The President is known to have one, there is even a dedicated website, and you see endless professionals with the signature hand-to-ear pose. Yes, I am referring to the ever so beloved Blackberry; but because I do not yet have a clever pop culture nickname for an iphone I will take aim at the popular 'crackberry.' At any rate, I am commenting on the same technology - these little portable computer and telecommunication devices that have made email and other communications faster than what we once thought to be the ultimate in speed for written communication, internet, media, etc. I am not all that surprised to see so many attorneys brandishing theirs. Admittedly, I have my rudimentary version, although I carry it as inconspicuously as possible for fear of being far from in vogue.
Before long I came to find myself wrapped up in texting some clients and associates more than email for what would otherwise be just a short phone call. At least for this attorney, I had to contemplate the 'crackberry' culture and technological attaché that has become even for the stilted and pedantic among us acceptable as a modicum of information exchange and style. The wireless "techie" syndrome appears to have pervaded most of us, maybe perhaps some of the former naysayers.
As a species we are becoming more wired, if not on our morning Starbucks as a matter of habit, it is on our little PC/telephones. Call it progress or call it an inevitable dystopian fate - conspiracy theorists would likely call it part of the Big Brother Master Plan - cell phones with little doubt are here to stay and become even more sophisticated, the "toy" for all ages to make being interfaced more easy. Who ever thought you could file a brief with the court using a cell phone? Or, what about live-conferencing via satellite while traveling? Well, you can now for better or worse.
The upshot is the convenience and efficiency technology creates, while the downside is being shackled to work as long as you carry the work tool. I have heard people refer to their cell phone as a leash, not just for home but also for their job. I prefer the term shackle because it has a far greater meaning in the context of servitude, though I am not sure how involuntary.
If we are in the Information Age, is the next age the Cybernetic Age? Where computers and artificial intelligence begin to combine with human activity, thinking, deciding, acting, and imagination it would seem to be the stuff that this Age will be made of, and why not? Could even attorneys one day be replaced by complex A.I.? I somehow doubt it as the legal profession has had a fair hold on its monopoly over their industry. Yet, I will not be surprised to see legal software eventually in use that performs much of the work that attorneys at one time took pride in doing by themselves. You can imagine what the typewriter did for applying with pen and ink one's legal writing, and what it did for writing in general. It was probably a welcomed technological innovation, as was the printing press, whereas the person nevertheless was the thinker and creator. Now, imagine how legal and other professionals took to the PC! Then add internet, and so on and so forth. The evolution is ostensibly for more artificial influence and involvement.
The older generation will resist it more, but the younger is being cultivated by the e-machine. Think about our bizarre cyber-lives that hundreds of millions of us lead on-line through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, where the manifestation of friendships and relationships, networking and socializing has taken on this medium. While keeping us connected it also generates a life lived through technology that is, metaphysically, becoming more difficult to differentiate from life in person, face-to-face, and in real 3-D as opposed to the simulated variation. Ultimately, we have to take a step back and examine where all this technology is taking us. Taking the human race to the moon is one thing, altering our reality is quite another proposition. As far as for attorneys and any professionals, we already feel overworked. Adding technology that in the end is undoubtedly just to add more work because there will be no excuses not to - this is considering the admonishment for not using your 'crackberry' - makes for a greater maelstrom for us all.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Out with the 'Old and Corrupt' and in with the 'New': Voting out Judges
A while back I wrote a short piece titled, Judges and Election: Politics, Voting, and Controversy. Since then, the two Larimer County judges who helped prosecute Tim Masters, an innocent man, were decidedly held retainable for this November's election, a judicial retention commission unanimously recommended early this August. Despite censure, the commission stated in both cases that Terry Gilmore and Jolene Blair had "outstanding performance" as judges, although it was more or less silent as to their roles in the Masters' prosecution. On the one hand the commission "acknowledged the relevance of the judges' censure - but nevertheless [on the other hand] said the judges were worthy of retention." Perhaps I am one of the few local attorneys in the District who is not afraid to publicly speak out against this, and so I will. After all, this blog concerns rants, not just raves. The following is definitively the former as opposed to the latter.
Monday, August 9, 2010
A 'Mental-House' Divided, Cannot Stand
Drawing on the popular Boston Legal ABC program, I recall an episode where William Shatner who plays Denny Crane Esq. and James Spader, as attorney Alan Shore, are sitting around the law office late one night smoking cigars and drinking Scotch - the stereotypical pomp-extracurricular of attorneys (at least male attorneys) - during which Crane utters to his friend and colleague, "This is an ugly profession... but we live for it." All the while, Shore nods in agreement. There, the episode ends on that note; preceding these attorneys' conversation however, Crane laments over having missed out on the love of his life, one of several wives, because of his marriage to the practice of law.
