On the heels of my last post, I had to take advantage of some of that solo flexibility I was talking about. Our youngest daughter, 17 months old, came home early from daycare two weeks ago with a fever and then spent a Thursday and Friday home with Daddy. She’s a late bloomer as far as teeth are concerned — we are just now seeing an onslaught of incisors — and we initially thought the fever was related to teething. But then we noticed the blisters and spots, so we made an appointment with our pediatrician.

Apparently, the ominous-sounding hand, foot and mouth disease had struck our little girl. The doctor told us that she would likely be fine by Monday and, as long as the blisters were gone, she wouldn’t be infectious and could return to daycare (meaning also that Daddy could return to his daily routine).

Some new law grads sometimes ask me what I think about working from home. I thought about that option before I went solo, but with two kids who get home at 4 p.m. every day, the reality is that it is just impossible to get work done. (I mean, how can you not be distracted by the cutest kids in the world?) Work on the weekends is means nap times and a post-8 p.m. bedtime.

If you don’t have kids and you can set up a nice little home office away from all distractions, I’m sure it could work. Otherwise, the temptation to help out is just too great. Of course, if you can’t afford an office, the decision is made for you.

While the baby was sick, she napped for long-stretches during which I was able to be productive (all you need is a phone, a laptop and Internet access). But when she was awake, my time was spent soothing her, cleaning and watching DVR’d “Star Trek” movies. As far as productivity goes, the day was a net loss. But with a few extra days (and nights) of work, I was able to catch up.

Once again, the flexibility of a solo practice saves the day.

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At my daughter’s preschool, there are daily job assignments — Snack Helper, Line Leader and the always popular Feel Better Friend, who carries Skittles and Band-Aids during outside play for any child who gets hurt.

My favorite job, however, is Problem Solver (or, as my daughter says, the “pwabluhm salvah”). This job asks a 3- or 4- year-old preschooler to mediate any dispute that arises between two classmates. When the teachers explained the jobs at back-to-school night, they all gently chuckled at this notion. The head teacher assured us parents that they wouldn’t hesitate to intervene if it became clear that the problem solver wasn’t going to be successful.

But perhaps this simple description of the child asked to resolve a dispute between classmates has much to teach, especially for those of us who litigate. Are we problem solvers or do we actually create greater (and more expensive) problems for our clients?

When I first started practicing, I heard a story from an experienced attorney whom I’ll call Dan. Dan had been pulled in on a case as local counsel by a large national firm. Big money at stake. The other side had also retained local counsel, a person that Dan had an excellent relationship with from trying cases over the years. As the case unfolded, there came a time when the national firm called Dan and told him it needed a motion to extend the time to respond to something the other side had filed.

“More time?” Dan asked. “No problem. I’ll just pick up the phone and call opposing counsel. I’m sure he’ll give us more time.”

This wasn’t going to work for the national firm. It wanted a motion. Dan was flabbergasted. It actually did not want him to get the relief they were seeking in the most cost-effective way for their client. Instead, it wanted a motion drafted and submitted to the court that included case law, research, etc., — billable hours.

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In my first-year torts class, the professor told us during our first meeting that learning the vocabulary of a lawyer was important. He told us that someday, the potential clients who would seek us out would expect us to “sound like lawyers.” He advised us to get the pocket version of Black’s Law Dictionary, look up any word we came across that we didn’t know, check the margin and then try to use it in a sentence within the next 24 hours.

I remember thinking it was a funny thing to advise, to “sound” like a lawyer. Nonetheless, as a dutiful first-year, I took his recommendation to heart, bought my Black’s and faithfully marked up my copy over the next few years.

I had almost forgotten about his comment until I was preparing for the bar. One of the teachers I had gave the class some very strange advice: if we encountered an essay question to which we didn’t know the answer, we should isolate the area of law and just start underling and defining vocabulary words.

All of us in the class chuckled nervously and glanced at one another. He waited for that to subside.

“I’m serious,” he said after the murmurs subsided. “They want you to sound like lawyers.”

He paused a moment before adding, “The rest is up to you!”

I think often of these two instances when I am speaking with colleagues, clients and even people in other professions at networking events. It is true that attorneys are expected to “talk the talk” the same way insurance salesmen, plumbers and bartenders have specific lingo their clients expect them to know.

The real key, I think, is knowing the appropriate time and place to “sound like a lawyer.”

