Aba Journal: Asked And Answered

Do you have a New Year's resolution to finally get your home and office in order? In this episode, professional organizer Janet Taylor speaks with the ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward to share tips and tricks for finally conquering mounds of paperwork and constantly losing house keys.

In the wake of the #MeToo movement, many have said that they no longer know how to behave in a work environment–but employment law expert Gerald Pauling doesn’t buy that. The Seyfarth Shaw partner tells the ABA Journal’s Stephanie Francis Ward that in his experience providing training to supervisors, managers and rank-and-file workers, “I almost never encounter situations where trainees or participants in training are unable to identify the lines between appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Literally almost never.” So what should law firms and lawyers be keeping in mind in an era of greater accountability? In this episode, Pauling discusses the importance of context and non-verbal cues, and how firms can protect themselves from liability and their employees from experiencing harassment.

If a client can’t or won’t pay your retainer, he or she is not worth a discount, Janice Brown tells the ABA Journal’s Stephanie Francis Ward in this episode of Asked and Answered. But there are ways to explain your true value to a potential client who balks at the cost. Brown, who is the founding partner of the litigation firm Brown Law Group, advises confidence when speaking with a potential client, and gives listeners tips drawn from her own experience explaining legal fees and retainers.

Want to protect democracy and ensure voters’ rights? If you are looking to ways to volunteer during the midterm elections, there are opportunities available, especially for attorneys. Stephanie Francis Ward speaks with Marsha Johnson-Blanco, co-director of the Voting Rights Project for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, about how attorneys can help on Nov. 6. Lawyers are needed to answer hotline calls in a variety of cities, answering questions at polling places and filing emergency moti

As an associate dean of the University of Houston Law Center, Sondra Tennessee has witnessed her share of helicopter parents. She’s seen parents ask law schools to switch their child’s professor, because they didn’t think he or she was a good fit. She’s seen them try to get an extended finals date, without their child knowing that they contacted the school.  She’s also heard of parents contacting potential employers for law students to get more detail about offered benefits packages. As the academic year begins, Tennessee shares her advice with the ABA Journal’s Asked and Answered on how students, parents and school administrators can halt the hover and foster students’ independence and success.

One of many lawyers’ worst fears is that a client, opposing party or even a random stranger may try to physically hurt them, often for nothing more than the attorney doing his or her job. In this episode of the ABA Journal's Asked and Answered, Stephanie Francis Ward speaks with Ty Smith, a retired Navy SEAL who founded Vigilance Risk Solutions Inc., a security consulting business that focuses on workplace violence prevention.

When approaching a difficult conversation at work, reframe it in your mind as a discussion that can help improve your relationship with someone, says Michele Coleman Mayes in this episode of the Asked and Answered: Lived and Learned series. “You have to work harder to listen to someone you’d rather not hear talk,” says Mayes, vice president and general counsel with the New York Public Library. You may need to have multiple difficult conversations for a situation to improve, she says, but as you repeatedly speak with the person, you can learn what sort of communication works best for him or her.

U.S. Army veteran and criminal defense lawyer Mia Yamamoto decided to publicly transition genders when she turned 60. Being her authentic self was so important that she told herself, "I don't care if someone shoots me the day after I transition. I'm going to transition. I'm going to die as a woman." In this episode of the Asked and Answered: Lived and Learned series, Yamamoto discusses the importance of fighting for those who come after you, and of advocating for yourself. She describes her fears about how her transition would impact her career and her clients, and the "astonishing" response she's received.

If you’re working on a client matter and get even the slightest sense that something you’re doing may cause problems down the road, ask another lawyer about it, says Lucian Pera, a Memphis partner at Adams & Reese who frequently advises attorneys on professional responsibility rules. In this episode of the Asked and Answered: Lived and Learned series, Pera says that he's learned that everyone, including lawyers, can use an outside perspective when they have an uneasy feeling about a work situation.

There are some issues that people with opposing views may never agree on, particularly when one group has significantly more power than the other. But sometimes when an issue is brought to authority figures’ attention, they can be convinced to do the right thing, says Cruz Reynoso, a former California state supreme court justice. In this episode of the Asked and Answered: Lived and Learned series, Reynoso discusses how his father's philosophy as a farmworker inspired him as a labor rights advocate and attorney to always fulfill his own obligations, and to ask those in power to fulfill theirs as well.

