Lawsagna

TimeLeft for time management

TimeLeft is a multipurpose time-management tool that can notify you of an upcoming event, count down till your next scheduled study or work break, measure time interval and signal its end, even track online auctions.  The program can can also replace Windows' built-in system-tray clock.

"TimeLeft is a versatile desktop utility, which may be used as a countdown clock, reminder, clock, alarm clock, tray clock, stopwatch, timer, sticker, auction watch and time synchronization utility. TimeLeft uses Winamp skins to show digits and text.

The main feature of TimeLeft is a powerful customizable reminder, which can show a message, play music (any formats including mp3) or open a link, document, execute an application, turn off your monitor or shutdown your PC."

Shorten your learning curve!

"Year-End Review" with Michael Melcher

Author/lawyer/career coach Michael Melcher offered a "year-end review" exercise to the readers of Shifting Careers to help them set goals that would naturally support their development over the past year.  That post generated over 80 comments and a follow-up post.  Check it out.  

  Claim your best life now!

Understanding your personal energy patterns

If you are like many overworked and overwhelmed people I know, you probably experience the lack of energy more often that you’d like.  I want to offer you an exercise to help you understand your energy flow better.  Here’s what you do:

1. Take a piece of paper and divide it into two columns.  In the left side column, write down ten things that drain you energy.  Think of tasks that leave you exhausted, people that seem to zap your energy, habits that add to your fatigue. 
2. Now, in the right side column, write down ten things that increase your energy.  Think about activities that energize you, people that inspire you and propel you to action, daily routines that help you maintain your health and sanity. 
3. Once you are done with your lists, draw a bucket that represents your typical 24-hour day.  Now fill your bucket with the things from your lists, estimating the percentage of the bucket those things tend to occupy.
4. Take a close look at your full bucket.  Are you happy with the distribution of energy-producing v. energy-draining activities?  If yes, congratulate yourself on the ability to balance your energy well.  If you see room for improvement, ask yourself what you would need to re-balance your bucket.

Claim your best life now!

What would it take to bring more energy and well-being into your life?  To adopt a healthier lifestyle? To nurture your Self?  Let’s explore it together.  Don’t give in to churn and burn.  Email me at support@buddy-in-law.com to sign up for a free coaching session. 

150 Resources to Help You Write Better from OEDb

Online Education Database has a list of  “150 Resources to Help You Write Better, Faster, and More Persuasively.”  The list is organized according to the following categories:  Almanacs, Business and Legal Matters, Citation Styles, Dictionaries, English Language Skills, Genres, News Digests, New Media Resources, Organization, Professional Organizations, Rhetoric, Toolboxes, Writing Services, Writing Skills, Writing Software. You will want to bookmark it. 


Refocus, Recharge, Rejuvenate!

What would it take to bring more energy and wellness into your life?  To adopt a healthier lifestyle? To nurture your Self?  Let’s explore it together.  Don’t give in to churn and burn.  Email me at support@buddy-in-law.com to sign up for a free coaching session.

Remember better what you read with PQ4R

PQ4R is a popular method of working with text to remember it better.  PQ4R stands for Preview, Question, and four R's: Read, Reflect, Recite, Review. 

Preview: 
You begin with a preview, in other words, you skim the table of contents, headings, subheadings, graphs and pictures to get an idea of how the material is organized and what it is about. 

Question: 
Next, you come up with questions about the text.  Look at the headings and decide what information you want to know.

Read: 
The next step is to read the text with your questions in mind.  Did you get the answers? 

Reflect: 
Reflect on what you just read.  How is the new information related to what you already know?  Think of the ways to test and apply your new knowledge.  What kinds of problems could you solve with this information? 

Recite: 
Next, put away the text and recite the main points, talk out loud about the material, try to use your own words to explain things and at the same time, incorporate new terms and definitions. 

Review: 
The final step is to review.  Summarize the main points and test your comprehension with more questions and hypotheticals. 

The PQ4R method is not a quick trick, but the benefit may be well worth the invested time.

Tip Bit #31: What would your kids say…

My daughter is 20 months old and she is in the stage when she wants to do everything I do.  Whether I am talking on the phone, setting the table or putting my shoes on, I feel her eyes are on me.  She watches me intently and then tries to copy my movements.  It makes me more conscious of what I say and do.  That’s not a bad thing because I want to be on my best behavior in front of my daughter. 

We hear a lot these days about lawyers behaving badly:  being rude, yelling, bullying, etc.  It makes me wonder if our work environment would be better if we asked ourselves more often:  “What would my kids say if they saw me act like that?”    If you don’t have kids, think of any person who makes you want to be your best, morally and ethically.  Would this raise the standard of civility among lawyers?  What do you think?

Business Etiquette

When you attend business meetings, dinners and other social functions, you want to make the best impression possible, don’t you?  The knowledge of business etiquette may help you feel confident in social settings and ensure that people are comfortable in your presence.   Do you introduce the more important person first?  What do you do with your napkin if you are called to a telephone during a business meeting in a restaurant?  If you share a cab with a business client, where should you sit?

