Inspiration & Encouragement

–It was a future I could not accept. (William Kamkwaba, Ted Talk at 2:28) A decade ago, William Kamkwaba was just a poor simple farm boy growing up in Malawi, Africa, fully expecting that like his father, he too would become a farmer.  But in 2001, Malawi experienced a devastating drought and famine that knocked…

This past Friday, I presented a nearly full day seminar, Solo By Choice in the Current Economy at the Oregon Bar Center, sponsored by the Professional Liability Fund, the Oregon State Bar Sole and Small Firm Practitioners Section and the Practice Management Section of the Oregon Bar.  But as I was preparing the materials, I realized that…

Even though I reside in Bethesda, Maryland and practice appellate law in Washington D.C. just like appellate lawyer Mark Levy,  the former Kilpatrick Stockton attorney who took his life after his firm downsized, our paths never crossed.   As a biglaw attorney and a small fry in a highly stratified town like Washington D.C., lawyers like…

What would you do if you were exonerated after spending twelve years in prison for a crime you didn’t commit?  Would you spend the rest of your days justifiably bitter, complaining about the injustice of a legal system that could convict an innocent man?  Or would you feel gratitude towards those lawyers who helped to…

Last week, I took a quick hop up to New York with my daughters to visit Banana Republic‘s design studios.  The trip came courtesy of my lucky 12 year old, Elana who won both the tour and $400 in spending money in a contest at Miss O and Friends.  Though I was happy for my…

No one could ever accuse the bar exam of testing lawyers on issues that they’re likely to encounter in practice.  After all, how many times do you get a client accused of murder when he accidentally discharged a handgun at the precise moment that a suicidal person happened to leap off the building and fall…

A few weeks back, a reader, discouraged after having failed the bar exam yet again, asked whether he should give up on his dream of starting his own practice.  Of the advice that I offered, what resonated most with the reader was my reminder that no matter how many times he passed the bar, once…

Each morning as @carolynelefant, I check in on Twitter for my dose of innovation-overload.   Twitter is always brimming with updates on great minds undertaking great change-the-world-or-the-legal-profession ventures and 140-character insights that inspire and offer new perspectives that I’d love to put to action if I only had the time. As author of MyShingle, I straddle dual…