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The NDA Journal August 2012

Avoiding Common Malpractice Risks Associated with Legal Calendaring By Joseph C. Scott

It may come as no surprise that many law firms are often indecisive

when it comes to proactively managing their court calendars and

calendar-related deadlines. While all law firms try to leverage some

form of calendaring software to avoid costly mistakes down the

road, many don’t have a formal or practical strategy for addressing

the real risk management issues associated with missed court dates and wrong calendar entries.

Fortunately, technology and automation can help. Widely available legal-specific court date calculation

and rules-based calendaring systems, as well as web-based services, can assist with the calendaring

process, improve date accuracy, and minimize the overall risk of missing a deadline that could eventually

lead to a malpractice lawsuit.

In This Issue

The NDA Journal Quarterly Magazine of the National Docketing Association August 2012

Avoiding Risks P.1

NDA News P.6

Tech Talk P.7

iPad and iPhone Apps P.8

On The Road P.10

Career Center P.15

McClurg’s Legal Humor P.18

Continued to Page 3


The National Docketing Association

The purpose of the National Docketing Association is to increase the visibility of the profession of docketing, foster growth through educational opportunities, and provide a collaborative network for members in both the private and public

Board of Directors

© 2012. National Docketing Association. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited.

Contact Email: [email protected]

Chris Gierymski - President

Kara Looney - Executive Vice President

Elizabeth Crawford Hella - Treasurer

Igor Olenich - Secretary

JoAnn DiSanti - Technology Committee Chair

Lynn Hood - Bylaws Committee Chair

Michelle Martinez - Education Committee Chair

Jennifer Larson - Membership Committee Chair

Mission Statement

The National Docketing Association was formed to unite calendaring and docketing professionals, enable the exchange of ideas, increase awareness, and establish professional connections.

The National Docketing Association is a voluntary, non-profit professional association composed of members working in the private and public sectors and dedicated to fostering the growth and development of the docketing profession by:

Promoting a high standard of professionalism to the legal community as well as the general public;

Encouraging communication among members and related organizations;

Supporting ongoing education and professional development;

Promoting diversity of its members; and

Demonstrating a commitment to honesty and integrity.

About the NDA

Magazine Editorial

Lynn Hood - Executive Editor

Chris Gierymski - Contributing Editor


Avoiding Common Malpractice Risks Associated with Legal Calendaring

Calendaring Realities

According to the Profile of

Legal Malpractice Claims, a

study published by the ABA

Standing Committee on

Lawyers’ Professional Liability,

calendar-related errors are the

leading cause of malpractice

actions against lawyers and

account for over 34% of all

malpractice claims. Specific

infractions include improper

calendaring; failure to know or

ascertain deadlines;

procrastination with follow-up;

failure to react to the court

calendar; and filing documents

with no deadline, among

others. While small law firms

account for a large percentage

of claims, the cost and risk

associated with missed court

deadlines and calendaring

errors is relevant to all law firm

operations, independent of

size, complexity, and docketing

department structure.

Technology levels the

playing field

While we live in a technology

age that often finds us

struggling to truly benefit from

the latest and greatest new

gadget or tech tool, court

calendaring software has come

of age and is indispensible when

it comes to automating court

calendar rules and deadlines.

Beyond automation, modern

calendar technology is

increasingly being utilized as a

risk management tool designed

to minimize calendar related

malpractice risks. Calendaring

systems can play a supporting

role in firm risk management or

act as the driving force behind

an integrated firm-wide risk

management initiative. Flexible

deployment options enable firm

wide calendaring, via the

desktop, through web portals

and even mobile devices.

Specifically, rules-based

computerized date calculation

technologies enable firms of all

sizes and complexities to:

automate date scheduling by

entering key dates, calculate all

related dates and deadlines;

reduce human errors (since any

calendaring system is only as good

as the information entered);

schedule with appropriate

consideration of local court and

holiday rules; schedule and update

groups, for complex litigation, and

sync dates with Microsoft Outlook

calendars.

In addition to technology, there

are many practical, ‘do it now’

ways to contain and manage

calendar-related risk. Here are six

any law firm can try out right now:

1. Formalize your risk

management program: Clearly

define loss prevention policies

and articulate how your firm

will manage risk through

people, processes, and

technology regardless of the

practice size or complexity.

2. Review and analyze

malpractice carrier mandates:

Understanding carriers’

automation requirements will

streamline compliance and

facilitate potential insurance

discount eligibility.

