Associate's Mind

  There’s a lot of noise being made about new lawyers going solo straight out of law school. Considering the dismal market for legal jobs, many new law grads are headed towards solo practice out of necessity. A large number of the people I graduated with headed deliberately into solo practice, with no desire to [...]

One of the reasons Americans loved Saturn cars was the “no-haggle” policy — which, to an Indian, is code for “let’s charge these suckers more because they’re afraid of negotiating.” - Ramit Sethi Lawyers do not have the option of being afraid of negotiating. From the courtroom to arbitration and mediation – negotiation is part and [...]

Pop Economics has a great post up today about effectively saving for retirement. I am going to blatantly steal his two images and then encourage you to go read his post. “Perfect Retirement” “Probable Retirement” If you’re a new associate out there, don’t fall in love with your salary and fall into a rut of [...]

Whenever I come across the writings of Peter Drucker, I almost never fail to be impressed by his insight. It’s no wonder he was one of the most influential and forward-thinking management theorists in the world (and continues to be). If you’re a lawyer or law student and have never heard of him: shame, shame. [...]

It’s been a long case/matter. There were a number of false starts and wrong turns. Mountains of discovery documents. The client was difficult. The opposing counsel was worse. Long periods of research and late nights at the office drafting voluminous documents. After two years: the case is finally resolved, the shucks are out of your [...]

Got some money? Thinking about investing? Independent and don’t want 5% of your money to go to a money manager? You could do worse than following the below: You remember my post from last week, Everything You Need to Know About Personal Finance, right? Once you’ve made the commitment to that first step, then you can [...]

Fresh out of law school with that six figure debt? Looking at your income, bills, loan payments, etc. and wondering how to manage it all? I have the perfect personal financial system for you. If that’s not clear enough:  

Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., famed chairman of General Motors in its heyday, has been attributed with saying the following at a top committee meeting: ‘Gentlemen, I take it we are all in complete agreement on the decision here.’ Everyone around the table nodded in assent. ‘Then I propose we postpone further discussion of this matter [...]

Great entry today over at China Law Blog: There’s a story I often tell clients regarding China pricing. Co-blogger, Steve Dickinson, is a long time friend of a very successful Chinese factory owner in Shandong Province. Steve visited his friend at his factory one day and his friend complained about how his fans were so [...]