The greatest threat to the integrity of the legal system is a broke and unhappy attorney. Whether you are new to the practice or have been practicing law since the Ford Administration, you should be paid- in full- for the work you perform. You should be paid for your superior judgment, your skills, your ability to negotiate, and your knowledge-not how many hours you took to draft a pleading. The Happier Attorney: A comprehensive Guide to Charging Flat Fees for Legal Services is a step by step guide that will teach you: -What hourly billing is really costing you in money and more importantly time. -Why hourly billing is bad for clients and horrible for attorneys. -Why clients love flat fees. -How you can obtain a collection rate of 100%. -How flat fees improve your work product. -How flat fees will increase your income significantly. -How flat fees will save you so much time you won't know what to do with your time. -How flat fees will decrease staff time and costs. -How to manage one's time so that you can meet your responsibilities and have lots of time outside the office. -How to ethically and easily address any issues that arise from flat fee billing. In the nearly 19 years of owning her own practice, and well over a decade of using exclusively flat fees, even for family law litigation, Brita Long is in a unique position to share everything that you would want and need to know when you are considering moving from hourly billing to flat fees. The relief of only working as many hours as you want to work and still make the money you want to make, and have earned, is only a few hours away.

You get good grades in college, pay a small fortune to put yourself through law school, study hard to pass the bar exam, and finally land a high-paying job in a prestigious firm. You're happy, right? Not really. Oh, it beats laying asphalt, but after all your hard work, you expected more from your job. What gives? The Happy Lawyer examines the causes of dissatisfaction among lawyers, and then charts possible paths to happier and more fulfilling careers in law. Eschewing a one-size-fits-all approach, it shows how maximizing our chances for achieving happiness depends on understanding our own personality types, values, strengths, and interests. Covering everything from brain chemistry and the science of happiness to the workings of the modern law firm, Nancy Levit and Doug Linder provide invaluable insights for both aspiring and working lawyers. For law students, they offer surprising suggestions for selecting a law school that maximizes your long-term happiness prospects. For those about to embark on a legal career, they tell you what happiness research says about which potential jobs hold the most promise. For working lawyers, they offer a handy toolbox--a set of easily understandable steps--that can boost career happiness. Finally, for firm managers, they offer a range of approaches for remaking a firm into a more satisfying workplace. Read this book and you will know whether you are more likely to be a happy lawyer at age 30 or age 60, why you can tell a lot about a firm from looking at its walls and windows, whether a 10 percent raise or a new office with a view does more for your happiness, and whether the happiness prospects are better in large or small firms. No book can guarantee a happier career, but for lawyers of all ages and stripes, The Happy Lawyer may give you your best shot.

The Anxious Lawyer provides a straightforward 8-week introductory program on meditation and mindfulness, created by lawyers for lawyers. The program draws on examples from Cho and Gifford's professional and personal lives to create an accessible and enjoyable entry into practices that can reduce anxiety, improve focus and clarity, and enrich the quality of life.

The groundbreaking alternative for the millions of couples with children who face divorce each year—couples who want to avoid litigation, but don’t want to give up on getting what they want. Even under the best circumstances, divorce can be marked by a range of painful emotions. But research now reveals that how a couple conducts themselves during a divorce has far greater impact on their children than the act of divorcing itself. Groundbreaking and revolutionary, The Collaborative Way to Divorce is the first guide to the Collaborative process, a nationally acclaimed approach based on the concept that both spouses hire legal representation, yet agree to resolve their differences with no intention of ever going to court. Stressing cooperation over confrontation and resolution over revenge, Collaborative divorce is fast transforming how couples dissolve their marriages, divide their assets, and reinvent their post-divorce relationships, particularly when they have children. Written by Stu Webb, the founder of the Collaborative law movement and Ron Ousky, an early pioneer of the process, The Collaborative Way to Divorce guides you through the steps of the Collaborative process so that you can make better, more informed, and more strategic decisions—resulting in a win-win outcome for you and your spouse.

How you can make use of your law degree—without making yourself miserable. When they enter the field, lawyers seem to have it made—with a high-salary, high-status profession that should set them up for life. Yet, even when they seem to have it all, they often start to feel like something’s off. Their careers have become horribly soul-sucking. They’re managing their lives, sort of—but they feel duped. Trapped. Their “good job” is affecting their health and relationships—and they’re just trying to keep all the plates spinning. Here’s the good news: Beverly Davidek has been there, and in this book she and husband Dirk show how you can find a job that allows for happiness, satisfaction, and peace of mind. If you’re still struggling to find a way to provide for your family without losing yourself, this book is for you. Part Ask and It Is Given and part What Color Is Your Parachute? (but written specifically for lawyers), Happy Lawyer gives you the tools you need to get unstuck in your career and start living your dream.

Softbound - New, softbound print book.

Being Heard: Presentation Skills for Attorneys consolidates the most helpful and effective tips of the trade in order for you and your staff to become better public speakers.