3. Establish disaster recovery/

business continuity procedures:

Get lawyers’ calendars in as

many places as possible and

advocate the establishment of

firm wide, centralized

calendaring. Add this to your

Continued on Next Page



formal disaster recovery

and business continuity

plan as an immediate step

to having an actionable

process.

4. Establish and document

calendaring practices and

procedures: Analyze the

flow of pleadings and

documents; audit users to

verify firm compliance; and

review firm culture and

user attitudes to determine

the fit for automated

calendaring systems.

5. Desktop calendar

integration: Integrate

calendaring systems with

existing platforms such as

Microsoft Outlook,

GroupWise, and Lotus to

add to the cohesiveness

and integrity of the firm

wide, centralized calendar.

While integration with

existing platforms is

important, making sure you

take advantage of ‘smart

technologies’ that calculate

all dates for you (so you

don’t get any calendar

dates wrong) is equally

critical.

6. Open access minimizes

missed deadlines: Establish

a calendaring portal to

provide anytime,

anywhere access to critical

dates and deadlines and

insure that all parties—

lawyers, support staff,

clients—see the same

dates, whether via their

desktop, the web, or

Smartphones.

Making the Case for Legal

Calendaring Alternatives

As mentioned above, an

effective way to minimize

errors is to use a rules-based

computerized calendaring

program or an automated,

internet-based legal date

calculation service. Here are

some tips and pointers to

keep in mind when

contemplating their use:

Legal calendaring is not

‘one size fits all’: Rules-

based computerized date

calculations services now

operate via a software-as-

a-service (SaaS) web

model to let users pick and

choose any and every

court rule and calculation

the need, either one

calculation at a time or by

the case.

President’s Letter

As summer comes to an end, many of us are already looking forward to getting back into the swing of working toward the end of the year. The end of this year marks our first anniversary. The NDA directors are working hard to provide more benefits to our members in the form of training and other useful resources. We are constantly looking for vendors to sponsor or partner with us to enhance your membership.

We continue to gain more exposure and new members from the private and public sectors. Word of mouth is still the best form of marketing and we appreciate your cooperation and effort in spreading our message.

Just like most companies with a good marketing plan, the NDA is in need of a catchy slogan that represents our efforts, unity, and pride. The NDA directors have a few ideas but would rather allow our members to choose that slogan. So we are holding a contest for you to create a catchy slogan. See our web site for more information.

In order to show the pride we have in this organization, we are excited to offer an online store so that you can purchase merchandise to show off the NDA logo and your membership. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.

Limited budgets, no problem:

‘Pay-as-you-go’ or ‘pay-by-case’

pricing models best meet the

needs of firms with limited

budgets and those that prefer

to bill calculation fees back to

clients.




Proactively address disaster

recovery: Accessing

calendars online and having

redundancies housed in

multiple locations greatly

aids ‘business as usual’

after disaster strikes or any

extraordinary situation

covered in a well developed

business continuity plan.

Court date calculation

services can serve as a

tremendous productivity

enhancer: Automating this

tedious but necessary

process often saves days if

not weeks of research time

while simultaneously

reducing human errors.

Usability and an intuitive

interface are essential

features of a useful service:

The whole idea behind

automating the calendaring

and rules calculation

process is to improve

accuracy, reduce risk, and to

be able to do it faster than

the old fashioned way.

Success with this largely

depends on how simple it is to

navigate through various

rules, select what you need,

schedule it, pay for it, and

move on.

Take training seriously:

Although modern SaaS-based

technologies will have you up

and running with your first

calculations in no time, an

additional investment of 15-

30 minutes can elevate users

to expert status and further

speed up the calculation

options process. Software

based systems for larger firms

will require a greater

investment in time and

resources to maximize full

value from your purchase.

Court calendaring software has

come of age and is gaining in

importance as law firms look to

minimize calendaring risk and

maximize existing resources by

automating court calendar rules

and deadlines. In addition to

providing a productivity boost,

firms will take note that smart

calendaring can serve as a

proactive risk management

measure as well as satisfy

critical disaster recovery

requirements.

Joseph C. Scott is an LA-

based attorney and Special

Counsel for Aderant CompuLaw

providing legal rules-based

calendaring software and

services for law firms. He is a

regular speaker, CLE presenter,

and author on the topic of risk

management, legal industry

calendaring, business

continuity and related case

strategy. He can be reached at

(310) 553-3355 or

[email protected]


NDA News

Going Mobile The NDA is now mobile. When you access our Web site on a smartphone, you will be redirected to our mobile site (m.nationaldocketing.org). You can always switch back to the classic site to log in and access member pages.

