Passing the Bar Board Game and Flash Cards Now Available at TBH
The bar exam. Two (or, for our California friends, three) days of grueling, intense, convoluted questioning about every conceivable aspect of the law. The mandatory rite of passage into the profession.
Sure, you'll take prep courses and practice exams—but they aren't much fun at all. Do you want to relieve the anxiety of preparing for the most important test you've ever taken, while still honing your bar exam skills? Look no further than Passing the Bar, the board game that teaches material covered on the multistate portion of the bar exam. The game includes a game board; die; six playing pieces; 2-minute timer; 350 questions modeled after the multistate bar examination; and 100 legal trivia cards.
Passing the Bar Flashcards contain 450 actual questions from previous bar exams that have been released by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. The flashcards can be used on their own, or as additional questions for the Passing the Bar game. The game and flashcards are available separately or as part of the Passing The Bar Set.
Passing the Bar was created by Caryn Pincus, a 2006 law school graduate who is admitted in New York, New Jersey and Florida.
Feature Article: All in Good Time by Julie A. Fleming
One of the top concerns for most lawyers is time management. We all have so much to accomplish in so little time, and it often seems that we’re always trying to cram more activities (whether professional or personal) into the non-negotiable 168 hours we have each week. Most of my coaching clients bring time management issues to the table at some point, and time pressures are largely responsible for the high levels of stress that many lawyers face.
One distinction, "urgent" versus "important," can form the basis for effective time management. Urgent vs. important is a simple distinction that applies equally to the substance of a lawyer’s work as well as to practice or career management. Stephen Covey has written about time use and devised a four-quadrant chart to help us judge where we spend most of our time:
QUADRANT I Urgent and Important: Crises, pproblems, deadline-driven projects. Preparing for a client meeting that will occur in a few hours is a Quadrant I activity. Hallmarks of Quandrant I activity include intense focus, high stress, and limited opportunity for review and reflection.
QUADRANT II Not Urgent, but Important: Preparation, problem prevention, planning, relationship building, values clarification, true recreation ("re-creation"). Preparing for a client meeting that will occur in several days is a Quadrant II activity. When you’re operating in Quadrant II, you’ll likely be focused (because your task is important) but you’ll feel less pressure and you’ll have more opportunity to consider all aspects of what you’re doing simply because you’re not staring down the barrel of a deadline.
QUADRANT III Urgent, but Not Important: Interruptions, some phone calls, some meetings, some email. When you’re forced to deal with something that’s not especially important at a certain time, you’re in Quadrant III.
QUADRANT IV Not Urgent, Not Important: Junk mail, spam, busywork, trivia, "escape" activities, mindless web surfing, etc. We all spend time in Quadrant IV, but spending time on those activities produces little or no meaningful results because the activities by definition are not meaningful.
Where do you spend most of your time? While it’s undeniable that Quadrant I requires attention and Quadrant III calls for attention (though the call may be illusory), Quandrant II is the critical zone. That’s where the real work occurs that truly moves us forward.
Clients appreciate lawyers who work in Quadrant II. All too often, lawyers send important documents to their clients and request a fast response. That’s disrespectful of the client’s time. It creates the impression that the lawyer simply couldn’t get his or her act together in time to plan in advance and complete the work early enough to allow the client time for meaninful review. Clients appreciate lawyers who handle matters during an emergency, but they tend to resent those who act as if every event is an emergency. Living in Quadrant II will increase the quality of your client service.
I worked with a client I’ll call Sheri, who was having a great deal of trouble getting everything done that she needed to in the office. She found herself staying at the office later and later, then going in earlier and earlier, and before long she was exhausted and angry that her personal life had disappeared. We started with the urgent/important distinction and looked at the kinds of tasks on her "to do" list through that lens.
After our first conversation, Sheri cut Quadrant IV activities completely and worked to get better at identifying Quadrant III activities so she could eliminate as many of those as possible. And then she looked at the Quadrant I tasks she’d listed to see whether any could be delegated or otherwise handled. And then our focus shifted to Quadrant II.
Sheri developed a schedule that guaranteed her planning and strategizing time (pure Quadrant II activities) and found that by spending time on those tasks, she was able to prevent problems and facilitate the orderly accomplishment of important aims. Her stress level decreased, as did the number of hours she had to spend putting out fires. Most importantly, when she did have to put out a fire, it was a real emergency, not a self-created one.
Your assignment for the week: look at how you spend your time. Review this week’s task list and mark every item according to its quadrant. If they’re all Quadrant I, you have plenty of room for improvement. And then, take a moment at the end of each day to look back at how you actually spent the day. Did you spend 30 minutes looking for a file or other document? Did you spend so much time sending "one quick email" that you didn’t even get to your top five tasks for the day?
If you’re looking for a clear step-by-step approach to help you spend your time more effectively, you might want to check out Five Foundations of Time Mastery for Attorneys. Based on work with my individual clients and CLE presentations I’ve delivered, this multimedia system covers the steps you must take to make the best use of your time every day. Visit www.FiveFoundationsForAttorneys.com to get the details and place your order.
Julie A. Fleming, J.D., A.C.C. provides attorney development coaching and consulting to law firm associates and partners, focusing on topics such as leadership, client, and professional development; career strategy; and work/life integration. A certified leadership coach (Georgetown University), Julie publishes the weekly email newsletter Leadership Matters for Lawyers and posts often on the Life at the Bar Blog. Learn more at www.LifeAtTheBar.com or by contacting Julie by telephone at 800.758.6214 or by email to jfb@lifeatthebar.com.
