Alert readers of this blog will recall that amendments of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure went into effect on Dec. 1, 2015, including a new requirement that discovery be “proportional to the needs of the case.” The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) thinks that’s a good thing. Critics, like … Continue reading Is Proportionality of Discovery Good or Bad?
Newly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan invited Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to dinner the other night. “A Ryan aide said the two lawmakers talked shop for a short time and spent most of the evening getting to know each other.” This is consistent with my suggestion that counterpart lawyers have lunch … Continue reading Getting to Know You
FOI Jean Sternlight announced that 19 (count ’em) articles are available online from UNLV’s great-looking symposium, Psychology and Lawyering: Coalescing the Field. (Click on the title of the post to access the link.)
As you may know, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS), is a “national, independent research center dedicated to facilitating continuous improvement and advancing excellence in the American legal system.” It is an impressive, high-powered organization based in the University of Denver. It just released a new report entitled, Change the … Continue reading PEDR is Important for Culture Change in Courts
You might like to read the cover story in the November 2015 issue of the ABA Journal, “Lawyers Shackled by Fear, Fear Not: While Feelings of Dread May Be Endemic to the Legal Profession, They Can Be Transformed to Positive Effect,” which features my article, Escaping from Lawyers’ Prison of Fear. (Click on the title … Continue reading Escaping Lawyers’ Prison of Fear in Litigation and Negotiation
Following my post summarizing Lawrence Krieger and Kennon Sheldon’s research on what makes lawyers (and law students) happy, I just saw this blog post with Krieger’s concise and practical message to students based on that research. He tells students that they can focus on extrinsic motivations, competing with other students, and try to survive in … Continue reading Law Students Can Choose to Thrive or Merely Survive
Money can’t buy me love. – Paul McCartney As a corollary to psychologist McCartney’s insight, money can’t buy lawyers (much) happiness. That’s one of the key findings of Lawrence Krieger and Kennon Sheldon’s impressive study, What Makes Lawyers Happy?: A Data-Driven Prescription to Redefine Professional Success. This post includes excerpts from this article, sans … Continue reading What Makes Lawyers Happy? – And How Can You Help?
Life can be darn irritating. In a NYT op-ed piece, Arthur Brooks argues that “When I am working for myself, any disappointing outcome is a stressful, unpleasant reflection on me. When I am serving, on the other hand, the work is always intrinsically valuable because of its intention. Adopting a service mind-set guarantees some measure … Continue reading Satisfaction Through Service
Recently, I was asked to write a post for a state bar association blog with highlights from my article, My Last Lecture: More Unsolicited Advice for Future and Current Lawyers. Then I thought, heck, I should post it here too. Understand Your Clients’ Interests. Lawyers often assume that they know what their clients want–to get … Continue reading Tips for Lawyers Who Want to Get Good Results for Clients and Make Money
Several weeks ago, I posted an item about an article with advice for law students (and, to some extent, lawyers): My Last Lecture: More Unsolicited Advice for Future and Current Lawyers. I would love to get any comments or suggestions about the things that students do to drive you crazy (crazier?) and what they might … Continue reading Request for Comments on My Last Lecture