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Attorney Retention Solutions
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- Is your firm seeking to increase the percentage of women in its partnership ranks?
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[Click here to learn more]
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Recent Posts (Scroll Down Page for Full Archive)
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Media Coverage
August 2, 2006
Media Coverage: American Lawyer Midlevel Associates Survey: Same Gripes 20 Years Later
The most recent American Lawyer survey of midlevel associates at law firms about their attitudes on everything from pay to partners -- the 20th since the survey was commenced in 1986 -- reveals little change in satisfaction levels. Many of the same gripes remain: vague requirements for making partner, overwhelming work loads, high intensity work environments, and lack of adequate training and mentoring. The silver lining is that many associates find their work intellectually challenging and express satisfaction with their level of client contact.
From the perspective of JD Bliss, it's clear from the survey that associate retention will remain a "hot button" issue for firms: 55% of the midlevels surveyed this year stated that they don't necessarily expect to be working in a law firm in five years. Ambivalence about aiming for partnership often turns on the long hours. As one associate stated: "There are two inevitable truths. It's normal to have a family, and you cannot, with a two-wage-earning couple, competently [be a parent] and work the hours of a full-time associate." Or as another commented: "You are asking too much of too few. No one should make the money you make on the backs of people working around the clock."
The survey suggests that firms should start getting creative about exploring alternative work arrangements that will keep associates happy -- and loyal. Client service suffers when talent keeps walking out the door, and recruiting and training costs remain high when a firm is constantly hiring laterals to replace departures.
What options might work? Consider this survey finding: 45% of respondents stated that they would take a 25 percent pay cut in exchange for a 25 percent cut in the billable hours requirement. Firms can leverage the willingness of associates to take pay cuts for reduced hours by considering arrangements under which two attorneys jointly share responsibility for client matters. Each attorney would work part-time at half-pay, and together both would make sure all client matters were properly handled. The arrangement has worked at large consulting firms - see story here. Why not law firms?
Firms might also consider telecommuting arrangements that would cut down on associates' commuting time. If work can be handled responsibly from a home office, why not offer that option? Telecommuting has worked at some of the country's largest corporations - see story here.
Ultimately, given the high cost of associate turnover (see report here), firms need to start taking steps to address associate frustrations.
For a more detailed review of the AmLaw survey results, visit law.com
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July 27, 2006
Media Coverage: Work Life Balance Lawsuits
Mary Still, a sociologist, and author of a new study published by the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, says there has been a 400% increase in the last decade in the number of lawsuits filed by workers alleging that they were discriminated against by their employers because of caregiving responsibilities at home for a parent or child.
Still says the lawsuits reviewed in the study show that discrimination often takes place when an employee is denied a promotion or opportunity not because of poor performance, but because a boss perceives the worker’s personal responsibilities will prevent him or her from doing the job.
At least 43 cases of the 600 cases studied were filed by men caring for family members, including children, parents and spouses.
The full study, entitled "Litigating the Maternal Wall: U.S. Lawsuits Charging Discrimination Against Workers with Family Responsibilities," can be accessed here.
See an article about Still's study here.
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July 26, 2006
Media Coverage: Male Lawyer Turned Female Lawyer?
The word from New Zealand is that Rob Moodie, a prominent attorney, showed up at Wellington's high court last week wearing a skirt, blouse, diamond brooch and stockings and toting a purse. His attire is intended to protest an alleged lack of care and sensitivity among New Zealand's male-dominated judiciary to women.
See full story here.
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July 11, 2006
Media Coverage: 9 out of 10 Senior Executives Say Work Life Balance is Critical
A recent survey of 1,311 executives in the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific by the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) reveals a sea-change in the attitudes of senior corporate executives, with a growing number rejecting long hours and the scramble up the corporate ladder in favour of better quality of life. The survey found, among other things, that almost nine out of 10 senior corporate executives say that work-life balance considerations are now critical in their decision whether to join, or remain with, an employer.
See an article discussing the survey findings here.
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July 11, 2006
Media Coverage: Manpower Survey Finds High Fuel Costs Impacting Work Life Balance
Persistently high fuel costs are cutting into U.S. workers' leisure time activities and may also contribute to job turnover, based on a recent survey by Manpower Inc. According to 900 respondents in an online survey conducted in May and June, 76 percent confirmed that rising gasoline prices are impacting their work/life balance by, among other things, causing people to:
- reduce spending on entertainment and hobbies
- dine out less
- reduce summer travel
- entertain more at home
- cancel summer travel plans
- schedule fewer extracurricular activities for children
Employers seem to be cognizant of the squeeze and many help out by:
- offering telecommuting (something that should continue to be of interest to attorneys with the advent of remote access to firm networks)
- subsidizing mass transit as an employee benefit
- organizing carpools or a shared ride program
- providing discounted or preferred parking to carpool vehicles and motorcycles
Attorneys may want to check with HR to see if any of these benefits are now available at their firms.
See the full Manpower press release here.
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May 16, 2006
Media Coverage: Walter Kingston: From Law to Exotic Furniture
Walter Kingston was practicing corporate law in New York City in 1989 when he decided to ditch the world of suits and ties to start his own business. Seventeen years later, Kingston finds himself selling exotic furniture, including Chinese Fu dogs chiseled from stone, Dutch wrought iron, Portuguese wood works and Muslim carvings. To stock his store, he spends about five weeks a year in Indonesia looking for interesting pieces and then another two weeks in East Java watching over restoration work.
Read the full story here.
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March 24, 2006
Media Coverage: Why Do So Few Women Reach the Top of Big Law Firms?
Several newspapers recently ran an article entitled: "Why Do So Few Women Reach the Top of Big Law Firms?" The article explores the factors and issues driving the following anamoly: while the nation's law schools for years have been graduating classes that are almost evenly split between men and women, and firms are absorbing new associates in numbers that largely reflect that balance, only about 17 percent of the partners at major law firms nationwide were women in 2005 (a figure that has risen only slightly since 1995, when about 13 percent of partners were women).
Read the article.
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March 9, 2006
Media Coverage: Denise Couling: Lawyer Turned Jewelry Designer
Denise Couling followed in her father's footsteps after law school by joining up with his firm. However, from an early age, Couling enjoyed tinkering with jewelry.
After the birth of her second child, Couling began work in earnest on developing a system of interchangeable jewelry pieces that would go from dressy to work to casual. Friends, clients and other lawyers who saw her pieces started asking for them, and she started selling small batches; sometimes out of her conference room.
After reading Po Bronson's "What Should I Do With My Life?", and watching a taped episode of "Oprah" about a federal lawyer who had chucked his Washington career to open up a cake bakery (see Success Story), Couling decided to ease out of law and begin hawking jewelry. From trunk sales, Couling has graduated to a website, 50-page catalog, and her own physical retail store location.
Read Couling's full story here.
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March 7, 2006
Media Coverage: Dennis Naughton: Attorney Ventriloquist
Dennis Naughton says he's a tax and estates planning lawyer who hangs out with dummies. Huh?
The scoop is that Naughton has been a ventriloquist since he was 11 years old. He says his ventriloquism is a "networking" tool since people "like the fact that he's got a sense of humor." The skill could also come in handy in court against recalcitrant witnesses (Naughton says judges have cautioned him - tongue-in-cheek - not to try and make the witnesses talk).
Read an interview with Naughton in the Des Moines Register (photo credit: The Des Moines Register).