Check it out by scanning the barcode below with your smartphone. You will need a free QR reader to do that.

Contest We are holding a contest to create a catchy slogan for the NDA. Enter to win a $50 Amazon gift card by submitting your suggested slogan by August 24. Visit our Web site for more information. Contest open to all full and associate members only. Board of Directors are ineligible to participate or win.

Here are some sample company slogans for your reference. You can get more ideas at http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/2011/01/50-examples-of-catchy-and-creative-slogans.html. Keep it short and simple. Thank you.

Citigroup: "Live Richly" Claris: "Simply, Powerful Software" CompUSA: "We got it. We get it." ConAgra Foods, Inc.: "The Right Kind of Food Company" Cracker Barrel: "Homestyle Cooking Done Right." Credit Suisse First Boston: "Empowering Change" D-Link: "Building Networks for People" John Deere: "Nothing Runs Like a Deere" Dow Corning: "We Help You Invent the Future" Dun & Bradstreet: "Decide with Confidence" eBay: "The World's Online Marketplace" E.F. Hutton: "When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen" Emerson Electric Company: "Consider It Solved" ExxonMobil: "Taking on the world's toughest energy challenges"


I am pleased to announce that we have formed an NDA Tech Committee. The goal of this committee is to keep our membership informed on new technological advances made by the courts or software companies. Members of the Committee are William McKay, John Hagel, Patricia Ashman, Lindsay Owen and myself.

Here is a short bio for each of the new members. If you have any suggestions for the Tech Committee please do not hesitate to contact us.

William G. McKay is the Managing Clerk at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. As Managing Clerk, Mr. McKay is responsible for advising attorneys on court procedures and rules and maintaining the firm’s litigation records. Mr. McKay has served on the Rules and User Committee for Electronic Filing for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He currently serves on a task force assisting New York State courts implement various on-line retrieval and e-filing systems. Mr. McKay currently advises the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern and Southern District of New York, the Administrative Office for U.S. Courts and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on local and national issues regarding electronic filing. Mr. McKay is a graduate of Mercy College in New York.

John Hagel is the Systems Coordinator in the Managing Attorney’s Office at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. In his role as Systems Coordinator, Mr. Hagel oversees the electronic court filing process, manages the case management system, and acts as liaison for the Managing Attorney’s Office to the IT department. Previous to joining the Managing Attorney’s Office Mr. Hagel worked in the legal IT field for seven years and continues to work with various software vendors to design and improve new and existing legal software. Mr. Hagel is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University.

Patricia Ashman is the Assistant Managing Clerk at White & Case LLP. She was promoted to her current position from the position of Database Manager supporting the Managing Clerk’s office with all court electronic filings (ECF). Ms. Ashman started her legal career as a Litigation Support Analyst. She was a Team Leader for the Computerized Litigation Support Dept. Ms. Ashman is a NY State Notary Public. She is a graduate of Herbert Lehman College in New York.

Lindsay A. Owen is the Database Manager at White & Case LLP. At White & Case she oversees all ECF filings and maintains the firms docketing and calendaring database. She began her legal career as a court clerk at U.S. Document Retrieval Service, Inc. before being hired by White & Case in 2008. Lindsay is a graduate of Duke University.

Formation of a Tech Committee By JoAnn DiSanti

JoAnn is the NDA Technology Committee Chair and the Managing Clerk at White & Case in New York. She can be reached at [email protected].


iPad and iPhone Apps Worth Noting A look at apps that are useful in the field By John Hagel

The world of technology in the legal professional is constantly changing. With the emergence of iPads and iPhones in the work place, new tools are available that can save time and make tasks on the go easier. Below is a review of some of these apps. LawStack (iPad and iPhone) By Tekk Innovations LLC Free http://www.lawstack.com/ “A legal library in your pocket. LawStack comes preloaded with the following.” US Constitution Federal Rules of Federal of Civil Procedure Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Federal Rules of Evidence Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure LawStack is a simple application that gives you the ability to search the above mentioned legal references offline. In addition to having all these rule books in your pocket, LawStack gives the user the capability to quickly search and cross references the various rules. Unlike eBook versions of these rule books, LawStack hyperlinks all the rules throughout its application. This means if you are reading one rule and it references another you can simply click that rule and it will take you right there. Pushing another button will take you back to the original rule. LawStack also features bookmarks and the ability to email sections. This app is available free for both the iPad and iPhone and is a must-have for anyone in the docketing industry. Noteshelf (iPad) By FulidTouch.biz $5.99 http://www.fluidtouch.biz/noteshelf/ If you ever wanted to go paperless or you just needed a simple yet feature-packed note taking app to get organized, Noteshelf is the program for you. Noteshelf comes pre-packed with several paper templates and gives the user the ability to create custom templates. Notebooks can be labeled and organized in groups and note pages can be tagged with keywords for easy searching. Noteshelf has several different options for pens and highlighters and allows you to easily take a picture and paste it into your notes. This feature is great for adding quick snapshots of hardcopies and computer screens. Noteshelf allows you to type or use a finger or stylus. When using a finger or stylus, there are zoom-in modes and wrist protection that makes it easy to write legibly and clearly.


