Columns

How legal practice is like working retail

Customers and clients need to realize their attitude can affect the level of service they receive. Lawyers can fire clients, but hourly workers can simply avoid certain customers and render themselves unhelpful, writes retired lawyer Margaret Makar.

May 20, 2021 9:20 AM CDT

What associates have to know about making a lateral move to a new market out of state

The days when attorneys remained loyal to one firm for decades are, for the most part, long gone.

May 17, 2021 10:08 AM CDT

Claim denied: A lawyer’s musings on the shortcomings of insurance

As lawyers, many of us either fight insurance companies or represent them. Sue or defend, we are all connected with insurance by buying it. When did the concept of insurance start?

May 12, 2021 12:52 PM CDT

4 ways to work toward an anti-racist allyship

Over the course of the last four years, the Trump administration’s policies, practices and rhetoric not only laid bare the deleterious effects of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance, but it also revealed the manner in which ideologies of oppression—anti-Black racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, xenophobia and anti-Asian racism—may also overlap, intersect and interlock.

May 12, 2021 10:30 AM CDT

What this senior counsel learned from ‘the solar-powered lawyer’

I sowed each seed in my garden with equal care and affection. I took great pains to ensure optimal growing conditions: watering them, providing the prescribed fertilizer and periodically extracting weeds.

May 6, 2021 11:12 AM CDT

Is being ‘Locked Up Abroad’ any worse than being locked up at home?

At the beginning of this year, I wrote a column about the National Geographic channel series Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller. The column focused on fentanyl, known by some as “the most dangerous drug in America.” In that article, I mentioned my affinity for the National Geographic channel’s programming. Specifically,…

May 6, 2021 10:56 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: Despite SCOTUS ruling, questions of personal jurisdiction remain unsettled

Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District is important in clarifying the law of personal jurisdiction, but it also raises many questions that will confront lower state and federal courts and ultimately need Supreme Court resolution.

May 3, 2021 8:52 AM CDT

Retired BigLaw partner tells tales of lawyers, FBI and kidnapping epidemic of 1930s in new book

Any discussion of kidnapping during the early 20th century calls to mind the 1932 abduction and killing of aviator Charles Lindbergh’s toddler son. But as Carolyn Cox demonstrates, kidnapping for ransom extended far beyond the “crime of the century.”

Apr 28, 2021 3:00 PM CDT

In defense of the team: What basketball and law practice have in common

March Madness is over for one more year, and I will miss it. It is not as if I know a lot about basketball, and I can hear my son say, “Mom, why are you writing about basketball?” He knows I never played the game, and Title IX came much too late for me. But that does not keep me from being a devoted fan.

Apr 27, 2021 10:49 AM CDT

Manage your bankruptcy law practice with this software

Case management software for bankruptcy lawyers has been a burgeoning legal software category for a number of years, and there are now a few products available that cater to this practice area, writes lawyer Nicole Black of MyCase.

Apr 27, 2021 9:01 AM CDT

A BigLaw partner’s journey through clinical depression

Back in the day, I ran with the big dogs in BigLaw. Now, after suffering with clinical depression for more than 20 years and surviving a suicide attempt, I am happier than ever in the legal profession. My mental health journey is a cautionary tale, but one with a message of hope.

Apr 23, 2021 12:02 PM CDT

NALP executive director talks empowering careers, recruiting and professional development

Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Jim Leipold, the executive director of the National Association for Law Placement—an organization focused on career counseling and planning; recruitment and retention; and the professional development of law students, lawyers and its members.

Apr 23, 2021 9:06 AM CDT

A look at HBO Max’s ‘Q: Into the Storm,’ QAnon, conspiracies and sovereign citizens

Back in late 2018, my best friend, Frank, sent me a text message with one line of letters: “WWG1WGA.” That was my introduction to QAnon, but sadly, it wasn’t my last exposure.

Apr 22, 2021 12:39 PM CDT

5 recommendations as Biden works to dismantle discriminatory immigration policies

Since ascending to the Oval Office, President Joe Biden has issued executive orders, memorandums and actions to address the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration agenda. For instance, on his first day in office, Biden rescinded former President Donald Trump’s notorious Muslim and African bans, which restricted travel to the U.S. from predominantly Muslim-majority and African countries.

Apr 19, 2021 9:41 AM CDT

Evidential essentials: How witnesses can make or break a case

It was a cold Canadian winter morning. But let me get back to that in a moment. The success of your case often gets down to three things: witnesses, witnesses and witnesses. Good advocacy helps, too, but that generally means marshaling good witnesses.

Apr 15, 2021 10:04 AM CDT