At the website of Louise Fox Protocol Solutions, you can take the "EtiQuiz" to test your knowledge of etiquette, learn about “Top Ten Etiquette Blunders,” and get some tips on how to look and act your best. 

Didn't do so well on the first quiz?  Try this business etiquette quiz with explanations at GradView.

Finally, if you do business internationally, check out the resources at Executive Planet.  This website offers guides to international business culture and etiquette in over 35 countries. 

Tip Bit #30: Know when to keep the lid on

Certain dishes need to be cooked covered, others – uncovered.  For example, water comes to a boil faster if you keep the pot covered   The lid prevents the heat from escaping, and you get the condensation effect so the steam returns back to the pot as water.  But if you want the flavors of a dish to intensify, you let it simmer without a lid so that extra liquid could evaporate.   How does it relate to the study of law?  Learning has two similar phases. 

The beginning phase, when you learn something for the first time, resembles cooking with a lid on.  You try to get as much information as possible about the subject matter.  You don’t let anything escape you.  You may not know yet what’s important to remember and what you can let go of.  You keep circulating information through your brain to find the most natural links and connections.  This is a stage when you want to ask  lots of questions, create hypothetical “what-if” scenarios and see where they take you.   

When the second phase comes, you take the lid off.  You know enough to figure out what you need to keep and what you can let evaporate from your memory.  Just like the flavors blend together and intensify, your knowledge becomes more concrete and integrated.  You see the big picture, but you can also identify the individual ingredients.  You reduce all that you have learned to its essence.      

How do you know when to move from the first phase to the second?  When you keep coming across the same information over and over again even if you try to find something new.  It’s just like the condensation loop:  the water comes back into the pot.  It’s a good sign that you have covered it all (no pun intended).  By the way, these two phases also apply to research. 

Tip Bit #29: Run away from panic

As the date of the July bar exam approaches, many of you may experience sudden panic from time to time.  Here’s a quick trick to quiet those worries.  Do some high energy exercises for just a few minutes.  It has to be something vigorous enough to distract your mind from negative thoughts, so do a set of push-ups, sit-ups, some kickboxing moves or just run up and down stairs.  It will release the tension build-up in your body and ease your anxiety.  And it’s a good way to spend your study break, so give it a try.

What do you do to lower your stress level?   

Take the Working Memory Challenge

About Working Memory is a web site that provides information and resources about working memory, just like its title suggests.  The term “working memory” refers to our ability to hold information in memory temporarily (for a few seconds) while we are solving a problem or performing a task.  The site has a challenge that allows you to test your working memory capacity.  You do two exercises with progressively increasing levels of difficulty.  The first exercise tests your ability to remember visual patterns.  The second exercise focuses on the auditory information.  Once you are done, you can compare your score with other people’s scores on similar working memory exercises.  Are you ready to push your working memory to the limits?

Take the Six Seconds emotional intelligence test SEI-360 free of charge

Six Seconds is a not-for-profit organization that offers information, tools, and services related to emotional intelligence:

“Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage feelings. It is the key competency for personal effectiveness, essential to communication, self-direction, problem-solving, and leadership.”

During the month of July, you can participate in the free trial of the Six Seconds emotional intelligence assessment SEI-360.  The SEI-360 is an online test that measures how you use your emotional intelligence in your daily life and how other people, who you choose to give you feedback, perceive your emotional intelligence skills.

It sounds like a great way to learn more about yourself.  Hurry up because the test is available free of charge as a research version only till the end of July.

Tip bit #28: Look for a story

You can find stories everywhere if you care to look.  Why should you care to look for stories?  Stories are a great sense-making tool.  Stories are like a good meal.  They have just the right ingredients to whip up a meaning.  What did you have for dinner yesterday?  Whatever it was, you probably wouldn’t want to eat the ingredients that went into your meal separately.  How about a spoon of sugar, a 1/2 cup of water, followed by some flour on a slice of a tomato?  I don’t think so.   But when you mix them up in the right order and add some labor and love, the result is something fabulous and perfectly edible (let’s hope) that gives you both nourishment and pleasure. 

Similarly, you don’t want to consume unrelated pieces of information.  Stories add coherence and substance, and as you know by now, we learn through linking and association, so stories are good for learning.  They make you guess what’s to come, and our brains like to solve problems.  Good stories, just like good food, speak to various senses:  they make us see, hear and smell things in a good, healthy way, and we remember things better when all of our senses are engaged.  Finally, stories make us emotional, and when we get joyful, sad or mad about something, it stands out in our memory.  So, look for stories around you because they help us make sense of the world. 

I saw a fine example of storytelling yesterday thanks to Legal Andrew who pointed out this 2-minute viral video.  Check it out.

Susan Cartier Liebel of Build A Solo Practice, LLC answers my question

Susan Cartier Liebel is an attorney, national coach and consultant who shares her wisdom and advice on how to create and grow a solo practice in her blog Build A Solo Practice, LLC.   Here’s what I asked Susan:

“I saw your category of "You Ask...I Answer" posts and thought I'd ask a question on behalf of my readers.  Summer time is when many students try to get practical experience by interning at a firm, government or non-profit.  If students know they would like to go solo after graduation, what would you recommend they do during their summers to prepare for their solo practice?”

