Another Reason Your Expert Witness Cannot Use Fake Research

Every trial lawyer knows that a good expert witness can win a case. It often comes down to a battle of the experts, and their credentials are critical. A strong curriculum vitae, backed by research, is the calling card...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2Tb8VST

How Fast Is Too Fast to File a Lawsuit?

When a client comes to you seeking justice, often, you'll need to explain that the legal actions you can take in the real world don't work like they do on TV. Unless it's a pressing criminal matter, or there's...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2EmsOhw

How to Avoid an Overbilling 'Feeding Frenzy'

Overbilling cases against lawyers don't often make headlines. That's because sooo many people think lawyers overbill that it's not even newsworthy. But once in a while a big law firm goes on an alleged "billing feeding frenzy," and it's...

via Strategist https://ift.tt/2IAaqpQ

3 Reasons Not to Practice Law at Home

There are lots of good reasons for lawyers to work from home. It saves on commute time, office expenses, and other overhead. It offers flexible work hours, freedom to practice on the go, and the ultimate perk -- working...

via Strategist http://bit.ly/2T2vTvl

How and When Not to Write a Brief

They say two wrongs don't make a right, and that explains how and when not to write a brief. Attorney Dennis McCoobery learned that lesson the hard way. First he failed to file a brief, then he drafted a...

via Strategist http://bit.ly/2X4ez8m

3 Valentine's Day Marketing Tips for Law Firms

Law firms, like any business that relies on individual customers or clients, might want to lean into Valentine's Day before it's too late. And thanks to social media, even if you forgot to plan anything, you can still do...

via Strategist http://bit.ly/2NdOzmN

Checking In: How Are You Doing With Those New Year's Resolutions?

By now, most people have blown their New Year's resolutions. Actually, only half of all Americans even make resolutions. The other half, on average, fail in the first month. Of course, lawyers are not your average Americans. They just...

via Strategist http://bit.ly/2BxtazZ

Was 2018 a Good Year for Law Firms?

According to recent reports, 2018 was a great year for law firms. Net income, profits per partner, rate growth, demand, and productivity all increased. The actual percentages of each metric above may not have reached record highs, but as...

via Strategist http://bit.ly/2Ibkkhh

What to Do When You Make a Mistake in Law Practice

In case you haven't learned, you are wrong. It's as universally true as the Earth is the center of the universe. By the way, everybody except Copernicus used to believe that. Of course, they were wrong. So unless you...

via Strategist http://bit.ly/2I86yfa

AI Lawyers Making Work for the Rest of Us

Herman and Lara are "AI lawyers," the newest breed of specialists in the law. They work for AirHelp, a company that helps airline passengers resolve legal claims for refunds and damages from cancelled flights. Herman reviews travel claims, and...

via Strategist http://bit.ly/2GyrdXD

Are Your Legal Forms Gender Biased?

Lawyers reuse letters, pleadings, and legal docs all the time. A quick copy and paste, coupled with a find and replace ... It's part of practicing. Sometimes, we even borrow language we like from other lawyers and cases. But...

via Strategist http://bit.ly/2I4aI81