Rule 1.17 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which deals with the sale of a law practice, is a restraining force in law practice succession planning. There are good reasons for this rule, such as putting our clients’ interests before our own, but no other profession faces the restrictions an attorney has when selling a law practice.
For busy professionals who love what they do, there is a constant challenge. They simply feel that they don’t have time to live life and stay on top of their legal careers. They constantly are asking themselves and others, “How can you do it all?” One significant question that we often overlook is “What does ‘all’ mean?”
We are aware that our smartphones act as personal locator devices. Google gathers location data from Android smartphones through many methods. Recently I was reminded of how disturbingly detailed — and fallible — this tracking information can be.
Indiana University has made a major commitment to combatting the opioid epidemic through its Responding to the Addictions Crisis Grand Challenges Initiative. I am proud that the IU McKinney School of Law is playing a large role in this effort.
“Disobedience” makes film reviewer Bob Hammerle recall Bogart & Bergman in “Casablanca,” while “Deadpool 2” makes him laugh out loud.
It is hard to believe that nearly four years have passed since I walked across the stage, received my diploma, passed the bar exam and started practicing law at Lewis Wagner LLP. I wanted to provide new lawyers, especially those who just graduated from law school, with some tips that I believe are critical to hit the ground running.
With so many emerging technologies, it can be difficult to know which solutions are the most beneficial to implement and which are just this year’s jargon that will ultimately result in financial waste.
Bill Hutchens taught me this lesson, along with the value of humor — in life and law. We recently lost Bill after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease (a condition with which, coincidentally, my father, also a lawyer, was afflicted).
The valuation of closely held companies is a large and growing practice. However, most people are not aware of this valuation activity because the companies being valued are closely held and, thus, private in nature. Additionally, since closely held entities are typically smaller than publicly traded entities, fewer investors are affected by the results of such valuations.
Do your clients’ estate plans typically include a trust? If so, have some of those clients nominated an individual person to serve as trustee? If you answered “yes” to those questions, ask yourself if you could do the same to this one: Do those clients, or better yet those individual trustees, understand the fundamental duties and the breadth of the obligations they have agreed to undertake?
In-house and outside counsel face many challenges managing company data. One significant challenge is employee use of software applications which are not part of the employer’s official information technology infrastructure. The use of technology outside the official IT structure (often called “shadow IT”) raises a variety of problems and potential costs for in-house counsel and others who deal with the organization’s data, such as outside litigation counsel.
When it comes to due diligence in merger & acquisition transactions, cybersecurity should be a primary consideration for companies in all industries. Because what you don’t know about your target company could hurt you later.
With “Avengers: Infinity War,” directors Anthony and Joe Russo have brought us a classic film that will wrap up the longstanding Avengers series. “1945” is a film that teaches all of us the importance of remembering the past. Without doing so, mankind cannot hope to eliminate its mistakes.
We all know the variety and levels of stress associated with practicing law. There are constant demands on our time, intense pressures of performing well and obtaining good results for our clients, the assumption that we are all constantly available through technology, and our own self-driven motivators that led us to our chosen profession. But it is important to have the right amount of balance within your career and within your home life.
In 2010, three Columbia University researchers worked with the Israeli justice system and looked at over 1,000 rulings made in the courtroom, over almost a year, about probation and parole. The results showed, as blogger Alex Mayyasi wrote on the website Priceonomics, that “the judges’ decision-making ability was as lousy as a kindergartener’s focus right before a snack break.”
Money laundering is transferring the proceeds of an unlawful activity by means and methods that are designed to conceal the nature or source of the money. 18 U.S.C. § 1956. The Bank Secrecy Act requires financial institutions in the United States to file a report for any deposit or withdrawal of more than $10,000. In evaluating liability for money laundering, there are two threshold issues to keep in mind.
In the book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen Covey talks about the principle of beginning with the end of your life in mind. I suggest a smaller version of the concept. Ask yourself each week, “what do I want/need to accomplish this week?” Write down the items. As you look at the list, think of how you would bill your client for accomplishing that task.
Two films based on historical events of the past 50 years leave reviewer Bob Hammerle with distinctly different views of each.
The thought of mentoring junior attorneys can be a restraining force in itself. Some of you are probably thinking, “Been there, done that!” having invested in a junior attorney (or more than one) who then opened their own practice, joined another practice or wasn’t a good match after all. But even given what seems like a daunting task, it can be done.
I completed Love First Clinical Intervention Training last May. The five-day intensive training covers every aspect of intervention. Trainees are taught first and foremost on the importance of leading with love.