iPad and iPhone Apps Worth Noting

Dragon Dictation (iPad and iPhone) By Nuance Communications Free http://www.nuancemobilelife.com/apps/dragon-dictation When typing long emails on the go or just needing to take a quick note, you know what a pain it can be using the onscreen keyboards of the iPad or iPhone. Dragon Dictation is a free voice recognition app from Nuance Communications that allows you to dictate and convert the speech to text. The text can then be emailed or copied to other applications or just saved as a note. Dragon Dictation is a very simple app that is a real time saver, especially when working on the road.

Recommended e-Book Calculating Court Deadlines: 2012 Edition - How to Apply Rules for Computation of Time

A practice aid for understanding how to calculate court deadlines, including an explanation and sample calculation for Federal Courts and all State Courts. This guide examines the rules for computation of time as they relate to time periods set by rules, court orders, or statutes.

This e-book is available on the Kindle and iPad and costs $9.99.

Author: Brian Owens (Brian is an NDA member and Litigation Docket Coordinator in Atlanta for King and Spalding LLP.


On The Road - Project Management of a Firm Wide Docketing System Rollout or How Not to Lose Your Mind or Luggage By Michelle Martinez

When asked to spearhead the rollout of a firm wide docketing system, a lot of questions will be going through your mind. Is this possible with my current work load? How can I make this happen? How long will I be living out of a suitcase? Can I do this without losing my mind? But most importantly, what do I know about Project Management and how can I learn more?

The Process

Below are seven basic project management techniques I used beginning in 2009 to manage the firm wide rollout of CompuLaw to our 40+ offices.

Project Start Up

Initiation

Strategy

Analysis

Design and Build

Implement

Project Closure

Beginning with Project Start Up, there are several steps to take at the very beginning which will ensure a smooth process with your rollout. Normally, everyone is excited with a new project and simply wants to get started. This is a mistake. Take your time at the beginning to avoid problems at the end.

Once you have an idea that the project needs to be taken on, you have to determine if the project is actually feasible. This will require a study or review of current systems. Perhaps, like my firm was, you are handling docketing with multiple systems and want to unify the process to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. Once you have determined that the project is feasible, you will need to develop a business case that will establish benefits vs. costs and the return on investment. At this point, going to the powers that be, i.e. Board of Directors, managing shareholders, etc. will be necessary to gain approval. This “C” group of people (as in CEO, COO, CFO, etc.) will determine if the project cost is outweighed by the benefits and where the project fits into firm goals and planning structure.

This is the point where you, as the Docketing Administrator, are likely to become involved, as the first steps are typically handled by the Directors. Even if you’ve obtained approval, don’t jump in just yet. Again, take your time on the front end to ensure a smooth transition later on. A problem is easier and cheaper to resolve in the beginning than in the end.

The first step is to find a project sponsor. This is your executive cheerleader, who will rally the troops and support you during the tough times when everyone seems to be fighting you on making any changes to current systems. Your sponsor should be someone who understands the purpose and goals behind the project, and who has a great deal of influence within the firm.

I recommend that, if you have no experience with project management yourself and have the option, you hire a project manager to oversee the project. This will allow you to be a part of the project management



On The Road...

team without having full responsibility for project implementation. This also affords you an opportunity to learn more about project management under the capable guidance of an experienced professional. Be aware that your IT person is not necessarily a project manager, unless he or she has had additional project management training and experience. (The Project Management Institute offers training and certification in Project Management. www.pmi.org)

Once the project manager is in place, you can finally enter the Initiation Stage, which is where the real planning of the project begins. The Initiation Stage is the point where you begin to define the project. That seems simple enough, but without a clear vision of the purpose of the project and what it will entail, it is certain to fail. Your team should then be assembled and should include the project manager, the sponsor, stakeholders (including end users) and – once selected -- the software vendor. In my case, the supplier’s contact people included a CompuLaw Sales Representative, Trainer and a Developer, who worked with us to transcribe our existing data into the new system. On the firm’s side of the equation, I also had a Senior Systems Analyst working with the Developer, which was invaluable.

