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 […]
Stupid, Stupid, Stupid
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | September 27, 2023 I once proposed raising our hourly rates and was met with furious resistance by the head of our litigation department who assured me that no assessment officer would ever permit lawyers to charge the amounts that I had proposed. He was a brilliant […]
Artificially Human?
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | September 25, 2023 I have a theory about life which I espouse in my less optimistic moments. My theory is that for many people, things become less and less familiar as they age. What is socially acceptable changes, people dress and act differently, friends and family […]
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 […]
Men Talking About Moms at the Partnership Table
By Murray Gottheil | August 9, 2023 Those of you who do not attend partners meetings may not know that why associates are not working hard enough is a common agenda item. And those of you who follow the statistics are aware that only 25% of partners in Canadian law firms are female. This means that […]