Sign In
Free Newsletter
Recent Articles from Cara Lewis
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye
About a year ago, when I started blogging for Generation J.D., my career was in a state of transition: I was leaving a firm and about to start my clerkship. One year later, I am in transition again. There were a lot of people that doubted my decision to leave private practice for a state […]
Co-workers at your wedding: Who makes the cut?
In just a few short months I’ll be getting married, and that means I’m in full-on planning mode. Turns out that planning a wedding is basically a full-time job, so when I’m not at the courthouse, I’m emailing my caterer, buying out Michael’s, and of course, re-pinning every genius idea I find on Pinterest. While […]
Courtroom manners should spell R-E-S-P-E-C-T
On any given day in any given trial courtroom across Maryland you can find folks wearing a wide array of apparel, including T-shirts, jeans, tank tops, sweatpants, and even pajamas. While court is in session, sheriff’s deputies beseech gallery observers to cease conversing and canoodling. And at the end of a busy day, the courthouse […]
The “X” factor in jury trials
This week, like so many in Maryland and around the nation, I awaited the jury’s verdict in the trial against George Huguely V for the murder of Yeardley Love in Charlottesville, Va. While the jury deliberated, many legal analysts and talking heads speculated about the verdict and attempted to predict the jury’s decision. I, too, […]
More on throwing bread at the Baltimore County “prom”
After my last post about the Baltimore County Bar Association appeared in The Daily Record’s print edition, I received an email with a link that sheds some light on the history of throwing rolls at the keynote speaker at the Baltimore County Bar Banquet. According Jeff Scholnick at the Baltimore County Small and Solo Attorney’s […]
Breaking – and throwing – bread on ‘Prom’ night
I had the pleasure Thursday night of attending my first Baltimore County Bar Association banquet, colloquially known as “The Prom.” The Prom was held at Martin’s West, a place I had not been – coincidentally – since my own high school prom. In the weeks leading up to the event, I heard great stories about bar […]
Legal legends
A collateral benefit of being a judicial law clerk is the opportunity to rub elbows with “legal legends” on a daily basis. These legends are the elder statesmen of our profession: judges, retired judges and lawyers who have practiced law for longer than I’ve been alive. I’m the kind of person who loves a great […]
In praise of working during the last week of the year
Most offices are ghost towns during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. With partners on vacation and annual billables already calculated, it seems like the perfect time for a young lawyer to escape, right? Well, maybe. It’s certainly a good week to vacation without losing much “face time” if that’s important to you. […]
Car-free and carefree?
Anyone who knows me knows I have awful luck with cars. It seems like every set of wheels I’ve had since I got my license was cursed — my first car caught fire due to a freak electrical short, another car was hit twice by drivers that didn’t leave notes and I’ve probably had close […]
Keep your friends – stop talking about being a lawyer
This past weekend, I went to a wedding in Scranton for my fiancé’s childhood friend, who happens to be a lawyer. When we arrived at the reception, we anticipated we would be seated at Table 7 with the Baltimore folks. But when we checked our seating card, we were at Table 17. When we made […]
Sick daze
It’s that time of year again: everyone I know is sick, myself included. Working in the courthouse is almost like working in a school — it feels like every pen, door handle and elevator button is covered in germs and, at the rate I use it, I am seriously considering buying stock in a hand […]
It’s almost November…do you know where your pro bono hours are?
Those annual pro bono legal service reports will be showing up in your mailbox soon, and as December quickly approaches, now is a good time to evaluate the number of pro bono hours you’ve completed this year. As a Maryland lawyer, you have a professional responsibility to render pro bono legal services — and according […]
