idealawg

Storytelling in the law: Focus of the current edition of The Journal of the Legal Writing Institute

Storytelling has always been a valued topic here so I was delighted to learn that the Journal of the Legal Writing Institute has devoted a whole issue to the telling of stories as it relates to the law. Articles you may read online (all in pdf) include:

• Storytelling, Narrative Rationality, and Legal Persuasion
• Lawyer as Artist: Using Significant Moments and Obtuse Objects to Enhance Advocacy
• The Plot Thickens: The Appellate Brief as Story
• Justice Formation from Generation to Generation: Atticus Finch and the Stories Lawyers Tell Their Children

Click to see all the articles.

Hat tip to Ray Ward at the (new) legal writer.

The legal profession is changing, but how?

High salaries and prestige, training and loyalty, alternatives to traditional law firms, and generational differences are just a few of the topics addressed in  "Junior Associate Woes - The State of the Legal Profession, Part 2" (FindLaw), an article reporting on a symposium held last month at Stanford Law. Although I urge you the read the article in its entirety, below are a few excerpts I found most provocative of thought.

"Young lawyers want to work at home in their pajamas, looking at their fish tanks and listening to their iPods," said Gordon Davidson, Partner and Chairman, Fenwick & West LLP. Although his statement is tongue-in-cheek, it captures the "play ethic" embodied in younger generations.
. . .
According to some lawyers who post on FindLaw's Greedy Associates, the current state of the profession is so unfulfilling that there is a distinct career path for attorneys, from "BigLaw through to non-legal employment." Essentially, the professional life of an attorney is a progression from money to self-fulfillment.

. . ."The law firm that cracks the lifestyle

New edition of THE JURY EXPERT now online

May's edition of The Jury Expert includes the following articles for your online reading:

"Four Generations in the Jury Box: Tailor Your Message, Make the Connection" by Cam Marston
There are four generations in the jury box today. Each generation has their own perspective and experiences. These experiences and perspectives are described and recommendations made for attorneys to communicate in ways that they can be heard by all the generations in the jury box.

"How to Successfully Integrate an iPod into Your Litigation Practice" by David Mykel
Got an iPod? Take a look at the many ways you can use this highly portable "hard drive" to store multiple pieces of data you need for trial and trial preparation.

"Witness Preparation: Hidden False Assumptions, Real Truths and Recommendations" (Part One) by David Illig
Attorneys and witnesses make basic assumptions that greatly impact their behavior both in preparation for testimony and testimony itself. In this initial article, learn to identify two of those erroneous assumptions and how you can avoid them in your work with witnesses.

"What Do You Hear When You Listen? Five Principles with Tips for Developing Critical Listening Skills" by Diane Wyzga [idealawg interview of Wyzga]
Listening is a complex process. Five principles for the development of critical listening skills are presented and tips for using those skills to enhance client relationships are offered.

Click to read these articles and more and to subscribe to The Jury Expert.

idealawg is now an Alltop blog

I am very pleased to be included in Guy Kawasaki's featured blogs at Alltop. The site's tagline is "We've got all the top stories covered all the time." And I am honored to be a part of this group of blogs that was added today:

• Diane Levin's Mediation Channel and World Directory of ADR Blogs
• Vickie Pynchon's Settle It Now Negotiation Blog
• Geoff Sharp's mediator blah...blah...
• Tammy Lenski's conflict zen
• Gini Nelson's Engaging Conflicts
• Christopher Annunziata's CKA Mediation & Arbitration Blog

Visit us all at http://law.alltop.com. Tag line for this section of Alltop: "We've got Law covered."

Lifestyle issues in a sister profession related to lawyer quality of life: What's up or down, Doc?

Does improving a physician's quality of life enhance patient care? The majority of those interviewed in this article from Medscape say yes. As I read the article, I kept wondering if the questions presented apply to the legal profession, too. I think they do. From "Improve Physician Quality of Life to Enhance Patient Care":

Doctors are under too much pressure, experts warn, and this is having a negative affect on patients. Physicians who are overworked, overburdened, and generally stressed out are less available to patients and not as effective. Disregard the basic needs of healthcare professionals and patients are soon neglected too.

Do overworked lawyers equal underserved clients?

A recent blog post on the medical profession (Brain Blogger) looks at both the doctor quality-of-life question, and also at the shortage of physicians in the US. Is the shortage because of the increase of women physicians and their working fewer hours, or because of a generation that wants a different kind of life?

Time are changing and the next generation of physicians are not going to stay up all night and take call at any hour of the day to maintain the physician-patient relationship.

Do female physicians work less than their

New edition of THE COMPLETE LAWYER now online: The focus is "A sound mind in a sound body"

Another chock-full edition of The Complete Lawyer is up and awaiting your reading eyes and minds. Articles include one I wrote with Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz: "Exercise Mind Hygiene On A Daily Basis." Excerpt:

Do you ever have days when you describe your life as out of control?  Is your career going in an unintended direction? Do you feel as if you don’t have the time to assess whether your personal and professional trajectory is consistent or colliding with your goals and values, or if it’s aligned with your daily preferences? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, stop! For just a moment, step off the treadmill and join us on solid ground.

Do you want to take control? If so, you already have the necessary tool—your reflective mind. Unfortunately too few people use this life-correcting instrument. Instead, most lawyers operate in a reactive mode. Some are so governed by the billable hour that their brains are like metronomes, still keeping time even when they are away from work, preventing them from paying full attention to life outside the office. Others are so motivated by fear of not scaling the Mt. Everest heights of the legal profession, of not meeting elusive standards or not moving fast enough that they suffer self-induced workaholism. Sadly, some lawyers are so governed by their reactive brains that they become physically ill.

