Quality of Life: Navigating life’s highway, patched potholes and all
If only we could have a heads-up before encountering uneven pavement in life — perhaps then we could be more resilient when hitting our personal rough patches.
Opinion
Articles
Hammerle on… “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” “Mission: Impossible – Fallout”
Movie reviewer Bob Hammerle sings the praises of “Mama Mia! Here We Go Again” and “Mission Impossible — Fallout”.
Start Page: Tech tools to turn talk into transcribed text
You can use a voice recorder or iPhone to capture your thoughts and plan future actions. Over the next few articles, I want to share some thoughts on modern dictation — turning your thoughts into text using technology.
Law Firm Succession Planning: Key questions develop a strategy
What are your goals for your retirement and law firm succession plan, and how do you plan to achieve them? Do you have any timetable in mind? It can be difficult for some of us to sit down and think about retirement and how we will plan our exit from our practice. But just as in estate planning, we need to face these issues.
DTCI: Take your deposition preparation beyond the ancient commands
Deposition preparation should not be a reflex exercise. Simply relying on your tried-and-true deposition preparation outline with the long list of ancient commands (“Don’t guess!” “Don’t elaborate!” “Don’t volunteer!”) is wrong. All witnesses are not created equal, so your next deposition preparation session should not be the same as your last.
Living Fit: 6 tips to eating right and staying energized on the job
Other than getting a good night’s sleep, there’s probably nothing that impacts your productivity and mood at work more than what you eat. Yet you probably give little thought to what you consume before and during work, defaulting instead to what’s convenient, cheap and tasty. Fortunately, there are a few basic food guidelines that can help you eat better to perform better on the job.
Criminal Justice: Sounding out our criminal justice system
Reasonable minds can always differ about individual outcomes, but the criminal justice system seems to work best when the cards are dealt early and everyone knows more than half of what the others are holding.
Shives and Racher: How to prepare for an unavailable expert witness
A good expert witness can be the deciding factor in obtaining a favorable outcome for your client. But what happens if in the days, weeks or months before trial, your expert is suddenly unavailable due to illness, death or other circumstances beyond your control?
Betz and Shaw: How to get your expert’s testimony admitted in federal court
As most of us know, in 1993, the Supreme Court set forth new guidelines on the admissibility of expert testimony, the “Daubert standard.” what should a litigator do to protect his or her expert from a Daubert challenge?
Weese: Why the “Red Hen” is about more than civility
Recent events involving the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia should give everyone pause.
Soshnick: ‘Fair’ meaning in business, professional practice valuations
Throughout the United States, there are varying standards applied when valuing businesses and professional practices in divorce cases. That phenomenon exists even though valuation experts consider Internal Revenue Service Revenue Ruling 59-60 to be the seminal guidance for valuing closely held corporations.
Hammerle on… “The First Purge, Sorry to Bother You”
Film reviewer Bob Hammerle finds little to disappoint in two recent releases: the culturally resonant “The First Purge” and the creative and provocative “Sorry to Bother You.”
Quick: Websites are your billboard to the world
By now you realize that a website is an integral part of your law firm business. Right? OK. Progress noted. And all you have to do is “build it and they will come,” right? Wrong.
Federal Bar Update: Rules change in Northern, Southern district courts
Local rules in the Northern and Southern district courts have changed regarding responses to motions to dismiss.
Making Rain: Do you think like a client? If not, try this
Getting work done and generating billable hours are always two primary areas of focus for lawyers in law firms. And if you are in-house, there is a never-ending stream of work that needs to be done and deadlines that need to be met. So how can you possibly have the time to step back and think like a client?
Westrick: Summer study committees to focus on health-related topics
While the list of health-related bills that took effect this year is lengthy, there is still more health-related work to be done. The Interim Study Committee on Public Health, Behavioral Health, and Human Services will meet later this summer and fall.
Hadler: Changes to CMS Nursing Home Compare provide better data
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regularly monitors and publishes comparative data for nursing homes throughout the nation. In Indiana, there are 551 facilities that receive Medicare and/or Medicaid reimbursement and are thereby subject to this regulation.
Hammerle on… “Hearts Beat Loud,” “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”
Film reviewer Bob Hammerle finds emotional magic in “Hearts Beat Loud,” while “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” serves up the expected from a franchise that isn’t going extinct anytime soon.
DTCI: Writing for fun also may enhance your practice abilities
I dropped off my 10-year old daughter at Butler University’s creative writing camp this week. As I watched Charlotte walk to her classroom, composition notebook and pen in hand, I thought to myself, when was the last time I wrote anything for fun? Like Charlotte, as a child, I used to fill blank pages with stories. Stories I created. My interest in writing continued and certainly was a factor in choosing the profession of law, but if someone asked me to write a story today, I would not even know where to begin.
JLAP: Volunteers are empathetic, always willing to listen
Their stories are as varied as the lawyers and judges they help. JLAP volunteers are like a baseball team: there are specialists and there are utility players. What they all share is a desire to help and a willingness to listen.