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January 28, 2006
Media Coverage: Lawyer Turned Cattleman
We last wrote about a lawyer turned cattleman on October 28, 2005 when we posted on an article about Roy Brown transitioning from law back to his family's cattle business; see post here.
The latest such story to come across our desk is that of Edwin R. Jonas III who purchased a 43-acre spread in Montana in 2001 to breed Piedmontese-Highlander crosses in an effort to create the perfect cattle: a high yield of tender beef low in cholesterol and saturated fats. When not tending to his cattle, Jonas spends about five days a month in Boca Raton, Fla., pursuing his legal work.
See the full story here.
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January 15, 2006
Media Coverage: Two Attorneys Sharing One Job - A Work Life Balance Solution for Law Firms?
A recent Washington Post article explored the novel work arrangement successfully implemented by Martha Mensch and Andrea Pesta who share the job of director of strategic development in the finance department at Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
Both women were struggling with trying to be both mothers and executives, when their boss suggested that they put their heads and lives together and share one job at the firm. Such an experiment had never been tried before, but it has a happy ending. The two have shared four jobs now and have even been promoted together.
While job sharing is not widespread, it offers a solution for firms seeking to retain talented employees who are not prepared to work 80-hour workweeks.
As explained by Mensch's and Pesta's boss, David Swenson, who is now CFO of Booz Hamilton:
"We had two highly skilled finance professionals who were capable of contributing exceptional value and continuing their professional development. We did not, however, have two part-time roles that would match their capabilities and potential. If Andrea and Martha could make it work, everyone would win. They would be able to maintain the work-life balance and be in roles best matching their capabilities and potential. The firm would benefit from continuing to receive the value added from two very skilled professionals."
Something for law firms dealing with their own retention issues to consider.
See the full Post article here.
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January 9, 2006
Media Coverage: Wall Street Journal Explores Retention Problems at Large Law Firms
The Wall Street Journal has launched a new column called The FLaw, which will focus on law firm management; in its own words: "the miscues, peculiarities and strange customs of law firms."
In an excellent first article, columnist Ashby Jones explores the reasons behind the increasing percentage of law firm associates who are quitting their jobs after the third year. One recent study by the NALP Foundation (which studies law firm hiring trends and practices) found that a whopping 37 percent of associates at big law firms (defined by the study as those employing more than 500 lawyers), quit their firms by the end of their third years of practice.
This exodus poses economic difficulties for law firms who, according to another study, don't start recouping their cash flow investment in an associate until about midway through an associate's fourth year, around the time most start acquiring the skill and confidence to run their own cases and deals.
See the full WSJ column here.
JD Bliss has partnered with Briefcase Moms to offer workshops and seminars for law firms seeking to increase retention of women attorneys. See further details here.
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December 24, 2005
Media Coverage: Prominent Pentagon Defense Counsel Named CEO of D.C. Charity
For 25 years, Will A. Gunn, a Harvard-trained attorney, has managed teams of lawyers charged with providing defendants with fair and just representation within the military legal system. His most recent assignment was extremely high profile: defending terrorism suspects held by the U.S. government at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
For years, when not "on duty," Gunn volunteered to mentor and work with young people through churches and schools wherever he was stationed. Now Gunn has turned his avocation into a career by leaving his legal job to become CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington (BGCGW), a youth organization providing after-school academic enrichment and athletic activities for 35,000 children annually throughout the National Capital Region through its 21 clubs and a summer camp. Founded in 1886, BGCGW is the largest affiliate of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
Read Gunn's bio on the BGCGW website.
Read more about Gunn's career change in the Washington Post (note: registration may be required).
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December 18, 2005
Media Coverage: Mark Seif: Lawyer Turned Poker Champion
Mark Seif is a former attorney who recently rose to stardom in the poker world with two tournament victories one week apart in June in the 2005 World Series of Poker.
In a recent interview with Poker News, Seif explained how his legal training has helped him excel at poker:
My legal background played a huge part in the forming of my poker skills. It seems attorneys are very good because of the things that they learn from their legal background. All you have to do is look at people like Greg Raymer, Dan Harrington and Andy Bloch, who were all attorneys and have had great success at the tables.
The reason for lawyers being good at poker is because the skills that you use as an attorney are similar to those that you would use in poker. You have to be very intelligent and you have to prepare yourself for a tournament, much like you would prepare for a trial. You also have to work off of incomplete information in the legal profession, which works directly into what you do at a poker table.
Lawyers do well in poker because they have to constantly work at their job and they are always watching their opponents. You are always reading people when they are testifying, determining if they are being truthful, and this, once again, is directly relevant to the game of poker.
Read the full interview with Seif in Poker News, the "Independent Online Poker Authority."
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December 16, 2005
Media Coverage: Jeff Schemmel: Left Law for College Athletics
Jeff Schemmel had been a track and field All-American at Kansas State University. He eventually embarked on a successful legal career in Topeka.
But the love of sports never died, and in 1988, he confided to his wife and former track coach that he wanted to quit his law practice of nearly 10 years to get involved in college athletics.
Schemmel is now four months into his tenure as the athletic director at San Diego State, the first AD position of his career, where he faces the challenge of turning around the school's football and basketball program.
Read the full story here.
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December 10, 2005
Media Coverage: Patricia Diaz Dennis: From FTC Commissioner to Girl Scouts Chair
Patricia Diaz Dennis's commitment to balancing work and family is inspiring. On the professional side, Dennis' legal career has included three presidential appointments (including serving as an FTC commissioner under Reagan), as many gubernatorial appointments and multiple board memberships, civic activities and honors. She now serves as a senior vice president and assistant general counsel for AT&T Corp.
Yet Dennis has consistently made time to devote to her family. She relates how she installed a special "hotline" for her kids to reach her at the office, but only to be used in the event of an emergency. Inevitably, the line rang while Dennis was meeting with three Fortune 500 executives; it was her daughter calling to report that the goldfish had died.
Now Dennis has been elected national board chairwoman of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, making her the leader of a group with more than 3.8 million members. She says her goal is to "make Girl Scouts so fun and hip that we don't lose them, because we have so many great programs." She notes that the Girls Scouts is much more than camping and cookies, and offers programs in math, science and technology, as well as healthy-living topics such self-esteem for girls.
Dennis' advice to others seeking work life balance between law and mothering is meaningful: "I don't think you can 'have it all' every day," she says. "Some days you're better at your job, other days you're better at mothering. Every day it fluctuates and you can't expect everything to be perfect. Some things just have to give and you have to set your priorities. For me, it's always been my kids."
Read more about Dennis' path to work life balance here.
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December 5, 2005
Media Coverage: The Lawyer Who Became "The Fat Guy"
Steven Shaw, also known as "The Fat Guy" in Internet food circles, is the founder of the culinary-focused site eGullet and the author of a new book called Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out..
But before he was a food writer, Shaw was a lawyer. By Shaw's account, in 1997, he began to rethink his career. His long hours held less and less appeal, and he missed spending time with his wife, travel writer Ellen Shapiro, and his bulldog Momo. His father had just passed away. Shaw decided to quit law and pursue a food-writing career.
Click here to read more about Shaw's new book and his insider look at the restaurant industry.
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November 20, 2005
Media Coverage: Steven Wallace: From Law to Chocolate
Steve Wallace fell in love with Ghana after a semester as an exchange student in the country 27 years ago. The reunion was a long time in coming.
