The Productive Attorney

As a litigator, you spend a lot of time developing your arguments for motions. I know from experience that judges often hate discovery motions, and I believe you have a duty to talk to the other side at the very least and narrow the issues down. Arguing a motion requires preparation. Typically about 2 days prior to the hearing I look at all the evidence and case law to prepare my outline. Once complete, I take the next couple of days to get comfortable with everything that I may want to say. This is only the beginning, so listen in to hear all my tips on arguing motions.

Being a civil litigation attorney, I know about 95% of cases get resolved through dismissals and or settlements. However, the rest get resolved involving written motions that are filed with the courts. When you are writing, the first thing you must figure out is what you want, and that's called the summary judgment. There are times when a judge does not have a lot of time to read about the case, so oftentimes they use the summary to educate themselves on the case.This is basically an elevator speech to the jude, so listen in and maybe you might learn a new tip.

Studying to be an attorney was extremely stressful. I learned early on that I needed to handle stress better if I was wanting to be successful in my practice. In this episode I will discuss the normal stress of being an attorney and how I have managed it not only for my practice but for my personal life.

Some people retire and no longer want to work, and others they just want to work less. I'm the type of attorney that is good at preparing cases. For me, I'm setting myself up to work less, which is really the reason for this podcast. I made this decision a long time ago, and now I'm setting myself up to work even less. Do you know how much you need to retire? This is one of the very first questions I ask my students in law school.

Gun laws are a touchy subject, but the approach that I'm taking is from an educational perspective. I discuss how gun laws affect individuals in the state of Texas, such as, what firearm you can purchase when you turn 18 years of age. Did you know that you do not have to be a Texas resident to purchase a gun here in the State of Texas?

This topic hits home for me because my son is going to law school, and ultimately he wants to be a judge. I discussed the pros and cons with my son and it was such a great discussion that I wanted to share the topic in this week's episode. My first experience with a judge was very positive. Listen and maybe you can learn something to help you with your experiences with judges.

I have read jokes where society thinks that attorneys don't do much to help society. We're held in high regard to be smart when making money and power and influence. Reputation with society is not the only reputation you should be concerned with. The good reputation you should work on is with other attorneys, judges, your clients, and your employees.

I handle sexual harrasment law for plaintiffs and denendants on this issue, and my overall message to attorneys is Just Don't Do It. The question of whether it is illegal depends on your state. Listen in and I will let you know what our great state of Texas decided on this issue.