The Simple Yet Unacceptable Answer to the Mental Health Crisis in the Legal Profession
By Murray Gottheil | March 13, 2024 By the time that I figured out that I could no longer cope with the pressures of the legal profession and that something had to give, I had been practicing business law for 33 years. What can I say… I am a slow learner. It took me almost another […]
Emily Two – A Tale about Sun Visors, Money, and Ego
Photo by Gustavo Fring at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | March 7, 2024 When automobile manufacturers first put vanity mirrors on sun visors, they only put them on the passenger side. Their reasoning was that the passenger was usually a woman who had makeup to apply. The car was being driven by a man and men […]
How Quickly My Good Idea Becomes Your Great Idea
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | March 5, 2024 Now and then I will tell a story about something that I did back in the day when my wife Maureen and I practiced at the same law firm. Typically my story involves a brilliant legal strategy that I developed, a big win, […]
A Sweeter World?
Photo by Ron Lach at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | February 20, 2024 I was speaking to a university student the other day whom I will call Lara. Lara told me that she occasionally has a super nice dinner at her friend Kim’s expense. It seems that sometimes Kim meets a sugar daddy who treats her […]
Is Someone Out to Get You?
Photo by RDNE Stock project at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | February 19, 2023 Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you – Joseph Heller In some law firms there are politics among the partners. Someone wants to be the managing partner or win the compensation committee contest, and they need to accumulate friends […]
Worrying For Godot
By Murray Gottheil | January 30, 2024 Photo by Keira Burton at Pexels When I practiced law, I worried a lot. I worried about making a mistake on my files. I worried that I was too busy. I worried that I was not busy enough. I even worried for the people at my firm who were […]
Math at the End of Days
Photo by Ana Arantes at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | January 22, 2024 Let’s say that Mike is a partner at his firm. He stays for many years and builds a substantial client base. And while we are making things up, let’s assume that Mike has been a team player and introduced his clients to his partners […]
Believe Them the First Time
Photo by Antonio Friedemann at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | January 9, 2024 When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time – – – Maya Angelou I have observed that there are many pitifully unhappy folks in law whose irrational hopefulness is downright impressive in a kind of twisted and sad way. […]
Grilled Cheese, Please
Photo by Ahmed Rabea at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | January 3, 2024 There is a restaurant in Lakefield, Ontario called the Canoe & Paddle. On their regular menu is an “Ultimate Grilled Cheese”, which comes with smoked bacon, cheddar, asiago, tomato, and garlic butter. On its “Kids & Seniors” menu, the restaurant offers a grilled […]
Law Firm Primer For Articling Students and New Associates – Part Eight: The Chief Marketing Officer
By Murray Gottheil | December 27, 2023 Photo by Helena Lopes at Pixels Those of you who have been following this series know said that Part Seven was the final article in the series. It turns out that I lied. The purpose of the series is to set out the questions which articling students and new […]