Articles

I have four children, and they ask the most frustrating questions sometimes.  A recent selection provides a glimpse into the depraved curiosity of their little minds: “Pa, can you kill someone for stealing a scooter?”  “Mommy, why aren’t you as smart as Aunt Tracy?” &l… Read More +

I have never been a big celebrator of my own birthdays. It is just another day of the year—another trip around the sun. I suppose that when I turned 16, it seemed like a big deal. I was able to drive. It gave me a new sense of freedom. Since then, I have not given much attention to turning a certain age. That changed this past year when I turned 60. There was something different about 60. I don’t think I can describe myself as middle-aged anymore. I might even qualify for free or discounted coffee at some restaurants. I can legitimately wear a shirt that says, “Old Guys Rule.”   Read More +

Hire slow, fire fast. If you read any of the voluminous advice published on hiring, this old bromide is very likely to be the first thing you come across. It’s pretty good advice, if a bit limited. Hiring a person for a law firm is like buying a house: it’s expensive and long-reaching decision that deeply affects your (work) life, and one that is too often made with a process that is ill-defined, rushed and lacking clear markers for success. Read More +

Do I belong here is a simple question that passes through the minds of job candidates as they pursue employment options. The question resurfaces during the interview process and again during onboarding. Job candidates are assessing what they read, hear, and experience during the job search, hiring, and onboarding processes. Attracting a diverse team requires a culture and brand that demonstrates you created an environment that fosters a sense of belonging. Individuals are searching your website to identify your mission, vision, and values for indications that they will easily fit with your team. Organizations are typically clear on their mission. They may need to publicize it more boldly to connect with individuals that share a passion for that mission.   Read More +

We all have moments in our practice that we would rather forget. What follows is mine. I was an eager young associate who wanted to impress my client and the partners in the firm. We were handling a tax case that had something to do with inventory tax and the valuation of baby chicks. I had researched the IRS Tax Code, regulations, tax treaties, and IRS rulings and was confident that the IRS agent’s position was untenable. I wanted to display my legal prowess to my client, so I prepared a letter to the client explaining our superior position and the IRS agent’s incompetence.   Read More +

When your firm gets to a certain size there is a moment where your job goes from getting stuff done to getting stuff done through other people. Depending on your personality and skill set, this is either pretty good or pretty bad news.  In order to grow your firm to this size, you likely already had to serve as chief marketer, head of legal, director of operations, talent acquisition coordinator, and visionary. Even if many of those roles are now inhabited by other folks on your org chart, you probably had to master those competencies to get where you are. As well as one more: manager. Read More +

When Scheree Gilchrist was hired as chief innovation officer for the new Legal Aid of North Carolina Innovation Lab in 2023, she was given a mission. “The goal is to engage in transformative innovation that improves the delivery of legal services, expands access to justice, and addresses inequity in the delivery of legal services in rural areas,” explained Gilchrist. “In North Carolina, we have about 2 million people eligible for legal aid services. There are 8,000 eligible North Carolinians for every one legal aid attorney. We also have about 400,000 people in need contacting our helpline annually. We know that we don’t have the staff and funding resources to meet the demand under the one-to-one direct representation model,” said Gilchrist. “But even if we can’t assign an attorney, we want to ensure that if people in need contact Legal Aid of North Carolina, they will quickly and easily receive some form of help which could range from simply resources and referrals to brief advice or representation in court.   Read More +

Jay Reeves has left the building. There will likely be no encores from Jay—at least for North Carolina lawyers. He has followed his personal legend and moved to South Carolina to write the baseball novel that has been stirring in him for years. The good citizens of Newberry will be lucky to have Jay. But we at Lawyers Mutual, as well as Jay’s followers, will sorely miss him. He has been an inspiration to so many of us over the years.   Read More +

On November 28, 2023, Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to 27 years in South Carolina state prison for the confessed crimes of stealing millions of dollars over the course of a decade from clients, friends, and family. Murdaugh was convicted of murdering his wife and son in March, a crime in which he maintains his innocence. Kathy Pope, a consultant with 30-years of experience in helping law firms manage their trust accounts, provides insight into how Murdaugh’s law firm could have prevented these crimes, and offers tips for ethically managing your trust account.   Read More +

