A couple of weeks ago I spent a bit of time in a Northern Ontario mining town. Well, mining and forestry, to be exact. A real place where real people make their living doing real things. These days, times are good and wages are good. There’s a demand for the gold and nickel and copper…
The Dictionary of Newfoundland English defines a streel as an untidy, dirty person. Used as a verb, to streel means to drag along the ground or to trail untidily. The word was introduced to me by one of the young lawyers in our firm, herself a Newfoundlander, who came into the office somewhat bleary one…
Every professional knows the drill– the client comes to you and wants to buy a little slice of your expertise, at a discount. “This won’t take much of your time,” they say, but you know it doesn’t turn out that way. This phenomenon is closely related to the “quick question” of which I wrote earlier…
One of my most important lessons in communication and advocacy came from His Honour Judge deLotbiniere Panet. It’s hugely important for lawyers, but it works for everybody. Back in the day, the local law association ran an annual event called “This Hour Has Twenty-Two Judges”, a spin on a then popular TV show. Each of…
Recently I gave a talk to a high school law class, and of course the inevitable question came up, “How can you defend someone you know is guilty?” That’s actually a wonderful and important question, because it opens a window into the heart and soul of our criminal justice system. In fact, it goes to…
This isn’t about the Donald– I just wanted to get your attention for a moment. This is about social media. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and hundreds of other media have lots to offer, no doubt, and for the clever few, there can be great business benefits. And nobody disputes how much fun they can be–…
Over the last year or so these articles have discussed the Principle of Alignment, which says, “The best interests of the professional and the best interests of the client are optimized when the professional’s unique giftedness aligns perfectly with the unique needs of the client.” That’s not only the theme of my upcoming book, but…
You and I have this in common: we’re smarter, better looking, and funnier than average. At least we think so. There’s this concept in psychology known as illusory superiority, and it comes down to this: nearly everyone thinks they’re above average on most things. In survey after survey, well over half the participants scored themselves…
One might hope that there exists some magic to quickly and accurately identify your unique giftings. But one would hope in vain. In the real world, no such thing exists. Yes, there are tools available which can be helpful. Helpful in a rough-and-ready sense, but not determinative. Why not determinative? Because just like an “off…
Language is fluid and always changing, evolving in strange and often contradictory ways. So, for example, while North American and British English are mutually intelligible, several hundred years of separation have produced different sound systems and different vocabularies. These differences would be much more pronounced if we did not have printing presses and modern media…