June 1, 2014
Worth Your While

“There just is not enough time in the day." Such a true statement often uttered by young lawyers. We work hard, often long hours every week, trying to climb the professional ladder. For many, after working too many hours, we return home to small children who are awesome and exhausting all wrapped into one lovely (yet often sticky) package. We are tired.

July 1, 2014
A Good Character

There are many fine movies with lawyers as main characters—Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, Daniel Kaffee in A Few Good Men, and Jan Schlichtmann in A Civil Action. However, in my opinion, Vincent Gambini, the outspoken Brooklyn attorney representing his cousin and a friend in rural Alabama in the 1992 hit My Cousin Vinny, has to be included on this list. For many attorneys, Vinny may be more relatable than Atticus.  Vinny vocalizes statements that many lawyers think but won’t say. Take, for example, his seven-word opening statement—“Everything that guy just said is bull$#*%!” In the movie, Vinny’s professionalism in the courtroom became a character in and of itself. 

Vinny’s case already had to rely upon testimony about tire marks, positraction, and the optimal boiling time for grits, but due to his struggles with professionalism and his courtroom demeanor, Vinny had additional hurdles to jump.

September 1, 2014
Big Expectations

I am one of those mothers. I have big expectations for my children. I want them to be their best and to try their hardest at everything they do. New moms don’t really know what they are doing. When my first child was born, I remember thinking, I can’t believe they just let us leave the hospital with this precious baby!

October 1, 2014
Fear Factor

When was the last time you were scared?

If you ask my mom, I was the kid who didn’t stray too far from her side. I’ve fortunately outgrown my childhood terrors of the dark, large dogs, and strangers. But, I’ve found that now my anxieties are largely centered on health, family, or a combination of the two.  Unlike the fears of my youth, which would surface only when I was directly confronted with them, my concerns today are always there, in the back of mind, lingering. Maybe it’s because I worry, or perhaps it’s because I am a mom.

 

November 1, 2014
Setting the Tone

My first-grader is learning how to read with inflection. This step in the reading process has entertained our family. It is interesting (and comical) to hear how my son will emphasize certain words and how his voice will go up an octave when he is reading a sentence that ends with a question mark. I’ve had to remind him that achieving that perfect tone can be difficult.

December 1, 2014
Surviving the Season

I am a sucker for the holiday charm that pops up in almost every store this time of year. I guess the marketing professionals know what they are doing. Twinkling lights, garland, and the constant streaming of music works immediately to put me in the spirit. But, at the risk of sounding like the Grinch, does it seem like those seasonal aisles are appearing a little earlier each year?

January 1, 2015
Planning Matters

Attorneys are good at taking care of clients. We respond to their demands and requests at all hours. We postpone vacations, miss dinners, and go the extra mile to make sure that they have the best representation. But, in doing so, we tend to put our own needs and personal responsibilities on the back burner.

February 1, 2015
Finding Your Way

Have you ever wondered how you got to where you are? As I look out my office window, the scenery is vastly different from the pine trees and pastureland I saw daily in my youth. Instead of cattle grazing, I see cars dashing around town. I remember being so overwhelmed when I first moved to Dallas. Growing up in a small town an hour north of Houston, my family rarely traveled to Big D. I got completely lost when I came up for a job interview after graduating from college. I actually referred to the stunning Fountain Place tower on the corner of Ross Avenue and Field Street as the Ewing Oil building (I had watched Dallas religiously every Friday night). Shockingly, I still got the job!

March 1, 2015
Call Waiting

Growing up in a small town an hour north of Houston, our idea of traffic consisted of three cars at a stoplight. Back then, I remember finding it humorous that my mom would turn down the radio when we entered the outskirts of larger cities. She was always so nervous to encounter real traffic. When questioned,she would say, “I’m confident in my own driving abilities; it’s just everyone else that I’m nervous about!”

April 1, 2015
Lawyers Leading the Way

Spend a few minutes watching the news and you’ll hear about threats and divisions not only from outside our borders but also from within. We face mountainous concerns in the areas of financial solvency, racial and socioeconomic tensions, education, crime, and immigration, to name a few. Yet, it is precisely when I hear about the number and gravity of these problems that I become most excited to be a Texas young lawyer.

May 1, 2015
What Legends Are Made Of

I often find it comical how movies incorrectly portray the legal system. In a little over a week after a client initially meets with his or her attorney, they are sitting in a courtroom ready for trial. I watched this same scenario play out in 2014’s The Judge. Despite this impressively unrealistic trial timeline, I enjoyed the film.