Columns

Today we're setting a place at our virtual holiday table for Otto Sorts, our resident curmudgeon, catching up with his most popular—and controversial—posts. Take a seat and look at what Otto's been writing about this past year.

Mac loving lawyers gathered at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, last week for MILOfest 2011, "a conference for attorneys interested in Macs, iPhones, iPads and anything else bearing an Apple logo." Since more and more lawyers opt ...

Here it comes. That most wonderful, awful time of year. The pressure is on to serve the perfect turkey. Someone down the hall just mentioned she’s finished her Christmas shopping. And then there’s the office party. Well, starting this week, ...

I have had the pleasure of being part of Ignite Phoenix for the past two years. I spoke at Ignite Phoenix 5 and have volunteered at almost every Ignite event since. Each event features 18 speakers, and each speaker gets five minutes and 20 ...

One way us old guys comfort ourselves about aging is by proving our continuing usefulness to the firm through mentoring new lawyers. While we may think that pearls of wisdom just drip from our lips, I wonder: Do we really have anything useful to ...

Who are these "enterprising lawyers"? Actually, they are easy to spot. Look for the more engaged and happier lawyers in the crowd. Deeply invested in the power of the work they do for their clients, they have ample interests beyond the practice ...

It's true. Our devices sure have improved our productivity: dictating, navigating and researching on the fly with our smartphones and wowing folks in meetings with iPad touch screens. But let's be perfectly clear: It's the nifty non-essentials ...

Ever notice that nearly every discussion of career alternatives for unemployed or dissatisfied JDs includes something like, “... just look at John Grisham!” Ah, yes, the life of a writer of fiction. The fame. The fortune. The movie stars! While ...

There's a scene in the movie "Men in Black" when Will Smith's character tries unsuccessfully to get the attention of his bosses, and finally succeeds when he bellows “Hey, Old Guys!” That's a familiar scene around my firm. No, I don't mean we ...

The news is bleaker not better since we asked the "Should I Go to Law School" question here last year. So, when a good friend told us her brilliant daughter was considering pursuing a JD, we began desperately rattling off statistics, warning ...