Somebody once called the law a jealous mistress, although I can’t recall who (maybe it was the guy whose dead body is on display at University College London and in a photo on page 330 of my Property textbook). In any case, it’s totally true. And I’m afraid my mistress is going to dump me unless I can get my hands on a legal source of Adderall.
Anyone who assumes I spend all my spare time agonizing over men is only half right.
QI don’t always drive to work, but I tolerate the traffic about every three or four days. Last week, though, my tolerance tanked. I was in gridlocked traffic and going nowhere. On top of that, I was late for a meeting with a partner and had forgotten to charge my phone, which was now dead. When a dark Mercedes SUV whipped in front of me and nearly took out my front bumper, I lost it. I spent the next ten minutes screaming, honking, flipping the bird — whatever I could do to show that I had absolutely no power except the most awesome power to be an asshole. Yes, I was an asshole.
Adjusted for inflation, BigLaw associates are two dimes for a dozen. Sure, the hiring partners talk about “investing” in associates and “grooming” them for success, but the bottom line is this: you’re a cog in a global machine. Not as fungible as crude oil or wheat, but fungible nonetheless. So, what do you do to stick out from the rest? What distinguishes you from all the other wunderkids? Two words: personal microbranding. Personal microbranding can set you apart, create an aura of competence, and lead to priority in the donut pool. Here are top considerations.
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On this week’s edition of the Bitter Brief, Mark regales us with tales of his adventures with Team Blagojevich. Next we discuss SCOTUS’ surprise ruling on prison overcrowding and a lengthy prison sentence for an Oklahoma woman that really harshes our buzz. And, finally, we’ll give you two big reasons to stay tuned with our special Boobs in the News feature!
Lots of child actors end up in rehab, but only a few go onto successful adult acting career. Jeff Cohen parlayed his young acting talents (most notably, Chunk from The Goonies) into a successful career as one of LA’s top entertainment lawyers and his own firm, Cohen Gardner LLP. I sat down with him to discuss the old Goonies crew, how his clients get a kick out of having Chunk represent them, and how a flash mob formed in college to force him into doing the ol’ Truffle Shuffle.
A part of my professional development is being an active member in several bar associations that relate to my daily life as a lawyer. At least that is the lie I tell myself when I write the checks for renewal to these various organizations.
If I was being honest, you could call the organizations that I pay to belong to “the local bar association that anyone who is anyone joins (and for cheap CLE)”, “the state bar that sends out a daily email highlighting the important developments in the law (also known as “Namby is too lazy to do the research himself” bar association) and finally, “the professional association that helps me avoid malpractice.”
One of the additional “benefits” of these organizations is membership in their email listservs.