Susan was kind enough to craft a great answer with good questions to make you think about your overall law school experience as it relates to your goal of becoming a solo, as well as practical advice on what you should be doing with your time outside law school:

“If you know you are going to become a solo practitioner upon passing the bar then everything you do, from your course selection to your extracurricular activities to your summer internships should be geared towards two things, networking/building professional relationships and gaining 'practical' experience that mirrors the life of a solo practitioner.”

Read the rest of her post here as she shares her three-step approach to your solo success.

Thank you so much, Susan!

How to figure out your clients’ needs and motives

How do you know what you clients really need or want?  ABA Inside Practice offers “Keys to Understanding the Needs of Clients and Prospects” in an excerpt from The Lawyer’s Field Guide to Effective Business Development by William J. Flannery.  The author talks about seven categories of needs and the ways to discern them in a conversation with your client:  active needs, visionary needs, latent needs, ego needs, organization or company added-value needs, job needs and implied needs. 

What do you do if one day your client decides to question your motives?  What if a client accuses your firm of running up the billable hours?  How do you respond?  David Maister addresses such incidents in his article “Integrity Impugned.”   (Hat tip to International Lawyer Coach Blog).  There is a lot of good advice in the article from how to figure out the reasons behind the client’s actions to what to say in response.  For example, if you need to buy more time to analyze what was just said, you can reply:  “That’s interesting. Could you say a little more about that?”  I like this recommendation because it can be used in a variety of situations. 

How do you go about figuring out your clients’ needs?  How do you respond if somebody questions your motives?

Let’s begin! (Part II)

“There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other.”
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

You’ve probably heard the saying “to begin is half the work.”  It is also the hard part of the work.  Have you had trouble starting a thing or two?  What is a good way to begin something?   In Let’s begin (Part I), I gave some tips on how to get yourself ready to cross the start line.  Today, I want to talk about the importance of finding common ground as the first step in many initiatives.  What we have in common with one another can be used as glue to make all the pieces of our project stick together.  How so?  Let’s look at some of the contexts where you can use common ground as your beginning point.    

1. Whenever you need to make a speech or a presentation, it’s a good idea to begin by sharing something that your audience can agree with.  If you establish a point of agreement with your audience from the start, your listeners are going to be more willing to accept what you have to say later.   To learn how to do that, listen to The Engaging Brand podcast Powerful Presenting Pt 1 and Pt 2.   
2. When we meet a person for the first time, it’s only natural that we look for commonalities in our backgrounds or interests to establish rapport.  Remember that next time you are at a networking function.  You conversations will be more fulfilling if you take a genuine interest in the other person.   
3. When mediators work to resolve a conflict between parties, they often try to have them agree on something as the first step of the mediation process.  Even if the point of agreement is really small, its psychological benefit can be great.  Sometimes, a small object that has sentimental value for both parties, such as the kids’ pictures, can do the trick.  Next time you see a conflict brewing, try to agree before you disagree. 
4. When you work as a team, you need to start with a common agenda and common goals.  It applies to meetings, collaborative projects, study groups.  It ensures that all the members of your team are moving in the same direction. 
5. When you write to persuade, inform or entertain, it’s a good idea to consider what characteristics your readers share and what you can do as a writer to address their concerns, interests and desires.  You can apply the same principle when you launch a new product or service. 
6. Whenever we encounter a new situation, we look for a familiar pattern in it.  That’s how our brain processes the information.  To understand the new piece, we need to find a link or an association to something we already know.  If you train yourself to be better at pattern recognition, you will learn more and remember longer.  So next time you need to learn something new, compare it first to what you already know and see how you can transfer your existing knowledge or skill set to the new context.

Can you think of any other situations when finding common ground is a good way to begin? 

Tip bit #27: On memory collages

If you need to memorize a complex concept, try creating a memory collage.  Here’s how  it works.  Pick the key elements and relationships that describe the concept.  Then, find images that you associate with those elements.  You can browse magazines if you want to make it low tech or find images on the web if you want to create your collage in a digital format, or maybe, you can sketch them yourself.  After you are done collecting your visuals, arrange them in a collage trying to reflect the relationships among the underlying elements.  The benefit of a memory collage is that it allows you to see the concept as a whole whereas the verbal description can only be sequential. 

Visit Creativity Portal to explore various collage resources on the internet or play with Art Zone interactive tools to create your own collage online. 

Tip bit # 26: Stretch.

You are already stretching your mind extensively, but what about your body?  Does it feel stiff and strained, and craving for your attention?  If you spend many hours sitting in a chair and want to avoid back and neck pains, you need to maintain good posture and back support.  You can start working on both your mental and physical agility with these 16 Exercises to Help Correct Your Posture.  You will feel the extensions and flexions in your body as you do the poses, they are quite invigorating.  And check out Spine-health.com, which offers advice on how to practice good postures for standing, sitting in an office chair or driving. 

