Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

Keep it Simple, Start With the Statute, Stupid

You may be familiar with the “KISS Principle” attributed to one Kelly Johnson,  a renowned aeronautical engineer at Lockheed Martin.

It turns out that the concept of “Keep It Simple, Stupid” applies whether you are designing aircraft or solving legal issues.

Categories
Fluff

Could Someone Please Pay Me Off Already?

I have been railing against the establishment in the legal profession for going on four years already. You would think that by now I would have annoyed at least a few well-established lawyers with deep pockets.

It seems to me that by this time someone would have offered to pay me at least six figures to abandon my principles, put down my metaphorical pen, and shut up.

Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

I’ll Tell You What He Didn’t Do

Those of you who read my stuff from time to time know that when I retired, I moved to the country, bought a pick-up truck, and started listening to country music. One song I like is by Carly Pearce, and it has the following lyrics:

Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

Career Quiz for Law Students and Young Lawyers

So you went to Law School and participated in the legal clinic at the Fasken Building at University of Toronto or won a scholarship from Davies at Osgoode Hall.  Somehow you were given the impression by your Law School experience that if you did not get yourself hired by a Big Law firm (“BL”), you  would be a second-rate lawyer.

Although critical thinkers at Law School should have warned you about the Golden Rule, (“he who has the gold makes the rules”) and its corollary (“follow the money to find the guilty,”) you may have missed that lesson and ended up believing that bigger is better.

Categories
Mental Health and Work/Life Balance

To All the Law Students Who I have Loved (or Just Liked a Bit)

I write a lot about work/life balance, mental health, and the pursuit of things other than money in the legal profession.

My wife (and lawyer) Maureen McKay has laughed at me about this (among other things.) She has said, “Murray, if any of the young people who you counsel to pursue a balanced lifestyle were to have applied to your firm back when you were hiring Associates and talked about working reasonable hours and reserving evenings and weekends for their families, you would not have hired them.”

She’s right. But, in my defense, it’s complicated.

Categories
The Practice of Law

Reflections on M&A, Musical Chairs, and Mental Health

People of my vintage remember playing musical chairs at birthday parties, back before the days when money was so plentiful that it seemed to be important to impress the neighbours by hiring clowns and musicians or renting bouncy castles to entertain five-year-olds.

For those of you who did not have the pleasure of being pushed off of a chair by some mean kid who had fifty pounds on you, the idea was that music would be played while the children would circle a number of chairs that was always one fewer than the number of kids marching around them.

Categories
Law Firm Management

Another Law Firm Just Went Down

“Write what you know.” 

Mark Twain

I know absolutely nothing about the collapse of Minden Gross LLP beyond what I have read in the Globe & Mail. However, I did hang around the legal profession for a long time, and I figure that qualifies me to comment.

Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Gratitude and The Appreciation Deficit

“I am happy because I’m grateful. I choose to be grateful. That gratitude allows me to be happy.”

~ Will Arnett

The other day I received a private message from a lawyer who I have never met in person. She expressed her appreciation for my contributions to the profession in my retirement and did so in a manner that was warm and sincere. I practically blushed when I read it.  She made my day.

Categories
The Practice of Law

Be Wrong, Confidently!

I came across a lawyer the other day who makes mistakes in his communications with clients and the other side. None of the errors will likely land him in too much trouble. They may even be excusable based on the theory that spending too much time trying to be ‘perfect’ is unhealthy and expensive for clients who are being billed based on the amount of time spent on the matter. But they are mistakes nonetheless, and they could all be caught with a bit more thought and proof-reading.

Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

Living in Different Worlds

I believe that lawyers should not compete based on price. I tell this to my mentees, and sometimes the response is, “that is easy for you to say from a cruise ship in the Pacific. I’m struggling to get files in the door and pay my rent.”

I also think that new lawyers should avoid practicing in areas that have become commodities and are particularly fee sensitive, such as residential real estate. My young friends tell me that they have to get cash in the door and that doing some real estate files is the best way to do it.