In the Project Initiation Document (PID), you will truly begin to define the project by confirming the business case, developing well-defined deliverables and objectives, developing the project plan and roles, and assigning ownership of tasks to create the End Stage Report.

Development of the project plan should include review and identification of your objectives. In other words, what is the purpose of this project? This should be done using the SMART strategy: Strategic, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Timed. You should also define the constraints of the project. Constraints are normally things such as time, budget, personnel availability, resource availability, and the firm’s other projects, standards, regulations, etc. Projects go horribly wrong when there are unrealistic expectations, undefined objectives, lack of support from management, no ownership, or limited resources.

In my firm’s case, we looked at and confirmed our business plan, wrote the original PID, and began to develop a basic timetable for when we wanted to roll out in specific offices. We initially rolled out in our test office and then in other offices, based on a variety of criteria we determined, such as need, risk, volume, etc. The PID was revised as necessary throughout the process.

The next stage is the Strategy Stage. In this phase, the team examines the firm’s business requirements. Although my firm had already determined which software we wanted to use, we re-examined it to verify that the product would perform the tasks we needed it to perform, such as having built-in rule sets to assist with date calculation, working at an enterprise level, synchronizing to Outlook and having reporting capabilities. Further, we wanted a SQL-based system for additional customized reports and the ability to integrate with other systems and requirements unique to our firm. As in the Initiation Stage, an End Stage Report should be documented, showing all steps taken during this stage.

In the Analysis Stage of project management, you and your team should determine what steps need to be taken in order to meet the business requirements defined during the Strategy Stage. Since we had already chosen a software product, our team chose to use this phase of the process to look at our infrastructure, hardware, processes, etc., to make sure we had the equipment in place to implement the system of our choice. If we had not already chosen our software, this is the point at which we would have been looking at suppliers, products, etc. This is also the perfect time in the process to get lots of feedback from your stakeholders and end users. Again, document the analysis in the End Stage Report.



On The Road...

The Design & Build Stage is where you will really start to feel like you are making progress, but please don’t skip the previous steps, or you will create unnecessary issues for yourself. At this point of the project, you should begin seriously refining your implementation strategy, get a training plan in place, decide on your product if you haven’t already, develop training materials and a marketing strategy, and make sure you have adequate operational documentation for your IT staff or whoever will be the system administrator.

For my firm, this was where we refined our timeline, began working closely with our software developer to create and test appropriate conversion tools and set up training for myself and other key people. We also began preparing the training manuals, Quick Reference Cards (or cheat sheets that everyone in the

firm loves), and materials for our Attorney Retreats to explain the new process and program. The best advice I can give you for this stage is to test, test and when you feel comfortable with it, test again. Testing will weed out a great many problems and issues. Develop a test database and try to “break” the system. If you can’t break it, try again and test some more. When completed, document the Design & Build Stage in the End Stage Report.

Finally, you will arrive at the Implementation Stage. This is where the project is launched, the staff is trained and you announce the rollout to the firm at large. The cut-over and release into production is sometimes a

frightening moment, but if you have reviewed the issues earlier on in the process and tested, tested, and tested in the Design & Build Stage, odds are good that all will go well. Keep in mind that there will always be issues, so be aware, responsive and flexible.

At the Implementation Stage, all the documentation you have previously created will come into play to advertise, train, and create checklists for yourself. My firm chose to roll out to a test office initially to work out any bugs. Since docketing is more rules-heavy in California than in other jurisdictions, we chose our San Francisco office as the test office. (As I like to say, the State of California is one of my favorite foreign countries when it comes to law!)

We used a software trainer for that office and trained the staff on site. I have found that training works best when users are in familiar settings using familiar computers. We also trained the entire staff of secretaries, rather than one docketing clerk, in order to have a larger test field. Lots of feedback obtained from this group of users was invaluable when it came to the larger, firm wide rollout. IT issues could be resolved on the smaller scale of one office, and we were fortunate to have very involved attorneys and staff to assist us with learning the best ways to roll out and train. We stayed at the test office from May to September – not because we had issues with the conversion and training – but to make sure that everything was as “perfect” as it could be before moving on. This allowed us plenty of time for training and development of training materials, as well as time for round-tables for feedback.

