Question of the Week

What is the top tip you’d share with new lawyers in their first year of practice?

This week, we’d like to ask you: What is the top tip you’d share with new lawyers in their first year of practice? From this week until 12 a.m. CT on Sept. 9, 2014, you can actually enter your best piece of advice into a contest sponsored by the ABA…

Aug 27, 2014 6:00 PM CDT

Which students should go to law school? And which should not?

This week, George Mason University law professor Michael Krauss laid out plainly which students he thinks belong in law school—and which do not. Students interested in “pursuing justice,” in helping those who can’t afford legal help, and “in soberly attempting to understand and solve the incredibly difficult, and incredibly interesting,…

Aug 20, 2014 5:35 PM CDT

Pitch us your idea for a legal TV show

This week, the first 10-second teaser trailer was released for the much-anticipated comedy-drama Better Call Saul, a spinoff of the hit drama Breaking Bad. The TV show stars Bob Odenkirk as “criminal lawyer” Saul Goodman, and is set six years before the events of Breaking Bad. Two other legal shows…

Aug 13, 2014 8:00 PM CDT

‘Said no lawyer ever’: What is something you will never hear a lawyer utter?

We recently stumbled on the video meme “Said No Teacher Ever,” in which teachers make statements that they’d really never make. (Here’s a playlist of some examples.) Among the statements they claim no teacher would ever say: “No Child Left Behind? Best. Program. Ever.” “Don’t you love standardized testing?” “Yes,…

Aug 6, 2014 5:30 PM CDT

Have you seen a pro se litigant prevail in court? How did they do it?

“The man who represents himself has a fool for a client.” It’s one of the justice system’s oldest maxims. Going pro se is against just about everyone’s advice. But not every pro se litigant loses their case, even when they themselves have no legal background. Just last week, a pro…

Jul 30, 2014 8:30 PM CDT

Do you think jurors should be able to pose questions to lawyers and trial witnesses?

Last week, the jury in a Boston corruption trial had a whopping 281 questions for lawyers and trial witnesses. Among other questions, jurors asked for a definition of “racketeering.” The Boston Globe interviewed lawyers and law professors about their thoughts on the practice of allowing juror questions during trial. One…

Jul 23, 2014 7:05 PM CDT

What tactics do you use to improve your memory, and do they work?

Two recent posts by Sam Glover at Lawyerist have championed ink and paper over a computer screen. A post last month noted a study finding that students who took notes on laptops performed worse on conceptual questions than those who took notes with pen and paper. “Setting aside the potential…

Jul 16, 2014 7:03 PM CDT

Does your boss stick up for you when it matters, or not?

Word got out quickly when Florida Judge John Murphy threatened assistant public defender Andrew Weinstock in his courtroom before asking him to step outside, where Murphy reportedly struck Weinstock. Murphy subsequently took a four-week paid leave of absence and returned to the bench last week—though he is only hearing civil…

Jul 9, 2014 6:35 PM CDT

What do you do when a client doesn’t pay the bill?

In a story from the July issue of the ABA Journal, Miami criminal defense solo Scott Saul shares why he often doesn’t chase down unpaid legal bills. “Ninety-nine percent of the time when people don’t pay me, it’s because they don’t have the money. It’s not because they don’t want…

Jul 1, 2014 8:15 PM CDT

How do you respond to family and friends who ask for legal help outside your area of expertise?

Have you ever received a call—possibly an urgent one—from a friend or relative about a DUI, even though you’re a corporate lawyer? Depending on how long your career has been, you’ve probably often received questions from people close to you about a legal question you’re not familiar with. And those…

Jun 25, 2014 6:40 PM CDT

Do you have a favorite signature cocktail recipe you’d like to share?

We’re stepping away from law practice topics this week having learned that this Thursday marks National Martini Day. This made us wonder: Do you enjoy a mojito on Mondays? Or are you more a whiskey sour on Wednesdays? Do you have a unique drink recipe that all of your colleagues…

Jun 18, 2014 7:20 PM CDT

Have you ever made a regrettable error in a brief? Or seen one? What was it?

Last week, a Michigan lawyer was fined $1,000 after profanely slamming the court in a written appeal of a contempt case. The offending sentence: “When the judiciary acts as the bitch for the complainant, we get rulings like this.” The lawyer’s response? “I don’t know why I said it,” MLive…

Jun 11, 2014 6:53 PM CDT

How have you gotten yourself out of a professional or personal rut?

“One of the biggest problems I see as a lawyer who represents small business owners is failure to launch,” Florida solo Suzanne Meehle writes at Solo Practice University. But lawyers—including herself—are not immune, she writes. “You can read up on every book about starting a law firm. You can take…

Jun 4, 2014 7:18 PM CDT

What attributes will you (or did you) consider when deciding where to practice law?

Earlier this month at Unwashed Advocate, Eric Mayer, a lawyer based in Overland Park, Kansas, wrote about his eventual desire to relocate to small-town Colby, Kansas. He arrived at this conclusion in part based on Colby’s availability of work, air quality, availability of services, weather, things to do, cost of…

May 28, 2014 8:45 PM CDT

Have you had lucky breaks in your legal career?

The Cleveland Cavaliers secured the No. 1 draft pick in Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery despite only having a 1.7 percent chance of doing so (see SB Nation for an explanation of the weighted lottery system). That’s the second straight year and the third time in four years that the franchise…

May 21, 2014 5:10 PM CDT