- Greetings From TBH: It's Never
too Early to Order Your Holiday
Cards
- Feature Article: Avoid
Overwhelm: Hit Reset!
- Cartoon: Stu's Views
- 101 Reasons to Kill All the
Lawyers: #34 They Copy Things
- Cartoons by Dan
- Video of the Month: One Less
Worry
- Fine Art Lithographs Featuring
Warner Bros. Cartoon Characters in
Legal Scenes Now Available
- Lawtoons
- Song of the Month: The
Associate Song
- Cartoon: Law and Disorder
- Cartoon: Juris Comic
- Poeticus Lex: Transformation
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Greetings
from TBH: It's Never too Early to
Order Your Holiday Cards
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We know, we know: the leaves have
barely started changing colors, and here we
are talking about holiday cards already!
What's going on?
We know how busy November and December can
get. Why not minimize your holiday stress
and order your cards now?
Ordering and mailing early makes sense from
a business perspective, too. Whether you
choose to mail them yourself, or have us
mail your cards directly to the recipients
(on a date you specify), the earlier you
send you cards, the longer the recipients
are likely to display them.
At The Billable Hour Card
Store, we have a wide selection of
humorous holiday greeting cards especially
for lawyers. Here are just a few of our
many designs:
Although we've featured images above that
are explicitly holiday-related, remember
that any of our cards can be used
as a holiday card with the right verse
inside. Pick a card that relates to your
practice area, add a message inside, and
voilà—a holiday card you, your
clients and your colleagues will all love.
You can write your own or choose one from
our list of suggested
verses.
Not sure that a legal humor card is right
for you? Don't worry: we've got you covered
with a full selection of more traditional
cards for Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years,
Kwanzaa and the Holiday Season. We'll
feature some of these cards next month; in
the meantime, you can check them out by
visiting The Billable Hour Card
Store and browsing under the
"Especially For>Clients" category. Of
course, we haven't forgotten Halloween (how
could we, when it's
Lisa's birthday?). Now through October
31, you'll get a free copy of Stump Your Lawyer with
every order of $75 or more.
Avoid
Overwhelm: Hit Reset!
by Julie Fleming Brown
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A client recently called me, and I
could hear the tension in his voice right
away. Too many projects coming due at the
same time (and thus, another long weekend in
the office) combined with sheer exhaustion to
make Rick an unhappy lawyer. "I just donât
know how Iâm going to get it all done. I
always do, but you know, Iâm thinking maybe
Iâm not going to pull it off this time." We
started listing out exactly what Rick needed
to do and, while it was a lot of work, the
truth was that he could accomplish all of it
within about 30 hours, which would leave him
some time free over the weekend—if,
and only if, he was able to stop worrying
about the work and start doing it.
"So, Rick," I ventured, "you sound
completely stressed out, and your brain
seems to be going in six different ways at
once. Why donât you hit the reset
button?"
Rick took a few seconds before speaking,
and when he did his voice was incredulous,
laced with frustration-bordering-on-anger.
"And how would you recommend I do THAT?"
We all fall into periods of overwhelm,
frustration, malaise, boredom, and so on.
Sometimes itâs a few minutes, and other
times the feelings can last for weeks.
Hitting the reset button is a simple
technique I recommend. Every person Iâve
ever talked with has something that serves
as the human equivalent of Ctrl-Alt-Delete.
(Sorry, Mac users, youâll have to
translate that into Mac language or
remember your PC days!) And most people
have a variety of strategies that may work,
depending on the situation. A few that
clients and I have used:
- Going for a walk, a run, a bike ride,
or other solitary exercise
- Playing music that pumps you up or
soothes you
- Yoga
- Calling a friend or loved one for a
short conversation
- Flipping through vacation photos
- Meditating, praying, or deep breathing
- Getting a cup of coffee, tea, or other
beverage of your choice and savoring it
- Using smells (essential oils, for
instance) to trigger relaxation
- Stretching
- Making a "gratitude list"
Although each of the activities listed
above are fairly quick and designed for
run-of-the-mill circumstances, hitting reset
can also mean taking a weekend trip, taking a
weekly class, or something else thatâs
sufficiently out of the ordinary to break
your routine. Each year, I spend a week alone
in Wyoming, walking and thinking in nature.
When I return from my retreat, I see my
business and my life through new eyes.
After Rick and I explored some ideas, he
decided that he would take a quick walk
around the block while listening to a
favorite "power song" as soon as we hung
up, and that he would make time to play
ball with his son for a few minutes in the
evening. He was skeptical but willing to
give "the reset" a shot. And he discovered
that it worked well enough that he now
"hits reset" regularly, as soon as he
starts feeling overwhelmed or otherwise on
edge.
