Page 2 - Multidisciplinary Practice News Today

What hath the law to do with justice? And if it does, to what extent does this connection influence our decision to become lawyers? Is the motivation instinctual?

When my daughter was in college back in the 90s, she knew I was a lawyer specializing in health law. She knew I had left private practice after 20 years to become general counsel of a large statewide hospital system. And she knew I spent my workdays at a desk reading, writing and talking on the phone.

From hostage rescuing and fast roping to skydiving and stress shooting, the United States Special Operations Forces has mastered the ability to remain cool under pressure.

Communication. Do we sometimes get it wrong with clients—or otherwise? I learned a valuable lesson early on in my legal career while still an articling student. My boss and good mentor, Hank, invited me to lunch. After the meal, I ordered a cup of tea. As I like it a certain strength, I said to the waiter, one Jean Pierre, “Bag out, please.”

As a law school reference librarian, I field a lot of questions from law students working at internships, externships and summer jobs. Over the years, I’ve seen some recurring issues with the research assignments given to law students, and I thought it might be helpful to discuss some of them here.

It seems like only yesterday that I walked across the stage, received my law degree and shook hands with my law school dean. Fast forward 10 years. I learned a lot along the way. There were stressful cases and sleepless nights. There were mean judges and even meaner court staff. There were unreasonable opposing counsel and insurance adjusters who manufactured nonexistent law. But there were also many joyful nights, wonderful judges and mediators, and pleasant opposing counsel.

Recently, I watched the very popular Netflix movie Red Notice, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. If you’re unfamiliar with The Rock, his name is well-earned. He is a former professional wrestler, and he has huge muscles to show for it. In the movie, he plays an FBI profiler who specializes in fine-art theft. An Interpol agent introduces him to a museum curator who is about to be a victim of a major theft.

It’s no secret that investors love predictability and loathe uncertainty. It’s why C-suite professionals strive to increase the former and minimize the latter. And with ever-expanding pools of data and analytics at their disposal, tech-savvy executive teams can now forecast and manage the future better than ever. But analytics and the human imagination are limited.

When I became a lawyer more than half a century ago, the law library was, by any measure, the heart of my law firm. It was where lawyers went to do legal research—any and all research. That meant that all the younger lawyers were in the library at some point virtually every day. On occasion, all the firm’s associates were in the library at the same time. Many partners were also regular visitors.

As lawyers, do we ever experience trouble or suffer problems? Unlikely. But as rarely as these situations may arise, is there something we can do about them? How about making a New Year’s resolution to prevent trouble or unnecessary problems.