“I look in the mirror and wonder who the little old lady staring back at me is.”
Doris Gottheil, age 95
What a strange title. Everyone knows that it is only old lawyers who have to worry about retirement, not young ones. Right?
I think not.
Author: Murray Gottheil
I was speaking to a recent retiree from a Canadian Big Law firm the other day, and she introduced a new law firm concept to me, being that of the “Practice Assistant.” Apparently at her firm they did away with the concept of Legal Assistants (formerly, a “secretary” for you very old folks) and replaced it with a Practice Assistant, or “PA.”
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That Whooshing Noise
Let’s talk about deadlines. Here are two quotes to get us started:
From Douglas Adams, we give you the light-hearted Associate’s perspective: “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”
Don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security, because the truth comes from Amit Kalantri, who said: “A professional who doesn’t deliver as committed is not just lazy, he is a liar.”
Click here to read the article:
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Consistently Chaotic
Early in my articles, a senior partner named David asked me to draft a document and gave me a precedent to use. David approved my draft but asked me to show it to Bob, a more junior partner. Bob told me that I had left out an important clause and asked me if David had approved my drafting. When I assured him that David had thought the draft was fine, Bob rolled his eyes and I understood that Bob did not hold David in high regard.
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Greed
Whoever Dies With The Most Stuff Wins
–David Mitchell
The other day someone asked me why so many lawyers work excessive hours on the road to mental and physical health issues, divorce, and addiction.
The answer is simple. It is greed.
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Retired Mentors.com
This page is intended to help Mentors meet Mentees. It is sponsored by Law & Disorder Inc. on a non-profit basis. New Mentors are welcome and encouraged.
For more information and a list of Mentors, click here:
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Vacation Frustration
A junior Associate at a law firm called me the other day to complain. There is nothing unusual about that. Associates complain a lot, often with good reason.
Her complaint this time was that she told H.R. that she needed to take a day off for a personal reason and was informed that she had only two choices. She could take the day as vacation or unpaid.
“Leadership is a two-way street, loyalty up and loyalty down.”
Grace Murray Hopper
I thought that it might be fun to test my skills as a writer, by writing about two things that have virtually nothing to do with each other. I considered writing about mosquitos and energy drinks, flags and ostriches, or trees and jet skis. But I wanted to find things that are irreconcilable, regardless of any possible context. After much thought, I hit upon “loyalty” and “law firms.”
According to the fictional Professor Kingsfield in the movie “The Paper Chase,” law students “come in … (to law school) … with a skull full of mush and … leave thinking like a lawyer.”
I have often wondered whether I would have been better off keeping my mushy mind so that I could think like a normal person, but that is a question for another day.
Although law schools teach students to understand and apply legal principles, there is plenty of stuff that they never mention, including the importance of having a rudimentary understanding of psychology.