At the next office roll out, a CompuLaw trainer was brought in (again for my benefit, to observe how she conducted the training, her typical responses to questions and so on), and I then became the firm trainer. Later, this trainer conducted my CompuLaw certification training and answered many questions for me along the way. A positive relationship with the training department of the software vendor you choose is immensely helpful to the rollout process.

As issues arose along the many stops of offices during our rollout, adjustments were made to the training plan and the timeline. What looked good to me on paper on the timeline was actually exhausting as the



On The Road...

sole trainer, due to travelling across so many time zones, so we did not meet our original goal. This was an unrealistic expectation on my part that had to be adjusted. Our initial rollout was completed in December 2010 with our final office on the timeline, Los Angeles. While we could have brought in the CompuLaw trainer again to meet our timeline goal, we instead chose to stay with in-house training so that I could teach other related processes and procedures along with our docketing software training, such as how to fill out the docketing page on the New Business Intake form.

At the end of the initial Implementation stage, the Project Closure Stage began, and additional documentation for the End Project Report was created, including documentation of lessons learned along the way and final data. To close the project, I provided final project review documentation and recommendations. As time goes by and we open additional offices, I refer back to the documentation from these various stages in order to effectively implement in the new offices. As we have upgraded the computer software to new versions, I use this same planning process to update the hardware, software and review and implement training needs.

In each of these stages, there are great tools available for use to create the documentation and to schedule each step. Microsoft Project is the industry standard, but there are plenty of other software systems out there that do the same thing. For scheduling tasks, I like Gantt Charts. If you don’t have access to Microsoft Project, these charts can be created in Excel. Along the way, another important document is a Risk Log, which also can be created in Excel.

A Risk Log is a vital step to recording issues encountered, such as a delay from a supplier or team member on a deliverable, loss of a team member at an inopportune moment, the type of risk, who identified it, countermeasures and the owner of the countermeasures, and the current status of the risk. A jointly accessible location for all your documentation, such as a secure DMS site, a SharePoint site, etc., is also critical. If one team member is unavailable, another can log in and access the necessary information.

Effective and re-occurring communication throughout the rollout is essential. Make sure a communication plan is part of the planning process, and never stop communicating. As you work on your communication plan, don’t forget to include your end users. They are often left off of vital communications that impact their ability to do their jobs. Remember, end users will tell you what you ask about and nothing more, so ask a lot of questions to get the feedback you need for effective communication. Make sure that your regular updates are just that – regular. If you state there will be updates weekly, make sure they happen weekly. These communications are the perfect place to relay your progress, which you should be measuring throughout the project. Communicate completion percentages and review your progress.

What I Learned Along the Way

In the course of my firm’s initial conversion to a firm wide docketing system, I learned many personal lessons. Here are some of the most important:

To listen more and speak less.

To pack light and no more than I can lift into an overhead bin.

It is okay to check your bag on the way home, but you may want to reconsider that option on the way to the office you are converting, because your expectations on baggage being there when you arrive and the airlines may not be the same (especially if you pack training materials in your luggage).



On The Road...

Flat shoes are my friend for making mad dashes through airports to change flights, because I’ve learned that the terminal you landed in and the terminal where your connecting flight takes off may be located in two different counties, based on the number of steps between them.

Extremely short layovers are never a good idea. This may result in your spending the night in the airport, where the seats are rarely conducive to sleeping. In the Midwest, I learned there are storm shelters built into airports for tornados. These are also not conducive to sleeping.

Not to schedule trips to Phoenix in July or Detroit in January.

To remember my laptop power cord because, the office I am going to will most likely use a different brand of laptop, and their cords will not fit mine. I also learned that FedEx is my best friend for shipping said laptop power cord.

To carry my own tea bags and sweetener. I can usually find hot water, and a cup of tea makes me happy. I’ve learned to find comfort in unfamiliar places around unfamiliar people wherever I can.

To rest when I can, contact home when I can, and ask for referrals from locals for restaurants and things to do in the evenings. Even if I’m in a city I’ve visited before, I can always “play tourist” and learn or see something new.

To include my staff back home in my travels with email updates, funny stories and post cards, which are lightweight, colorful and pretty mementoes. They also make a lovely decoration in my office.

To carry a granola bar in my computer bag for emergency “meals” on a plane.

That everyone is going to drop the ball at some point, so be polite when that happens, because next time it will be you.

A large scarf can double as a shawl and a blanket on a plane, and all clothes should be washable and mix and match in case of a horrible spill of shampoo or other item in your luggage.