What might you do when you need to reset
your system?
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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.
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Cartoon:
Stu's Views
by Stu Rees
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©Stu Rees. All rights
reserved.
Like this cartoon? Send it to
friends, clients or colleagues on greeting
cards. To order, visit The Billable Hour Card
Store.
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 one of the hundreds of images
Stu offers. For more information on
original artwork and custom prints,
click here.
101 Reasons
to Kill All the Lawyers: #34 They
Copy Things
by Paul Brennan
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The sincerest form of
flattery
After years of waiting, someone has finally
copied my work. They have used a nom de
plume. Being copied even by a fictitious
entity does not take away that warm fuzzy
feeling of knowing that someone likes my
work as much as I do, maybe more.
Recently, I wrote an article about a law
firm being blessed by the Pope (see
Reason No. 25 They are
Blessed). It was accepted by a legal
magazine for publication on-line. When I
did not hear from them I found that they
had taken lines, which we clearly both
thought funny, from my article and used in
their own piece as if they were their
original work.
Moral Rights (or, as we the plagiarized
call it, "Moral: I know my Rights")
provides for a right to be named if your
work is copied and to control the form of
the work, but there are exceptions. Also,
there is "reverse passing off," which
covers plagiarism.
The Editor would not explain, apologize or
print the article in full but did take down
the offending web page. She offered a
mention of my site in a "regular blog
spot," a sort of "plagiarize one, get one
free" offer.
It may be understandable that Editors do
not readily apologize just as Captains
often do not go down with their ships.
Like many potential litigants, I hoped that
there might be a copyright lawyer out
there, even a fictitious one, who would
share my angst and take my case as a matter
of principle (i.e., for free).
However, as a copyright lawyer myself, I
realized that was just not going to happen.
So, it is left to me to do what any
red-blooded copyright lawyer would do:
write an article and then advise myself as
to the next step.
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Paul Brennan is a legal cartoonist,
author and speaker. He is the author of
We Have the Time if You
Have the Money: How to Promote Your
Legal Practice, A Legal Guide to Dying:
Baby Boomer Edition, The 10 Greatest Legal
Mistakes in Business . . . and How to
Avoid Them, and The Law is an
Ass—Make Sure it Doesnât
Bite Yours, which are intended for
a worldwide audience. He blogs at
www.101reasonstokillallthelawyers.com.
In his day job, he is the principal of
Brennans
Solicitors, a law firm located in
Mooloolaba, a Queensland, Australia
seaside town, where he practices in the
areas of business law (including
franchising), intellectual property,
trusts and estates, immigration and
real estate. For more information on
booking Paul as a speaker, visit
www.lawanddisorder.com.au.
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Cartoons by
Dan
by Dan Rosandich
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©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.
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Video of
the Month: One Less Worry
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To watch more hilarious videos from around
the web, join us at The Video Venue!
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Fine Art
Lithographs Featuring Warner Bros.
Cartoon Characters in Legal Scenes
Now Available
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Here at The Billable Hour Company,
weâre all about legal humor. So, when we
learned about the law-related animation art
available from Broadman Fine Arts, we knew we
had to find a way to bring it to our
customers and Timesheet subscribers.
Broadman, in association with the Warner
Bros. animation art studio, is now offering
custom-framed fine art lithographs of four
hilarious Warner Bros. cartoon scenes with
legal themes. In Court Order, Bugs Bunny
and Yosemite Sam stand before a judge as
they battle for the property rights to
Bugsâs rabbit hole. In Law and Disorder,
Lawyer Daffy Duck points accusingly at
Elmer Fudd on the witness stand, while
Judge Bugs wields his sledgehammer . . .
uh, gavel . . . over Elmerâs head, before
a jury comprised of Porky Pig, Pepe Le Pew,
and other well-known Warner Bros.
characters. In Legal Alien, Bugs is an
immigration judge, peering down from the
bench at Marvin the Martian and his dog,
K-9. And in Acme on Trial, Wile E.
Coyote pleads his case against ACME, with
the Road Runner poking his head from behind
the bench. You can view all of these images
at Broadman's website, or
call Jessica Cheney at 805-230-1393 or
email her at jessica@broadmanfinearts.com.
Lawtoons
by Suzan Charlton, Esq.
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click here to enlarge (large file;
please be patient)
©Suzan Charlton. All
rights reserved.
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