The wait is over! Well, maybe just for me. It took a while, but my sixth book, “Productivity for In-House Lawyers: Tips, Hacks, and the Art of Getting Things Done” is now available for purchase. If you are struggling to manage everything on your plate or just want to be more efficient day-to-day,
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Ten Things: How to Create a Strategic Plan for the Legal Department
Running an in-house legal department is not an easy job, regardless of whether you are a legal department of one or a legal department of 200. To start, there is never enough money, people, or time to get everything done. Second, priorities change frequently so prioritizing where to focus your scant resources is a challenge.…
Ten Things: What to Do When You Don’t Know the Answer
Everyone likes to know the answer to questions that come their way at work, none more so than in-house lawyers. Lawyers take special pride in being able to respond to practically any question, on any topic, at any time. They can do this because they are, typically, very smart, well-read, and at ease with murky…
Ten Things: Bankruptcy Basics for In-House Counsel
One of my favorite pastimes(?) is watching the behemoth that is the US economy. I have been fascinated by it since my Intro to Economics class in college way back when (supply and demand baby!). It’s a pretty incredible engine; dynamic and resilient over the course of hundreds of years. But it does have some…
Ten Things: Creating a “Not-to-Do” List (Learning How to Say No)
Hello again everyone! I am very excited to report to you that my next book (number six) is in the hands of the publisher and should be out by this summer.[1] The working title is The Productive In-House Lawyer: Tips, Hacks, and the Art of Getting Things Done. I think you are going…
Ten Things: Essential Issues for In-House Counsel (2024 Edition)
Hello again everyone and welcome to 2024! If you are a long-time reader of the blog, you know that I start the new year with a list of issues I believe in-house lawyers should pay attention to over the coming 12 months. I started doing this when I first became a general counsel way back…
Ten Things: Best Blogs (and Other Media) for In-House Lawyers (2023 Edition)
Hello everyone and season’s greetings from the penthouse of the “Ten Things” world headquarters in Dallas, Texas![1] I will start this post by wishing everyone a fantastic holiday season and all the best for 2024. As most of you know, 2024 is year 10 of the “Ten Things” blog and it is also…
Ten Things: Creating Standard Operating Procedures for the Legal Department (Just a Fancy Way of Saying “Checklists”)
If you have been a long-time reader of the blog or my books, you know that I am a huge fan of checklists. There is perhaps no tool as humble and simple as a good old-fashioned checklist. There is also nothing more powerful than a checklist, especially when it comes to productivity for in-house lawyers. …
Ten Things: Asking For More Legal Department Resources (How and When to Go Big)
In my last book, Showing the Value of the Legal Department: More Than Just a Cost Center, I tackle one of the fundamental issues facing all in-house legal departments: it sucks to be a cost center. You can check if you want, but I am pretty sure that’s what I said.[1] Why…
Ten Things: Having Hard Conversations Inside (and Outside) the Legal Department
I have a lot of fun with this blog – and I hope that comes through. But every once in a while, I like to delve into something more challenging, more serious. Today is one of those days. Last year, I wrote about how to deliver “bad news” to the business. A year or so…