Inspiration & Encouragement

When it comes to starting a firm, fear poses one of the greatest obstacles.  Fear of failure, fear of lost opportunity, fear of embarrassment or cricitism for having made what appears to others as a foolish decision.  My able colleagues in the Solo Space, Susan Cartier Liebel and Sheryl Sisk Schelin have shared words of…

I’ve written previously about the importance of  saying nay to the naysayers – you know, those folks, some jealous, some just well-intentioned – who tell you that you won’t succeed in starting a law firm.  Pesky as these external naysayers may be, the truth is, they’re only part of what’s holding you back.  In many…

What advice do I have for a new lawyer?  That’s the money question from my friend and colleague, Susan Cartier Liebel who’s preparing this week’s Blawg Review #142 on that very topic. To start, I asked myself what kind of advice I would have found useful two decades ago when I was a new lawyer. …

As another year draws to a close, do you find yourself thinking about hanging out your own shingle? Perhaps the thought occurred to you the other night while you were polishing up a brief, wishing that you — not the partner who isn’t at all familiar with the case — were going to argue it.…

Yes, you read my headline correctly – lawyers appreciate passion. At least, that’s my official response to the Second Annual what do lawyers appreciate meme , for which I’ve been tagged by my friend Sheryl Schelin. My answer may surprise you. After all, we generally, we don’t associate staid lawyers with passion – unless it’s…

For me, fall brings a fresh start – both the beginning of the school year and Rosh Hashanna, the Jewish New Year. Back when I was a student, no matter how bad the previous year had been, I’d always welcome the new school year with hope and optimism. Of course, those of us in the…

As you’ve probably heard on the news by now, turns out that obesity isn’t exclusively hereditary; it’s also socially contagious (US News, 7/25/07). A recent study to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that if you’re close friends with people who are obese, you’re more likely to gain weight yourself either…