Question of the Week

What are you reading right now?

This week, the novel Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee is flying off bookstore shelves. Watchman and its predecessor, To Kill a Mockingbird, were No. 1 and No. 2 on Amazon this past Tuesday, NBC News reports. So this week, we’d like to ask you: What are you reading?…

Jul 15, 2015 1:27 PM CDT

What is your favorite mobile app?

For many of us, our smartphones and tablets are our constant companions. And few of us get through the day without seeking help from an app. This fact is not lost on innovators in the legal profession. There are apps to help lawyers preserve evidence, write wills, navigate natural disasters…

Jul 8, 2015 2:05 PM CDT

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Last week at Attorney at Work, Canadian law firm consultant Jordan Furlong wrote about a great piece of advice he received as a 15-year-old. His first paying job was mowing a home’s lawn. When he finished the job, he realized he had no idea what his fee should be. Flustered,…

Jul 1, 2015 2:35 PM CDT

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen a co-worker do on the job?

Often we end up spending more of our waking hours with colleagues than our loved ones, so perhaps it’s inevitable that our quirks and oddities surface. From catching our co-workers napping at their desks to seeing them clip their nails or pick their noses, most people have a story or…

Jun 25, 2015 8:45 AM CDT

Which words would you banish, if you could?

The American vocabulary is constantly changing. And social media platforms have a vernacular of their own. But not everyone thinks change is for the better. For the 40th straight year, the powers that be at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, have come out with a List…

Jun 17, 2015 12:15 PM CDT

What are your time-saving habits?

This week on Inc., writer Betty Liu shares the time-saving habits of some CEOs. For instance, she writes, Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld “tries to fit in a workout at the gym and says one of the ways he shaves a little time out of his morning is to change in…

Jun 10, 2015 12:30 PM CDT

Are you barraged with ‘humblebrags’ on social media or in person?

Does it pay to rein in your social media self-promotion a bit? The Huffington Post and New York Magazine both note separate studies that say it might. Both studies focus specifically on “humblebrags”—statements that try to disguise a boast with a complaint of some sort. An example of a humblebrag…

Jun 3, 2015 2:55 PM CDT

Do you miss any technology that is now behind the times?

Westlaw recently notified its subscribers that Westlaw Classic will be discontinued later this summer. This has been inevitable since the 2010 launch of WestlawNext, Robert Ambrogi wrote this week at LawSites. “As of August 31, 2015, Westlaw Classic will go the way of New Coke, becoming only a haunting memory…

May 27, 2015 2:54 PM CDT

Should school standardized testing be required by law?

Corrected: The PARCC standardized test—administered to students in 11 states and the District of Columbia to measure whether they hit the benchmarks established by the national Common Core State Standards curriculum—has been under fire in state legislatures recently. (PARCC stands for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.)…

May 20, 2015 1:50 PM CDT

What do you wish you knew when you were 22?

LinkedIn is inviting its members to write essays describing what they’d do differently—or keep the same—if they knew when they were 22 what they know now. Some high-profile individuals have contributed. Richard Branson is glad that foolish things he did at age 22 didn’t result in consequences that compromised his…

May 13, 2015 1:00 PM CDT

Have you ever ‘fired’ a client, or wanted to? If so, why, and how did you do it?

Some lawyer-client relationships are simply dysfunctional. Maybe the client never takes your advice; forces you to spend a lot of time getting him or her to pay the bill; or browbeats you to the point that you lose confidence in your work with other clients. Many lawyers in this situation…

May 6, 2015 1:50 PM CDT

In your experience, do new lawyers have the necessary skills to be ready to practice?

In its first annual survey of law students, professors and practitioners, the BARBRI Group reports that one of the key findings was this: “Law students, and particularly 3L law students, assess their own readiness to practice law more positively than do attorneys who work with recent law school graduates.” The…

Apr 30, 2015 2:40 PM CDT

What is your office doing to be eco-friendly?

In celebration of Earth Day, we want to find out what lawyers and law firms are doing to go green. One firm that seems to be going above and beyond is the London-based firm Olswang. They converted their rooftop into a garden with flowers, fruits and vegetables—and 80,000 bees. Olswang…

Apr 23, 2015 12:10 PM CDT

What’s the biggest time suck in your day?

What are the biggest roadblocks to productivity in your day? Earlier this week, we reported on an consultant who has advised attorneys to stop checking their email as soon as it comes in and to delegate as many routine tasks to assistants as possible. But there are other things that…

Apr 16, 2015 11:30 AM CDT

What was the first moment you knew you wanted to be a lawyer?

Maybe it was a childhood dream. Maybe you were inspired in your teens. Maybe it was a pragmatic decision in your adulthood. But all attorneys have had a moment when they decided to make becoming a lawyer their goal. So this week, we want to hear from you: What was…

Apr 8, 2015 2:43 PM CDT