I can tell you from experience it isn’t at home when you might be, say, discussing kids’ carpool arrangements or their weekend sports schedule with your wife. It also isn’t when you’re explaining what you do to a class of preschoolers or kindergarteners during a career day. It isn’t even really at networking events when asked to explain what you do. In those instances, your elevator pitch has to be accessible to everyone listening, not just the other attorneys in the group.

In fact, it seems that most often, this “sounding like a lawyer” business is a performance for a client, opposing counsel or a judge, each expecting the jargon and ready to counter with their own.

The more difficult task is figuring out how not to sound like a lawyer, and, as you might be able to tell, I’m still learning.

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Forgive me for what will be a short post. Forgive me for any lack of wit. I’m tired.

Why? I was really sick for a week in January and had to take a week off at the beginning of this month to deal with some family stuff. What does that mean, really? Working lots and lots of hours to try and close the gap in my goal numbers. And that means… I’m TIRED.

Due to the lackluster job market, people are doing whatever they need to do to keep their jobs.

“If you’re lucky enough to have a job right now, you’re probably doing everything possible to hold onto it,” Sara Robinson wrote recently on AlterNet in an article titled “Bring Back the 40-hour Work Week.” “If the boss asks you to work 50 hours, you work 55. If she asks for 60, you give up weeknights and Saturdays, and work 65.”

Studies researching the results of the 40-hour work week and overtime productivity repeatedly show industrial workers have eight reliable working hours in them. On average, you get no more widgets out of a 10-hour day than you do out of an eight-hour day. Likewise, the overall output for the work week will be exactly the same at the end of six days as it would be after five days.

So, paying hourly workers to stick around once they’ve put in their weekly 40 is basically nothing more than a stupid and abusive way to burn up profits. Let ‘em go home, rest up and come back on Monday. It’s better for everybody.

This is truly enlightening if you consider the number of hours an attorney at a big law firm puts in per day, per week, and per month. Above the Law reviewed Robinson’s story, concluding “one should work to live, not the other way around.”

However, it seems like the majority of working Americans are “the other way around.” I watch as my friends in law firms toil for 12 hours a day, only to spend their few, free waking moments drinking and venting about how they have no lives.

What do you think? Do you think American working culture will allow a return of the 40-hour work week as the norm?

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On April 2, I posted a blog about perspective and the Bond family. In brief:

[A] story comes along that gives you a dose of reality and perspective in one huge package. Mine came from a Facebook update about someone I knew in high school. … Nate Bond is 38, married with an 18-month-old daughter in Brooklyn, N.Y. He was diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer on Feb. 14. Nine days later, his wife, Elisa, at the age of 36, was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer.

Well, here’s the update: After being given a 16 percent chance to live, Elisa’s cancer has responded to therapy and there is no evidence of disease. Nate is scheduled for surgery the first week in January. The family is celebrating the holidays — together.

So, as we all try to take a couple days for the holidays to spend with family and friends, think of the Bonds and how lucky we all are. Happy holidays and new year’s!

(Photo from friendsofnathanandelisa.blogspot.com)

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Having trouble choosing gifts for that nerdy lawyer in your life?  Here are some possibilities

(Disclaimer:  I’m sure there are non-nerdy lawyers out there.  I don’t know what they want.  Maybe a baseball glove.)

• Typography for Lawyers:  I love everything about this. And, for the low price of $120, you can get Butterick’s hand-crafted Equity font for your own legal use. Yes, you’re paying $120 for a font. Don’t think about it too long, just do it.
• Bryan Garner (@BryanAGarner): The dude has written more about words that Samuel Johnson and Noah Webster put together. He has a lot of cool stuff that I would like to see in my stocking this year:
  1. Seminars — He teaches on Advanced Legal Writing and Making Your Case
  2. Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges (co-written with Justice Antonin Scalia)
  3. Garner’s Modern American Usage (now we’re getting really nerdy):  I’ve seen mention of this dictionary a number of times online and some people actually read it. Like a book! Cover to cover! (Are my exclamation marks increasing your excitement?  No?  Well, it must just be me.)
• PACER for the iPad/iPhone (actually, it’s free, so maybe you just want to give an iPhone or an iPad).
• Green Lawyer Lamp: These things are all over lawyers’ offices in television and movies. I’ve only actually seen one in a lawyer’s office in real life. Maybe life should imitate art?
• Blackacre:  I don’t remember much about property from law school, but I do remember Blackacre.
• A hippopotamus

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