Drinking water and eating healthy is essential to surviving time zone changes, flight delays and stress. Carrying emergency chocolate is also a good idea.

To have a sense of humor and laugh rather than become frustrated when the training laptops arrive late, when my luggage is lost, my reservations fall through or the flight is oversold; that kindness with the gate agent will get you rebooked faster than frustration. Friendliness and cheerfulness will truly get you further than you can imagine.

Finally, and possibly most importantly, I’ve learned to accumulate airline miles and hotel points and, when the rollout is complete, to use both for a vacation with my family. I’ve also learned to be completely content when I am at home again with my family (even if no one washed the laundry, emptied the dishwasher or bought groceries while I was gone, like they promised to do).

Michelle is the NDA Education Committee Chair and the Docketing Specialist for Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart in Greenville, SC. She can be reached at [email protected].


Career Center

The Corporate Playground Eye Opener According to the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI), bullying is defined as repeated mistreatment of an individual employee by a person or group that takes the form of verbal abuse, behavior that is humiliating, threatening, intimidating or sabotages the targeted person’s work. As an adolescent, many of us lacked the maturity to determine right from wrong, but with the WBI reporting that up to a third of workers are victims of workplace bullying, what’s the excuse for adults behaving so badly in the workplace? For starters, the workplace is a stressful environment often characterized by unrealistic deadlines, overbearing bosses and constant pressure. It’s only natural for employees who are unable to handle this stress to subconsciously transfer their anxiety, low self-esteem and aggression towards a colleague. Factor in concerns over job security and it’s easy to see why there is such a fine line between being abrasive versus bullying. If you find yourself in the middle of the bully crossfire, it’s always a struggle to determine the best course of action. Is it best to give the bully a dose of his or her own medicine, remain silent or confide in a manager or employee relations representative? Regardless, confronting the bully is the least satisfying option and often does not give you the outcome you desire. One important thing to remember is that workplace bullies (and bullies in general) take on this role in an effort to have control in a world where many things are in fact, not in our control. This behavior often shifts outside of the corporate world, with bullies often exhibiting the same type of aggression in their personal relationships. Workplace bullying is a serious method of intimidation that can affect the mental and physical health of the person on the receiving end of the bullying. If you are looking for guidance, advice and additional resources on Workplace Bullying, please visit http://www.workplacebullying.org. What We Can (and Can’t) Learn From Olympians The Olympic Games will, no doubt, treat us to a showcase of some of humankind’s best moments. Despite its imperfections, this quadrennial event confirms just how special people can be when they are dedicated to a goal, work hard at its accomplishment and have faith in themselves. For most of us, however, the athletes who compete in the Olympics seem a very different breed. They are more gifted than we, more talented, more able to succeed at realizing their aspirations. So, we assume that the journey of an Olympian holds little of relevance to our gifts and talent or to the aspirations at which we work. And, that assumption is incorrect. Olympians are the living embodiment of three principles that are as important to each of us as they are to those who are world class athletes. Why is that so? Because every person has the ability to be a world class “career athlete,” to achieve career victories that may not award them a gold medal, but will earn them a perfect ten in self-respect and happiness at work. How can that happen, especially in difficult times such as these? By incorporating those three Olympian principles into your career. And the key to doing that is to adopt the goals and beliefs of these special athletes.



What We Can (and Can’t) Learn From Olympians

Most Olympic athletes are ordinary people striving to do extraordinary things. They set out to be the best they can be in their chosen sport. That’s their all-consuming goal. To continuously probe the outer limits of their ability to perform in archery, swimming, track or judo. They will reach for the outer reaches of what they can do, but at some point that reach will exceed their grasp. With some wonderful exceptions, most of these athletes will see their push for perfection limited by the inherent aging of the human body. They have a brief shot at their personal best, and then their chance is gone. Happily, we can adopt the very same goal but without the Olympian’s limitation. We can (and should) strive to be the best we can be in our chosen field of work, and with rare exceptions, we will never have to worry about being derailed in that quest by the frailties of the human body. All we have to do is accept the validity of this objective and make the commitment to work at it. We have to: believe that we too have been graced with a special gift—a natural talent—at which we can become a

world class performer; and acknowledge that we have an obligation to ourselves to express and experience that talent in its

