Question of the Week

What are the biggest misconceptions people have about lawyers?

Whether it’s the fault of TV shows and movies–or a simple lack of familiarity with how the legal system works–there seems to be a lot of confusion about the reality of what lawyers do, and what kinds of personalities lawyers have. Sometimes this impacts the expectations clients have of their…

Apr 2, 2015 10:00 AM CDT

What’s the most outlandish excuse you’ve heard someone give for being late to court?

Last week, a Manhattan judge handed down sanctions in the amount of $12,000 for what he said was a lawyer’s repeated falsehoods about his tardiness. In one such instance, attorney Carlos G. Garcia first claimed he was stuck in traffic during a missed court conference. Then he later claimed he…

Mar 25, 2015 5:40 PM CDT

How long is too long to stay in the same job?

This week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the average tenure of a legal job is about 5.4 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employers are starting use data to predict when someone will leave their job, and what factors make it most likely for someone to…

Mar 18, 2015 4:45 PM CDT

What are your go-to grammar guides?

Lawyers tend to care very deeply about language. Arguments frequently develop in our comments sections over punctuation, capitalization and grammar. ABA Journal columnist Bryan A. Garner once devoted an entire column to the word “shall.” And our own readers are not alone in their fervor. The battles over what constitutes…

Mar 11, 2015 3:15 PM CDT

Do you have a treasured keepsake in your office?

Many of us like to have tiny objects or touchstones on our desks or in our offices, some of which date back to the beginning of our careers. These might have little value to outsiders, but they remind us of important career milestones or beloved people in our lives. One…

Mar 4, 2015 3:00 PM CST

Should vaccination be required by law?

After the recent measles outbreak, even more attention has been focused on the debate over vaccines and the declining rate of childhood vaccination in many areas. All 50 states allow medical exemptions for vaccines that would otherwise be required for a child to attend schools. Most other states offer parents…

Feb 25, 2015 4:30 PM CST

Have you met any lawyers like Saul Goodman?

We’ve gotten hooked on the AMC series Better Call Saul since its premiere two weeks ago. Watching Jimmy McGill scramble for $700-a-head public defense cases on his way toward his inevitable transformation into “criminal” lawyer Saul Goodman has us eagerly anticipating each new development. The return of characters such as…

Feb 19, 2015 9:40 AM CST

Do you carry an expensive pen, or rely on cheaper office supplies?

When we published a post last week about an attorney who was demanding the return or replacement of a $500 Montblanc Meisterstück pen, which disappeared at a courthouse security checkpoint, we had no idea the deep passion for which our readers held for their office supplies. Recommendations on the perfect…

Feb 11, 2015 3:45 PM CST

What book, movie or TV show would you most like to see developed into a sequel or spin-off?

For some fans who sincerely mourned the end of the AMC drama Breaking Bad, reports that the lawyer character Saul Goodman would be getting his own spin-off series on the network was welcome news. Better Call Saul, a prequel which explores Goodman’s origin story, will premiere this Sunday, according to…

Feb 4, 2015 3:25 PM CST

Have you ever asked for a raise? If so, did you succeed in getting one?

This week, we noted a law professor’s assertions, based on her research, that women who ask for raises tend to be disliked, while men don’t suffer from a loss of reputation–and men are more likely to have their request for a raise granted. The topic came up on the New…

Jan 28, 2015 2:00 PM CST

Do you agree with laws setting age limits on when a child can be alone in public?

Last week, we noted that a Maryland couple was under investigation by Montgomery County Child Protective Services because they allowed their 10-year-old and 6-year-old to walk home together from a park that was about a mile from their home. The county office referred to a Maryland law stating that any…

Jan 21, 2015 1:42 PM CST

Do you think that lie-detector tests are useful or complete nonsense?

Last week, we noted that California is requiring paroled sex offenders to take periodic lie-detector tests, and that British and Dutch researchers are developing a new form of lie-detector test that they say has a high success rate. So this week, we’d like to ask you: What do you think…

Jan 14, 2015 12:52 PM CST

What lawyer, past or present, do you think would be a good subject for a feature film biopic?

For the 10th straight year, The Black List (PDF) was released on the second Friday of December. It is a survey that asks hundreds of film executives to put forth their 10 favorite not-in-production scripts of that year.

Jan 7, 2015 2:05 PM CST

How does your firm mark the winter holidays?

The end of the year brings a flurry of holidays, bonuses and festivities–and many annual holiday letters which give law firms the opportunity to reach out to current and potential clients to build business or support their professional causes. We received one such imaginative card from Fix the Court, a…

Dec 23, 2014 1:24 PM CST

What changes would you make to ethics rules for lawyers?

This week, a Northwestern University law professor argued that in light of the revelations about lawyers for the U.S. government who condoned the CIA’s use of harsh interrogation techniques for suspected terrorists, “an enhanced ethical regime” for the legal profession is needed. Professor Alexa Van Brunt suggested that a “do…

Dec 17, 2014 2:05 PM CST