Initially, Wallace started his career practicing tax law in Washington. He abandoned that path in 1988 to return to Milwaukee to work in the family's sportswear business.
Wallace was soon tinkering with recipes for a dark milk chocolate tailored to the U.S. palate. In 1992, he returned to Ghana to visit a factory that manufactured chocolate for the Ghanian market. He soon finalized an agreement for the factory to manufacture chocolate under his new brand - Omanhene - which means "paramount chief" in Ghana and refers to the most senior political and spiritual leader.
Omanhene's product line now includes a dark-chocolate bar, with 80% cocoa content; two iced-frappe mixes: Madagascar White and Double Chocolate; and an 80% cocoa bar, also sold in larger bars designed for pastry chefs, and a mint cocoa powder mix.
Bars are sold as far away as Japan, in local retail stores, and through the company's website.
Read a recent article about Wallace and his company in the Journal Sentinel Online.
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October 31, 2005
Media Coverage: Attorney Leaves Law Career to Launch Line of Body Care Products
When he toiled in corporate law for a Fortune 500 company, Terry Carter would often retreat to spas to deal with the stress that accompanied his job. In time, Carter realized he'd be only too happy to trade a spa for his office. That led him to form Travertine Spa, Inc., which makes a line of 23 luxury, body-care products.
Read Carter's full story.
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October 30, 2005
Media Coverage: Lawyer Leads Organization That Helps Disadvantaged Women Achieve Successful Careers
Joi Gordon, 38, is the international CEO of Dress for Success. The non-profit organization helps low-income women land corporate jobs by providing them with donated clothing, including suits, heels and pearls, as well as other services to help clients obtain jobs and remain employed.
Before becoming the CEO of Dress for Success, Gordon, a lawyer, was an assistant district attorney in the Bronx County Criminal Court. She saw Dress for Success on television and realized it was an organization she could give her suits to. Later, she was asked to serve on the board of directors, which eventually evolved into a 7 year career, first running the organization's New York office and now running the worldwide office.
Read an interview with Gordon on issues affecting women in the workforce.
Read more about Dress for Success.
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October 28, 2005
Media Coverage: Attorney Leaves Law Career to Return to Family's Cattle Feeding Business
Roy Brown's father is a legend in the cattle feeding business. Yet Brown initially opted for a career as a lawyer focused on agricultural bankruptcies. Only in 1995, at his father's request, did Brown return to the family business, Cattle Empire. In recent years, management of the business has been smoothly transferred to Brown from his father after Brown first spent a few years learning the ropes.
Brown says that he does not regret for one day getting his law degree, and that his degree has undoubtedly helped him in almost every facet of running his business. In particular, as an agricultural bankruptcy attorney he learned a lot about what makes businesses succeed, what makes them fail, and the steps needed to return a business to profitability.
Read Brown's story and plans for the future of his business. Among other things, it provides a good case study of a successful transfer of a business from one generation to the next.
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October 16, 2005
Media Coverage: Stephen Pedersen: Lawyer Turned Rock Musician
Omaha, Nebraska native Stephen Pedersen was an intellectual property litigator at Omaha's biggest law firm. He says he actually had fun amidst the long hours and hectic schedule.
But Pedersen's passion was always music, and when the chance came along, he left law to pursue music full time with his rock band, Criteria. In August, the band released its second full-length LP, "When We Break," a hearty record that is pure, unadulterated rock and roll.
Pedersen says his legal background gives him an edge in contract negotiations. "Bands get taken advantage of all the time," Pedersen says. "I can read recording contracts and negotiate. I know what it means and what we deserve."
Visit the band's website.
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October 2, 2005
Media Coverage: Joanne Sternlieb Builds a Thriving Trusts and Estates Practice . . . From Home!
SmartMoney recently interviewed Joanne R. Sternlieb about the "flex-time" trusts and estates practice that she operates out of her home. The practice employs four lawyers and two assistants who also work out of their own homes, on their own schedules, whenever they want. There are no set hours, no billable-hour requirements, no guaranteed hours, and no guaranteed pay - Sternlieb's only requirement is that they get the job done (whether at two in the afternoon or two in the morning).
Sternlieb says that her goal is "to use my firm as a role model for other law firms to show that you can create an environment where women (and men if they so choose) can work flexible schedules and be successful."
The flexible lifestyle that Sternlieb now enjoys in terms of more time for her family is a far cry from the sixty hour weeks she used to put in as an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. At the same time, working at Simpson Thacher (and then later in the trust department at Neuberger Berman Trust Co.) helped Sternlieb develop a network of talented attorneys to whom she often now turns for advice; indeed, one former Simpson Thacher associate will soon start working with her.
Sternlieb also credits technology - a Blackberry, cellphone and fax - with enabling her to operate the way she does.
Read more about Sternlieb's journey to a solo, home-based practice on her website.
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September 28, 2005
Media Coverage: More Doctors Apologizing for Mistakes
The press has been reporting a growing trend among physicians and hospitals to express remorse for their medical errors, apologize to patients and explain what went wrong. See one such article here.
Among those organizations encouraging the trend is a group called The Sorry Works! Coalition, which hopes to curb medical malpractice lawsuits by encouraging doctors and hospitals to "fess up when they screw up" and offer fair compensation to those they have harmed.
The trend goes to show that fighting and litigating will often not achieve the best results for clients, and that a simple apology and offer of fair compensation may do the trick instead.
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September 20, 2005
Media Coverage: Big-Firm Associates Talk of Drudgery
An article appearing on Law.com yesterday relates that dissatisfaction is increasing among large firm associates as the sophistication of work assigned to them appears to have decreased in the last five years. Large firm associates claim that firms often fail to deliver on recruiting pitches promising meaningful and important work.
Early results from "After the JD: A Longitudinal Study of Lawyer Career Trajectories," an ongoing project that will track for 10 years the careers of about 5,000 lawyers who graduated from law school in 2000, indicate that associates in firms with 250 or more attorneys are the least satisfied with the nature of their work.
Read the full article.
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September 4, 2005
Media Coverage: Telecommuting - Viable Option?
Law firms seeking to improve the work life balance of their attorneys might consider offering "telecommuting" options. As this article reports, AT&T has found that telecommuting can deliver important tangible and intangible benefits for both employers and employees.
Readers may also want to consult this article that appeared in the quarterly email newsletter of the Atlanta Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators discussing legal and other issues to consider in telecommuting arrangements.
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August 16, 2005
Media Coverage: Attorney Makes Career Out of Defending Animal Rights
Bruce Wagman has made a career out of protecting animals from abuse. While he spends about 20 percent of his time handling product liability defense and labor and employment litigation, the remainder is devoted to animal cases. Among other accomplishments, Wagman has co-authored "Animal Law," the first case book for animal law classes, now in its third edition. Read more about how Wagman got involved in his specialty and the inspiring cases that he has handled.
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August 5, 2005
Media Coverage: Chargers Linebacker Turned Attorney Turned Fitness Guru
This short interview with Michael London sets forth an interesting story of London's transition from linebacker for the San Diego Chargers to a civil litigator to the owner of a group of fitness clubs. Read more
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August 4, 2005
Media Coverage: Attorneys Leaves Practice to Join Guard in Iraq
After escaping the World Trade Center on 9/11, Matthew Tully moved with his wife from New York City to upstate New York and opened a law practice - Tully, Rinckey & Associates of Albany. Tully is also a major with the 42nd Infantry Division of the New York Army National Guard, and recently chose to volunteer to deploy to Iraq. He will be stationed in Tikrit.
