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 […]
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 […]
There Seems to be Some Confusion – I Loved Practicing Law!
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | July 30, 2023 This morning someone remarked that much of my writing about the legal profession is a tad negative. She said, “You practiced law for a long time; you were good at what you did; you made enough money to retire and travel the world. […]
Loose Lips and Sinking Ships
Photo by Alex Fawzy at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | July 22, 2023 Law firm partnerships like to project the image of a cohesive unit. One strategy that they employ is to insist that although partners may disagree with each other in a partners’ meeting, once they leave the room, they all must support the group’s […]
Reporting to the Lawyer From Hell
Photo by Maureen T. McKay By Murray Gottheil | July 19, 2023 So imagine that you are a newbie lawyer working for a firm. When your were looking for your first job, nobody told you that the most important consideration was to work for a competent person of good character, so you chose your job […]