When her career was getting started in the 1970s, a partner interviewing Roberta “Bobbi” Liebenberg for an associate position asked if she would cry when things went south in court. "Why, do you want me to?" quipped Liebenberg. In this episode of the Asked and Answered: Lived and Learned series, Liebenberg says that in her career as one of the few women appointed as lead counsel for plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation, she's learned that laughter has a place in the workplace. Humor plays a significant role in diffusing the tension that come with practicing law, says Liebenberg, now a senior partner at Fine Kaplan and Black in Philadelphia. But it’s something many law firms overlook, even though it can lead to a more collegial work environment and help with attorney retention.

A veteran who graduated from law school following a 14-year career with the U.S. Air Force, Andrés Gallegos was married with a young family when an auto accident resulted in him having quadriplegia. In this episode of the Asked and Answered: Lived and Learned series, Gallegos says he learned never to let anyone else's perception of his capabilities limit him in achieving his dreams. Gallegos, now a shareholder with Chicago's Robbins, Salomon & Patt, is a healthcare attorney and a disability rights advocate.

You may be confident of your ability to act with courtesy and professionalism in your home country. But with the array of cultural differences, social mores and business traditions you may encounter while traveling, how can you be sure you’re not offending clients and alienating foreign judges and arbiters? In this episode of Asked and Answered, the ABA Journal’s Stephanie Francis Ward speaks with Terri Morrison, etiquette expert and author of “Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Courtrooms and Corporate Counsels,” which is scheduled to be released this summer.

This August, lawyers from around the country will come to Chicago for the ABA Annual Meeting. Wondering whether to make the trip yourself? We’re joined by ABA President Hilarie Bass and Marty Balogh of the Meetings and Travel Department to discuss the new offerings, event highlights, and local attractions attendees should be sure to check out in the ABA’s hometown from Aug. 2-7.

Lawyers' mental health has been a topic of increasing discussion and awareness, combined with efforts to help lawyers deal with anxiety, depression and addiction issues. But an aspect of mental health that is sometimes overlooked is body image, and the consequences of body dysmorphia and eating disorders. In this episode of Asked and Answered, the ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward speaks with lawyer Brian Cuban about his decades long struggle with body dysmorphic disorder, and how he learned to address it. Cuban is the author of "Shattered Image: My Triumph Over Body Dysmorphic Disorder," a memoir about his recovery.

Newly minted law grads will soon be entering the job market, but where are they most likely to find employment? Stephanie Francis Ward speaks with Valerie Fontaine, founding partner of the legal search firm Seltzer Fontaine Beckwith, about which in-demand areas of law have open job positions–and how law grads can secure them.

Wellness is not just about eating health food and exercising, Jolene Park tells the ABA Journal’s Stephanie Francis Ward in this episode of Asked Answered. It’s also getting enough time to relax, getting enough sleep and not being stressed out about your job or finances–and employers can play a big role in all of those things. Park is the founder of Healthy Discoveries, a corporate wellness company. She says that something to consider when creating employee wellness programs is that people respond more positively when their actions make them feel better, as opposed to when they’re scared into eating better or working out more. A big part of wellness is being kind to yourself, and managers can go a long way in helping the people they supervise recognize that people need to recharge; everything is not always going to be perfect; and making a mistake is not the end of the world.

You love technology, you love the law, and you want a career that combines the two. But what kinds of legal tech jobs will be the most in-demand, and how can you get them? E-discovery and privacy law should be two areas that legal tech jobseekers look into, Shannon Capone Kirk tells the ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward in this episode of Asked and Answered. Kirk, who is e-discovery counsel at Ropes & Gray, first got her start as an associate after being assigned a case with a warehouse full of digital tapes to be analyzed, she tells Ward. Within a few years, she'd started her own e-discovery practice.

Do you dread going to work? If so, maybe it's time to look at the other ways you can flex your legal skills, says Nancy Levit, co-author of The Happy Lawyer: Making a Good Life in the Law. There are many types of jobs for lawyers, and sometimes what you thought you wanted to do doesn’t work out, Levit tells the ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward in this episode of Asked and Answered. She shares tips on how to find the work you want to do, and how to find joy in the work you're already doing.law lawyer legal podcast attorney practice

Confronting someone about a substance abuse problem--or owning that you have one--is not easy, but lawyers assistance programs can help.  Usually referred to as LAPs and offered by attorney regulation agencies, the programs guarantee confidentiality when attorneys reach out to them.  And if an attorney has committed an actionable offense, entering recovery before it comes to light and being able to show commitment to getting better can be a mitigating factor if he or she faces disciplinary charges. In this episode of Asked & Answered, the ABA Journal’s Stephanie Francis Ward speaks to Bree Buchanan about how LAPs work, and how a person can reach out for assistance.