Tully said that while he's not happy the country is at war, he will support his fellow soldiers and do his part. His partner will run the law firm in his absence.
Read more.
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July 28, 2005
Media Coverage: Rosanne Pennella: From Litigation to Professional Photography
Rosanne Pennella started her career working with federal judges and then as a litigator for top firms. Then one day she received her first camera -- a Nikon N90s -- as a Christmas gift. A few years later she quit her job as an attorney, and with two N90s cameras and a bag of Nikkor lenses ranging from 20 to 200mm, she decided to pursue photography full time for five years and see if things worked out.
Readers will be happy to know that Pennella has achieved success in her new field -- on August 1, 2005, Nikon announced that it was honoring Pennella's work in its inspiring monthly, "Legends Behind the Lens." Click here to view the press release.
For those interested in learning more about Pennella's work, we encourage you to visit her website. Among numerous shoots in exotic locales, Pennella has photographed the rainforest of Borneo, former headhunters of New Guinea, puja rituals on the Ganges River in India, cremation ceremonies in Bali, the mystical landscapes of China, villages in northern Thailand, tribal warriors in Kenya, as well as the cloud forest of Central America.
For a more detailed and inspiring account of Pennella's career change, see here.
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July 26, 2005
Media Coverage: Learning Work Life Balance From Best Buy
Law firms looking to reduce turnover and increase retention should take note of the roll out of a work life balance program for employees of Best Buy, the huge Minnesota-based electronics retailer.
Called ROWE, which stands for results-oriented work environment, the program allows employees to work when and where they like, as long as they get the job done.
Click here to read a preview of a Time Magazine article examining the success of ROWE at Best Buy over the past 3 years (note: it may cost you $1.99 to access the full article, but is well worth it -- considering experts estimate that it costs a law firm over $100,000 in "sunk" and "out of pocket" costs every time an associate leaves).
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July 14, 2005
Media Coverage: Medmal Attorney Takes Sabbatical and Becomes Novelist
 In 2002, Laura Caldwell was a medical malpractice attorney who had recently made partner at her firm. However, she also harbored a passion for writing. One night over dinner, on the spur of the moment and with the encouragement of her husband, she decided to take six months off to work on a novel.
At the end of six months, Caldwell decided to make a real break. A year and a half later she had published her first novel - Burning The Map - a story about a law school graduate who decides to take one last vacation with her childhood friends to Italy and Greece before she slides into fourteen-hour days at a Chicago law firm.
Click here to read more about Caldwell's story, as well as about other women professionals who have taken sabbaticals as a way to renew, refresh, and focus on non-work priorities.
For lawyers interested in learning more about the logistics of taking a sabbatical at a large firm, we recommend the ABA publication - Rest Assured - The Sabbatical Solution for Lawyers.
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July 3, 2005
Media Coverage: Working Dads Survey: Nearly One-Half of Working Dads Would Relinquish Breadwinner Role to Spend More Time with Their Kids
Some interesting findings from CareerBuilder's "Working Dads 2005" Survey:
- 25 percent of working dads are dissatisfied with their work/life balance.
- 36 percent of working dads report they bring work home at least one day a week and 30 percent say they often or always work weekends.
- More than 33 percent of working dads report they currently spend less than two hours with their children after work
and one-half have missed at least one significant event in their children's lives due to work in the last year
- The number of working dads who say they are willing to give up the breadwinner role if their spouse or
partner earned enough to support their families rose from 43 percent in 2004 to 49 percent in 2005.
- 37 percent of all working dads say they would consider the option of taking a new job with less pay if it offered a better work/life balance. One-in-five would accept a pay cut of more than 5 percent and one-
in-ten would accept a pay cut of over 10 percent.
Read the full press release announcing the survey results, including tips for helping working dads achieve greater work life balance.
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July 1, 2005
Media Coverage: Wharton Business School Offers Work Life Integration Course
For the last three years, Wharton, the prestigious business school based in West Philadelphia, has offered an innovative "work-life integration" course to show students how to juggle work, family, and community -- without sacrificing career goals.
"The big idea is that most people think work and the rest of life is antagonistic of each other, and that you have to find balance," explained Stewart Friedman, the management professor who teaches the popular elective course. "What I am focusing on is helping people think about themselves as leaders at work, home, and community so that their goal is to improve performance and results in all the different parts of their lives by looking at the whole."
Friedman counsels his students to take an inventory of what is important in their work and personal lives, build support from employers and family members who believe in those goals, and experiment to find the best way to accomplish all of them.
Read the full article to learn more, including what other business schools and corporations are doing to address what many see as an epidemic of overworking.
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June 22, 2005
Media Coverage: Litigator Doubles as Baseball Historian
Talmage Boston has been practicing business litigation for over 26 years, including most recently at Winstead Sechrest & Minick P.C in Dallas. Adorning his office is a healthy display of baseball memorabilia: bats used by Ty Cobb, Joe Jackson and Lou Gehrig; replicas of Fenway Park; and a picture of Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio with former President Bush.
But what makes Boston's love of baseball unique is that he has parlayed his passion into a second career as a baseball historian and writer.
After books on Nolan Ryan and Ted Williams, and countless articles as sportsbook reviewer for the Dallas Morning News, Boston has most recently been promoting his new book about the '39 baseball season: 1939: Baseball's Tipping Point. Among other things, 1939 was the year that the Hall of Fame opened, the Little League was founded, and a baseball game was first broadcast on television. It was also Ted Williams' first season and Lou Gehrig's tragic last season.
Buy Boston's book on Amazon.
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June 11, 2005
Media Coverage: Litigator Coaches Little League With Same Passion as He Practices Law
When he's not trying cases for clients as a litigator in the Houston office of Fulbright & Jaworski, Hugh Tanner is on the diamond coaching his kids' Little League teams. Mind you, Tanner is no ordinary Little League coach. Once assigned to a case being tried in Auburn Hills, Michigan during Little League season, Tanner flew back and forth from Michigan to cover the games and the trial (he recalls the client being quite impressed).
Tanner is also an immediate past-president and current board member of the West University Little League.
Tanner says that "Little League Baseball keeps me grounded" while also bringing him closer to his children and other parents in the community where he lives. Tanner believes that any lawyer can participate in the lives of their children -- they just need to make the time.
Read the full story in the Houston Lawyer's Off the Record column.
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June 9, 2005
Media Coverage: The Sorry State of the American Vacation
A recent survey by Expedia shows that 31 percent of working American adults don't take all of their vacation time. On average, working Americans will let three days of vacation go unused this year.
Excuses for leaving vacation time on the table include 13 percent who report they can turn their days off into cash, 12 percent who said they were put off by the hassle of scheduling vacation days in advance, and 10 percent who were too busy at work to slip away.
And the lawyers' excuse? According to Jim Jordan, chairman and chief executive of Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, while lawyers can take as much vacation time as they'd like, they have billable-hour budgets to meet, and so realistically don't usually take more than three weeks a year.
Agh! It's that billable hour again.
Read a more detailed review of the results of the Expedia survey in the Houston Chronicle.
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June 8, 2005
Media Coverage: Experts Worry About Large Number of Lawyers Leaving the Law
A recent article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted Law Professor Richard Delgado, and his wife, Jean Stefancic, a research law professor (authors of the recent book How Lawyers Lose Their Way: A Profession Fails Its Creative Minds) who estimated that 40,000 lawyers a year are leaving the profession -- about the number that are admitted each year to the bar.
