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5 Ingredients to Increase Productivity in Your Firm
By Dennis Hung • April 26, 2018 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Other Career Issues, Issues, Other Issues
No matter how passionate you are about your business, there will always be days when your productivity levels just fall short. The same goes for your employees. While there are no immediate side effects to low productivity levels in the workplace, the long-term view paints a gloomy picture for the firm. It can lead to slower progress and growth, losing cases and clients, and a workplace riddled with inefficiencies and unproductive activities. Here are five ingredients that can increase productivity in your law firm. Distinguish Important Versus Unimportant Tasks At the essence of productivity is the decision matrix developed by…
Ms. JD’s Report Card: 2018 Annual Conference “Her Story”
By Kerriann Stout • April 25, 2018 •Ms. JD, Conference, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Other Issues
On March 8th and 9th of 2018, Ms. JD hosted its annual conference at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. The theme of the conference was “Her Story,” and many of the talks and panels focused on the different journeys of the speakers. This was my first time attending a Ms. JD conference, and I was not sure what to expect, as I was attending by myself. I must say I was pleasantly surprised! It was a very welcoming environment, the Ms. JD staff was extremely kind, and there were lots of opportunities to meet and interact…
You’ll Pay for This: Choosing The Right Repayment Plan
By Kerriann Stout • April 18, 2018 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Pre-Law, Other Law School Issues, Issues, •Other Issues
After going to law school, I like to think that I have a pretty high threshold for the “I have no idea what I’m doing” feeling and can ultimately figure most things out with enough research. However, when it was time to figure out which repayment plan I should use to start paying back my law school loans, I was in tears of confusion in 5 minutes flat. I was immediately paralyzed by questions, such as “Why are there so many options?”, “Why do they all sound the same?”, “How do the payments range from $0 to $3,000?”, “How do…
You’ll Pay For This: It Is Time To Dig Out Of Your Financial Hole
By Kerriann Stout • April 03, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Other Issues
Welcome back! So far, we’ve covered the bleak reality of the student loan crisis and learned how to read our student loan statements (all highly riveting, I assure you.) This month, we are ready to discuss how to start digging yourself out of the financial hole in which you find yourself. Now, you may be wondering why you should take any advice from me -what with my $200k+ student loans and all - about paying debt off. Well, my husband and I used the following 6 tips to pay off over $60,000 in 2 years (and managed to save money towards…
Ms. J.D. Attends “Hidden Figures: Honoring Trailblazers in Tampa Bay,” by the FBA-Tampa
By Janee Prince • February 28, 2018 •Issues, Other Issues
Photo by Keith Lindquist After engaging in a bit of observational data analysis, also known as “creeping” on the Federal Bar Association –Tampa Chapter’s event last year, entitled “Staying in the Game: Getting to the Top,” and documenting my experience, I jumped at the opportunity to attend another fantastic, well-thought-out event with the FBA. Appropriately entitled “Hidden Figures,” this event honored Tampa Bay’s legal trailblazers. The individuals recognized have impacted, not just the Florida legal community, but the Nation as a whole. Merely being in the presence of such legal greatness provided palpable energy and a buzz within the Grand…
You’ll Pay For This: What In The World Does Your Student Loan Statement Say?
By Kerriann Stout • February 28, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Other Issues
I would compare reading about law school loans to watching a car accident happen. You don’t really WANT to watch it, but you also can’t seem to turn away. This month, I am rewarding your curiosity with a more in depth analysis of how student loans work. As you may recall from last month, I spent a good deal of time (almost 2 years) after graduation completely avoiding the fact that I had student loans at all. A big part of the reason I was so scared to even look at my student loan accounts after I graduated was that I…
From Paralegal to Associate: Are you still doing “office housework”?
By Nadia Ennaji • February 26, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Issues, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination, Women and Law in the Media, Other Issues
I recently read an article written by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant on women doing office housework.[1] It couldn’t ring truer to my ears than now. As a paralegal, it is your job to do all the admin tasks being delegated by the attorneys. But as an attorney, I somewhat still am asked to do those admin tasks on top of the workload of an attorney. Recently, during a trial, not only was I expected to do all the preparation for the trial, but I was also expected to put the exhibits together, and prepare the binders. What is one supposed…
10 Habits of Wealthy Lawyers
By Joshua Holt • February 25, 2018 •Careers, Legal Academia, Law School, Pre-Law, Issues, Other Issues, Features, Myths & Truths
Setting yourself up for financial success isn’t about making one good decision. If willpower were all it took to get rich, we’d all have a million dollars by 3 pm and on a flight to a tropical island by 7 pm. Unfortunately (or fortunately really), building wealth is about changing behaviors through developing new habits. And just like any habit you’ve ever changed, it’s not something that happens overnight. You’ll have to build these habits over time. Here are my top 10 habits of financially successful people. Habit 1: Paradigm Shift People that are successful with money believe that money…
LEGALXX 2018: Women’s Legal Tech Event
By Nikki Torres • February 21, 2018 •Issues, Other Issues
Planning to visit ABA TECHSHOW? Interested in closing the gender gap for women in legal tech or women lawyers representing tech companies? Join us for a free, one-day symposium on closing the legal tech gender gap. Learn more at: https://www.legalxx.org/ LEGALXX - Women. Law. Technology. Wed, March 7, 2018 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM CST Chicago-Kent College of Law at Illinois Institute of Technology 565 West Adams Street Chicago, IL 60661 Women are woefully underrepresented in the tech field, often facing sexism and harassment. As startup founders, investors, or tech employees, men often outnumber women many times over. If women play…