Tongue in cheek: the art of presentation

Do you suffer from a “presentension”?  It is a condition that tends to manifest itself when you are about to give a speech in front of a group. When all eyes are on you, you begin feeling the warmth of their welcome literally, as if you were transported into a sauna, still in your business suit.  So you sweat a little…or a lot.  Then you mind goes blank.  We are not sure why it happens, but it may be a result of the telepathic abilities of your audience.  The information leaves your head and goes directly into theirs.  So there you are, standing in front of a bunch of people, and you have nothing to say.  They, on the other hand, already know everything that was part of your presentation.  So they watch you suffer and think:  “What new can you possibly tell us?”  Then just as you are about to open your mouth and ask” How are you today?” the air gets sucked out of your lungs and a big hot potato rolls up your throat, turning your mouth dry.   It’s really hard to give your speech if you have a “presentension” attack.  But have no fear.  You can find out the ways to alleviate the symptoms in Guy Kawasaki’s post “Speaking as a Performing Art” and its follow up “Bite Your Tongue: Eight More Ways To Improve Your Presentations.”  The tips are the result of his collaboration with Doug Lawrence, who is a professional singer and speech coach.  There are many similarities between speaking and singing, so learning about how singers control their performance can be beneficial to all of us.  Who knew that biting you tongue literally (and gently) could help your dry mouth:  “Opera singers use this all the time to release saliva which moistens your mouth.”

Tip Bit #25: Make a list of 5 things that you are excited about

If you need inspiration in your life, check out Pursue the Passion.  Here’s what the creators of the project say about it:

“Pursue the Passion started as a group of three recent college grads who embarked on cross country roadtrips to interview passionate professionals about their career paths. We created this site because we felt that others could benefit from these interviews, and use them to determine a direction to take their careers.”

In addition to great stories, I really like their series “5 Things I’m Excited About on a Friday.”   I think it’s a great way to fuel your passion and remind yourself how exciting you life is.  We all need it from time to time, and Friday just seems like a perfect day for this type of exercise.  The weekend is almost here, so dream a little, let your curiosity run free and find excitement in your life.  What are the 5 things you are excited about this Friday?   I’ll start:

1. I am so excited that I am close to launching my online training course.  It’s going to happen very soon (more on it later).
2. I am excited that the weather is promising to be wonderful this weekend, which means I get to spend more time outdoors, and I like that.
3. I am excited to start reading “The Art of the Start” by Guy Kawasaki that I just got from the library. 
4. I am excited my daughter learned how to stack building blocks.  She was really good at smashing my creations before, but now she can build tall towers on her own.  Silly things can make Mommy happy. 
5. I am excited about my exercise and meditation routine.  I hope I can stick to it.  I want to be able to meditate properly for at least 20 minutes.  Right now, my mind is still dashing from thought to thought and my back starts aching after sitting still for about 10 minutes.  It will get better, right?  Practice, practice, practice.   

Who is next? 

The Rule of Hopeful Hare

For those of you taking the bar exam. 

Question:
The Fox conveys the Foxacre “to the Hare with the hope that he wins the race with the Tortoise”.  Determine the interests conveyed and retained in this transaction. 

Answer:
The Hare has a fee simple absolute. 

Remember The Rule of Hopeful Hare:
Defeasible fees require a determinate durational language.  The words of mere desire, expectation or hope are not enough to create a defeasible fee. 

This rule of construction exists because courts disfavor restrictions of the use of land. 

Pure Text

PureText is a neat little tool that allows you to paste text to any application without the original formatting.  After you install PureText (it’s free), you can use its Windows hot-key to paste the text instead of the standard Ctrl-V hot-key.  Alternatively, you can click on the "PT" tray icon near the clock on your task bar to remove formatting from the text that is currently on the clipboard.  Easy and useful.  (Hat tip to Success from the Nest).

How to deal with difficult people

Most of your interactions, I am sure, are cordial, pleasant and productive.  But for those rare occasions when you come face-to-face with a difficult, negative, or annoying person, here’s a blueprint for your actions and reactions. 

First of all, how do you spot trouble?  Chuck Newton warns of the “Six Personality Types You Should Avoid.”  Meet The Loafer, The Weasel, The Bridegroom, The Psycho Killer, The Replicant, and The Future CEO.

What assumptions do you harbor when you develop your relationships with people?  Here’s a list of principles that will help you build better relationships from the Lifehack article “Other people are not broken…” by Adrian Savage.

How do you deal with negative people in a positive way?  Catherine Pratt offers some tips on “How To Deal With Negative People” at Life With Confidence.   Do you know the type who always criticizes everything?  I’ve heard of a good neutralizing phrase when you talk to those people.  Ask them:  “Do you have a better idea?”   While you are at Life With Confidence, also check out “How to Kill Fear When Dealing with Aggressive People” by Peter Murphy. 

Here’s a secret about annoying people.  They are annoying only so long as you let them annoy you.  Take that power away from them!  The Chief Happiness Officer Alexander Kjerulf tells you  “How not to let annoying people annoy you.”

How do you keep your cool?

Tip bit # 24: The Crock Pot Learning

The crock pot is a fine invention.  I don’t use it for many things, but boy, do I like the beef stew prepared in the crock pot.  You chop up the veggies and meat, add broth and tomatoes, and then the crock pot magic happens, and 8 hours later, or better yet, overnight, you have a delicious  dish full of flavors with meat melting in your mouth. 