Extensive research by Delgado and Stefancic found that no matter the age, location or type of law they practice, lawyers as a group appear to be "a very, very unhappy, uptight, overworked, driven bunch of people."
Law firms interested in reducing their turnover and stemming attrition should consider adopting more family-friendly policies such as flex-time schedules and offering resources to attorneys interested in improving their work life balance.
Read the full story in the Gazette.
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June 7, 2005
Media Coverage: Balancing Family and a Legal Career - One Lawyer's Story
Thirteen years ago, Connie Cowan, now 50, left her job as a senior lawyer at the Chicago Board of Trade to care full time for her children who were then ages 9 months and 2 years. She recently returned to the work force and was quickly able to find a part-time job as a probate attorney at Huck & Brisske. Cowan attributes her successful return to the legal workforce to networking among friends and colleagues until she found the right position.
Read Cowan's story and learn why taking off time for family doesn't have to spell the end of your legal career.
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June 2, 2005
Media Coverage: Martial Arts - Good Training for Lawyers?
Hard working attorneys need an outlet. Litigator Linda Kurtos found hers in the martial arts. Kurtos takes classes and teaches at the Degerberg Academy of Martial Arts. She has taken a particular interest in grappling, a competition that involves moves similar to wrestling in which fighters try to subdue their opponents with chokeholds or locking up limbs.
Aside from being great exercise, Kurtos believes that martial arts has made her into a more effective attorney. For example, when Kurtos' grappling opponent is attempting to make a move that actually will help her, she lets him make it. The same strategy applies in litigation, Kurtos notes, such as when a judge is making her argument, it's a good idea for her to be quiet and let the judge keep talking.
Attorneys looking for a solid exercise routine that can also help them develop better focus and strategic thinking should consider martial arts training. Read Kurtos' story to learn more.
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May 18, 2005
Media Coverage: Lawyer Moms
Special thanks to Carol Elefant over at My Shingle for linking to this recent article in the Boston Globe about the law firm of Lewis & Malone LLP. What makes the firm special is that its two partners - Patty Campbell Malone and David Lewis - both work from home, and are seeking to farm out work to stay-at-home mothers looking to put their law degrees to work on a part-time basis. To this end, they have compiled a list of lawyer mothers and are trying to attract enough cases to hire them to work 10 to 20 hours a week.
Malone and Lewis talk by phone and e-mail regularly. They have a dozen clients, and Malone said she has been visiting law firms to drum up more work.
JD Bliss wishes them much success in their novel approach.
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April 29, 2005
Media Coverage: McGuireWoods Alternative Billing Ad Copy
As a followup to our earlier post of April 19, 2005 concerning McGuire Woods' novel advertising campaign promoting its willingness to accept alternative billing arrangements, we'd like to thank Larry Bodine for making a copy of the ad available on his blog. While Larry analyzed this development from a legal marketing standpoint, as per our prior post, JD Bliss views the growth of alternative billing arrangements as a boon for attorney work life balance given that the billable hour standard is a key reason why lawyers have such difficulty making time for personal interests and family.
In any event, click here to view the full ad in PDF format.
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April 19, 2005
Media Coverage: McGuireWoods Bursts the Billable Hour Bubble
The Chicago Tribune reported today that, in an advertising campaign to begin Monday, McGuireWoods LLP will begin aggressively marketing its willingness to accept alternative compensation arrangements that are not based solely on billable hours. Ads will appear in major Chicago business newspapers. The firm reports that about 35 percent of its annual revenue of about $300 million already comes from alternative billing arrangements.
Ultimately, a move to alternative billing arrangements should help attorneys achieve better work life balance since the incentive to work longer and longer hours is no longer as strong. JD Bliss therefore encourages firms to explore such arrangements.
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March 30, 2005
Media Coverage: The Lawyer Behind the Times Square New Year's Countdown in New York City
New Year's 2006 may be way off for most, but Jeffrey Straus - the lawyer-turned-entertainer whose company is responsible for orchestrating the countdown held every year on New Year's eve in New York City's famed Times Square - is already on the ball getting prepared. Read more about the challenges faced by Strauss keeping 1 billion people riveted for sixty seconds.
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March 19, 2005
Media Coverage: Sol Linowitz Dies at 91: Lawyer, Businessman, Diplomat, Ethicist
Sol Linowitz died Friday at his home in Washington. For those who don't recognize the name, Linowitz was the small town attorney who helped the Haloid Co. (an obscure Rochester-based photographic supplies producer) license the patents to an equally obscure process known as electrophotography - the technology that later became the foundation of one of America's most recognized corporate names - Xerox. Linowitz later served as chairman of the board of Xerox.
Linowitz also served several U.S. Presidents, including acting as President Carter's chief negotiator for the Panama Canal treaty, and envoy to the Middle East after the signing of the peace treaty in 1977 between Israel and Egypt.
Linowitz was also outspoken about legal ethics - in a 1995 speech he urged lawyers: "to demonstrate that their concern as lawyers is with the human and the humane, that they are truly committed to the principle of equality of access to the law, that lawyers accept the obligation to serve all of the people in our society. Then -- and only then -- will lawyers find that we have won and deserve the appreciation and respect of those we seek to serve -- then and only then will we once again be able to say with dignity and honor: 'I am truly proud to be a lawyer.'"
The story of Linowitz's career path from small town attorney to chairman of Xerox to Presidential envoy is a fascinating one - starting with the details of how he acquired the patents for Xerox's core technology (Linowitz recalls that an initial demonstration of the technology was "the most unimpressive I've ever witnessed."). Click here to read more.
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March 18, 2005
Media Coverage: Attorney Thrives on Gameshows
Edward Schiffer took a massive pay cut when he quit big-firm life to become a staff attorney at the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. However, Schiffer has used his knowledge of "arcane" facts to become an adept competitor in a medium far removed from the law - gameshows, where he has taken home winnings from both Jeopardy (two pay days of $65,000 and $17,400) and Who Wants to be a Millionaire ($125,000). Read more.
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March 17, 2005
Media Coverage: Survey Reveals Top Alternative Career Choices for Lawyers
Responding to a recent survey by Robert Half Legal, the legal unit of Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI), 200 attorneys at the country's 1,000 largest firms cited the following occupations they would consider if they were to leave their current jobs: mediator (54 percent), law school professor or lecturer (49 percent) and nonprofit or public interest legal services provider (41 percent). Read further details.
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March 13, 2005
Media Coverage: Lawyers With Radio Talk Show Light Up Airwaves in Denver
Practicing attorneys Dan Caplis and Craig Silverman share a radio show that runs weekdays from 3 to 7 p.m. on Clear Channel-owned KHOW, which serves the Denver area. Debuting in September 2004, Caplis and Silverman have proven adept at fueling controversies, which has generated publicity and helped KHOW reverse a longstanding decline in listeners for this time slot. Read more.
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March 6, 2005
Media Coverage: Tax Attorney Leaves Law to Sell Hotdogs
David Flamholz earned a degree from one of the nation's top law schools and had a job with one of New York's top law firms.
So why is he selling hot dogs for a living?
Seems David didn't like practicing law and craved a more entrepreneurial path. So he teamed up with his cousin to take over the family business - Abeles & Heymann Kosher Provisions - which had been selling kosher hot dogs and other deli meats since 1954, but had fallen on hard times.
