Back in 2017 the State Bar of Michigan's Master Lawyers Section (for some reason now "rebranded" as the Senior Lawyers Section), published a 23 page book entitled "Words of Wisdom". A copy can be found here.
It is certainly different than the LinkedIn equivalent of professional advice. First and foremost, none of the submissions are attributed to anyone. Certainly a violation of LinkedIn Rule No. 1--take credit for everything. Come to think of it, the roughly 125 tips contained in the book would provide the young "Advice For Young Associates" twit on LinkedIn with material to ascribe to appropriate for and attribute to himself, for a week.
Some of the advice may be criticized as trite bromides, scarcely necessary to repeat. But, based on my observation of the current state of the practice, those bromides, though often prescribed, have not been taken in therapeutic doses by the litigating community. For instance:
"The basics still remain the same: Be prepared, aware, ethical, and energetic, and you can succeed even though the profession has changed."
Adequate case preparation is still a challenge, apparently. And, civility and ethics may be difficult to maintain where the litigation arena is not the courtroom but the computer screen in a home office, basement, kitchen or bedroom. And, to be fair, it is hard to remember that you follow in the footsteps of Brandeis, Frankfurter and Bader Ginsburg, when you practice with your own footsteps encased in bunny slippers, worn under pajama bottoms.
I did not contribute to the book. So, let me take care of that now:
"Eat a green thing daily". (However, avoid green meat, cheese or bread).
Ironically, the value of Words of Wisdom is in stark contrast to the submissions to the current Senior Lawyers Section Listserv. More about that in another post.
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