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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 –…
How RBG Helped Lead the Way to Women’s Financial Independence
By Susan Smith Blakely • September 29, 2020 •Issues, Other Issues
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is gone. Our mentor is missing. We all should be very sad. Our politics do not matter in this context. We all are women. We all should be grateful that this small and powerful woman walked amongst us. I was in law school at Georgetown Law (then Georgetown University Law Center (GULC)) during the mid 1970’s when Ruth Bader Ginsburg was arguing cases on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union and setting the foundation for women’s rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It is entirely possible that most…
Connecting with Your Community Through Service
By Sarah Valdes • September 05, 2020 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life, Other Issues
Can you truly be selfless when you’re doing something good for others? Is there such a thing as a selfless good deed? For those of you of who were philosophy majors, maybe you spent entire semesters debating the morality of your actions. For me, I attribute most of my philosophical musings on whether you can truly be completely selfless to some couch conversations while watching “The Good Place.” Even though I probably didn’t start thinking about how a good deed made me feel until Chidi started teaching us all a little bit more about philosophy, I have always thought about…
The Way Coronavirus Is Shifting Personal-injury Standards: The Newest Reasonable
By Anonymous • August 14, 2020 •Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Issues, Other Issues
The planet is currently facing a public health catastrophe not seen earlier in our creation. The Coronavirus, '' or COVID-19, has placed our own lives and our lifestyle in danger. People in Richmond, Virginia, the USA, and the world do their very best to conform to this new ordinary. Obviously, as attorneys, we think of the legal ramifications of this Coronavirus. While the virus spreads across the nation, the judges did their role to take action to slow down the spread of this uncontrollable virus. Some kinds of court hearings have been postponed. Administrators are moving into teleconferences just as…
Healing Moments on Juneteenth (and Beyond)
By Diana LaMorie • June 19, 2020 •Issues, Other Issues
Today is Juneteenth and it is wonderful (but overdue) to see how quickly companies and states have embraced this moment in time to recognize it as a day of observation and declaring it a holiday. This week New York, Virginia, Oregon and Philadelphia announced they will also make Juneteenth an official holiday. Yesterday it was put forth as a bill in Congress to make it a federal holiday. Hopefully next time this year we will all be observing it officially and coming together to commemorate this critical historic milestone in our nation’s history. Juneteenth is the oldest commemoration of the end of…
Support Black Owned Small Businesses: Awesome Father’s Day Gifts
By Diana LaMorie • June 06, 2020 •Issues, Other Issues
Father’s Day is around the corner and what better way to celebrate the dads in your life than by celebrating black owned businesses in the process. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: acknowledging your purchasing power and being mindful about where and to whom you send your hard-earned dollars can make a world of difference to under-represented and marginalized people, particularly black small business owners. Below are some awesome gift finds for the dads in your life while supporting black businesses. You might just want to pick something up for yourself in the process too. Win, win! …
Support Black Owned Small Businesses: My Favorite Service Providers
By Diana LaMorie • June 05, 2020 •Issues, Other Issues
I am continuing this week of inspiration stemming from the #amplifymelanatedvoices hashtag movement, which is trying to amplify the voices of Black creators and small businesses owners. One small step we can take to join in is by highlighting and supporting some of our favorite black-owned businesses, which I am doing here on Ms. JD’s blog. I started yesterday with retail brands to check out and today I am sharing black-owned service providers worthy of your attention. Once again, I invite you to share and promote your favorites in the comments, and on your own blog post or other social…
Support Black Owned Small Businesses: My Favorite Stores
By Diana LaMorie • June 04, 2020 •Issues, Other Issues
Dear readers, I am finally emerging from a long writing break. We’ve been working hard behind-the-scenes on Ms. JD’s Board of Directors to help keep our organization running during this defining moment. Your membership and support is critical and we are grateful for everyone’s engagement with our unique community. I am newly inspired to share some fresh content with you for hopefully a long time to come. Let’s get started! Firstly, if you haven’t checked out Ms. JD’s Covid-19 resource page and Opportunities Board, run don’t walk on over to our site. Hopefully you’ve been taking part in our Virtual…-100x100.jpg)
Practice Pointers – Investing in Your Mental Health
By Natasha Alladina • May 31, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Other Issues
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and I couldn’t let these 31 days go by without addressing mental health and the practice of law. So here I am anxiously asking myself what I want to say at 8:41 pm on Sunday, May 31. (Full credit goes to my generalized anxiety disorder for this latest installment of “Natasha psyched herself out and procrastinated yet again even though she knows she shouldn’t.”) It would be the understatement of the year to say that lawyers suffer from a mental health and substance abuse epidemic. ALM’s most recent Mental Health and Substance Abuse Survey…