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June 2008 | e-Newsletter In This Issue - Father's Day Special, Plus Paralegals Celebrated this Month in California, Pennsylvania and Minnesota
- Feature Article: PDA Peace
- Stu's Views
- Greetings from TBH: Paralegal Cards for all Occasions
- Cartoons by Dan
- Video of the Month: If I had the Copyright
- Special Book Excerpt: Numbers Are, Like, So Not Popular
- Lawtoons
- Song of the Month: Mighty Law Firm in the Sky
- Cartoon: Juris Comic
- Poeticus Lex: Putting on Heirs
We all know that Father's Day is June 15. But did you know that this month also brings us Paralegal Day in California (June 20) and Paralegal Weeks in Minnesota (June 1-7) and Pennsylvania (June 21-24)?Father's Day Special, Plus Paralegals Celebrated this Month in California, Pennsylvania and Minnesota Don't worry, we've got you covered on both scores. Scroll down to take a look at just a few of our greeting cards especially for paralegals. To view all of our paralegal cards, visit The Billable Hour Card Store.
And, even though we don't live in a Ward, June, Beaver and Wally world, you can make sure that your father knows best with our Father's Day special:
Pavlov’s dog had nothing on most BlackBerry/iPhone/BlackJack/other PDA users.PDA Peace
by Julie Fleming BrownAll too often, we (and I include myself) hear the "beep" or feel the vibration and pounce immediately, even in the middle of a sentence—our own or someone else’s. And I’ve seen (and though I’d prefer not to admit it, experienced) the discomfort that can occur when someone knows there’s an email waiting but doesn’t pounce. The ticks, the nervousness. It’s almost pathological sometimes.
Recently, I decided to drive for a business trip rather than fly, and for safety’s sake, I didn’t want to be tempted to look at my BlackBerry everytime an email came in. So I set the profile to ring for phone calls only, and to be silent otherwise. I drove almost 150 miles before I had to stop for gas, and I checked the BlackBerry then. I had about 40 messages, none of them urgent. And I had a strange feeling that I subsequently identified as peace. Peace! No irritating noises, no demands, no irrelevant press releases. It was a good change.
That was a month ago, and I’ve continued to keep my BlackBerry on "phone only." If I’m expecting something urgent, I ask for a phone call rather than an email, and it’s been truly instructive to discover how much better conversations are when I’m not wondering about the email I just heard arriving. And the truth is, I have yet to miss anything important as a result of this practice.
Try it. Just for today. You can change back tomorrow if you like. I predict you won’t want to, and I predict you’ll be more present to your work, the people you’re with, even your own relaxation. And in turn, you’ll be more productive and more creative.
Not a bad return on eliminating an irritant, is it?
Julie Fleming Brown, J.D., A.C.C. provides attorney development coaching and consulting to law firm associates and partners, focusing on topics such as leadership, client, and professional development; career strategy; and work/life integration. A certified leadership coach (Georgetown University), Julie publishes the weekly email newsletter Leadership Matters for Lawyers and posts often on the Life at the Bar Blog. Learn more at www.LifeAtTheBar.com or by contacting Julie by telephone at 800.758.6214 or by email to jfb@lifeatthebar.com.
Stu's Views Like this cartoon? Send it to friends, clients or colleagues on greeting cards. To order, or to see more Father's Day cards, visit The Billable Hour Card Store.
©Stu Rees. All rights reserved.Did you Know that Stu also licenses his artwork for use in newsletters, presentations, print publications and on websites? He even offers special rates for student and teacher use.
You can also purchase original artwork and custom prints (framed or unframed) from Stu.
Timesheet readers get 15% off all licensing orders, original artwork and custom prints (use coupon code BILLHOUR). Click here for information on licensing or purchasing "Fantastic Golfer" or one of the hundreds of other images Stu offers. For more information on original artwork and custom prints, click here.
With so many Paralegal Days and Paralegal Weeks last month and this month, we thought we'd help you find just the right card for the paralegal in your firm—or your family—by including some of our unique paralegal greeting card images in this issue of The Timesheet.Greetings From TBH: Paralegal Cards for All Occasions We particularly like the first card, which can do double duty for Father's Day and Paralegal Day/Paralegal Week.
We also carry cards for court reporters and judges. Because we know you're busy, you can find our cards categorized by intended recipient under "Especially For" on the left side of the card store's main page.
If you have a story about how you use TBH greeting cards, we'd love to hear from you: send your story to us at info@TheBillableHour.com. Tell us what card you use; who you send it to; what message appears inside the card; whether you take advantage of our optional free personalization features (do you upload your signature/logo? Do you upload a photo to be printed on the inside left panel?); whether you have your cards sent directly to the recipients or shipped to you; whether you have uploaded your contacts directly into your cardstore account to make sending cards even easier; and the reaction you've received from recipients.
Cartoons by Dan
©Dan Rosandich. All rights reserved.Like this cartoon? Send it to friends, clients or colleagues on greeting cards. To order, visit The Billable Hour Card Store.
Video of the Month: If I had the Copyright
To watch more of the funniest law-related videos from all over the web, join us at The Video Venue!
Session Numbers, Code Numbers, and Long Titles all have one thing in common: they are of no use to a politician on the campaign trail. "Vote for Jones, proud sponsor of P.L. 102-89" just doesn't pack much of a punch. This is where Popular Names come in.Special Book Excerpt: Numbers Are, Like, So Not Popular
by Adam FreedmanAt first, Popular Names developed informally, by consensus of politicians, journalists, and assorted pundits. Nobody officially bestowed them. Beginning in the early twentieth century, Congress realized that they could expedite, and control, the process by inserting official Short Titles right into the text of statutes. The Short Titles were meant to be instantly "Popular."