Once at the company, David and his cousin modernized production and distribution, and added new products. Annual sales have grown from $500,000 to over $3 million.
Read David's full story.
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March 4, 2005
Media Coverage: Former Lawyer Opens Pet Boutique
Jennifer Houde earned a six-figure salary courtesy of a prestigious Phoenix law firm. But she hated leaving her dog Greta, a 3 1/2-year-old Weimaraner, home every morning. Jennifer's solution? Leave law and open Greta's Pet Boutique, an upscale dog and cat emporium in downtown Phoenix.
Now Jennifer can take Greta to work every day while continuing to indulge the canine with dog toys that used to run over $1,000/year, but Jennifer can now purchase at wholesale prices. Jennifer's shop will offer, among other things, pink leather pup carriers ($100), doggie spa gift packages (featuring everything from specialty shampoos and rubber duckies to after-bath spritzers; $30-$50), trendy wicker cat beds for pampered felines ($66),cowpoke-inspired overstuffed day nappers for dogs ($50 and up); and leashes and collars in everything from floral brocade fabric to plaid designs (from $10-$30).
The store will also support causes for pet rescue and animal shelter causes.
Read Jennifer's story.
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March 3, 2005
Media Coverage: Survey Finds Attorneys Bring Projects Home an Average of Nine Days Per Month
Despite long hours at the office, many attorneys continue to burn the midnight oil once they leave, according to a new survey. Attorneys polled said they give themselves homework assignments an average of nine days per month, or more than twice a week.
The survey was developed by Robert Half Legal, a leading staffing service specializing in attorneys, paralegals and other highly skilled legal professionals. It was conducted by an independent research firm and includes responses from 200 attorneys among the nation's 1,000 largest law firms and corporations in the United States and Canada.
Click here for further details.
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February 28, 2005
Media Coverage: Lawyer Stricken With Polio at Young Age Advocates for the Disabled
As a 10-year-old boy, Wichita lawyer David Calvert contracted spinal polio that left his legs paralyzed and put him in a wheelchair. Remarkably, David says that the illness "changed my life for the better."
Fast forward over 40 years to 1994, when David began tackling issues related to the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that public places be accessible to the disabled.
These days David is well known in Wichita for advocating for the rights of the disabled. Though it is difficult to bring and win lawsuits under the ADA, and the statute does not allow for cash awards or financial damages, David has nevertheless achieved outstanding results for disabled citizens, including persuading the Kansas State Fair to make its fairgrounds more accessible, and getting the City of Wichita to agree to hire a consultant to inspect all city-owned buildings and properties for physical barriers that need to be fixed, and to change the way it handles complaints.
Concerning his work, David states that he
enjoys "making a difference." He further notes "there's nothing better in law than to have a passion for what you're doing."
Read David's full story.
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February 20, 2005
Media Coverage: Former Real Estate Litigator Peddles Cigars
 After graduating from law school in 1992, Bart Gerber spent three years practicing law as a real estate litigator. But having seen his father successfully manage his own business, Bart decided he'd prefer entrepreneurship over law.
At about the same time that his interest in legal work was dwindling, Bart revived an old habit of cigar smoking. That interest eventually evolved into the opening of Bart's first cigar store - Churchill's Fine Cigars - featuring premium cigars, various accessories, and a private "smoking club" with a pool table and big screen TV.
Bart just recently opened his fourth store. Read Bart's story.
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February 17, 2005
Media Coverage: Matthew Arkin Describes Transition from Law to Acting
Matthew Arkin - son of famed actor and director Alan Arkin and brother of Adam Arkin (of Chicago Hope) - started out his career practicing law precisely because the rest of the family was in film and TV, and he wanted to be exposed to something different.
Eventually, however, Matthew grew disillusioned with law and slowly transitioned to an acting career. His most frequent roles to date are - you guessed it - attorneys. Read more.
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January 30, 2005
Media Coverage: Employment Law Background Can Help Transition to Career in Human Resources
Johnny Taylor, an employment attorney, was recently appointed to a two-year term as chair of the Board of Directors for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In this interview with HR Magazine, Taylor explains that because so much of an HR professional's workload involves compliance with workplace laws, rules and regulations, attorneys with an employment law background can easily transition to an HR career. Read more.
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January 29, 2005
Media Coverage: Starr Ilzhoefer Juggles Law and Fashion Design
 During the week, Starr Ilzhoefer works as a finance attorney at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft. On the weekends, she's a budding fashion designer.
Starr's big shot at stardom came late last year, when she was selected as a contestant on Bravo's reality show, "Project Runway." The show featured amateur designers competing for the opportunity to create fall collections to model during New York Fashion Week in February 2005.
While ultimately Starr was not selected as a finalist, her story shows that it's possible for attorneys to advance their creative interests if they keep their eyes open for opportunities to do so.
See Starr's porfolio.
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January 28, 2005
Media Coverage: Former City Attorney Now Top Chicago Teacher
When Alexandra Burrell decided to trade her office as assistant corporation counsel in the city's law department for a classroom, she never looked back. Burrell now is among 130 Chicago Public Schools teachers granted National Board Certification this year, officials announced in early January 2005. Read more
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January 27, 2005
Media Coverage: Charlottesville Trial Lawyers Achieves Balance With Devotion to Community Projects
In his professional career, Francis Lawrence is a trial attorney, and a member of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association. But it has been his quiet work on community projects in Charlottesville that has earned him the respect of a wide spectrum of the city he calls home.
With the help of his wife, children, volunteers and students from the area, Lawrence has built miles of trails linking the city’s streams and creeks. He also spearheaded a project that enlisted the help of disadvantaged youth to build keelboats to mark the 200th anniversary of Lewis and Clark’s westward journey.
Of his community involvement, Lawrence says: “It ultimately makes me a better lawyer. It keeps me fresh.”
Read more.
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January 21, 2005
Media Coverage: Lawyer Turned Wireless Entrepreneur Sells Firm to Sprint for $35 Billion
 Sprint recently agreed to buy Nextel for $35 billion. Did you know that Nextel founder Morgan O'Brien is a former Jones Day attorney who conceived of Nextel (formerly known as Fleet Call) while representing mom-and-pop dispatch services for taxis and delivery vans in the mid-1980's? Read the full story here.
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January 20, 2005
Media Coverage: Kentucky Lawyers Leave Law for More Satisfying Careers As Clergy, Teachers and Dream Analysts (yes that's a career)
The Rev. Mark Feather, pastor of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, remembers an "audible gasp" in 1998 when he announced at a meeting that he was leaving Frost Brown & Todd to attend seminary school. He makes about 20 percent of his former income.
Tony Goebel left the same firm to head a fledgling church "nestled between a liquor store and a Planned Parenthood office." The church has since moved into a new sanctuary. "God used my legal skills to negotiate a good deal with PNC Bank," he said.
Kim Greene said her life was out of balance when she worked for a law firm. So she left her $310/hour position at Dinsmore & Shohl to learn dream analysis (where the going rate is $50/hour).
Joe Gutmann left a job as Jefferson County's top prosecutor three years ago to teach at Central High School. He chose teaching because a common thread among the criminals he prosecuted was their lack of education. "I have to convince my students that education is their ticket," he said.
Read their stories in the online version of the Courier-Journal out of Louisville, Kentucky.
