To our legal community: Along with all of you, we have been working tirelessly to adjust to rapidly changing work environments and processes, while continuing the essential work on behalf of those we serve. We are inspired by the creativity…
To Be Diligent
The California Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.3 imposes a separate duty on attorneys to be diligent in their representation of clients. Specifically, Rule 1.3 provides: “(a) A lawyer shall not intentionally, repeatedly, recklessly or with gross negligence fail…
The Challenge of Imbalance
Where persons in a marital or nonmarital relationship have relatively equal bargaining power, that balance of power can help them dissolve those relationships amicably and reasonably, without a great deal of assistance from either attorneys or the court. In many…
How Third-Party Contracting Robs Your Clients
As a practical matter, if we get nothing for the case, we eat the costs we advanced. If we get a favorable verdict or settlement, the client’s net is less. Court reporters and clients are getting less Lawyers are…
Help Your Neighbors in Need, Support Food From The Bar
Last year, the legal community raised the funds to help provide food for over 1.3 Million meals. Join Food From The Bar this year as we aim to help the Food Bank help even more people who struggle with food…
Utah Sister Has No Standing in Sibling Rivalry
Grethe Jensen had two daughters, Kari in California and Trine in Utah. Kari urged her 89-year-old mother to sell her house and buy a place jointly with Kari in Ventura so that Kari could care for her. Things soon went…
Court Refused to Buy Estate’s Dirty Art Valuation
The Estate of Eva Franzen Kohlman included two Old Master paintings, Village Kermesse with Dance Around the Maypole (“Maypole”) and Orpheus Charming the Animals. Both were filthy on the day of death. The Estate’s expert appraiser, George Wachter, claimed that the dirt…
Self Care: Learning to Read Your Bodily Navigation Stars
There is an analogy that has been passed down through the years involving a woodcutter going about the task of cutting wood. In the story, the woodcutter is asked by an observer why they don’t stop to sharpen their saw.…
Develop Your Work Mindset
Take a moment to think about your typical workday. If you look closely, every workday is simply a series of hundreds of mini-situations you must think through in order to make it through the day: How do I deal with…
How Mindfulness Practices Can Benefit Lawyers
Burnout is a phenomenon that many lawyers are all too familiar with. You’re working long hours, sleep has become elusive, you’re chronically exhausted, overly cynical, and you may feel ineffective in your career. Even your subconscious thoughts are constantly ruminating…
Tools for Lawyer Resilience
The shadow of stress inevitably hovers over work in any profession. That is especially true in the practice of law, an endeavor in which lawyers must solve challenging and high-stakes problems, often within extremely tight deadlines. So, what does it…
Getting Sworn In: Taking the Oath on Your Own Terms
Huzzah, you’ve finally passed the bar exam! It’s time to take your lawyer’s oath. Would you like to A) Line up with hundreds or maybe thousands of other newbies, right hand raised to repeat the words en masse in an…