Before You Hit “Record,” Transparency Comes First

Stephen, a white man with light brown hair and black glasses, wears a pale blue shirt, blue tie, and black suit.By Stephen Domer

In recent months, several SaaS salespeople began our Zoom and Teams meetings online with what appeared to be additional invitees on the call. The additional invitees turned out to be recording features, but none of these salespeople provided advance warning nor did they request consent to record our calls. When I requested removal of any recording and transcription feature, at least one salesperson initially responded that their organization adds it to all calls by default and he did not know how to remove it. This experience raises important legal considerations, especially when none of the parties to the call or meeting adds the recording device.

Read more

/by

The Myth of No Bad Days

Nicole, a white women with brown hair, wears a black blouse and black blazer.By Nicole Ligon

By all outward measures, things have gone “right” in my life. I’m happily married to my best friend, and we share two wonderful children. I hold a tenure-track law professor position at Campbell Law School  – it’s my dream job, and the community here has warmly supported my growth as both a scholar and a teacher. Before that, I earned my J.D. from Duke Law School, served as an editor of the law review, practiced at a big law firm, and now count some of the world’s most generous, brilliant mentors among my greatest blessings. My CV reflects awards, publications, and invited talks. And yet, despite all of this, I often feel like I fooled everyone to get here.

There’s a persistent tension between how I appear to the world and how I feel inside. I spend so much time wondering how I came to be where I am that when something doesn’t go my way, I cling to it as confirmation of my self-doubt. Strangely, I never do the opposite. I don’t cling to accomplishments. I don’t let success reassure me. If anything, I explain it away: a fluke, luck, a clerical error, someone being kind.

Read more

/by

Real Property, Real People, Real Loss: Restoring The Communities We Call Home

Malia a white woman with blond hair, wears a white blouse and grey jacket.By Malia Williams 

Home is a simple yet altogether complicated topic for many.

Home may be where we were born and raised. It also may be discovered, unexpectedly, in a place we visited – one that, while we may have left it, never truly left us. Sometimes, it may even be found in the eyes of another person. If we are lucky, we may be able to call multiple places and people home. While the term carries with it varied meanings, the pursuit and care for it is ultimately a shared experience for us all.

Read more

/by

Fifty

By Marc E. Gustafson

Around the time of my recent fiftieth birthday, I was frequently asked about any profound or revelatory thoughts I had experienced. I always felt that my responses were a little underwhelming. After some reflection, however, I realized it might not have been my responses that were the issue, but the framing of the question.

I came to this realization, in part, during rides home from school with our two boys.  If I asked our fourth and sixth graders what they learned at school that day, I frequently got responses like, “not much” or “nothing interesting” or “the same old stuff.”  But if I asked what they had done at school, or their favorite activity, the responses were far more animated and more complete.

Read more

/by

Thriving, Not Just Surviving: Tips for a Positive Law Practice

Adam a white man with light brown hair, wears a white shirt, red tie with light polka dots, and a white shirt. He is smiling. By Adam G. Linett

“Don’t worry, be happy.” Perhaps you remember the popular 1988 song that encapsulated a worldview. If it were only that easy, though, especially with the practice of law. It’s true that a person with a positive outlook tends to be happier and have more friends. We all want to be that person who is the life of the party, or at least be friends with them. But how can we, with the daily stresses faced with our law practices and client expectations, build or maintain a positive viewpoint on our law practice? Here are a few thoughts.

It’s important to keep your faults in perspective, recognizing them not as insurmountable flaws but as opportunities for growth. Everyone has imperfections, and acknowledging them with humility can pave the way for self-improvement. Similarly, we will make mistakes when practicing law. The good news is that there is often more than one way to accomplish a legal objective, and that mistakes are not always fatal to a case.

Read more

/by

Ethical and Practical Uses of AI for Paralegals: Part 2

Rachel, a white woman with light brown hair, wears a bright purple blouse.By Rachel L. Royal

My last post on AI focused on simple and practical ways that artificial intelligence can make everyday tasks in the legal field more efficient. In this post, I will give more examples and introduce specific AI tools other than large-language models (LLMs) to utilize in legal practice. While I no longer work in a traditional paralegal role, I am still working in the legal field in a nonprofit with a focus on operations and program management. I look back on the years when I did work as a paralegal and can identify ways that AI could have enhanced my work.