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January 18, 2005
Media Coverage: Litigator Leaves Law for Golf
 Steven Hakes practiced civil litigation for 15 years, but was always nagged by the feeling he never reached his full golf potential. So upon achieving financial security, he quit his law job nearly three years ago to focus full time on his swing.
After playing in numerous tournaments, this week Hakes achieved a milestone - he qualified to play as an amateur in the PGA Tour's Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines. He did so by firing a 4-under-par 68 on the South Course to win the only spot offered from the tournament's amateur qualifier. In the tournament's history, only Pat Duncan ('86), Steve Haase ('89) and Charley Hoffman ('96) have made the cut as amateur qualifiers.
Read more about Hakes' accomplishments on the green and his thoughts on pursuing his dream.
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January 13, 2005
Media Coverage: Criminal Lawyer Helps Write Screenplay for Bruce Willis/Sharon Stone Movie Due Out in 2005
Michael Mehas started dabbling in writing after spending several years practicing as a criminal and family law attorney in Southern California. Michael was eventually recruited by director and screenwriter Nick Cassavetes to write the screenplay for a movie based on the case of fugitive Jesse James Hollywood, a drug dealer who became one of the youngest men ever to be on the FBI's most wanted list. As part of his contribution, Michael scoured trial and grand-jury transcripts, witness statements and appellate court records in order to create a chronology of the events on which the movie is based.
The movie, called Alpha Dog, stars Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone and Justin Timberlake, and is due for release in 2005.
Click here to read more about Michael's work on Alpha Dog and path from law to screenwriter.
Click here for information on Alpha Dog in the IMDb movie database.
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January 8, 2005
Media Coverage: Attorney Indulges Passion for Photography
 For 25 years, F. Walter Bistline, Jr. concentrated on negotiating and documenting financings by foreign and domestic commercial banks for corporate borrowers. He rose through the ranks from an associateship at White & Case to partnership at Porter & Hedges, LLP in Houston.
However, in 2001, Walt resigned his partnership and became Of Counsel to the firm in order to begin graduate photography studies at the University of Houston (Walt says that upon learning of this career change, several of his longtime friends noted the irony that he hadn't even owned a camera in college).
Walt's path to his new passion is a fascinating one that began with a career counseling program at Rice University to identify areas of interest and eventually led to ongoing interaction with artists and photographers who encouraged him in his interest.
Read the full story in the Houston Lawyer's Off the Record column.
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December 26, 2004
Media Coverage: Lawyer Equestrians: Dressage/English Riders
 Diane McManus, a supervising attorney at Lone Star Legal Aid, and Ceil Price, an in-house consulting environmental lawyer with Shell Oil Products US, both of Houston, participate in English riding - an equestrian sport in which a judge scores the rider’s control of the horse in various intricate patterns of walk/ trot/canter in specific measured patterns.
“Lawyers live in their heads,” says Diane. “Riding dressage is very physical, very outside yourself. It also focuses on detail and precision, like lawyering.”
Read more about these lawyer equestrians in the Houston Lawyer's Off the Record column.
[FULL STORY AND READER COMMENTS]
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December 2, 2004
Media Coverage: Working Moms Practice Law From Home
 Nina Kallen, a Boston-based solo attorney, figured that one way to achieve that ever-elusive work-life balance was to devote less of her day to work-related activities. But instead of cutting the amount of time she does billable legal work, she decided to cut the biggest, nonrevenue time waster -- her commute -- by setting up a home office.
Lisa Solomon also practices law from a home office so that she can be more available for her children and for other household-supervision chores. The Westchester County, N.Y., mother of two hires a babysitter to keep her children occupied in another part of the house while she works.
Read more about the challenges -- and joys -- of practicing law from a home office.
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November 30, 2004
Media Coverage: Business Lawyer Releases Debut CD
 For years, Dan Neal worked as a business lawyer maintaining his own practice in Eugene, Oregon. However, his love of music never faded, and his guitar was always handy. Now he's releasing his debut CD, "When the Big Picture Fades," marked by a performance last Saturday of his rock-flavored folk songs at a CD release party at a local cafe.
He's not, however, ready to pack away his law books. "I can't see swinging into music as a career while still maintaining my lifestyle," he said. "But I do want to cut back on my law practice some and pursue this at some commercial level."
Read Dan's story.
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November 25, 2004
Media Coverage: Survivors of Adversity Give Thanks
On this Thanksgiving, we wish all of our readers a wonderful day filled with family and fun. For most, we hope, Thanksgiving will be a time to reflect on and feel grateful for all the good things in life.
Yet, we also acknowledge that for those who have suffered adversity, or are just having a difficult time in life, it is not always so easy to give thanks. Adversity tests one's inner strength - it is a challenge to see past what seems objectively bad, and find the glimmer of good that provides hope for the future.
As a source of inspiration and strength for those who may need it, we bring you five stories of people who overcame adversity, and now say they have plenty of reasons to give thanks. Among them is an attorney whose illness forced her to give up a fast-paced career and opened her eyes to a family-friendly lifestyle and career helping kids. Read their stories.
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November 23, 2004
Media Coverage: Lawyers Find Dream Career Teaching in City Schools
 High school teachers Stephanie Ferro and Mary Ellen McGorry once worked as full-time attorneys, practicing before judges and juries.
Ferro enjoyed lawyering but didn't like the business aspect of it: keeping track of money, hours, and all the rest of it. To her, it was a question of quality of life. McGorry, on the other hand, didn't like the negativity of her legal work.
Now both teachers find they are working hours that are just as long as they did when practicing law. However, they find the work considerably more fun and fulfilling.
Read the story of Ferro's and McGorry's transition from law to teaching.
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November 19, 2004
Media Coverage: Former Lawyer Pursues Passion for Art With New Gallery
 After graduating with a law degree from Boston College, Pamela Siemon worked at a local law firm before moving into her own private practice. Then, nine years ago, she had her first son, Matthew, and began to cut back on her workload. She eventually decided to stay home full-time after the birth of her second child, Andrew, two years later.
Though she had enjoyed practicing law well enough, something had always nagged at her. Was being a lawyer what she loved? If not, what did she want to do instead? What was her passion in life?
Each of these questions pushed her back toward art -- a discipline she had pursued in college, but neglected after launching her legal career.
Ms. Simeon is now indulging her passion with the grand opening of Fenn Gallery, a new contemporary art gallery in Woodbury Connecticutt. The gallery features work by artists such as sculptor Jorge Blanco (see sculpture to upper right)
Read Ms. Simeon's story.
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November 15, 2004
Media Coverage: Prosecutor Turned Author Launches Her First Book
 Before embarking on her current career as a novelist, Margaret McLean Barcomb worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Essex County, where she dealt with and prosecuted nearly every crime imaginable.
Now she has leveraged her experiences in the courtroom into a writing career with the launch of her first book - Under Oath - which hit the stands in October.
Barcomb, who writes under the name Margaret McLean, described Under Oath as a murder and conspiracy drama that is set mainly inside the courtroom, and told from several perspectives including that of the police, the prosecution, and the jury.
Read more about Ms. Barcomb's career path from prosecutor to novelist.
Purchase Under Oath or read reviews.
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November 12, 2004
Media Coverage: Dads Juggling Family and Career
 According to the U.S. Census, since 1986 there has been a 54 percent increase in the number of men who stay home while their wives work, up from fewer than 2.4 million that year to more than 3.6 million in 2003. Those men are a small fraction of the 58.6 million married couples in America, but the increase shows there has been a subtle shift in how fathers perceive their roles.
