The Decided Are Always Gentle: Lawyering Advice from James E. Faust
I recently read a talk by James E. Faust given in 2003 to the J. Reu ben Clark Law Society . Mr. Faust was a World War II pilot, the President of the Utah Bar Association, on President Kennedy’s Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights, and in the Utah House of Representatives as a Democrat. In 1978 he left his profession as a lawyer and served the remaining years of his life in the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The remarks I read were called “Be Healers” and are available HERE . His thoughts showed great humilit…
Using Tone to your Advantage
I play the guitar. It is one of those non-law-related things in my life that keeps me sane. If you’ve ever played or seen an electric guitar, you’ll know that there are knobs on there, like these... The knobs control the volume of the guitar’s output and the tone , or sound of the guitar through the amp. Tone knobs appear not only on the guitar but on guitar effects, that can substantially change how the guitar sounds... And even on the guitar amplifier, which is what projects the guitar’s sound to the world... Tone knobs can be wired to do d…
3 Lessons from a Terrible Job Interview
After graduating from law school and taking the bar, I was interviewing for jobs… like it was my job. Image by Jonathan Mueller on Flickr CC BY 2.0. Some interviews went well. And then, of course, some didn’t. Some were obviously my fault: insufficient prep, fatigue, applying for jobs I knew I wasn’t a good fit for, blanking on softball questions like “what classes are you taking this semester?” Others, however, were not my fault: an interviewer singing a derogatory song about my faith, another complaining about women applicants getting pr…
Legal Business Marketing: Viral Videos and the Legal Advertising Paradigm
Legal advertising has a standard format that is problematically recognizable. Since the flood gates were open to attorney and law firm marketing in 1977, massive amounts of money and time have been invested into soliciting clients. Though the Court’s intent in allowing such advertising was for public good, many feel as though the law and legal profession as a whole has taken a black eye from this new found ability to advertised. This essay aims to examine the current form of legal business advertising, how it was developed, and how it might su…
Creating a Better Initial Client Interview
Initial client interviews are important for a lot of reasons. Here are two ways you can create a better initial interview no matter which side of the desk you are on. Understand the Purpose of the Interview Understanding the why of something can greatly influence the what and the how. As for initial client interviews, “[t]he purpose … is to obtain as much information in respect to the situation presented by the client … [and] to sell the attorney’s services.” By moving from an unstructured and reactive interview to one that is pointed …