highest, its most developed state. Unlike Olympians, of course, our quest to be the best we can be will play out in the workplace. Work is the one endeavor where everyone can be challenged and pushed to explore and ultimately express the full dimensions of the talent which is their special gift. Our contest, however, won’t be guided by events or lanes, but by jobs and responsibilities. And equally as important, we won’t be measuring ourselves against others—against our competitors—but against ourselves—against what we have already achieved and what more we can strive to do. That’s the goal we can borrow from Olympians. It is a worthy vision in and of itself, but it is also the foundation for our understanding and using the three principles of Olympian success. They are: Find your natural talent and focus on nothing but it. Most of us aren’t ever going to be world class athletes, but every one of us can be world class performers in the workplace if we’re working at perfecting the talent with which we have been endowed. We all have a champion within us, we just have to figure out who that person is. That’s the secret to a healthy career—one replete with career victories at age 21, at age 61, and everywhere in between—find what it is that you most love to do and do best and center every minute you work on that. Admittedly, this insight is not always apparent at first glance. But everyone can acquire it because everyone already has it. Our insight is usually out of sight, but it’s there if we pay attention. We just have to listen to it to get it. That’s why it’s often referred to as our calling. It’s your job to develop and express your natural talent. As with your physical fitness, there is no free lunch when it comes to perfecting your natural talent. Even world class athletes must devote themselves to nurturing their talent. Equally as important, they acknowledge that it’s their responsibility to reach for and achieve their personal best. Some of us in the world of work, however, think that we can get by doing less or that someone else should make it possible for us to do more. We somehow get the idea that bringing our talent to the fore is the job of our employer or the government or our parents or … well, just about anyone but us. The truth, however, is that caring for your natural talent, like caring for your body, is a personal responsibility. You don’t have to eat a special diet, you don’t have to get up and run three miles every morning; but you do have to be sure you work in the right jobs—those that will engage and challenge you—and thereby enable you to do your best work.



What We Can (and Can’t) Learn From Olympians

You have to work at perfecting your natural talent every day. Careers can grow slack and deteriorate just as our bodies can. Flabby bodies can lead to cardiac arrest; flabby careers can lead to career cardiac arrest or what most of us call unemployment. The only way to preserve and strengthen your career is by implementing the habits of a world class career athlete. These habits form a regimen of seven activities or “exercises” that should be performed on a daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. One, for example, is to pump up your career’s cardiovascular system. The heart of a successful career athlete is their expertise in their profession, craft or trade. It’s not good enough, however, to know what you must do to perform your current job satisfactorily. You must also be competent in your knowledge of the state-of-the-art in your field and how to apply that expertise in an expanded definition of your current job or in a different and more expansive one. At best, the former gives you job security and even that for only as long as it suits your employer; the latter gives you career security or the ability to work in jobs that will engage and challenge you and thereby achieve the career victories that matter to you. So, watch the Olympics. Thrill to the joy of victory and reflect on the agony of defeat. Then, turn off the TV set and turn on the contest of your life. You have your own wonderful race to run. It won’t take you to the world’s medal stand, but it will position you to reach your own platform of perfection. Unlike the Olympians, however, you don’t have to settle for gold. Your challenge is the pursuit of Happiness, and victory there shines deeper and richer than any medal. It is the mark of a true career champion. Thanks for reading, Peter Weddle © Copyright 2008 WEDDLE’s LLC. All Rights Reserved.


McClurg’s Legal Humor

Warning: Defective Pictorial Warning on How to Deal with Mountain Lion Attacks

July 10th, 2012

Courtesy of a rising 2L at the University of Memphis law school, we have another failed attempt at conveying warnings and instructions via pictorial symbols.

In evaluating pictorial warnings, remember that the principal purpose of pictorial warnings is to convey warnings to people who can’t read or read in a different language. If people could read the warnings, we wouldn’t need the pictures.

Thus, interpreting only the pictures, here’s what a non-English speaking park visitor might take away from these four frames of a sign warning about how to handle mountain lion attacks:

1. Top left: “After lion has bitten off your right hand, run AWAY from the lion. Follow the arrow. Never run toward a mountain lion.”

2. Top right: “Once you realize you can’t outrun a mountain lion and are handless, say the hell with it and give up.”

3. Bottom left: “If accompanied by children, offer them to the lion.”

4. Bottom right: ”Don’t know. Can’t read it. That’s why I needed the pictures!”

Copyright 2012 Andrew J. McClurg and lawhaha.com. Reprinted with permission.

Professor Andrew J. McClurg is scholar and teacher in the areas of tort law, products lia-bility, legal education, privacy law and firearms policy. He holds the Herbert Herff Chair of Excellence in Law at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.


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