Why am I talking about the crock pot today?  Because just like you have to trust the crock pot to do its magic, there are times when you have to trust the learning process to get you where you need to be.  A preparation for the bar exam is a case in point.  You do your best listening to the lectures, reading, taking notes, reviewing, practicing, and trust that the magic is going to work and you will pass.  At any given moment, there is a huge amount of information thrown at you.  You don’t want to control every little detail because it’s not possible.  What you want to do is to start doing practice questions right away and keep doing it.  You won’t feel as if you know the law enough, but that’s OK.  You have to trust the process.  Practice teaches your brain to recognize patterns that are tested on the bar exam.  Pattern recognition is central to your success, and you can’t learn it just by reading and memorizing.  If you have to choose between practicing and reading the long outline, practice and review the answers.  And when you feel overwhelmed and insecure of your knowledge, remind yourself to trust the process to do its magic, no matter how slow your progress may seem, it’s just like the crock pot.       

On stress and memory

Here’s good news and bad news about stress and memory delivered by SharpBrains.  Bar candidates, listen in.  Short-term, acute stress can help you concentrate and remember things better.   That’s because the adrenal glands respond to the initial dose of stress by immediately releasing adrenalin, which can help your performance.  However, long-term stress has the opposite effect.  If the stress is severe or persistent, the adrenals release cortisol, which damages the neurons in the hippocampus, a part of the brain that is central to memory and learning.  Make sure you take this quick test to measure your stress levels.   

To find out more about how your brain responds to various stressful situations, check out Stress on the Brain  from The Franklin Institute Resources for Science Learning.

How do you manage your stress levels?  These 52 Proven Stress Reducers are a good place to start.   

Tip bit #23: Make a list of what you really need to learn.

Today’s tip is inspired by Stephen Downes’ list of “What You Really Need To Learn”.  He thinks it is important to learn:

• How to predict consequences
• How to read (and really understand)
• How to distinguish truth from fiction
• How to empathize
• How to be creative
• How to communicate clearly
• How to learn
• How to stay healthy
• How to value yourself
• How to live meaningfully

Many of the above skills are not taught in school and yet they seem to be essential if you want to have a good life and be successful in today’s world. 

So, what is in your list? 

Tip bit #22: On managing expectations

Many problems can be avoided or resolved easier if you are good at managing people’s expectations.  We may want many things in work and life, but because we know that we can’t get them all, we are sensitive about things that we expect to get.  That’s our compromise, so to speak.  I may give up X, but I better get Y.  If you know how to lower or raise people’s expectations, you have an influence over their levels of happiness, satisfaction, appreciation.  I don’t suggest that you manipulate people by setting their expectations low on purpose.  I believe in honesty and respect when dealing with people.  After all, trust is essential in serving professions, such as law, but it is also fragile.  On the other hand, you should not promise what you can’t deliver.  But you already know that.  Let’s look at a few scenarios when managing expectations can save you a lot of trouble.   

Scenario 1 

You get an assignment from a partner.  You think you understand what the partner wants even though you are a bit fuzzy on a few points.  You think you will figure it out once you research the question more.  You don’t want to ask for clarifications now because you don’t want to look incompetent.  “What if I am supposed to know that?” your inner critic says in a reproaching kind of voice.  You go ahead and do your research.  One hundred billable hours later, as you are talking to the partner again, you are told that you answered a wrong question.

The lesson from Scenario 1 is that in order to manage expectations, you need to know what they are.  To be clear about your task or the process to be followed to solve the problem, ask questions and repeat the essence of what you heard in your own words to make sure you understood correctly.  Fire the inner critic.

Scenario 2

You get an assignment from your boss.  The task is clear.  As you go about your business, a few complications arise.  You think you can handle them on your own.  You don’t want to bother the boss with minor details.  The inner critic says, “The boss will never give me any serious work if I can’t handle this.”  Before you know it, two hundred billable hours later, the complications snowball into a major disaster. 

The lesson from Scenario 2 is that you must keep the channels of communication open.  Good bosses know how to stay on top of things without being a micromanager.  But if it’s not your boss, the burden is on you to make a call when something needs to be brought to her attention.  What you want to do is to have a plan ready how you would handle the situation.  That way, you are not complaining about a problem, you are offering a solution.  And fire the inner critic.

Scenario 3

You get an assignment with a deadline.  You need to coordinate with John Doe, who has an important role in the project.  No problem.  You think you will be ready in time with your part and so will John Doe.  Unfortunately, John Doe has a family emergency.  You think you can still finish on time when John Doe shows up in the office on Monday, so you don’t let anybody know that the deadline may be compromised and you don’t reschedule any meetings.  “They will kill the messenger,” admonishes the inner critic.  John Doe is not in the office on Monday. 

The lesson from Scenario 3 is that sometimes you have to deliver the bad news.  Nobody likes to miss a deadline, especially an important one.  But things happen, and if you keep communicating with your team and your clients, you may be able to renegotiate the deadline, which is better than missing it.  So, fire the inner critic.

Do you have your own scenario?

