http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/index.jsp en-us 21 Nov 2009 15:45:23 -0500 Copyright 2009. Incisive Media US Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. http://www.law.com/service/terms_conditions.shtml http://www.law.com/img/tx/redesign/tx_rss.gif http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/index.jsp A group of current and former professional baseball players recently won a big victory in a courtroom instead of on the ball field. Because of a 5th Circuit ruling, the seven ballplayers and about 500 other investors will be able to keep money they earned on CDs they purchased from Stanford International Bank. Gene Besen (pictured) represents the players. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202435703612&rss=tx 1202435703612 By combining some of Microsoft Outlook's best undiscovered features with a little ingenuity, a lawyer can slash her stress level and perhaps add a bit of leisure time to her schedule, says the Assistant-at-Law. For starters, few users know inbox subfolders are not just for e-mails. Microsoft Outlook is not perfect, she says, but there is more to its e-mail and calendar functions than meets the eye. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202435436459&rss=tx 1202435436459 One lawyer was suspended from the practice of law, another was placed on probation, and two others received public reprimands. The suspended lawyer, Armando Trevino of Webb County, was suspended for one month and placed on probation for 35 months. The Bar cited violations involving rules requiring a lawyer to keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter and promptly complying with reasonable requests for information under the Rules of Disciplinary Procedure. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202435436539&rss=tx 1202435436539 Toby Cole and Mark Midani, partners in Houston's Midani, Hinkle & Cole, have carved out a specialty of sorts: Iraq war-related cases. They are handling about a dozen pending complaints for current and former employees of KBR Inc., a Houston-based military contractor with operations in Iraq. Cole estimates there are about 30 federal civil suits pending in the United States in which Iraqi plaintiffs are suing private security contractors operating in Iraq. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202435436330&rss=tx 1202435436330 For George Gallagher, an acceptance letter he received from St. Mary's School of Law in 1979 changed the course of his life. Put more bluntly, according to Gallagher: "If I didn't get into law school, I wouldn't have done diddly squat with the rest of my life." Gallagher, now judge of the 396th District Court in Fort Worth, talks about his career and his style on the bench. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202435436243&rss=tx 1202435436243 Two lawyers were placed on probation, and two others received public reprimands. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202435703133&rss=tx 1202435703133 http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202435436501&rss=tx 1202435436501 Branding — once considered the key mission of law firm marketing efforts — is now more appropriately viewed as a means to achieve the desired result: developing business. In fact, "All institutional marketing must fuel business development — or be ineffective," say Norm Rubenstein and Kent Zimmermann of the legal marketing consultancy Zeughauser Group. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202435702937&rss=tx 1202435702937 Fall/winter update shopping used to feel like a chore, for fashion consultant Kasia Benson. She says she would spend countless hours at the mall, bobbing in and out of stores as she came upon them, looking for those few necessities that would bring old favorites back to life. But, inevitably, she'd get home and realize that, in a sea of shopping bags and trendy items, she'd neglected to pick up a single one of those few necessities. And so, back to the mall she went the following weekend, with the same result — until she came up with a plan. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202435703059&rss=tx 1202435703059 By combining some of Microsoft Outlook's best undiscovered features with a little ingenuity, a lawyer can slash her stress level and perhaps add a bit of leisure time to her schedule, says the Assistant-at-Law. For starters, few users know inbox subfolders are not just for e-mails. Microsoft Outlook is not perfect, she says, but there is more to its e-mail and calendar functions than meets the eye. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202435436459&rss=tx 1202435436459 There certainly is no conventional wisdom in today's economy on the depth, length or severity of the current recession. Firms are actively engaged in significant analysis of economics and profitability management, expenses, marketing and personnel. Many firms have announced and implemented cuts in lawyer and staff personnel, and there is reason to believe that our economy may worsen. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202435440190&rss=tx 1202435440190 On Veterans Day, Texas lawyers should pause to reflect on the freedoms veterans secured for all Americans and our duty as attorneys to further those freedoms, says State Rep. Allen Vaught. While this solemn day was originally enacted in 1938 as a legal holiday honoring World War I veterans on the annual anniversary of that war's armistice, it was expanded in 1954 to a holiday honoring all U.S. veterans. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202435238288&rss=tx 1202435238288 Lawyers identify with their clients. As the saying goes, "When their clients bleed, they bleed." They empathize with their clients and show anger and indignation toward the other side. This is good bedside manner — clients love to be validated — and thus it is good business. But lawyers should be careful that their empathetic enthusiasm doesn't carry over to and dominate their persuasive writing, where indignation is no substitute for analysis. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202435238644&rss=tx 1202435238644 LinkedIn is different from Facebook and similar social networking sites. LinkedIn is designed for businesspeople to share professional contacts; there is limited personal information and no photos (other than a headshot should you choose to post one). It works this way: You build a profile (essentially your résumé) and then invite people into your online network. You use that online network to tap into the networks of the people you know. And best of all, it is completely free to join. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202434887844&rss=tx 1202434887844 Mention "networking" to a law student and watch her cringe. Suggest an informational interview and prepare for her eyes to glaze over. Law students are told frequently about the value of these activities but generally find the idea of an informational interview intimidating and overly time-consuming. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202434887936&rss=tx 1202434887936 Law firms are businesses. While that is hardly a startling revelation, firms do operate on a different model from most other businesses. The Assistant-at-Law recently took note of all the opportunities firms are missing by ignoring long-established management techniques, particularly those aimed at motivating people. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202434667488&rss=tx 1202434667488 In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was condemned to roll a heavy rock uphill to a point almost reaching the light of the living world, only to witness its descent after each day's labor, the ultimate expression of the absurd. As the echoes of Sisyphus, we all possess a rock, says psychotherapist James Dolan. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202434667603&rss=tx 1202434667603 Instructors in legal writing tell us to feature nouns, which identify actors and those acted upon, and verbs, which represent action. This is good advice because nouns and verbs are the essential components of a good story. They answer the question, "Who did what to whom?" http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202434426528&rss=tx 1202434426528 As the David Letterman saga plays out, employers across America should take some time to think about the dynamics of relationships between the top boss, say a CEO, and his or her subordinates, and how these dynamics play out in the workplace, says Michael P. Maslanka. While a celebrity scandal won't come across most attorneys' desks, most management lawyers will handle sexual harassment suits. http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202434426610&rss=tx 1202434426610