ABA Journal

Columns

How lawyers can embrace their inner 'chicken'

"Chicken?" Why not? I would like to talk about a subject many of us in the legal profession are afraid to discuss: fear. As lawyers, our work can be stressful, leaving us gripped with fear. This must be a relevant issue, as with my glance at a thesaurus, I note that there are at least three synonyms for fear beginning with the just letter “a” alone—namely “anxiety,” “alarm” and “angst.”


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The public defender approach to personal life

I started my legal career in the Oklahoma County Public Defender’s Office. During one of my 1L first-semester classes, the Oklahoma County public defender and the Oklahoma County district attorney spoke with my section. They conveyed the opportunities available in their offices and explained the application process. I knew from the beginning of law school that I wanted to practice criminal defense, so I showed up at the PD’s office the next day. The intern coordinator kindly told me to wait until I had at least finished my first round of final exams.


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Chemerinsky: Expect momentous decisions from the Supreme Court as term ends

Unless there is an emergency matter to be heard, the U.S. Supreme Court completed oral arguments for the October 2022 term April 26. The court is expected to hand down decisions by the end of June in all of the argued cases, with a flurry of decisions in the most high-profile cases expected at the very end. What are likely to be the most important rulings from the October 2022 term?


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'Bluey' and teaching your children about the legal system

My son is quickly approaching his fifth birthday. I’ve been writing this column for longer than he’s been alive, so many of my regular readers have seen me reference him in one way or another in multiple installments over the last half-decade. And as he’s grown, so has his taste in entertainment.


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Software company CEO discusses the importance of being customer-centric

Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Eric Thurston, the president and CEO of SurePoint Technologies, a provider of client management, practice management and financial management software to law firms nationwide.


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Optimizing Legal Workflows: Enhance firm efficiency with online process servers

In 2023, work is accomplished in very different ways than in years past. Because of pandemic-related technology adoption, familiarity with cloud computing and remote work tools has increased dramatically.


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5 ways to scale in-house resources in the face of an economic downturn

After years of unbridled hiring, a growing number of tech companies recently have made headlines with layoffs and recruiting slowdowns. In-house counsel jobs, especially at tech companies, are not exempt.


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Examining NBC's new 'Night Court' and new judges

I’ve never given much thought to being a judge. Sure, the idea comes to mind every election cycle, and I’ve been approached by a few individuals a couple of different times regarding throwing my hat in the ring. Still, I’ve never taken the notion seriously. First of all, I love my job as a criminal defense attorney. Secondly, as tough as it is to advocate for the legally damned, I think adjudicating someone to legal damnation would be more challenging.


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Shaping the Future of Law: Legalweek 2023 recap and analysis

During the recently completed Legalweek 2023, artificial intelligence dominated the conversation. Not everyone agreed on how legal professionals should—or could—use it. But no matter who you talked to, one thing was certain: The legal landscape will undergo a significant transformation due to the recent and rapid advancements in AI.


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Retired patent attorney who helped nab 'Golden State Killer' recounts her remarkable journey

In September 1998, a landscape worker clearing brush near I-85 in Mebane, North Carolina, came upon the skeletal remains of an unidentified child under a towering Howard Johnson’s sign. Despite law enforcement efforts, the youth remained nameless for two decades. He was simply known as “the Boy Under the Billboard.”


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