Tip bit #21: Change the word

When you study for a multiple-choice exam, such as MBE, you need to read the questions  and options very carefully.  Your choice of the answer may depend on just one word.   Can you recognize those powerful words that trigger legal standards, call for doctrines, or cunningly distract you?  To practice identifying such words, try the following game.  Once you solve the original hypothetical question, go back and change one or two words in the question in such a way that alters your analysis.  Rewrite the hypo and see where it takes you.  It’s a good game to play with your study group if you participate in one. 

How to create memorable flashcards

You have probably seen popular character names used in legal fact patterns.  Most of them are there for pure entertainment.  But fictional characters can do work for your memory as well.  Here’s how – with the story of the Crow. 

Hypothetical: 
One day, the Fox was sleuthing around the Foxacre when he saw the Raven perched in a tree with a piece of cheese in his beak.  The Fox was hungry and came up with a plan to get the cheese from the Raven.  The Fox deeded the Foxacre “to the Raven so long as the Raven does not sing in his ugly voice on the Foxacre.”  The Raven, anxious to refute the criticism of his voice, set up a loud caw and dropped the cheese.  Determine the types of interest conveyed and retained in the transaction. Who owns the Foxacre now?   

Answer:
The Fox conveyed a fee simple determinable to the Raven and retained a possibility of reverter.  When the Raven began to caw, the limitation stated in the conveyance occurred and the estate automatically reverted back to the Fox. 

The following phrase will help you remember the estate and the corresponding future interest:
Fox Simply Deceived Poor Raven.
Fee Simple Determinable and Possibility of Reverter. 

If you are familiar with the Aesop fable “The Fox and the Crow,” this hypothetical can do a few things for you:

The familiar scenario when the Crow (Raven in my hypo because the letter “R” stands for “Reverter”) caws and drops the cheese, which the Fox immediately gets, reinforces the idea that the fee simple determinable is automatically terminated once the stated condition is broken.  The sneaky Fox gets both the cheese and the estate in my hypo. 

An additional benefit is the phrase that helps you to memorize the estate and the future interest. 

Can you think of any scenarios from books or movies that inspire you to create your own memorable hypothetical for a flashcard? 

**Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while (thank you, thank you!) know that I have done a number of such memory aids throughout my posts.  If you find them helpful, please let me know because I may be able to work on more of those to have a study aid product.  I’d greatly appreciate your feedback, so leave a comment or send me an email.

More bar exam tips

Still worried about the bar exam?  Here’s a list of resources that can help you study for and pass the bar.  (You can read my previous post here if you want my personal perspective on the bar exam experience.)

PLI offers bar exam tips from a panel of experts in the video and HTML text formats.  Learn about Preparation Just Prior to Starting Your Bar Review Course.  There is also advice on How to Write a Successful Bar Exam Answer and How Not to Be Conclusory.

Check out Passing the Bar site created by Professor Vernellia Randall.  It covers a variety of topics related to the bar exam preparation, including Specific Study Advice and tips on how to Develop Keywords Flashcards.

Carolyn Nygren describes a 7-step training strategy for bar candidates to practice before the bar review course starts.

FindLaw has a list of resources for the bar.

You can do it!

Tip Bit #20: On learning portfolios

In the summer time, many students pursue internship opportunities, study abroad programs and other activities outside the traditional law school curriculum.  It’s a good time for self-directed learning.  You can read about the characteristics of self-directed learners in the article “Learner, Direct Thyself” by Gerry Sexton, M.D. at LiNE Zine.

One of the tools for more effective learning is a personal learning portfolio.  When you hear the word “portfolio,” you may think of artists or designers creating a representative sample of their works.  A learning portfolio, however, is a record of your personal learning experience, and it can be created by anybody.  What are the benefits of a learning portfolio?

• It makes your learning more purposeful.
• It’s a place to record your learning goals.
• It allows you to track your own progress.
• It will keep you motivated because it is also a record of your personal victories.
• It focuses your attention.
• It teaches you to be a reflective learner. 
• It can be a springboard for your job-search and career development strategies.

It’s up to you to decide how you want to structure your learning portfolio, but here is a simple format to get your started:

1. Identify the content of your learning.  What is it that you want to know?  For example, as a summer associate, you may want to choose your favorite areas of practice, decide whether you like the firm’s culture, learn how to write good memos and how to network, etc. 
2. Write down the reasons why you want to learn those things.  How does your learning fit into the larger context of your personal development, career objectives, social life?  You are more likely to achieve your goal if you have a reminder of why it is important.   
3. Determine how you are going to accomplish your learning objectives.  What experiences do you need to have?  How do you develop the skills you need?  Who can be your teacher / role model / mentor?  Create your own learning curriculum filled with the activities that can boost your professional and personal development.
4. Figure out how you can measure you progress.  How do you know that you have reached your goal?  What are your milestones?  Record your successes and challenges.
5. Reflect on your learning process.  Write down your observations of what works and what doesn’t work for you.  How could you learn more effectively? 
6. Find the ways to use and apply your new knowledge and skills.  How can you learn more by doing? 
7. Have a section where you can record random comments and observations, clip images that appeal to you, write down quotations, ask yourself questions and just let your thoughts flow onto the paper without reservations. 

Have you ever used learning portfolios?  How did they work for you?  Let me know.