The use of Short Titles has been traced back as far as an agricultural bill of 1916 that had the audacity to call itself the Federal Farm Loan Act. Short Titles, however, did not really take off until the New Deal, when a mass of complex legislation suddenly demanded some very clever packaging. This was the era of the National Industrial Recovery Act, the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, and the granddaddy of them all, the Social Security Act, a name that is considerably easier to remember than the Long Title:
An act to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits, and by enabling the several States to make more adequate provision for aged persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare, public health, and the administration of their unemployment compensation laws; to establish a Social Security Board; to raise revenue; and for other purposes.
For the most part, Short Titles represent an attempt to come up with a relatively catchy name for a new law. The key word here is relatively, since most of what Congress enacts is about as catchy as the Watermelon Research and Promotion Act (an actual statute). In such cases, the best Congress can do is to be straightforwardly descriptive; perhaps in the hope that no one will be bothered to pause long enough to think: research?A certain enforced blandness is the general rule with legislation. Congress even manages to drain the excitement out of cars, trucks, and trains by their deft use of the phrase Surface Transportation. In Britain, when the government acted to crack down on marauding bands of soccer hooligans, Parliament reduced the whole unpleasantness of the subject into a single throat-clearing parenthetical: The Football (Disorder) Act 2000.
Whenever possible, lawmakers strive to give statutes names that people cannot disagree with, such as the Clean Air Act, the Animal Welfare Act, and the Child Protection Act, to name just a few. Who could be against those things? British parliamentarians employ the same technique, as can be seen in the unassailable Equality Act of 2004—although one wonders what took them so long to get around to that one. Excerpted from the book The Party of the First Part: The Curious World of Legalese by Adam Freedman. ©2007 by Adam Freedman. Reprinted by arrangement with Henry Holt and Company, L.L.C.
Lawtoons
by Suzan Charlton, Esq.
click here to enlarge (large file; please be patient)
©Suzan Charlton. All rights reserved.
Like this cartoon? Send it to friends, clients or colleagues on greeting cards. To order, visit The Billable Hour Card Store.
Suzan Charlton is a professional cartoonist who is rumored to practice insurance coverage law as a hobby for a major Washington D.C. law firm. Her cartoons cover a wide range of law-related topics, from law school grades to law firm romance.
Song of the Month: Mighty Law Firm in the Sky
by The Bar & Grill Singers
.
Available on A Time to Grill
All my life I have been searchin'
for the fabled Promised Land
Now with all my fellow lawyers
we shall walk there hand in hand
Through the trials and tribulations
of a lawyer's life's temptations
I know that we will all get there some wayAfter years and years of wanderin'
Oh, the Kingdom will be ours
Then our names will all be printed
on those golden business cards
And our hearts will swell with pride
the day those gates swing open wide
And we all become full partners there one dayOh, that Mighty Law Firm in the sky
We will all be there together by and by
Ol' Saint Peter's the receptionist
He'll hold your calls except when it's
A call from the Supreme Court in the skyWhere Mother Justice, Father Lawsuit
and Saint Legal Fee abide
There'll be no more cares or sorrows
in that place where we'll reside
I will leave all earthly things
when I put on those pinstripe wings
And join the choir to sing in harmonyWe will sing the songs of aimless souls
who once had gone astray
Who were lost but now are found in
law libraries every day
Markin' up cite form errata
Growin' Blue Book rule stigmata
In the only place that's made for you and meOh, that Mighty Law Firm in the sky
We will all be there together by and by
We'll sing "Amen, Hallelujah"
‘Cause the clients never sue ya
When we reach that Mighty Law Firm in the SkyAll the plaintiffs and defendants their
inheritance shall see
And the biggest corporations all will
join the jamboree
They will put their hands together and
sing praise for you and me
When they know that their Redeemer
has a blessed law degreeWon't you take me to the courthouse
where the sun is shining bright
All the angels serve as jurors and
the judge's robes are white
Rules of ethics will be easy
‘Cause no lawyer's ever sleazy
And bar association dues are freeCome into my corner office and if
you need some advice
Take a seat and have some coffee,
we'll discuss your afterlife
If your soul's in litigation
With the firm's representation
You'll find salvation for a modest feeOh, that Mighty Law Firm in the sky
We will all be there together by and by
Where the top notch legal eagles
And a few good paralegals
Work together in that Law Firm in the skyOh, that Mighty Law Firm in the sky
It was founded by that Perry Mason guy
Leave behind the chains of livin'
All malpractice is forgiven
When we reach that Mighty Law Firm in the -
Reach that Mighty Law Firm
When we reach that Mighty Law Firm in the sky!Juris Comic To view Juris Comic, click here
It seems a few short years agoPoeticus Lex: Poeticus Lex: Putting on Heirs
by Fred C. Russcol, Esq.
My son would read "Green Eggs and Ham";
My sense of time is skewed, I know,
Since he just took the bar exam.People ask if it's the plan
To plant a nepotism tree
And have him work for his old man—
More likely, he might hire me!New tricks this old dog can't be taught,
But lots of old tricks I employ
And I can't help but think I ought
To pass them on down to my boyFred C. Russcol, Esq. is Of Counsel to Castro & Remer, P.C. in Ossining, New York. This poem was originally printed in the Westchester Bar Journal and is reprinted with the permission of the Westchester County Bar Association.
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