Futurelawyer

Cats Think They Are God. They Are Just Better Climbers Than The Rest Of Us.

I'll keep my feet planted firmly on the ground, thank you.

#PoetryFriday - Lover.

I have grown accustomed to your body
next to mine.
I imagine its curving skin,
touched by my hands,
gently.

I am alone in my bed,
tossing and turning,
reaching out
to touch you,
grasping at the image of you.

I speak to the image
and pretend the response.
I am a child
with a peanut-butter smile,
playing cowboys and indians
in a back yard
filled with monsters
and scary things.

I fear being alone,
and I am frightened to be near you.

I love wanting you,
and being wanted by you.

Do not be
away
very long.

Pig Reading John Steinbeck At Lunch.

This Weekend Should Be BitterSweet.

I get it. You are looking forward to a 3 day weekend. Monday is a holiday, and you and your friends and family will be cooking out, and enjoying the sun. However, you and I may be alive and experiencing joyful moments, and the soldiers who helped to create a world in which you could do that may, in some cases, not be here to celebrate. Remember them. Nobody really knows whether there is an afterlife. In fact, the dogma is that you must have faith. Which means accepting something without a rational explanation. But, there are some things that are evidence based. One of them is that we are here partly because some men and women gave up their very lives for us. We should have a Memorial Day every day. So, take some time this weekend to be mindful of their sacrifice.

The Law Of Unintended Consequences.

Be careful what you wish for. You might get it.

#WhyIAmASolo - I Don't Worry About Having A Boss Who Doesn't Trust Me.

Your Boss Doesn't Trust You. Stories like this one make me angry. I cannot imagine being told where to work, or how to work, or worrying about whether another human being who controls my work life "trusts" me or not. Apparently, some managers don't believe that remote workers work hard enough, or are productive enough, or care enough. I suspect that these feelings are more about managers who need to have more control over the work of their subordinates. In a solo practice, I only have to worry about my clients. And, if one of them doesn't like me, or the way I work, or from where I work, they are the ones who leave. Go solo, or small firm. You get to decide whether you work from home or an office.

Don't Be Like The Other Guy - Live With Passion.

One of the most memorable quotes I have encountered in my life came from John Steinbeck, "Travels With Charley". I was reminded of it when I read, in the Smithsonian, about the salvage and restoration of the boat he used, with John Ricketts, in 1951, to travel to the Sea of Cortez to collect marine samples. We live in an age where the positive aspects of maleness are conflated with the admittedly negative consequences of assertive and aggressive behavior. Human survival has depended upon such behavior for millennia, however, and it is past time that we stopped demonizing it. 

“A kind of second childhood falls on so many men. They trade their violence for the promise of a small increase of life span. In effect, the head of the house becomes the youngest child. And I have searched myself for this possibility with a kind of horror. For I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I've lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as a punishment. I did not want to surrender fierceness for a small gain in yardage. My wife married a man; I saw no reason why she should inherit a baby.”

John Steinbeck.

Get into the arena. Live your passions. Accept consequences; but, live.

 

I, For One, Welcome Our Future Museum Walking Robot Overlords.

Take A Virtual Tour Of These Museums On International Museum Day. While I am on the subject of walking, talking robots giving tours of Museums, this page lists a bunch of museums that already provide virtual tours; albeit, not using remote operated robots. Much can be observed and learned by an Internet connected computer that follows an avatar around a museum and allows remote visitors to see and hear the great Museums of the world. I have used this tech to visit the Louvre in Paris, with the added benefit of virtual reality, which actually puts the user in place, and mimics physical travel in the remote space. For the disabled and homebound, this technology is the only way they will get to share the experience of the world's most interesting places.

#WhyIAmASolo - I Can Practice Mindfulness Before Work.

Rat demonstrates why working in BigLaw can be a disadvantage to a lawyer who wants to practice mindfulness meditation. Nobody can criticize me for being late; except for a client or a court. Have you meditated today?

Robotic Tech Can Change Museums And Other Tourism.

Meet Patrice, The Robot Introducing A New World To Homebound Kids. Robots that can be controlled remotely, and which have cameras and microphones, are enabling home bound children to visit museums. One of my favorite museums is the Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. I love the gadgets, and the history, and the opportunity to meet some of the people who have played a role in our history. Once, I spent an hour talking to Sandy Grimes, the author of "Circle of Treason", about the capturing of Aldrich Ames, the most notorious spy in U.S. history. While some in person contact has been prohibited for the past year, using robots to move around freely has increased in classrooms and museums and other places that are removed from access for some people, either through disability, or distance. Think of the possibilities for their use in litigation, as proxies for site visits to dangerous or inaccessible places. Think about lawyers using robots, rather than robotic lawyers. Think about augmenting human abilities by giving legs and mobility to the immobile. So, rather than welcoming a race of robotic future lords, let's use robotic tech for good.