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Cartoon: Courtoons
by David Mills
Courtoons are the creation of David Mills, an Ohio appellate lawyer who works with litigants and law firms involved in civil and criminal cases in federal courts across the country. Visit David's law firm website at www.MillsFederalAppeals.com
Greetings from TBH: Send a Lawyers in Love Card to that Special Lawyer in Your Life
We'll admit it: sometimes lawyers are hard to love. We can be analytical and argumentative—and that's if we're even around, rather than at the office. It can be even more challenging when there are two lawyers in the relationship (take it from us: we know what we're talking about).
Suggested inside text: Yesterday you really got on my nerves
Suggested inside text: Who says lawyers aren't romantic?
Suggested inside text: Then I don't want to be rightful
As with all of our cards, you can write a special message on the inside. You can also upload a signature or logo to appear underneath the message, as well as a photograph (which will be printed on the card’s inside left panel). At each stage, you can preview your card on the screen before proceeding. Don't worry about running late: you can elect to have cards shipped to you, or mailed directly to the object of your affection.
Like this cartoon? Send it to friends, clients or colleagues on greeting cards. To order, visit The Billable Hour Card Store.
Suzan Charlton is a professional cartoonist who is rumored to practice insurance coverage law as a hobby for a major Washington D.C. law firm. Her cartoons cover a wide range of law-related topics, from law school grades to law firm romance.
Song of the Month: The Law is a Jealous Mistress
by Mikey Mel & the JDs
My baby left me
A month ago, yesterday x2
She said
"Mikey Mel, it’s your books or it’s me!" x2
Chorus:
I said: "The law is a jealous mistress
So listen baby, when I tell you this
Don’t get sad, when I make the choice
Of reading casebooks over your
Sweet, touch, and voice."
My baby left me
4 years ago, yesterday
I remember she was angry
But what was that she sang?
And I remember just one thing
It’s what I told her, about my ways
Chorus
Bridge: 2x
It’s not that I cannot love,
But when you got the law
It’s hard to hold anyone above.
My baby left me 40 years ago
I miss her now than I’ve ever known
And I remember just two, just two things
Those fateful words that I said
While I watched those tears roll down her face
Just one of the hilarious songs on
Cartoon: Law and Disorder
by Paul Brennan
Like this cartoon? Send it to friends, clients or colleagues on greeting cards. To order, visit The Billable Hour Card Store.
Cartoon: Jonny Hawkins Collection
by Jonny Hawkins
Like this cartoon? Send it to friends, clients or colleagues on greeting cards. To order, visit The Billable Hour Card Store.
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Did you know that Jonny licenses his artwork for use in newsletters, presentations, print publications and on websites? He even offers special rates for student and teacher use.
You can also purchase original artwork and custom prints (framed or unframed) from Jonny.
Litination: Local Attorney Falls in Love With Own Voice
by Court Jester
Yesterday, during his closing argument on a price-fixing case, local attorney, Sandy Clamp, was caught completely off-guard when he fell head over heels with the sound of the words coming out of his mouth. According to reports, the fifty-five year old Clamp was methodically summarizing the key testimony offered by his client when he became inappropriately misty-eyed. He then turned to the jury and softly asked, "Don’t you just love the way that sounds?" before requesting a five-minute recess to compose himself.
"It really snuck up on me," explained a shaken Clamp in the hallway outside of the courtroom. "At my age, I’m constantly searching for a new passion. When I was talking in there it just hit me, all of this time the passion of my life has been residing right there . . . in my vocal cords." Clamp stopped for a moment to ponder what this all meant before pulling out a dictation device and running through a string of tongue-twisters all while sporting a grin from ear to ear.
According to his colleagues, Clamp has been in denial that he’s been in love with his voice for years. "While most people shut their doors when they’re on a conference call, Sandy is notorious for leaving his door open so that his voice can bounce off the halls and all who are lucky can hear his long-winded answers to even the most straightforward questions," explained Jackie Zechman, Clamp’s next door neighbor at plaintiffs’ firm Clamp, Stump & Foster LLP. "It could be worse though, he does have an oddly melodic voice. I mean, geez, there’s a reason we always have him read ‘Twas the Night Before The Class Action’ at our annual Holiday party."
Members of Clamp’s family agree that the litigator loves to hear the sound of his own voice. "Usually, our conversations consist of Dad asking me a question and then him answering that question for a good 5-10 minutes before getting a phone call and starting another conversation," explained Trevor, Sandy Clamp’s often overlooked fifteen year-old son. Clamp’s wife, Valerie, was not upset about her husband’s other love. "Do you know how many fines and tickets that voice has gotten us out of? One time, he actually talked to our cable company so long the representative fell asleep. When he woke up, Sandy threatened to report him to a supervisor. Needless to say, we’ve had free cable for years!"
Court Jester is a member of the Litination who believes that the practice of law requires a sense of humor. His goal is to provide an entertaining diversion from the regularly scheduled billable hour or law school seminar. He provides fake legal news and links to real headlines at www.Litination.com. His hope is that one or the other will provide you with a laugh in an often unnecessarily stressful day.
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Take a close look!The dials of our watches and clocks are marked in tenths of an hour—the same way many lawyers, paralegals and law clerks bill for their time.
