Monday Brief Update

Nothing extraordinary going on in the training department here: just some roadwork (40 minutes today), shadowboxing, and mental training. Work has been consuming tons of time again. It's amazing how busy a guy can be doing essentially non-paying (or, as we lawyer like to call it, "non-billable" work). Oh well, just a temporary situation. Stay positive!

Slow Training this Week

It has been one of those slow weeks of training. I wanted to do more this week, but the demands of work have required me to spend more hours on my law practice. That's fine. While I'm a bit disappointed, I remember that I am learning my livelihood as a lawyer rather than an athlete, and I am able to keep things in perspective. There are also some really good aspects of this week, so I want to share those, too.

• After almost 14 years, I am still positively thrilled to be in solo practice. It is the right fit for me. From talking with friends of mine over the years, as well as blogging for the JD Bliss Blog, I have learned that I am really blessed to be working on my own and not at one of the "law factories" (or in "big law," as it's often called). Sure, I have made my share of mistakes in solo practice and I've learned better ways to do things, but going solo in 1994 was undoubtedly the very best decision I have made in my career.
• I have been working with a new client and they have presented me with a fascinating legal issue. Because of professional confidentiality and the attorney-client privilege, I can't go into details here, but the project is perfect for my hyper-analytical mind; my neurons can really crunch on it and savor it. It's taking somewhat longer than I originally expected it would. I appreciate the client's patience and the opportunity to be at the forefront of important legal questions related to doing business on the Internet.
• I earn part of my living by writing. I update my book quarterly, to keep it current, and doing that helps me keep up to date, too.
• I earn part of my living by blogging. How cool is that?

Overall, at least in this moment, I am blessed and I am grateful.

The Best Laid Plans O' Mice and Men

Hah! Foolish humans. They think they can plan stuff and actually make it happen. Don't they realize that various circumstances can quickly conspire to confound even their best efforts?

That's what happened to me on Thursday. I had planned--and hoped--to attend the free continuing legal education webinar, but a meeting I had ran longer than expected, so I missed the program.

Thanks to Peter Olson's blog, Solo in Chicago, I have found additional information about reasonably priced MCLE programs, such as MentorCLE. Obviously, cost is but one consideration in selecting CLE programs to attend, but since I am a solo lawyer, it's an important factor in my decision. I'd love to fly to New York or Los Angeles and spend two or three days soaking up all the latest developments in my areas of practice but that's not quite as feasible now as it was, say, in 2000. Nevertheless, I'm grateful for the opportunity to participate in the online programs because they really are convenient. On the other hand, the networking opportunities as great as the programs you attend live, but hey, these days we have blogs and MySpace and Facebook and LinkedIn for networking, right? Right?

Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a ... Lawyer?

Over at Client Service for Law Firms, Mike Hellum is using the Rumble in the Jungle, the classic 1974 fight between George Foreman and Muhammed Ali in Zaire, as an example for the kind of persistence and stamina needed to follow a client service initiative through to successful completion. Hellum explains how Ali used his rope-a-dope strategy to win the epic contest and compares it to how you can win a client service initiative.

It's a clever analogy and one I'll use to remind myself to hang in there when things are going less than optimally, both in client service and in life generally. I've also added Mike's blog to my feeds aggregator so I can read what he has to say more often.