In light of my 60th birthday celebration soon becoming a memory, my wife and I have been spending a fair amount of time of late reviewing our investments, finalizing our estate plan, and discussing various options should our life together ever take some unanticipated turns. We’re doing this because we recognize that a job loss, [...]
Sometimes married couples see things differently and the only way to resolve the tension is by finally deciding to agree to disagree. That’s how things played out in our home for a number of years on the issue of passwords. My wife viewed my focus on computer security and passwords as something approaching mild paranoia. [...]
I have yet to read an insurance policy that I would consider a great read. So let’s admit it, insurance policies are rather boring. I suspect few of you have ever really taken the time to read completely through your homeowners or auto policy. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with this as long as your various [...]
Sometimes things change as matters progress, like the legal needs of the client, your ability to continue to provide competent representation, the effectiveness of the attorney-client relationship, or even the ability of your client to pay your fees. And such changes, for some, lead to a recognition that the time to withdraw has arrived. This [...]
Boundaries are important. In sports, they define the area of play. In real estate, they designate what one owns. And in personal relationships, they mark the emotional and physical limits everyone establishes in order to protect themselves from being manipulated, used, or violated by someone else. In short, personal boundaries mark the place where one [...]
A solo attorney recently reached out wanting to know how to select a backup attorney. Having now addressed his concerns, I thought it would be worthwhile to share my answer for the benefit of others who may have similar questions. Here’s what I had to say. I see the process of selecting a backup attorney [...]
As I’m often apt to do, I have a story to share. A solo employment law attorney, let’s call her Betty, has substantial trial experience. In light of this, she is sometimes asked to serve as co-counsel with a personal injury attorney who she views as both a good friend and a competent attorney. This [...]
In my experience, almost all lawyers have redundant calendars in place. Often there’s a primary master calendar and some sort of backup, which could be anything from a digital backup to a secretary’s paper calendar. Some attorneys go even further. For example, in addition to a primary master calendar and some sort of backup, there [...]
Some may view this as me being nitpicky, but there is a difference between disengagement letters and letters of closure. Yes, while both serve to document the conclusion of representation, it’s the underlying reason for their use that differentiates the two. As I’ve written in the past, closure letters are to be used at the [...]
Regardless of size, any and every law firm is an attractive target for a cyber criminal. Think about it. Law firms serve clients of all shapes and sizes in every sector of our economy and thus a significant amount of the data residing on law firm networks, backup drives, laptops, PCs, and mobile devices is [...]