Other don't-miss articles:

• "The Inextricable Link Between The Body And Mind" by Richard Strozzi-Heckler
• "What Are Your Options?" by Anne Whitaker
• "Find Gratitude, Be A Better Lawyer" by Joe Shaub
• "Your Next Presentation Can Be A Hit If You Follow The Rules" by Mark Johnson
• "Do You Think Like A Solo Practitioner?" by Susan Cartier Liebel
• "Hourly Billing Is The Opiate Of The Profession" by Ronald J. Baker
• "Live in Your Head and Your Heart" by Susan Daicoff
• "Use The Elements Of Fiction To Tell The Client’s Story" by Karen J. Sneddon

And much, much more! This edition includes the second column written by my sisters in the ADR 'hood (Vickie Pynchon, Diane Levin, and Gini Nelson) and me; click to read the new installment of our "The Human Factor."

Something for everyone in The Complete Lawyer. Enjoy.

Note (added May 2, 2008, 12:04 PM Mountain): From one of my favorite blogs (because it is smart, sharp, short, sassy, and even once in a while silly), an announcement of this edition of TCL. Do NOT miss how What About Clients? heralded this The Complete Lawyer; what they did is good for your mind and your body. Get moving! Love that crew of bloggers—Holden Oliver, Brooke Powell, Tom Welshonce and Dan Hull. Kind of a hybrid of Miley Cyrus, Benjamin Franklin, Britney Spears, George Washington, Robin Williams, and Angelina Jolie. (Maybe throw in a teaspoon of the Dalai Lama and Starhawk, too.)

Law review article "Happy Law Students, Happy Lawyers" looks at control, connections, creative challenge, and comparisons

From the abstract of the article "Happy Law Students, Happy Lawyers" (Syracuse Law Review) by Nancy Levit and Douglas Linder:

This article draws on research into the science of happiness and asks a series of interrelated questions: Whether law schools can make law students happier? Whether making happier law students will translate into making them happier lawyers, and the accompanying question of whether making law students happier would create better lawyers? After covering the limitations of genetic determinants of happiness and happiness set-points, the article addresses those qualities that happiness research indicates are paramount in creating satisfaction: control, connections, creative challenge (or flow), and comparisons (preferably downward). Those qualities are then applied to legal education, while addressing the larger philosophical question, What if happiness were a goal of law schools?

The authors believe that making law students happier does translate, at least in part, into making them both happier and better lawyers because there is an interplay among happiness, collaboration and professionalism.  . . .

The article concludes with some concrete suggestions about maximizing student happiness, through addressing some of the career reasons why law students become unhappy lawyers.  . . .

Download "Happy Law Students, Happy Lawyers" here.

Famous Trials Web site: Some great storytelling

Professor Douglas O. Linder of University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law has created a Web site Famous Trials which presents one intriguing story after another. From Professor Linder's faculty page:

The Famous Trials website, the Web's largest and most visited collection of original essays, images, and primary documents pertaining to great trials, has been an ongoing project of Professor Linder's since 1996.  Professor Linder has contributed book chapters, participated in video projects, and presented public speeches on the subject of historic trials.

I learned of Famous Trials in "Calling for Stories" (UMKC Law Review) by Nancy Levit & Allen Rostron.

Image credit: Jonathunder at Wikimedia

Pithy comments from my favorite contrarian, the wise Alan Weiss: The billable hour, cell phones, work/life balance

Alan Weiss opines at Contrarian Consulting. If you have not already done so, I recommend you add him to your RSS reader. Here are some Weiss comments from his post Nobody Asked Me, But….

On the billable hour

I’ve just facilitated a real-time consulting practicum, in which two teams worked on issues at a major U.S. organization and developed recommendations within two hours that were presented in 30 minutes, which the buyer thought were “awesome.” And, what, you still want to bill by the hour?

On cell phones

People just look goofy when they walk around with a blinking blue light in their ear. If they’re dressed well, they look even goofier. I told a lawyer in Atlanta that I wasn’t going to talk to him until he took it out of his ear. (Was he going to take a call during our meeting?)

On work/life balance

There are two equally ridiculous extremes: Refusing to look at business email on the weekend, and refusing to go to the beach during the week. You don’t have a business life and a personal life. You have a life. You might as well maximize its potential.

Eureka, a new discovery! A goldmine of articles for lawyers

Today I learned of a publication with many excellent articles for lawyers. Although many of the articles are specific to northern California plaintiff lawyers, many are of interest to a general lawyer readership. Just some examples (all articles are in pdf format):

Costuming for the courtroom by Katherine James

It takes more than legal argument to make your case. The author, an actress and jury consultant, puts a fashion eye on you and your client.

Art and law: Is there a connection? by Donna Bader

A look at the nexus of law and art, and the works of four attorneys and a judge who are also accomplished artists.

The truth about deception in mediation by Jeffrey Krivis

While deception can provide a bargaining advantage, it often comes at a cost.

Spirit of the law by Pat McHenry Sullivan

Spirituality and the law are not mutually exclusive. A look at how “mind, body, spirit” can enhance your practice.

Trials and tribulations: A profile of Oakland trial lawyer J. Gary Gwilliam by Stephen Ellison

A childhood filled with hard times that could have been a recipe for disaster instead yields a success story — with failures along the way.

Storytelling in brief-writing by Donna Bader [not sure what she means about "four years of law school"]

The truth is that no matter how intellectual a judge may seem, everybody loves a good story.

Plaintiff offers many more articles on topics ranging from trial practice to mediation to law office efficiency. Click through the archives and read the articles of interest to you.

Thanks to Pat, the tipster. I have posted about Pat McHenry Sullivan here at idealawg in the past.