Tips to develop intercultural competency

What are the chances that in your practice, you will represent a transnational corporation, take an assignment at a foreign office of the U.S. law firm, advise international clients on the U.S. law, outsource legal work to lawyers in India, help American retirees to settle down in Mexico, or devise an estate plan for foreign nationals with assets in the U.S.?  You may think that you have a local practice, but in today’s economy, more and more of your business and individual clients choose to trot the globe.  Are you ready to travel with them?  If you need help, the following resources can be your guide across cultures:

Pamela Slim of Escape from Cubicle Nation gives advice on "How not to be a cultural knucklehead in a global business world." 

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston of Business Writing addresses pitfalls of cross-cultural communication in her post “Do You Like My Dressing?” 

Janet Moore offers great advice to lawyers across borders at her International Lawyer Coach Blog.  If you are considering a study abroad program, read the post “Study Abroad Opportunities for Law Students,”  which has a list of helpful websites.  The blog also has useful information for foreign lawyers in the U.S. 

I always look forward to Anne Fox and Dr. Laurent Borgmann’s podcast ‘absolutely intercultural!’ which deals with intercultural issues in creative and engaging ways. 

Let’s begin! (Part I)

"Too many of us wait to do the perfect thing, with the result we do nothing. The way to get ahead is to start now. While many of us are waiting until conditions are "just right" before we go ahead, others are stumbling along, fortunately ignorant of the dangers that beset them. By the time we are, in our superior wisdom, decided to make a start, we discover that those who have gone fearlessly on before, have, in their blundering way, traveled a considerable distance. If you start now, you will know a lot next year that you don't know now, and that you will not know next year, if you wait. "
The William Feather Magazine

You’ve probably heard the saying “to begin is half the work.”  It is also the hard part of the work.  Have you had trouble starting a thing or two?  Why is it so difficult to begin?  I think, it boils down to anxiety, uncertainty, lack of commitment, risk-avoidance and maybe, a few other things.  What is a good way to begin something?   Here are a few tips to get you ready to cross the start line. 

Start at the end.  That’s right.  Begin by imagining the end result of whatever you want to do.  George Bernard Shaw said: “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” If the outcome is compelling enough, the vision will propel you to action. If you can’t see the positive result, it may be a sign that you should not start. 

Take the bate.  Is there a part of the project that looks more appealing to you? Start there if possible.  Find the most exciting thing about the project and go after it.  The energy generated from such beginning will carry over to other less enticing tasks.  If you can’t find anything exciting, once again, it maybe a sign that the thing is not worth doing.  If you really have to do it, pair it up with some unrelated fun.  Make a deal with yourself that you will do the fun part first for a limited amount of time and then, you must do the boring part.  For example, you can watch one movie, but then you must start writing, reading, outlining, or whatever you need to.  That’s the reward upfront approach. The idea here is to put you in a good mood right away and mentally prepare you for other things to come.  This approach may help you if the promise of a future reward doesn’t do the trick.

Transform procrastination into the beginning.  Use your procrastination time to organize your thoughts, create a time-management system for your project, motivate yourself, rehearse ideas.  In other words, procrastinate with purpose.

Set a deadline to begin.  You have to set deadlines to get anything done.  Share your deadline with people.   If you make a public commitment, you are more likely to keep it.

Take small bites.  What exactly qualifies as the beginning?  If you need to write a paper, do you have to write a sentence, a paragraph, or a chapter to begin?  Subdividing your project into small easily manageable parts is a great way to conquer your fears and resistance. 

Enlist the help and support of others.  There is nothing like sharing your misery with somebody else (I am being sarcastic here).   Do you think runners would feel differently when they approached the start line if there were no cheering crowd around?  Surround yourself with energetic, caring and motivating people, and feel a sudden urge to begin. 

How would you begin whatever you need to do right now? 

Today’s tips are general and applicable to a variety of contexts.  It’s just the beginning (pardon the pun).  In Part II, I plan to address some specific situations, for example:

• How do you begin writing a paper?
• How do you being a job interview?
• How do you being a presentation?
• How do you introduce yourself to people?
• How do you begin a cold call?

If you have any advice or a topic to suggest, I’d love to hear from you!
 

On job search and networking

Are you looking for a job?  Do you want to learn the skill of business development and networking?   Today’s round-up is for you:

Law Career Blog offers job hunting advice for 3Ls and recent grads.  I like the suggestion of being proactive, flexible and creative in your job search.  Some students buy into others’ vision of how things should be and adopt the victim’s mentality when things don’t turn out that way.  How do you make the best with what you have?  It takes courage, creativity and consistent work.  You begin by valuing what you have to offer because if you don’t value yourself, you can’t show your worth to others.  Take the challenge and write your own life story, don’t let others write it for you.  The upside is that you can learn so much more about yourself and your true aspirations in the process.   I suggest you sit down and make a list titled "Here's why I am so awesome!"  Place this list where you can see and read it often.  Strive to add new things to it each day as you go about your search for business.   

