Brown & Little, P.L.C. » Entries tagged with "lawyers"
Rejection
If you haven’t experienced rejection, you are either delusional, or you haven’t been doing anything worthwhile. Rejection is an integral part of life well-lived. You can’t be everything to everyone, and someone is bound to be looking for something else. It’s just as true in your professional life as it is in your personal life. If you’re smart, you deal with it and learn from it. I got a little bit of rejection recently. It’s nothing special, really. I fought hard for a client, and despite the results I achieved, they ended up switching lawyers before the real battle started. Although it’s nothing new, it still stung. I thought I had built a relationship. I cared about the client and his family, … Read entire article »
I Guess This Isn't the Only Profession
Read this passage: [I]t is surpassingly strange that there is no connection between [school] programs, the trainers, and the [businesses] that will employ [graduates]. There is no dialogue about what type of [graduates] schools are preparing, how the paradigm needs to shift, and what new skills [employers] should be considering for the future. I cannot think of another industry where there is no relationship between the employers and the trainers. For the future, this really needs to change and I believe the key words are “partnerships” and “collaborations.” Sounds like a great idea, right? It sure does to me. In fact, it’s the kind of thing I’ve been saying here for a while. Every hiring lawyer I know has been saying it. Smarter law students often … Read entire article »
Filed under: Law School
Marketing to Bikers
I follow Susan Carter Liebel on Twitter. She’s the creator of Solo Practice University, a website that’s supposed to be “the #1 web-based educational and professional networking community for solo lawyers and law students.” Yesterday, I noticed she put up the following with a link: “Adam Gee teaches you How To Market To Bikers in his newest class.” Intrigued, I clicked the link. I couldn’t find anything about the content of the course though, so I went to Adam Gee’s page at SPU. There, I saw the following under his syllabus: Marketing to Bikers: Developing a Motorcycle Practice * Indirect Marketing Techniques * Direct Marketing Techniques * Blogs, social media and books I think SPU is a great idea, and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bikers' Rights, Clients, lawyers, Marketing
Missing the Point
You can imagine my surprise yesterday when this ten-day-old post suddenly lit up with new comments. They read like typical troll comments, but they were from lawyers. Local lawyers, in fact, and ones who seem to have quite a bit of experience. I believe I have multiple mutual friends with at least one of them, though I doubt he realizes that. I have no clue what possessed all of them to comment at once. Like typical troll comments, they made ad hominem attacks. One writer accused me of presuming my clients guilty, another accused me of going off “half-cocked” without knowing my facts, and yet another seems to think I merely hold myself out as someone who practices criminal defense and accused me of throwing gossip … Read entire article »
Filed under: lawyers, Professionalism
No Public Defender's Office?
I found this post by Murray Newman at Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center fascinating. I’ve been thinking about it and figured I’d write something. I’ve never practiced in a county that doesn’t have a public defender’s office. I can see how it might work in a very small, rural county, but it’s incredible to me that one of the biggest counties in the US doesn’t have one. I think it’s natural that voters begin demanding that a giant, bureaucratic, government agency take over a task the moment they realize it’s sufficiently daunting. Indigent criminal defense for an entire major metropolitan area seems pretty overwhelming, so I’m amazed the people of Harris County haven’t insisted that committees of politicians be created to form an agency … Read entire article »
Filed under: public defenders
I Probably Take Myself Too Seriously
In one court, I regularly run into a lawyer who amuses me to no end. He’s a big, boisterous guy with thick gray hair and a deep, booming voice. His general demeanor reminds me of the ghost of Christmas present from the Muppet Christmas Carol. He always wears loud ties, most of which I believe feature some minor Disney character, and he only partially tucks his baggy dress shirts into what I suspect to be a pair of Dickies work pants. It isn’t uncommon for him to wear a jean shirt to court, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him wear a belt. None of that really sets him apart from a lot of other lawyers though. What really separates him from the rest is … Read entire article »
Filed under: lawyers, Practice in General
The Stupidest Thing I've Ever Read
Here it is, a comment a law professor named David Papke posted earlier today: I’m pleased to hear Andrew Golden has observed only minimal alienation in the PD’s Office. It’s nice to know there are islands of integrity and commitment in the profession. However, I strongly agree with Chris King’s sense of the proper relationship between legal education and the practice of law. We don’t want law school to be lawyer-training school. When we cave in to demands of that sort from the ABA and assorted study commissions, we actually invite alienation among law students and lawyers. Legal education should appreciate the depth of the legal discourse and explore its rich complexities. It should operate on a graduate-school level and graduate people truly learned in the law. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating. Maybe … Read entire article »
Filed under: Law School, Practice in General
Releasing Information
I was recently stuck in court dealing with a case that should have been dismissed long ago. The prosecutor thought my client wasn’t complying with the terms of a mental health diversion program, but I had personally verified that he was in compliance less than a day before. To satisfy the state and avoid reinstatement of the charges, I just needed to get some up-to-date written proof. My first step was to try to call my client’s mental health case manager. One person told me the case manager was on vacation, and another told me he was in court. They accidentally hung up on me twice. Eventually, I got through to a lady who seemed to be able to help me. I explained to her … Read entire article »
Filed under: Government Rants, Practice in General
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