Misery and disillusion on the surface do not underscore Crane's dilemma, a choice between marriage to the practice versus love, family, etc. Yet, outside of the often vapid conversations of attorneys portrayed in television series or movies when it comes to their personal lives, the statistics are that misery and disillusion, otherwise depression, have a deep affect on the lives of many lawyers. In an article titled Why are Lawyers So Unhappy? by Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph. D., this author examines both the dissatisfaction and depression amongst attorneys in the U.S. At first glance, Dr. Seligman presents the statistic that 52% of attorneys are dissatisfied with their careers despite the prestige and money that are enjoyed by many in the profession. What is alarming, Dr. Seligman also notes that:
When adjusted for sociodemographics, lawyers topped the list, suffering from depression at a rate of 3.6 times higher than employed persons generally. Lawyers also suffer from alcoholism and illegal drug use at rates far higher than non-lawyers. The divorce rate among lawyers, especially women, also appears to be higher than the divorce rate among other professionals. Thus, by any measure, lawyers embody the paradox of money losing its hold. They are the best-paid professionals, and yet they are disproportionately unhappy and unhealthy.
After being out of law school now for six years, even this author admits to the stresses and toils of the job, especially when dealing with adversity outside of the office. Client problems coupled with personal ones can be, at times, draining. When going through my divorce a few years back, it invaded me nearly every day at work during that time of my life to the point where despite demanding some time off for a few days only slowed down the widening cracks forming in my own mental health. Fortunately, I was able to treat my eroding mental health without resorting to the drastic self-medicating used by what are the great many unfortunately using drugs and alcohol to cope.
Looking at the life of one of our most well respected attorneys in U.S. history, Abraham Lincoln is determined by historians to have suffered from very severe depression during the time that he practiced well into his Presidency. Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk, is a lurid depiction of this attorney and Great Leader told from the focal point of Lincoln's suffering from what is likely to have been a clinical form of depression. Though melancholy as a personal character trait was somewhat in vogue, as Shenk explains, during the time of Lincoln, life was much harder then with the great loss of life many experienced through disease and war. Lincoln himself experienced losses of family and his own child in addition to having failures in business and politics that caused his depression to worsen during various chapters of his life. Some accounts of Lincoln's depression, as also told by Shenk, show a man that was in serious dysfunction during times that his ailment was at its nadir. Lincoln was not alone, another great attorney and judge, Benjamin N. Cardozo, is also speculated to have suffered from depression as well.
Without belaboring the point, the obvious issue here is that attorneys need to deal with their mental health whether that means to practice or not to practice. Or, if even one wishes to continue in the practice they ought re-examine which area of law they enjoy the most and stick to that area, doing less work in the areas that are less desirable. This may be easier said than done. However, a "transcendentalist approach" to any pursuit in life is good for some - not to be overly "Thoreau"esque about the matter. To take such a following requires an attorney, perhaps, to be more "Spartan-like." Such may not be the ambition for those who worship and live for the "Ivory Tower," as opposed to those who loathe it.
Regardless, the mental-house that is divided cannot stand! Depression eats away at the psyche and can lead to a horrid downward spiral for many, particularly when it leads to substance abuse. I worked alongside one attorney with great ability who became hospitalized as a result of conditions caused by heavy drinking and smoking. Missing work for over a month, this colleague and the law office both suffered from his absence. The stresses of the practice are overwhelming at times. Any lawyer should be willing to admit, except maybe the psychotically and "rare-gifted" drones that feel no pain, that the work done by lawyers can lead to great stress, anxiety, or anguish. Let the ones who would hold to the contrary stand apart from the plurality of those in the profession who are but mere mortals.
The mental sufferings of attorneys bespeak of a greater problem in America, possibly even in industrialized society, and that is depression is a widespread disease of the mind and one of the most under treated illnesses suffered by vast numbers of people. A "side-effect" that often accompanies it is "social death" and "spiritual death," if not death itself. Depression can lead to hospitalization, institutionalization, suicide, and physical conditions that result therefrom. Preventative medicine and treatment are definitely lacking, though we boast of how great the American health care system is when mental health care is severely deficient when compared to other countries like Sweden. My intention is not to stir debate over U.S. health care, but to call attention to the depravity in our wealthy nation when it comes to basic mental health treatment and prevention. I need not back up these statements here when if you seek the sources verifying my contentions you will find that they are voluminous; just start with the literature provided through the National Institute of Mental health at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/
Although a troubling topic, the consensus is that attorneys need to deal with their mental health issues as it, moreover, begs the question as to competency and fitness to practice when a disease, whether it be alcoholism or the underlying problem leading to substance abuse or depression itself, diminishes the lawyer's ability to ethically practice. Young lawyers especially should be aware of how the practice can lead to concerns that need to be addressed and dealt with early on, as this author can by personal experience tell any of them. If suffering do not deny the problem, and get proper treatment. Live well, eat well, and budget time for others we care about and are devoted to; and, budget some time for the things we enjoy. "An ounce of prevention is a pound of cure."
