Law Firm Primer For Articling Students and New Associates – Part One: The Managing Partner
Photo by RDNE Stock project at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | October 24, 2023 When articling students or young lawyers join a law firm of any size, what they see at first is the carefully cultivated image that the law firm promotes and are often thrilled to be part of a fantasy world where every lawyer […]
The Ethics of Dictating Work Ethic
By Billy Hathorn, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons By Murray Gottheil | October 16, 2023 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Later he kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and decreed that going forward, people would have to work very, very hard, just to survive. From […]
That’s A Little Bit Too Thinky For Me
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | October 1, 2023 A young lawyer asked me for advice. He was contemplating making a jump from Big Law to a smaller firm, for the usual reason that he wanted to work less and enjoy life more. I was not completely sure that it was the […]
The Zero You Deserve is Finally Here
Photo by Brandon Richardson at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | September 19, 2023 The title of this post is from an advertisement for Dr. Pepper’s zero sugar soft drink and is a nifty introduction to the topic of entitlement. One of my minor pet peeves is advertisements that tell me that I “deserve” things. How […]
Would You Rather Die or Give a Speech?
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | September 11, 2023 According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing […]
They Care… in Their Spare Time
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko By Murray Gottheil | September 6, 2023 The other day my wife, Maureen, told me about a friend who was complaining that his busy adult children do not call him very often. Her friend asked Maureen, “Don’t they care about their dad?” To which Maureen replied, “They care… in their spare time.” Maureen […]
There is More to Life than Hard Work
Photo by Rdne Stock Project at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | August 30, 2023 I was a socialist at age twenty. I went to law school because I wanted to help the poor and the oppressed. By the time that I was thirty I was a business lawyer. Stuff like that happens to people. Over the […]
Bad and Worse Advice for Law Firm Associates
Photo by Thirdman at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | August 28, 2023 Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time – Chinese proverb The Chinese were on to something. We all make the mistake of teaching things to younger generations based on our own experience. Here is some […]
Talking to Partners about Problems
Photo by Cottonbro Studio at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | August 6, 2023 Since I retired, I do not speak to law firm partners very often, which is just fine with me. For one thing, I cannot afford to speak to them about professional matters. For another, I have had quite my fill of speaking to […]
I Give this Post a Five Star Review
Photo by Nicola Barts at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | August 1, 2023 I was a super-fantastic lawyer. Really, almost everyone says so. And yet, there were a few clients who did not appreciate what I did for them or what it cost to have me do it. Luckily for me, during most of my career […]