Managing fear is simply part of a person’s life, experts say.
As we enter the most joyous—and most pressure-filled—time of the year, I hear from a lot of attorneys that their stress levels are reaching peak levels. As the end of the calendar year races toward us, so do obligations and deadlines, professional and personal.
The piece by Kevin Davis includes these eye-opening sentences:
“Lawyers often are imprisoned by fear. They’re fearful that their cases are out of control. They’re fearful of looking foolish. They’re fearful of negotiating. They’re fearful of appearing weak. Even continuing legal education courses can contribute by making lawyers fear that they are not up to date on current practices or wary of the myriad number of things that can go wrong.”
“As part of our annual Civil Justice lecture series, University of Arizona Law welcomes Richard Fried for a community presentation on trial practice and plaintiff’s representation. He will be speaking on How A Plaintiff’s Lawyer Can Improve the Lives of Victims. Reception to follow.
When: Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015, 5-6:30 p.m.
Where: University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, Room 160, 1201 E. Speedway Blvd.
Who may attend: This event is free and open to the public.
“L. Richard Fried, Jr. is one of the founding members of Cronin, Fried, Sekiya, Kekina & Fairbanks and has practiced law for over 40 years. Rick has a national reputation in the fields of medical malpractice—having obtained 50 verdicts and settlements in excess of $1 million—and aviation law. He served as President of the Hawaii Association for Justice (formerly the Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii) in 1984 and 2001, and was the recipient of their first trial lawyer of the year award in 1994.”
“He was appointed by the Chief Justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court to serve on the Judicial Evaluation Committee for the State of Hawaii and the Chief Judge of the Hawaii Federal District Court to serve as a delegate to the federal district judges conference.”
“In July 2015, he was named as Chairman of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, where he has served on the Board of Directors since 2012. He has also served on the boards of local organizations such as the Honolulu Symphony, Hawaii Theatre, and the American Civil Liberties Union.”
“The Civil Justice Initiative aims to help Arizona Law elevate the American civil justice system and become the premier destination for educating trial lawyers. A hallmark of the CJI is the annual Civil Justice lecture series, showcasing leading advocates to the student body and the legal community. Past distinguished lecturers include Tom Girardi and Pat McGroder.”
The lying-down desk eases your work and smooths our national path to a less-impressive future.
It’s Change of Venue Friday, so I recline in comfort as I draft this easygoing piece.
Unfortunately, my laptop is perched uncomfortably on my lap, and my heels rest painfully on the sharp edge of a tabletop. While I muse that this may be the very definition of “First World Problems,” furniture engineers (yes, it’s a thing) toil to answer the question, “How can we end this long dark chapter in human history?”
Lying down is not just for science-fiction heroes, Altwork says. Everyone can recline.
But who would use such a thing—and how does it work?
As Mashable tells us,
“This workstation is being marketed towards programmers, designers, writers and anyone else who uses a computer as their primary working tool. The Altwork Station offers four modes, all configurable with buttons on the desk surface; standing, collaboration, regular and focus. Standing and regular are exactly what you’d expect and collaboration is simply turning your monitor on the built in arm to work with others. Focus mode is where it gets interesting though, as that’s where you can recline the chair to be completely horizontal, with the desk and monitor following suit.”
Yes, I say fifty-nine hundred dollars. But the more I read about it, the more I’m horrified and convinced I should have one. O, comfortable efficiency, you are an attractive siren!
At home, this is what I thought a work chair looked like. (And this one was used in the filming of feature film “Durant’s Never Closes”!)
And if you need to know more (as you decide whether I should be gifted a better writing set-up than my current one), here is a video describing the whole dealio.
Quarles & Brady folks at Capitol School, Oct. 30, 2015.
News from the Phoenix office of Quarles & Brady:
On Friday, Oct. 30, nearly two dozen members of Quarles & Brady’s Phoenix office joined together to volunteer their time as “homeroom parents” at the Capitol School’s annual Fall Celebration. This was the first of three events during the 2015–2016 school year in which attorneys and staff will volunteer their team to the Capitol School, just west of downtown Phoenix, providing both treats and interactive activities to engage students from Kindergarten to sixth grade.
“Capitol Elementary School strives to create a healthy learning environment where students are given a quality education that includes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to become lifelong learners and responsible citizens—we respect that and want to do everything we can to help,” said Scott Jenkins, a partner in the Phoenix office who even brought his own children to volunteer with the team. “In addition to rolling up our sleeves with the kids, the firm also fundraises to support and put on special school events, including field trips to Boston and Washington, D.C.”
According to Jenkins, partnership between Quarles & Brady and the Capitol School dates back a quarter century.
“In 1990, Quarles & Brady set out to find a community project that would provide sustainable, ongoing volunteerism to bring their firm members together with purpose beyond business,” said Jenkins. “With so many parents and grandparents working at the firm, focusing on children and education was a priority.”