Read more

/by

Thriving, Not Just Surviving: Tips for a Positive Law Practice

Adam a white man with light brown hair, wears a white shirt, red tie with light polka dots, and a white shirt. He is smiling. By Adam G. Linett

“Don’t worry, be happy.” Perhaps you remember the popular 1988 song that encapsulated a worldview. If it were only that easy, though, especially with the practice of law. It’s true that a person with a positive outlook tends to be happier and have more friends. We all want to be that person who is the life of the party, or at least be friends with them. But how can we, with the daily stresses faced with our law practices and client expectations, build or maintain a positive viewpoint on our law practice? Here are a few thoughts.

It’s important to keep your faults in perspective, recognizing them not as insurmountable flaws but as opportunities for growth. Everyone has imperfections, and acknowledging them with humility can pave the way for self-improvement. Similarly, we will make mistakes when practicing law. The good news is that there is often more than one way to accomplish a legal objective, and that mistakes are not always fatal to a case.

Read more

/by

Everybody Has a Plan . . .

Coleman, a white man with brown hair, wears a pale blue shirt, red tie and black jacket.By Coleman Cowan

Life as a lawyer can be a battle. Clients are demanding. Opposing counsel can be adversarial. And sometimes the greatest burden we carry is the one we put on ourselves: to work harder, be better, and achieve more. Years ago, I learned knowing how to practice law was not enough. In order to thrive – to be not only successful, but happy – a lawyer’s skill set had to include mental focus, and yes, professional vitality.

How do we do that in a profession filled with adversity and risk, where one slip can spell doom, both for your clients and your career? For the answer, indulge me in a lesson I learned from my past career as a journalist.

In the spring of 2016, I spent several weeks at the United States Naval Academy reporting a story about the boxing program there. Boxing is not only embedded in the culture of the Naval Academy, it’s a core requirement: all Midshipmen – male and female – are required to learn to box as soon as they arrive at Annapolis. Why? The Naval Academy uses boxing as a laboratory where they can put students in an environment of controlled stress forcing them to draw on their own resources and capabilities to think, strategize, and plan, all while withstanding an opponent trying to knock you down.

Read more

/by

Everybody Has a Plan . . .

Coleman, a white man with brown hair, wears a pale blue shirt, red tie and black jacket.By Coleman Cowan

Life as a lawyer can be a battle. Clients are demanding. Opposing counsel can be adversarial. And sometimes the greatest burden we carry is the one we put on ourselves: to work harder, be better, and achieve more. Years ago, I learned knowing how to practice law was not enough. In order to thrive – to be not only successful, but happy – a lawyer’s skill set had to include mental focus, and yes, professional vitality.

How do we do that in a profession filled with adversity and risk, where one slip can spell doom, both for your clients and your career? For the answer, indulge me in a lesson I learned from my past career as a journalist.

In the spring of 2016, I spent several weeks at the United States Naval Academy reporting a story about the boxing program there. Boxing is not only embedded in the culture of the Naval Academy, it’s a core requirement: all Midshipmen – male and female – are required to learn to box as soon as they arrive at Annapolis. Why? The Naval Academy uses boxing as a laboratory where they can put students in an environment of controlled stress forcing them to draw on their own resources and capabilities to think, strategize, and plan, all while withstanding an opponent trying to knock you down.

Read more

/by

The Perfect Mediation

Frank, a white man with grey hair, wears a white shirt and black suit. By Frank Laney

Yesterday I had the perfect mediation. This mediation went perfectly because of four factors. The parties and their representatives knew the relevant law, they knew the facts of their cases, they came motived to settle, and they came with flexibility. An added factor was that once the parties talked and became convinced that the other side knew the law, knew the facts, wanted to settle rather than posture and had flexibility, then trust was quickly established between the parties, making the talks proceed even more smoothly and quickly.

We had a set of five related cases between two sets of parties. We worked well together, and in about five hours, reached settlements based on money paid in four of the five cases, and then in a cooperative discussion, agreed that the issues in the last case could best be resolved on terms other than money. We recessed for one side to explore the newly discovered issues and talk to their experts and decision makers to see how we could proceed with accommodating the other side’s concerns.

Read more

/by