Misery and disillusion on the surface do not underscore Crane's dilemma, a choice between marriage to the practice versus love, family, etc. Yet, outside of the often vapid conversations of attorneys portrayed in television series or movies when it comes to their personal lives, the statistics are that misery and disillusion, otherwise depression, have a deep affect on the lives of many lawyers. In an article titled Why are Lawyers So Unhappy? by Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph. D., this author examines both the dissatisfaction and depression amongst attorneys in the U.S. At first glance, Dr. Seligman presents the statistic that 52% of attorneys are dissatisfied with their careers despite the prestige and money that are enjoyed by many in the profession. What is alarming, Dr. Seligman also notes that:
When adjusted for sociodemographics, lawyers topped the list, suffering from depression at a rate of 3.6 times higher than employed persons generally. Lawyers also suffer from alcoholism and illegal drug use at rates far higher than non-lawyers. The divorce rate among lawyers, especially women, also appears to be higher than the divorce rate among other professionals. Thus, by any measure, lawyers embody the paradox of money losing its hold. They are the best-paid professionals, and yet they are disproportionately unhappy and unhealthy.
After being out of law school now for six years, even this author admits to the stresses and toils of the job, especially when dealing with adversity outside of the office. Client problems coupled with personal ones can be, at times, draining. When going through my divorce a few years back, it invaded me nearly every day at work during that time of my life to the point where despite demanding some time off for a few days only slowed down the widening cracks forming in my own mental health. Fortunately, I was able to treat my eroding mental health without resorting to the drastic self-medicating used by what are the great many unfortunately using drugs and alcohol to cope.
Looking at the life of one of our most well respected attorneys in U.S. history, Abraham Lincoln is determined by historians to have suffered from very severe depression during the time that he practiced well into his Presidency. Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk, is a lurid depiction of this attorney and Great Leader told from the focal point of Lincoln's suffering from what is likely to have been a clinical form of depression. Though melancholy as a personal character trait was somewhat in vogue, as Shenk explains, during the time of Lincoln, life was much harder then with the great loss of life many experienced through disease and war. Lincoln himself experienced losses of family and his own child in addition to having failures in business and politics that caused his depression to worsen during various chapters of his life. Some accounts of Lincoln's depression, as also told by Shenk, show a man that was in serious dysfunction during times that his ailment was at its nadir. Lincoln was not alone, another great attorney and judge, Benjamin N. Cardozo, is also speculated to have suffered from depression as well.
Without belaboring the point, the obvious issue here is that attorneys need to deal with their mental health whether that means to practice or not to practice. Or, if even one wishes to continue in the practice they ought re-examine which area of law they enjoy the most and stick to that area, doing less work in the areas that are less desirable. This may be easier said than done. However, a "transcendentalist approach" to any pursuit in life is good for some - not to be overly "Thoreau"esque about the matter. To take such a following requires an attorney, perhaps, to be more "Spartan-like." Such may not be the ambition for those who worship and live for the "Ivory Tower," as opposed to those who loathe it.
Regardless, the mental-house that is divided cannot stand! Depression eats away at the psyche and can lead to a horrid downward spiral for many, particularly when it leads to substance abuse. I worked alongside one attorney with great ability who became hospitalized as a result of conditions caused by heavy drinking and smoking. Missing work for over a month, this colleague and the law office both suffered from his absence. The stresses of the practice are overwhelming at times. Any lawyer should be willing to admit, except maybe the psychotically and "rare-gifted" drones that feel no pain, that the work done by lawyers can lead to great stress, anxiety, or anguish. Let the ones who would hold to the contrary stand apart from the plurality of those in the profession who are but mere mortals.
The mental sufferings of attorneys bespeak of a greater problem in America, possibly even in industrialized society, and that is depression is a widespread disease of the mind and one of the most under treated illnesses suffered by vast numbers of people. A "side-effect" that often accompanies it is "social death" and "spiritual death," if not death itself. Depression can lead to hospitalization, institutionalization, suicide, and physical conditions that result therefrom. Preventative medicine and treatment are definitely lacking, though we boast of how great the American health care system is when mental health care is severely deficient when compared to other countries like Sweden. My intention is not to stir debate over U.S. health care, but to call attention to the depravity in our wealthy nation when it comes to basic mental health treatment and prevention. I need not back up these statements here when if you seek the sources verifying my contentions you will find that they are voluminous; just start with the literature provided through the National Institute of Mental health at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/
Although a troubling topic, the consensus is that attorneys need to deal with their mental health issues as it, moreover, begs the question as to competency and fitness to practice when a disease, whether it be alcoholism or the underlying problem leading to substance abuse or depression itself, diminishes the lawyer's ability to ethically practice. Young lawyers especially should be aware of how the practice can lead to concerns that need to be addressed and dealt with early on, as this author can by personal experience tell any of them. If suffering do not deny the problem, and get proper treatment. Live well, eat well, and budget time for others we care about and are devoted to; and, budget some time for the things we enjoy. "An ounce of prevention is a pound of cure."
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