Do you want to know nine essential characteristics for making partner?  Inside Practice offers an excerpt from "Making Partner: A Guide for Law Firm Associates" by John R. Sapp.  Among those characteristics are “Maturity: You are in control of your life” and “Entrepreneurial attitude: You think like an owner rather than an employee.”  Now is the time to start working on those skills.  And if you already possess them, maybe you don’t need an employer.  Build A Solo Practice, LLC will help your to plan your own business venture. 

Here are a few nuts and bolts of networking.  Business Writing teaches you How to Ask a Stranger for a Favor and offers Great Tips for Email.  If you want advice on phone networking, listen to Escape from Cubicle Nation podcast Networking tip:  Use the phone! Finally, is your body language congruent with the words you speak?  Read about 18 ways to improve your body language from The Positivity Blog.

Happy hunting and gathering!

Tip Bit #18: It’s time to throw out bad apples

Occasionally, in a grocery store, I buy apples that look good and firm with shiny skin (probably coated with wax), but when I cut one of these apples a few days later, there is brown mush inside.  While I’d love to know how to pick apples better, today’s tip is not about grocery shopping.  It’s about identifying the “bad apples” among things you do.  Sometimes we engage in something that appears like a good thing on the surface, but if we dig deeper, it adds very little value to our lives.   Just like those bad apples in the store, such activities can be deceptive because they are not obviously bad or wrong. 

They often act as time-fillers and offer us a way to procrastinate.   Take example of web surfing.  There is a lot of good information on the internet that you may want to read, but after a while, internet search can turn your brain into a mush. Some things go bad with time: the more time you spend on it, the less productive the activity becomes.  That’s why time constraints are a good thing.  When do you stop evaluating options and make a decision?  When do you stop researching and start writing?  Here’s another “apple” that can go bad – reading study aids, such as commercial outlines, hornbooks, nutshells.  At what point reading more becomes a distraction form something more important that you should be doing, like thinking on your own or outlining?

We all pick “bad apples” from time to time.  What are yours?  How do you pick them and why? 

** I am doing the happy dance here because I just found my good Apple – my iPod.  Four days ago, I locked it and gave it to my baby to play with – she loves gadgets (bad idea), and then it disappeared.  I searched through every inch of my home office and couldn’t find it.  Today, I pulled a book off the shelf and it fell out.  She must have put it on top of the books.  I never realized I loved listening to podcasts so much.  It made my day!

Getting ready for the bar exam

No groundbreaking secrets here, just the ground work to pass the bar.  I ended up taking the bar exams in two states, Illinois and New York, due to the move.  And, guess what… I am no longer in either of those states, but I don’t see a third bar exam in my future.  So, the first lesson I’ve learned is not to move so much if you want to practice law, or work for the federal government, then a license from any state will do.  Here are a few other things I learned:

• To succeed at the bar exam, it’s not enough to know the law, you also need self-discipline, endurance, time-management and stress-management skills.  You must train for each of these requirements accordingly.
• Remember the three “Ps” of performance:  prioritize, plan, prepare.  You need them as you study for the bar.  To make my life easier, I just followed the schedule of the bar review course.  You must have a schedule and stick to it.  You won’t be able to catch up if you seriously fall behind because of the large volume of the material. 
• Find a routine that works for you.  It may consist of lectures in the morning, a lunch break, a short study session, a nice nap, another study session, a workout, dinner – you get the idea.  See how your energy flows throughout the day and adjust your activities accordingly.   
• Pace yourself and take study breaks.  It’s a marathon, not a sprint, you need to build up your endurance and mental toughness and not to burn out in the process.  Incorporate some type of exercise into your routine to bring oxygen to your brain, relieve stress and stay healthy.  Take naps if you can.  You are going to be learning so much every day, an afternoon nap will help you consolidate your memories.  I started meditating daily for about 10-15 minutes when I was studying for the bar. 
• Don’t try to make yourself more miserable than you need to be.  Reward yourself periodically with some fun and entertainment, but avoid anything that can give you a hangover, insomnia or indigestion.  The idea is to make you feel better, not worth.  You can even combine your studies with something pleasant.  Pack your books and go to a park or to the beach.   
• Do lots of practice questions for the MBE portion of the exam.  After reading a lot of questions, you become more attuned to the language and start recognizing patterns better.  Time yourself when you do them.  Getting the pace right is very important at the bar exam, so you should practice time-management early.
• Make sure you practice writing your full essay answers within the time constraints.  Go back and edit some of your essays to make the writing more crisp and concise.  Find better ways to state legal rules and standards so that you can use those phrases in other essays.  For the rest of the essay questions, outline your answers to see if you can spot all the issues. 
• Do the in-class, practice MBE exam, you need to know what a six-hour exam feels like. You can also schedule your own practice test or partner up with another bar candidate and take it together. 
• On the day of the exam, the last thing you want to worry about is getting lost or being caught in traffic, torrential rain or blizzard.  Visit the place beforehand.  If you have to drive far or if the weather is unstable, consider staying in the hotel nearby for the days of the exam.  When I moved to Buffalo, New York, I decided to take the February bar exam.  Buffalo can get lots of snow, and I didn’t want to concern myself with the weather, so I stayed in the hotel where the bar exam took place.  I slept better and longer. 
• Finally, no matter what, just remember that it is going to be over soon. 

Good luck!