One of the early jobs I had in my career, I worked for a lawyer who was a terribly smart business owner and as good as anybody I’ve ever known at seeing trends and skating to where the puck is headed. I learned a lot from him, some of it not entirely pleasant to learn, that I’ve carried forward in the years since. One of the relatively few things I saw him get wrong on the business end of his practice was his insistence on never having the firm own real estate. I imagine he looked at the big law firms in the downtown high rises and noted that they rented real their estate and applied the same logic for his firm. For whatever reason, he was dead set against owning real estate.   Read More +

After more than 200 columns for this newsletter over the past 30 years, this will be My Last Monthly Missive on law, life, legal malpractice and baseball. That announcement will cause no tremors on Wall Street, nor will it stir excitement among the masses. In fact, it is unlikely to be of much interest to any sentient being on the planet except the dog, who is interested in everything I do and enraptured by everything I say because I am the Bringer of Treats and Opener of the Back Door.    Read More +

We spend an enormous amount of time thinking about something other than what we are doing in the present moment. It is called mind-wandering and can be detrimental to our happiness and well-being.  A 2010 study by Harvard psychologists Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert, discovered that the average person’s mind wanders 47% of the time (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1192439). The study also found that, when people think about something other than what they are doing in the present moment, they tend to be less happy. Other studies have shown that mind-wandering and a lack of focus on a task can also lead to mistakes.   Read More +

My college roommate, Jeff, married into an old New England family that has a beautiful cabin on a lake up in Maine. When I used to live in Boston, and occasionally still if I am just the right amount of shameless, I was able to wrangle myself an invitation to stay there for a night or two.  It’s a gorgeous place up on Belgrade Lakes region – if you think On Golden Pond, you’re not too far off. If you’re younger than 50, replace On Golden Pond with, I don’t know… I am over 50. Just picture a cabin on a lake, preferably not from a horror movie.   Read More +

What if I told you that there was a pill that you can take that will immediately boost your mood, lower your blood pressure, reduce your risk of diabetes and cancer, improve your focus and memory, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, reduce inflammation in your body, delay brain aging and neurodegenerative disease, and reduce negative symptoms of stress? You should also know that this pill would, if taken correctly, have little or no side effects. Would you take it? I’m guessing most would. Well, it is available. It’s just not available in pill form. But it is available in the form of physical exercise and movement. Read More +

As the Carolina landscape turns red and gold and November arrives with a nip, I bring you news from the Fall Classic to brighten your Law Life:  There is greatness all around, and giants walk among us. For proof, look no further than Major League Baseball’s champion Texas Rangers, winners of the 2023 World Series.    Read More +

I love photography. Not so much the doing of it as the admiring the finished product of beautifully composed and edited photos. Especially landscape photography.   There was a time – or if I am going to be honest, there have been several times over the past 20 years because it takes a while for a lesson to make a dent in my hard head apparently – where I’ve looked at some beautiful landscape photography and thought, “I might like doing that…” Read More +

Most of the successful private law practices in North Carolina and around the US – and I am speaking here about individual lawyers’ practices as opposed to law firms – have been built on the backs of referrals. Referrals from other lawyers, referrals from other professionals serving the same client base, referrals from former clients, or – the gold standard, as many lawyers like to tout – referrals from opposing parties. From whatever source a referral comes, they all share the common trait that someone, somewhere said to a friend, colleague or loved one: “you know who you should call for help with that?” A referral is an implicit endorsement and accelerates trust right at the beginning of a potential client relationship. Compared to a cold call from, say, a Google search, it’s like you start the sales process on third base. So, how does a lawyer set about to generate potential client referrals?    Read More +

Over the past year, I have been traveling across the state talking to lawyers about well-being. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. I have been deeply moved by the flood of emails, phone calls, and letters from insureds expressing their appreciation for the content. My commitment to lawyer well-being extends beyond Lawyers Mutual presentations and articles. I am also actively involved in providing written content for the Lawyers Assistance Program (LAP), and I've had the privilege of delivering programs with the LAP on well-being and resilience. The message we have received is clear. Our insureds are hungry for tools to help them deal with the sometimes-overwhelming stress of practicing law.   Read More +

 When was the last time you truly savored a win in your Law Life?  The type of win – a job promotion, a grateful client, a favorable case outcome – is irrelevant. As is the size. The printer is finally unjammed! I found my keys! It’s not Monday! Even small victories deserve to be savored. So why don’t we do it more often?   Read More +