SBM Blog

What do you do to stay bigger than your law firm?

Andrew Griffiths at inc.com offers an interesting look at maintaining work-life balance. It's so easy, when building a law firm, a business or a department, to lose sight of yourself.

How do you maintain balance in your life, so that you don't lose yourself within your work?

Do you think, in the end, that having balance in your life has made your firm, business or department stronger?

Posted by Samantha Meinke

Michigan lawyers: Do you think you are a success?

What does it mean to be a success? A failure?

Alain de Botton shared an interesting reflection upon the meaning of both in our modern world in a TED Talk he gave in 2009.

How do you cope with anxiety about your career?

Posted by Samantha Meinke

Vincent Chin, subject of SBM Michigan Legal Milestone, back in the news

Detroit News columnist Neal Rubin published a column challenging the popular narrative told about Vincent Chin, the subject of the State Bar of Michigan's 34th Michigan Legal Milestone, From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry.

Chin was a Chinese American who was brutally beaten to death with a baseball bat on the night before his wedding. His killers, two white men, who by most accounts were out-of-work automotive workers that mistook Chin for a Japanese person, were sentenced to three years of probation and paid a $3,000 fine. This outraged many people, in particular those in the Asian American community, and is credited with galvanizing the Asian American Civil Rights Movement.

Frank Wu, former dean of Wayne State Law School, challenges Rubin's arguments in his own Detroit News commentary.

Posted by Samantha Meinke

Are Lawyers Overly Conscientious?

In an essay in Legal Week, British lawyer Tim Bratton argues that one of the traits we pride ourselves on is actually a flaw, preventing us from seeing the big picture and solving long-term problems:

The problem with lawyers is their conscience. More precisely, their conscientiousness. Because as fast as the work comes in, we develop our black humour security blanket, and tend to rise to the challenge. Yes, we moan, yes we cajole, yes we huff (and puff), yes we put the phone down and roll our eyes. But we crack on and do what needs to be done to get through the spike.

Because as a profession, we are conscientious. It is a kind of character defect we inherit at birth that makes us willing to solve other people’s problems (even when the other people sometimes don’t give us much input into the solution). Well, who wouldn’t want to spend their spare time doing that? Those departments that get to leave work at 5.30pm - hell are they missing out on the fun stuff that happens after hours!

And then, without anyone noticing, the spike eases and suddenly we’ve discarded the life raft and are back to treading water madly (but we think serenely). Problem solved, phew glad that’s over, let’s count all the thankyou emails from the clients we just got (one, two... erm, stop there).

All good once the spike is over?

No. Because by going into conscientious overdrive, we solve a short-term problem at the risk of failing to deal with or even see the long-term one. I would love to write more about solving this stuff. But unfortunately I have some urgent work to do so can’t waste more time thinking about the bigger picture.

Perspectives: History of the Chain Letter

In these days of virulent email scams, it's easy to forget that their ancestor, the chain letter, has been with us, well, not always, but at least as far back as 1888 when an enterprising Methodist academy for women missionaries ginned up a "peripatetic contribution box."  Slate has a fascinating history. Among other things, Slate tells us of the chain letter phenomenon, "Like any truly great crooked scheme, it began in Chicago." 

Constitution Day Odds and Ends

The Supreme Court has the trust and confidence of 74 percent of people polled by the AP-National Constitution Center, but a much smaller majority backs a basic premise of the U.S. Constitution -- 62 percent said a minority's rights should be protected, even when it means saying no to a majority. From the ABA Journal, More People 'Somewhat Confident' in Supreme Court than Organized Religion.  Here's the poll (PDF).

Law School Dean Says US is Nation of 'Constitutional Illiterates', ABA Journal

"Do Lawyers Really Believe Their Own Hype, and Should They?"

The scholarly paper "Do Lawyers Really Believe Their Own Hype and Should They: A Natural Experiment," says "yes" and "no".  The conclusion is based on evidence that students in moot court competitions "overwhelmingly perceive that the legal merits favor the side that they were randomly assigned to represent," even after the competition is over.  The authors Zev J. Eigen of Northwestern University School of Law and Yair Listokin of Yale Law School, also found that overconfidence is associated with poorer performance in advocacy as measured by legal writing instructors.  Unlike a previous study, these authors found no gender effect. (See Lawyers' Ability to Predict Case Outcomes: Study Suggests Gender Differences).

The paper includes the interesting caution that the overconfidence caused by the act of representation can have an important effect on a lawyer's ability to settle a case:

When both sides' lawyers perceive their cases as high probability winners, they are less likely to settle and may be less likely to prevail upon their clients to settle.  The impact of representation on confidence also offers a cautionary tale to lawyers considering a practice area in which they do not agree with their clients -- merely practicing in the area is likely to shade the lawyer's views on the legal and moral merits of the issues.

Top UK Firm Says 82-Holiday-Year Option Leads to More Success Retaining Women Partners

Men and women at London's Allen & Overy can opt for a 4-day week, or work full-time with an extra 52 days of vacation (above the normal 30), for up to eight years, at 80% of regular salary. But it's women with families who are really taking advantage of the offer.  An Allen & Overy partner told the Daily Mail that the firm "had no choice because it was fed up with losing high-flying women as soon as they became mothers."

HT: ABA Journal

Tips from the British on Cultural Sensitivity

 Here's a list of cultural awareness tips from VisitBritain ("Marketing Britain overseas and developing the visitor economy"),covering Japanese, Argentinians, Hong Kong and mainland Chinese, Arabs, South Africans, Brazilians, Indians, Mexicans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Koreans, Belgians, and Poles. (Apparently it's not possible to offend an American.)

Here's a taste:

• Be careful how you pour wine for an Argentinian. The whole process involves a number of social taboos and unless you understand them you could insult someone. For example, pouring wine backwards into a glass indicates hostility. Don’t be offended by Argentinian humour, which may mildly attack your clothing or weight.

England Poised to Decide if Accountants' Advice Qualifies for Confidentiality Privilege

England's highest court says it will decide a case argued last week about whether the advice given by accountants on tax matters qualifies for the "legal professional privilege."  According to a report in Accountancy Age,  Court battle rages over legal privilege for tax advisers, the lawyer arguing for extending the privilege to accountants characterized the privilege as a fundamental right of the client and asked questioned whether there is a proper justification for confining it to lawyers.  The  the three justices hearing the case peppered the accountants' lawyer with questions about when and how the privilege would apply, voicing concern about whether opening up the privilege to accountants would create major complications.  The case has generated huge attention in the legal community in Great Britain, and the hearing was standing-room only.