Modern legal professionals frequently work in small groups and teams. This concise and practical book is designed to help current and future legal professionals develop the cooperative and collaborative skills they need to work with others effectively. This book is not a cliché-laden plea for teamwork in all circumstances. The fundamental premise of the text is that when collaborative work is performed appropriately and thoughtfully, the advantages significantly outweigh the disadvantages. The book explains: (1) when group work is more beneficial than individual work; (2) when a small work group project is more appropriate than a team project; and (3) when some teams are likely to outperform others. This pioneering book helps readers maximize the benefits -- and minimize problems -- when working collaboratively. It incorporates the best contemporary research on group dynamics, conflict resolution, and decision making. To illustrate these concepts, the text uses a wide range of examples -- including the growing use of virtual legal work groups or teams. The book is designed to be used as a supplemental text in a variety of courses or as a guide in any law firm or in-house counsel setting in which legal professionals are expected to work together to produce high quality legal work.

The typical workplace is a hotbed of human relationships--of friendships, conflicts, feuds, alliances, partnerships, coexistence and cooperation. Here, problems are solved, progress is made, and rifts are mended because they need to be - because the work has to get done. And it has to get done among increasingly diverse groups of co-workers. At a time when communal ties in American society are increasingly frayed and segregation persists, the workplace is more than ever the site where Americans from different ethnic, religious, and racial backgrounds meet and forge serviceable and sometimes lasting bonds. What do these highly structured workplace relationships mean for a society still divided by gender and race? Structure and rules are, in fact, central to the answer. Workplace interactions are constrained by economic power and necessity, and often by legal regulation. They exist far from the civic ideal of free and equal citizens voluntarily associating for shared ends. Yet it is the very involuntariness of these interactions that helps to make the often-troubled project of racial integration comparatively successful at work. People can be forced to get along-not without friction, but often with surprising success. This highly original exploration of the paradoxical nature--and the paramount importance--of workplace bonds concludes with concrete suggestions for how law can further realize the democratic possibilities of working together. In linking workplace integration and connectedness beyond work, Estlund suggests a novel and promising strategy for addressing the most profound challenges facing American society.

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

This book explores how theater artistry melds the forces of collaboration and leadership, igniting creativity from the first spark of an idea to the climactic curtain call. It throws the spotlight on the dynamic interplay of roles, covering the collaboration between producer, director, playwright, actor, designer, stage manager, dramaturg, and stage crew. Each chapter illuminates various strategies and insights, revealing how you can harness these transformative techniques on your own journey, crafting spellbinding productions through the power of collective creativity. In this new edition, Joel Veenstra builds upon, updates, and expands on Robert Cohen's original concepts in the following ways: - Updated case studies and examples drawn from the combined 75 years of professional theatre-making experience of Cohen and Veenstra, as well as insights from their extensive network of collaborators - Revised flow and scope to include the collaborator's worldview, specific practices for creating collaborative milieu from the start, and conflict resolution tools - Modernized with new research, perspectives, and insights from leadership experts like Brené Brown and Simon Sinek, and team-based organizations like Google and The Second City - Refreshed exercises to enhance practical understanding and application of the concepts - Expanded lens for applications beyond the realm of theatre-making to any collaboration - Revised appendices with recommended digital resources

This first-of-its-kind legal guide showcases how to use the latest Web-based and software technologies, such as Web 2.0, Google tools, Microsoft Office, and Acrobat, to work collaboratively and more efficiently on projects with colleagues, clients, co-counsel and even opposing counsel. The book provides a wealth of information useful to lawyers who are just beginning to try collaboration tools, as well as tips and techniques for those lawyers with intermediate and advanced collaboration experience.

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

Since the passage of the Civil Rights Act, virtually all companies have antidiscrimination policies in place. Although these policies represent some progress, women and minorities remain underrepresented within the workplace as a whole and even more so when you look at high-level positions. They also tend to be less well paid. How is it that discrimination remains so prevalent in the American workplace despite the widespread adoption of policies designed to prevent it? One reason for the limited success of antidiscrimination policies, argues Lauren B. Edelman, is that the law regulating companies is broad and ambiguous, and managers therefore play a critical role in shaping what it means in daily practice. Often, what results are policies and procedures that are largely symbolic and fail to dispel long-standing patterns of discrimination. Even more troubling, these meanings of the law that evolve within companies tend to eventually make their way back into the legal domain, inconspicuously influencing lawyers for both plaintiffs and defendants and even judges. When courts look to the presence of antidiscrimination policies and personnel manuals to infer fair practices and to the presence of diversity training programs without examining whether these policies are effective in combating discrimination and achieving racial and gender diversity, they wind up condoning practices that deviate considerably from the legal ideals.