Articles

After more than 200 columns for this newsletter over the past 30 years, this will be My Last Monthly Missive on law, life, legal malpractice and baseball. That announcement will cause no tremors on Wall Street, nor will it stir excitement among the masses. In fact, it is unlikely to be of much interest to any sentient being on the planet except the dog, who is interested in everything I do and enraptured by everything I say because I am the Bringer of Treats and Opener of the Back Door.    Read More +

As the Carolina landscape turns red and gold and November arrives with a nip, I bring you news from the Fall Classic to brighten your Law Life:  There is greatness all around, and giants walk among us. For proof, look no further than Major League Baseball’s champion Texas Rangers, winners of the 2023 World Series.    Read More +

 When was the last time you truly savored a win in your Law Life?  The type of win – a job promotion, a grateful client, a favorable case outcome – is irrelevant. As is the size. The printer is finally unjammed! I found my keys! It’s not Monday! Even small victories deserve to be savored. So why don’t we do it more often?   Read More +

Want to rejuvenate your Law Life?  Stop working so hard and start playing more. The key to a saner, safer and more sensational Law Life might just be to have more fun, not bill more hours. And there’s a growing body of evidence to back that up.      Read More +

Could your Law Life use a miracle? How about 50 to 100 miracles an hour?  Well, they’re available now and absolutely free, right outside your window. The annual Perseid meteor shower – the Best Celestial Event of the Year, according to the American Meteorological Society – is playing now in a night sky near you. The show runs from July to September 1, with peak viewing in mid-August.   Read More +

Do you ever ask yourself, “Shouldn’t it be getting easier?”  By “it” I mean practicing law. But I also mean practicing life. If you’ve done it long enough to get the hang of it and learned a few lessons along the way, shouldn’t it be getting easier every day?  Yet it isn’t. Occasionally your JD is the opposite of Just Delightful, and you find yourself standing on the front lawn at 2 AM shaking your fist at the cosmos bellowing: “Why is everything so hard?”    Read More +

Just back from my 2023 Spring Training baseball tour with exciting news to report on chili slaw-dogs, Shohei Ohtani and the privilege of pressure. Not to mention the Pitch Clock – the biggest rules change in Major League Baseball since the Designated Hitter. Plus the marvelous World Baseball Classic, which was just getting underway as I wrapped up my most recent visit to MLB training camps in south Florida.   Read More +

Do you deliver client service on a silver platter or in a crumpled paper bag?  The answer could determine whether your law practice is soaring or stagnant. As an illustration, consider the following Tale of Two Glasses.   Read More +

Want a New Year’s Resolution that’s free, painless and guaranteed to improve your Law Life? Resolve to make 2023 the Year of Managed Expectations.  To succeed, you don’t have to join a gym, swear off Ghirardelli Premium Chocolate Squares, or cancel Netflix. You will have to change your thinking – and perhaps a behavior or two. But if you stick with it, great riches will come your way. Read More +

Over the years, I have represented lots of lawyers who had unsatisfying Law Lives because they were chasing after the wrong things.  This was not my judgment, mind you. This was by their own admission, though it often took them a while to realize it. For years – sometimes decades – they had been too busy waking up each morning, putting on their lawyer hat, and doing what they did the day before to indulge in career introspection. Besides, it seemed to be working. Their practices were thriving, their appointment calendars full, their in-box overflowing.   Read More +

I love old buildings – the grander, statelier and more steeped in history the better. It’s one reason I was attracted to the law in the first place. This attraction dates back to my childhood in Kingstree, South Carolina. Three blocks west of the house I grew up in was the magnificent Williamsburg County courthouse. Its multilevel front steps opened onto a wide portico with towering columns and a massive door like the door to a castle.   Read More +

This story begins with a $10 million dollar Mickey Mantle baseball card and ends with the statute of limitations. In between is a lesson for your Law Life on letting go of the past.   Read More +

Friends, lawyers, colleagues, lend me your ears: I come to bury “work-life balance,” not to praise it. The phrase belongs in the Dustbin of the Obsolete, along with the pet rock, Chevy Vega, Blockbuster Video membership card and Ronco Rhinestone Stud Setter. And good riddance, I say. The idea that your “work” and your “life” are two separate, distinct things on opposite ends of some cosmic scale has long passed its expiration date. The stress of finding the perfect balance between your personal and professional selves, the struggle to maintain it for a minute, an hour, a whole day. Who needs it?   Read More +

Once there was a lawyer who froze. It happened at a bad moment – a terrible one, professionally speaking. He was standing before a room full of other lawyers giving a CLE presentation on the 10 Building Blocks of a Successful Law Practice. Within minutes of starting, an attendee asked an impossible question, and his brain shut down.    Read More +

There are many times you need to ask that your clients send you files. Most everyone knows how to attach files and send via email, but is there a better way? Are there a lot of files? Large files? Do the files hold sensitive information like bank records, taxes, or insurance claims? There are many ways to securely request files that will make it easier and more secure for you and your clients. And you probably have the tools to do so already!   Read More +

This is the story of a young basketball fan, a perfect season that ended in heartbreak, and a mother who kept things real. Tucked in there like a cross-hand dribble is a little message about law, life and what really matters in both.   Read More +

This year for my birthday I gave myself the gift of hernia surgery. I cannot say it was the most fun gift ever, but still, I am grateful. Technically what I had was an Inguinal Hernia Repair – the awful name suggests the unpleasantness of the procedure – and I came away with not only a reinforced abdominal wall but also some valuable Law Lessons and the World’s Best BLT Sandwich. Here’s hoping this story will add a little brightness to Your Law Life too.   Read More +

Here’s some free advice: if you want to make your clients happy, don’t give them too many choices. That may sound counterintuitive. After all, it’s their case. They’re the Ultimate Deciders. Your job is to supply the map, point out different routes to the destination, and let them choose. Read More +

This Valentine’s Day, if you’re seeking a sweet role model for your Law Life, look no further than Minnie Minoso. Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso – better known by baseball fans as “Mr. White Sox” or “The Cuban Comet” or just Minnie – was not only a wonder on the ballfield. He was also a trailblazer ...   Read More +

Here’s a tip for a terrific Law Life: make room for a little astonishment each day. You may find it’s easier said than done. Nothing surprises us anymore. We’ve seen and heard it all. We can stream any movie ever made, listen to any song ever recorded, google the answer to any question ever asked.   Read More +