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Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: How to Stop Office Gossip in Its Tracks
By Paula M Jones • November 29, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Other Issues
“What you don't see with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth.” -Jewish Proverb My friend Jen used to describe her best friend since childhood, Tracy, as a complete screw-up. Every time she would mention her, she would roll her eyes and bring up Tracy’s latest failed relationship or the crazy man in her life. I had never met Tracy and I have to admit, without any other evidence to the contrary, I began to think of Tracy as a screw-up too. I attended a social gathering at Jen’s house one evening and was speaking to a woman who was…
Conflict Resolution Vis a Vis Outer Space Activities
By Alexandra Dolce • November 28, 2020 •Careers, Politics and Government
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has adopted rules for the arbitration of disputes relating to outer space activities. The rules are “optional”. As such, parties in a space related dispute may choose to use them or not. Pursuant to the Rules, standing is very broad. Hence, states, intergovernmental agencies, NGOs, corporations and private parties may use them as a forum. The Rules provide a forum for various methodologies to be used by parties. For instance, parties may select a panel of arbitrators or just one. Most importantly, awards of the Court are final and binding, which creates…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: Dealing with Difficult People - The Provocateur
By Paula M Jones • October 30, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life, Mentoring and Networking, Other Issues
Just because other people are fueled by drama, doesn’t mean you need to attend the performance. – Cheryl Richardson I was busily working away at my new firm when the head of my department crept into my office, eyes wide. She hunched her shoulders down, looked around to make sure no one else was within earshot and said in a hushed tone, “Do you have a second? I have to tell you something.” She closed my office door. She proceeded to tell me that a colleague had a problem with some work that I had done. Her story didn’t ring…
Difficult Clients: Here’s How To Deal With Them
By Anonymous • October 28, 2020 •Careers, Issues, Mentoring and Networking, Other Issues
Since many lawyers began their careers with months on end reviewing documents, it is no wonder that engaging with clients can seem to be a significant achievement and a welcome break from being in the document review den. Yet as you begin to communicate with customers, you know that there is now an entirely new problem: that is your customers. While it is not entirely external to a GAP shop, legal services may have a clear sense of retail. You have to say often sometimes that the customer is wrong and always keeps the customer satisfied with their job,…
This Is What Happens When Your Employees Become Brand Ambassadors
By Anonymous • October 12, 2020 •Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
We live in a technological revolution. The majority of the masses are on their smartphones, browsing through different social media platforms. Social media has taken the tech world by storm. Using social media to gain traffic is not a foreign concept. In fact, it is arguably the most favored mode of content marketing. In recent years, we have seen the emergence of leveraging Employee Advocacy as a new means of social media marketing, and living in a world where peer influence is predominant, a company’s employees are the avenues to engage and interact with the consumers. We have shifted from…
Everything Nobody Every Told Me: Visioning Really Works
By Paula M Jones • September 30, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life, Other Issues
As I was approaching thirty years of working full-time, I began much more flexibility in my daily schedule. My dream was to be able to set my own schedule instead of adhering to the schedule of others. Unfortunately, I could not see any viable way to make that happen, since I was working in a big firm where time seemed to be the master of us all. Over time, my frustration began to build. Whenever I became frustrated, I began to write out what I wanted my daily life to look like. Dreams – even those that seem impossible –…-100x100.jpg)
Practice Pointers - Knowing When to Consider a Lateral Move
By Natasha Alladina • September 27, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers
Most lawyers (indeed, most professionals) won’t stay at their first job forever. Kudos to those “lifers” who find their perfect fit from the get-go (or decide to stick it out at their first gig), but the rest of us will likely contemplate a lateral move at some point in our careers. And if you fall into the latter category, how do you know when to consider making a move? The answer, of course, will vary depending on the individual lawyer and situation. From personal experience and now, as a legal recruiter, I’ve found that the following are good reasons to…
What’s Up With the July Bar Exam?
By Susan Smith Blakely • September 11, 2020 •Careers, Other Career Issues
Just when we thought that the legal profession was finally showing signs of thinking with a new collective brain while problem solving during a pandemic, along came the July Bar Exam, and bar examiners across the country short circuited and set us back again. They have demonstrated once again that the profession is archaic and stuck in past practices just for the sake of it. Certainly not for the logic of it. Here is a link to provide some of the sordid details about how this has unfolded. It is amazing to see bar examiners struggle with decisions of whether to continue…
Tips On How To Effectively Boost Up The Morale Of Your Employees
By Anonymous • September 02, 2020 •Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Internships and Clerkships, Issues, Mentoring and Networking
Many employers sometimes fail to check if their employees are still doing good not only on their given job but also to their well being inside the office. They only notice that there might be something wrong when an employee fails to deliver his or her task and with very low productivity. Over time, your employee's morale has a high chance to drop, primarily if you don’t provide the things that can nurture their motivation high. Low morale can cause significant damage to your business since it can lead to poor cooperation, poor communication, and low productivity. It will only…