Email is the global de facto communication standard. Business use of email continues to grow. Email is also a hybrid form of communication — a written form used conversationally. This hybrid nature, coupled with habits developed early in its ...
Paul H. Burton - August 14, 2017Sanctions. That word has always troubled me. It’s a contronym, a word that has opposite meanings. Lawyers know that a motion for sanctions asks the court to penalize an adversary’s bad act. But other English speakers define a sanction as a ...
Theda C. Snyder - August 7, 2017To use a comparison from my days as a high school teacher, tactics are to objectives as strategies are to goals. You and your client are in different businesses (unless you do legal malpractice work) and have different business goals. But ...
Jeremy W. Richter - July 31, 2017Secure client communication is a major concern for lawyers. Encryption is your best option for protecting confidential and sensitive information you exchange by email, text, voice and video calls with your clients. ABA Formal Opinion 11-459, ...
Sheila Blackford - July 27, 2017There are places where you can tell a joke and places where you definitely shouldn’t. Generally, the courtroom is not the first choice for stand-up comedy. Unless you’re Paul Farahvar. Farahvar took improv classes at Chicago’s Second City comedy ...
Bull Garlington - July 6, 2017Good improv comics have an ability to walk onto a stage and connect with an audience effortlessly. It may seem like this is because of their innate acting talent, but that's only part of it. Improv training gives these actors a toolbox of ...
Bull Garlington - July 6, 2017With spellcheckers and online grammar guardians such as Grammarly, proofreading has become a nostalgic pastime for some writers. But proofreading is more than spotting typographical errors; it is a chance to impartially consider usage and ...
Susan Kostal - July 5, 2017In a country with increasingly diverse demographics, effective marketing must appeal to but not insult any group. Sticking to One's Own. People may be most comfortable consulting a lawyer in their own demographic, but that ...
Theda C. Snyder - June 29, 2017Get to the Point has previously preached that specificity enhances credibility. In fact, I’m working on a cross-stitch with this aphorism to place on the office wall. Using an unsupported superlative flouts this rule.
Theda C. Snyder - June 13, 2017Most of us have a generally good grasp of English usage and punctuation. The problem is that some usage and punctuation errors are so subtle and pervasive that we are tricked into thinking they are correct. Additionally, language use is ...
Susan Kostal - June 1, 2017