Survey: Have You Planned Your Vacation Yet?

Who needs a break?

That was on my mind as I swung my legs out of bed on this Monday morning. Here it is, mid-June, and I still haven’t planned to take a vacation.

Are you in the same boat?

Lawyers and vacations share an uneasy relationship. They clearly need a break away from work stressors. But many attorneys find that they cannot—or will not—get away.

So I was wondering: How many of you are planning a vacation this summer, or have taken one already.

Before you get to the simple survey questions below, here are two guidelines to keep in mind: 

• When I say “vacation,” I do not mean that you never ever ever check email. You know what’s too much. Answer accordingly.
• When I say “vacation,” I tend not to think of lawyer-education conferences. But I guess we can disagree, so if “CLE on Pelican Bay” is your idea of relaxation, feel free to answer accordingly.
• When I say “vacation,” that could mean visiting family across the country, or it could not. I am not getting in the middle of the debate over whether an obligatory journey to see family is a vacation. We all have our opinions. Answer according to your conscience and level of guilt.

So here’s the survey. Click away! (and thanks for participating!)
http://azatty.polldaddy.com/s/lawyer-vacations-1?iframe=1

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Therapy Dogs Aid Litigants, Lawyers, Law Students

Dogs and why we love them is the foundation for another news story about the impact canines can have on our well being. And yes, it’s true for lawyers too. 

Last year, I wrote about the use of therapy dogs in courthouses. In that post, I noted that our own past State Bar of Arizona President Ray Hanna had highlighted the same thing in one of his Arizona Attorney columns.

As I wrote then:

“Over the past few years, animals—usually dogs—have been used more and more in courtrooms around the country, even in Arizona. It’s been discovered that they have a soothing effect on parties and other trial participants. Thus, in their own unique way, dogs may contribute to the administration of justice.”

Ray Hanna and companion in a 2010 President's Message

Today, we read a story confirming the doggie effect, this time for law students. As finals season grinds to a close, here is how the news story out of Emory Law opens:

In the hallowed library of Emory Law, you can hear the sounds of finals week:
“Oohhhhh!”
“Sit! Sit!”
“Lap!”
The students making these noises are not delirious from studying for exams, but maybe they would be, if not for … therapy dogs.

If your experience is anything like mine, those are not the typical sounds of law school (except for the barked admonition “SIT,” but that’s another post).

Here is the video portion of the story.

Do you agree that dogs could or do improve your legal work life? Write to tell me how.

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