Question of the Week

If your title accurately described your job, what would your business card say?

While we’ve previously asked you to show us creative lawyer business cards that you’ve encountered (see our gallery), the job title on them is still usually something along the lines of attorney at law. So this week, we’d like to ask you: If your title accurately described your job, what…

Oct 9, 2013 4:14 PM CDT

Do you own your home? If yes, why? If no, do you aspire to own or think it’s not worth it?

Earlier this year, a law professor concluded that because of high debt loads and a bleak job market, nearly half of 2011 law school graduates can’t afford to buy a home. And last week, tax law blogger (and law grad who has written about having significant school debt) Kelly Phillips…

Oct 2, 2013 5:00 PM CDT

Write a ‘Six-Word Memoir’ of your law career

Updated: This week there was a Six-Word Festival on Twitter. Anyone and everyone was asked to share a six-word memoir of their life either at sixwordmemoirs.com or on Twitter with the hashtag #sixwords. But different law blogs got in on the action this week, asking their readers to boil down…

Sep 25, 2013 4:24 PM CDT

Do you use all of your vacation time most years? How much do you have left this year?

Last month, we noted that there’s a new trend at corporations to offer an unlimited number of vacation days. It saves employers the hassle of tracking vacation time and paying out benefits to employees after they leave. And while such a policy on its surface seems like a boon to…

Sep 18, 2013 7:20 PM CDT

Tell us what you think is happening in this legal-themed cartoon

This is the last week to submit entries for our inaugural cartoon caption-writing contest. Over the coming months, we’ll present to you a series of four cartoons. Readers are asked to consider what’s happening in the cartoon and submit clever, original captions. ABA Journal staff will review entries, pick their…

Sep 11, 2013 5:30 PM CDT

What do you ask or tell yourself to clear your mind and get a fresh perspective to solve a problem?

The Legal Rebels project is the way the ABA Journal celebrates the most creative, forward-looking legal practitioners—those lawyers who are actively remaking the profession for the 21st century. These leaders are marked by the kind of creative thinking that highlights new approaches and novel ways of solving old problems. One…

Sep 4, 2013 3:37 PM CDT

What words or phrases do you think should be avoided in front of a jury?

Think jurors know what you mean when you use the term the court? Think again, says Chicago-based jury and communications consultant Theresa Zagnoli of Zagnoli, McEvoy & Foley. “In post-trial interviews with jurors who sat on a jury, they revealed that it took them three days to figure out that…

Aug 28, 2013 5:14 PM CDT

Who watches (or watched) your young children during the workday?

This week we noted a lawyer in Washington, D.C., who–after switching one child from a day care to a preschool on an urgent basis–spends all but 50 cents of each paycheck on child care. So we were wondering: Who watches your young children during the workday? Do you do it…

Aug 21, 2013 5:04 PM CDT

Have you taken a personality test for a job or any other reason? If so, was it a useful tool?

Last month, we noted that some law firms are following the lead of their corporate clients and using personality tests to help them decide which potential hires would be the best fit for their firm. “The point here,” attorney and psychologist Larry Richard told the American Lawyer, “is to gauge…

Aug 14, 2013 4:52 PM CDT

How did you know it was time to quit your last job?

A post of ours from last month seemed to hit a nerve with readers by discussing what signals let you know that it’s time to quit your job. While it seems obvious a dissatisfied worker would start searching for a new gig, author and entrepreneur Daniel Gulati told Bloomberg that…

Aug 7, 2013 6:55 PM CDT

What is your ‘desert island’ book?

For decades, BBC Radio has aired Desert Island Discs, a show at which guests choose and discuss the eight pieces of music, one book and one luxury item that they would take with them if they were castaway on a desert island. As far as books, castaways are to assume…

Jul 31, 2013 5:00 PM CDT

What are your tips for what not to do on bar prep / bar exam days?

For thousands of recent law school graduates, the bar exam is just days away. And more than a million other law grads have already experienced the bar exam and the preparation for it—sometimes passing on the first try, sometimes not. Today, we’d like to ask lawyers who have lived through…

Jul 24, 2013 4:52 PM CDT

What’s the most creative lawyer business card you’ve ever seen?

This week, a co-worker got his hands on the business card for a well-known hacker. It’s a metal card containing a complete set of lock-picking tools. The pure genius of the card made us wonder what creative business cards lawyers have dreamed up. We’ve seen several great ones and have…

Jul 17, 2013 7:25 PM CDT

In what ways have you been underestimated, and how do you deal with that?

Being underestimated can be extremely frustrating, especially when you’re a new lawyer trying to drum up business, as Katie Kizer and Amanda Graham discovered while starting their own criminal defense firm. “Other lawyers will call us ‘honey,’ ‘sweetie,’ ‘darling,’ ‘the girls,’ ” said Graham. “It can be very difficult to…

Jul 10, 2013 4:45 PM CDT

How do you get through the day after a losing verdict?

Seattle plaintiffs attorney Karen Koehler came out on the losing side of a jury verdict recently and reflected on the loss, and more pointedly, on how lawyers cope in such situations. She wrote at her blog, the Velvet Hammer, about the day after. First and foremost, she consoled her client.…

Jul 3, 2013 1:00 PM CDT