Read more about the joys and challenges experienced by "dads" trying to juggle career and family.
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November 9, 2004
Media Coverage: New York Attorneys Find New Careers as Legal Gumshoes
Taking advantage of Article VII, Section 83 of the New York State General Business Law, which exempts attorneys from having to obtain special licensure to conduct private investigations, small numbers of New York attorneys have transitioned into investigative work. The work involves due diligence inquiries, security audits, gathering business and litigation intelligence, and locating missing assets (and persons).
Click here to read more about the "legal gumshoes."
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November 7, 2004
Media Coverage: Prosecutor Also Thrives as Up-and-Coming Actor
 Cajardo Lindsey has two thriving careers, one as an assistant prosecutor in Denver and another as an up-and-coming actor. His biggest break to date came when he landed a supporting role in Silver City, John Sayles' political satire. Lindsey feels that his acting has helped in his legal career in terms of sounding more natural in the courtroom, and vice versa.
Read an interview with Lindsey in the online version of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
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October 31, 2004
Media Coverage: Attorney Doubles as Full Time Professional Firefighter
 Daniel P. Hunsberger, a Ridgefield, Connecticut attorney, risks serious injury, even death, every time he shows up to work. Stern judges? Hostile opposing counsel? Actually, Hunsberger's fiercest nemesis is: fire. Of counsel at the Law Offices of Elisabeth Seieroe Maurer, Hunsberger is also a full-time professional firefighter, as well as vice president and staff representative for the Uniformed Professional Firefighters Association of Connecticut.
Read Hunsberger's story, especially the unique perspective he brings to both jobs.
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October 29, 2004
Media Coverage: Attorney Leaves Law to Fight for His Country
 Michael Brown was practicing construction and personal injury defense law in Dallas when a chance meeting in a restaurant with an Army recruiter, Staff Sgt. Jerome Huntley, changed his life. After several meetings with Huntley, Brown made the decision to abandon his lucrative practice for basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia. From there he hopes to join a special operations unit.
The possibility of being sent to war hasn't deterred Brown. As Brown explains, "That's really part of the reason that I'm signing up. You're ready to go out there and do what you can for the country."
Read the full story in the online version of the Houston Chronicle.
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October 24, 2004
Media Coverage: Local Attorney Gives Up Partnership to Help the Poor
Timothy Bingham's recent career change is an inspiring one. Guided by a belief that he is obligated to perform "mitzvahs," or good deeds, Binghma traded in the trappings of partnership at Tyler Cooper & Alcorn to become a volunteer lawyer for New Haven Legal Assistance.
For Bingham, his Oct. 1 career switch came as the result of discussions between him and Tyler Cooper partner Margaret Mason, who chairs New Haven Legal Assistance's board of directors. The agency desperately needed, but couldn't afford, a lawyer experienced in consumer credit matters. As NHLA Executive Director Patricia R. Kaplan puts it, Bingham was "manna from heaven," a spiritual nourishment of divine origin.
Read Bingham's full story.
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October 23, 2004
Media Coverage: Lawyer Ordained as Priest
By 1987, Jesse Adams had started his own law firm - now Adams, Hoefer, Holwadel and Eldridge - and spent most of his time representing insurance carriers and product manufacturers. But off and on throughout his life, the soft-spoken Adams felt the tugs of a higher calling.
In January 2001, he received the ultimate call and began the prescribed study and training to enter the priesthood. And on August 6, 2004, Adams was ordained an Episcopalian priest at Trinity by the Right Rev. Charles E. Jenkins III, Bishop of Louisiana.
Adams will continue to practice law with a reduced caseload. "The institution of law and the church are both imperfect institutions and both have an extraordinarily important place in the world," he said. "The administration of justice is very important and the administration of hope, love and charity which the church has the courage to proclaim it addresses is also important."
Read the full story behind Adams' journey.
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October 21, 2004
Media Coverage: Larry Lucchino: From Lawyer to President of the Boston Red Sox
 Boston Red Sox fans might be interested to know that team CEO and President Larry Lucchino is a former trial attorney. An adversarial streak is certainly evident in Lucchino's stewardship of the Sox, which has transformed the heated rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox into a blood feud unmatched in sports replete with name-calling like "Evil Empire." Read more about Lucchino's vision for the Sox (sorry Yankee fans, if George Steinbrenner had practiced law we'd profile him too).
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October 17, 2004
Media Coverage: Attorney Turned Teacher Assumes Role of High School Assistant Principal
Edward Rozmiarek, the new assistant principal at Mansfield High School in Mansfield, Massachusetts, is a former bankruptcy attorney who brings a wealth of unique experience to his new position.
Between Rozmiarek's second and third years of law school, he got a job with a bankruptcy firm, which became a permanent position upon graduation. The opportunity to work for a bankruptcy judge followed, and, after that, a larger firm beckoned. All in all, Rozmiarek spent 10 years working in the field of bankruptcy law. He has written a book on bankruptcy law and has assisted on a few more.
However, during the time he was practicing law, he was also always teaching, and his teaching during that time period included a wide assortment of subjects to a variety of students. He taught bankruptcy seminars for lawyers, and also taught mathematics at Katherine Gibbs secretarial school. He spent several years teaching standardized test reviews for the GREs, GMATs, and LSATs.
In 2001, Rozmiarek decided he wanted to get back into education full-time.
Click here to read Rozmiarek's full story reported in Mansfield News' TownOnline.com
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October 17, 2004
Media Coverage: Attorney Turned NYC Politician Has Passion for Public Service
Melinda Katz was volunteering for a political campaign in 1993 when she found herself at a career crossroads.
The candidate, then Assemb. Alan Hevesi, won the race for city comptroller, leaving his Assembly seat vacant. Katz was faced with the dilemma of choosing between a lucrative career as a corporate attorney and her passion for public service.
"I realized I started caring more for the constituents' needs than my job at the law firm," said Katz, who left a six-figure job to enter politics.
At 28, Katz found herself elected to the State Assembly.
Read the full profile at Newsday.com.
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October 13, 2004
Media Coverage: Attorney Turned Winemaker Still Hard at Work at 74
Jess Jackson made his mark as a lawyer, carving out an accomplished career as a land-use attorney. He got into winemaking and became a huge success, building an empire on Kendall-Jackson chardonnay.
Born in Los Angeles, Jackson was raised in San Francisco and spent summers in wine country as a teenager, working as a lifeguard, picking grapes in those post-depression days and learning to make wine from an Italian in-law.
As a young man, Jackson turned to drier pursuits, becoming an attorney in the San Francisco area specializing in land-use and property rights issues.
It was in the 1970s that Jackson returned to wine country, buying a ranch in Northern California.
The idea was to have a place to relax, but it wasn't long before Jackson was embarking on a second career.
[FULL STORY AND READER COMMENTS]
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October 2, 2004
Media Coverage: Lawyers Finding Peace of Mind
Angry and depressed by win-at-any-cost legal work, a growing number of lawyers are seeking peace of mind — for their clients and themselves — by bringing spiritual alternatives to the practice of law. This is the lead in to a remarkable article from earlier this year in the Boston Globe on how attorneys are finding greater fulfillment in law by changing the way they practice.
[FULL STORY AND READER COMMENTS]
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