While the Capitol School program kicked off with the attorneys and staff putting on homeroom class parties, the partnership quickly evolved into one that included reading and writing assistance, mentorship, fundraising, financial support to students’ families when in crisis, and even a donation to help remodel the school’s media center.
This effort is one of many the local office takes part in through its Quarles Cares community relations program, which is focused on connecting directly with local communities to understand the residents’ needs. Through the volunteer initiatives, attorneys and staff commit themselves personally to civic and charitable efforts, and their personal growth is reflected in the workplace. More information is here.
Tile mural dedicated by Capitol School to Quarles & Brady.
A new Arizona Justice will be appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey. Applicant interviews will be held on Nov. 20, 2015.
Note: The following post was edited to reflect changes announced by the Arizona Supreme Court at 9:40 a.m. The changes indicate that the judicial-applicant interviews will be taped and posted later, but not streamed live. The Court announced, “We reviewed how interviews were done in the past and we have not previously simulcast/webcast the interviews. A decision was made to be consistent with previous interviews.” The interviews will still be open to the public.
The interviews will also be taped, recorded, and then posted in their entirety later on the Court’s website. The Court anticipates posting all the video by 5:00 p.m. the same day.
The nine individuals to be interviewed in the public meeting were selected by the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments. At the end of the meeting, the Commission members will vote on a slate of at least three nominees to send to Gov. Doug Ducey, who will be making his first appointment to the Arizona Supreme Court.
State Bar of Arizona lawyers answer family-law questions, Nov. 10, 2015.
On Tuesday, November 10, the State Bar of Arizona and 12 News hosted the Lawyers on Call public service program. There, eight attorneys volunteered their time and expertise to answer viewers’ questions on family law issues.
The following update comes from my colleague Alberto Rodriguez:
Eight attorneys volunteered their time:
Taylor Anderson, Anderson & Cabrera Law Group
Ryan Borges, The Borges Law Firm
Rebecca Browning, Browning Law Office
Tabitha Cabrera, Anderson & Cabrera Law Group
Craig Cherny, Canterbury Law Group
Kina Harding, The Harding Firm
Daniel Rodriguez, Diaz, Rodriguez & Associates
Jennifer Shick, Shick Law Offices
The lawyers answered 156 calls during the two-hour phone bank.
Sample consumer questions:
How do I file for a divorce? Do I need an attorney?
Can I stop paying alimony/spousal support?
How long do I have to be married to get alimony/spousal support?
How do I enforce court-ordered child support? Can I modify child support?
How do I modify a parenting plan/parenting time?
Do I have any rights as a grandparent?
Four of the eight attorneys were first-time volunteers. Congratulations and thanks to all who participated.
It’s hard to resist redesigning even great subway maps. Here is the Washington, DC, system, via one designer’s vision.
There’s something about the incredible imagination that goes into mass transit that makes the whole thing fascinating and impressive.
What I mean is, just consider the wide variety of tools needed to conceptualize how to move large numbers of individuals across large distances with the least amount of disruption. That is simply impressive and even evocative.
That evocative nature extends even—or maybe necessarily—to the transit maps of many cities. I hope you agree that “subway map” could be its own artistic niche, so impressive are many of them.
Among the real and imagined maps the article displays, which are your favorites? As for me, it’s hard not to smile when you see the imagined map for Madrid, Spain.
According to event organizers, Mac Donald’s work has largely focused on crime rates and race. She “pushes back against common arguments of racism in policing and the criminal justice system as a whole to argue for preventative policing that she believes contributed to the 20-year decline of crime in America.”
Mac Donald is the Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal. Her work covers a range of topics, including homeland security, immigration, policing and racial profiling, homelessness and homeless advocacy, and educational policy.
You can see more of what the speaker advocates here, via C-SPAN:
Introducing Mac Donald will be Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery.
Following Mac Donald’s talk, the former director of the Office for Victims of Crime, John W. Gillis, will give a brief talk about his career and experiences. He is a founding member of Justice for Homicide Victims and the Coalition of Victims Equal Rights.
On this commemorative national holiday, I share a report that comes at Veterans Day via a different angle—an analysis of those veterans who sit on death row in the United States.
The topic may be an uncomfortable one, but those who work in specialty courts dedicated to veterans caught up in the justice system may find it evocative. I’d appreciate know what they—or anyone—thinks of the report. Write to me at arizona.attorney@azbar.org.
“In many respects, veterans in the United States are again receiving the respect and gratitude they deserve for having risked their lives and served their country. Wounded soldiers are welcomed home, and their courage in starting a new and difficult journey in civilian life is rightly applauded. But some veterans with debilitating scars from their time in combat have received a very different reception. They have been judged to be the ‘worst of the worst’ criminals, deprived of mercy, sentenced to death, and executed by the government they served.”
“Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) who have committed heinous crimes present hard cases for our system of justice. The violence that occasionally erupts into murder can easily overcome the special respect that is afforded most veterans. However, looking away and ignoring this issue serves neither veterans nor victims.”
AZ Attorney 