More post-crash: Request for reader help

So I spent the last two days restoring my files from my online back-up. I’ll identify the service I’ve been using now, because it’s been a life saver: Data Deposit Box. It’s cheap and easy. But even though it’s an automated back-up system, some human thought is required to make sure that [...]

Recovering from a computer crash

Apologies for my silence of late. While traveling last week, one of the Windows files necessary for start-up mysteriously vanished. “It just happens,” say the tech support people, which is no consolation to me at all. After trying every trick in the book, including mystical incantations, I finally wiped the hard drive [...]

Coming soon: Blawg Review #114

Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. I once had the joy of being on a Norwegian milk boat headed to the North Cape on June 21. As we traveled northward, we could see the bonfires lit on the shore to mark the solstice. [...]

Representing an unrealistic client

One of the most challenging client relations issues that lawyers face is representing an unrealistic client. It’s easy to see how a client can fall into what is, objectively, an unrealistic expectation about his situation. After all, many clients (corporate and individual) are deeply invested in their matter, and many clients (especially individuals) [...]

Networking technique: bring a friend along

Tom Kane’s Legal Marketing blog offers a terrific idea for networking (based on a post by Miriam Lawrence, based in turn on advice from Patricia Fripp): bring a “buddy” to network with you.
For those who hate networking, walking into a room as part of a team may increase comfort and confidence. The real beauty [...]

Long-term career options

When I finished law school in 1993, the expectation of joining a firm, making partner there, and staying for the entirety of a career was beginning to fade. By this time, it’s almost an anomaly for a young lawyer to walk that path. In 2006, a NALP study (reported in a Law.com article [...]

Addressing burnout: your productivity depends on it

Because of the stress of practice, burnout is a real issue for lawyers. Just about every lawyer has at least an occasional period in which it seems that work is pressing 18-20 hours a day, and most of us know intuitively that it’s important to recover following that kind of exertion.
But what about the [...]

Monday’s efficiency/productivity tip

Most of us start each day with a “to do” list, or at least a good idea of what must be accomplished. Time management experts often suggest starting by knocking off the easiest tasks, and overachievers often attack the toughest item first. However, each of these approaches misses the mark and may facilitate [...]

Is your employer a mastodon?

Just a short post this morning, as I’m attending a conference in Dallas and must head downstairs to put my own networking tips to good use.
Matt Dillon, general counsel for Sun Microsystems and author of the blog The Legal Thing, recently announced (with analysis) that large, pricey law firms may go the way of the [...]

What could a professional coach do for your practice?

Lawyers and law firms increasingly have the concept of coaching on their radar screens, particularly as coaching continues to filter into the mainstream. Now that the concept is well-known, the next step is gaining familiarity with how coaching actually works, what topics may be addressed, and what the effects may be over a given [...]