What I have learned in the past week and a half ...

... which also partially explains the silence on my blog.

1. Snagging is illegal at Lake Wright Patman. Engaging in snagging on Wright Patman will land you a ticket from the game warden and a trip to a Teen Court trial over which I may preside (currently I sit once every two to three months), provided you qualify due to being under eighteen years of age. At the end of each case, I am encouraged to impart words of wisdom to the teenagers in attendance. My advice on this case? If it does not require bait, it is probably illegal and should be researched before implementing because if it sounds too good to be true, it is probably too good to be true.

2. There are two key things to always remember when preparing to win a family law case. (1) Dress better than the other attorney, including making sure you look put together with your hair and make-up. You may think I am kidding, but I am not. It gives your client a confidence in your abilities because you look like you know what you are doing. This is especially important for me since I am a younger attorney often going up against older attorneys. I have learned this from observation and experience. (2) Know the facts better than the other attorney. This requires frequent (bi-weekly or monthly) contact with the client where you take notes on all of the mundane details of the relationship that has landed the family in court. This usually results in you knowing the other party better than their own attorney. I put both of those in practice last week to obtain a favorable result.

3. There are people in the world who give up rather than putting forth effort even when the consequences are high. If I am in fear of losing my job, or if I was in fear of losing my children, I am sure that something superhuman would come out of me in an effort to show others that I care about those things. I am sure that I could do almost whatever it takes to make sure that my boss could not live without me or my children would never have to live without me. However, I have observed people who have been told repeatedly that if they do not step it up, they are going to lose their job/their child give up and refuse to put forth more effort. Sad.

4. There are some things as a boss that although the outcome this time is not as catastrophic as it could have been (catastrophic is the only appropriate word), you have to address the issue as if the worst has happened just so your employee gets the message that they made a serious mistake. I am already anal when it comes to appeals and I only let my legal assistants do two things - order the appropriate record and file the brief. One did not order the complete record, so now I probably became even more anal. I discovered this less than 48 hours prior to the deadline. It was too late to order the record needed and probably to get an extension. I made do with what I had (very creative recreation of the record missing) and hope that the Court is merciful because I tried (or does not notice). Needless to say, I filed the brief.

5. There is a game system called XaviX that is similar to the Wii technology (movement based games), but not near as well marketed. However, it only costs $30 for the system and bowling game at Tuesday Morning, which is MUCH less than Wii (who cares if the graphics are reminiscent of Super Nintendo). Since I have wanted a Wii for a while, but cannot even begin to justify spending the money for it, the $30 system seems a much smarter purchase. Now maybe I can get the boys to stop watching so much TV when they are over and instead get up and play the game. I get tired of watching TV and try not to make it a habit.

6. I can make an appeal deadline even if my vacation falls in the middle. Attorneys get in a bad habit of asking for extensions of time to file things when in reality they just do not want to adjust their schedules to work in the deadline. I could have asked for a deadline using my vacation as an excuse, but what makes me think that I would be any less busy during the extension period than I was in the time leading up to the original deadline? In fact, I appear to be very smart for not requesting an extension because every morning this week is filled with an appointment and last week I only had a day filled with an appointment (the hearing referenced above). I want to be a person who meets a deadline and only asks for an extension when it is absolutely necessary. I think that is part of professionalism that is lacking in the legal profession and in other professions as well.

7. Perhaps one of the most important lessons I learned last week, it is possible to get addicted to working out, and once you have a routine in place, stick to it. I have conditioned myself to working out in the mornings before I go to work. I can tell a HUGE difference when I put it off until after work and it is not worth it. I also do not do well if I take a day off from exercising. Also, I have to hit an activity level where I am sweating and my heart rate is sufficiently elevated for me to feel like I have even exercised. This is a big change from my activity level a few months ago when I started working out to deal with stress. Maybe I can continue to develop this good addiction and keep from having a heart attack from the stress of my job and my terrible eating habits at the age of 35 or 40.