The Bencher Recent Articles

November/December 2024

• Lawyers Are Critical to Successful Recovery by Disaster Survivors
  
• Enhancing Legal Response to Disasters: Lessons from Bay Area Legal Services
  
• Lessons from the Nashville Flood
  
• The Florida Bar Offers Disaster Relief Resource for Florida Lawyers and the Public—Online Extra

September/October 2024

• Judge Consuelo M. Callahan Embraces Inns Presidency
• From Soup to Nuts: ADR Skills and Knowledge Are Required to Meet Your Ethical Obligations
• Mediator Ethics: A Primer for Attorneys and Judges

July/August 2024—Technology

• AI Risks and Ethics in the Law
  
• Use Technology to Invigorate Your Inn
  
• AI: We Are About to Go Where No One Has Gone Before
  
• Reflections of a Senior Litigator

May/June 2024—Sandra Day O’Connor

• Sandra Day O’Connor Lived the Values of the American Inns of Court
• My Memories of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
  
• Sandra Day O’Connor Award Recipients Gather to Pay Final Respects to Justice O’Connor
  
  

March/April 2024—Women in the Law

• The Long Journey from Zero to Majority on the Court
• Judge Stephanie Seymour: A True Trailblazer
  
• Carol Fey, Esquire: An LGBTQIA+ Legal Trailblazer
  
• Miami Trailblazing Female Judges in Workers’ Compensation Law

January/February 2024—Advice for Young Lawyers

• Do You Have Five Minutes?
  
• Advice to Young Lawyers
  
• Writing-Focused Mentoring
  
• Red Phone, Blue Phone: Advice for New Attorneys
  
• Three Tips for Young Attorneys

November/December 2023—Connecting to Our Roots

• Recalling Our Roots in the Revelry and Excellence of the London Inns of Court
  
• Roots in Raising Colorado’s IP Community
  
• American Inns of Court: The Genesis

September/October 2023—Judicial Roundtable

• Lessons from the Bench
• Litigating in Federal District Court? Understand Your Audience
• Pre-Programmed Professionalism: The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in the Practice of Law
  

July/August 2023 Dealing with Difficult Situations

• Dealing with ‘Difficult’ Opposing Counsel
• Civility Is Our Compass to Navigate Difficult Situations
  
• ‘Do They Know They Produced That?’ Legal, Ethical, and Practical Aspects of Inadvertent Disclosures
  
• Navigating the Difficult Personalities You Will Encounter in Your Legal Career
  
• Top 10 Rules to Stay in Control with Difficult Counsel, Clients, and Situations

May/June 2023 Excellence in Legal Writing

• Becoming a Better Poet: What Poetry and Your Legal Writing Should Have in Common
  
• Grammar Confidential Redux: Dispelling and Demystifying Common Writing Myths
  
• What to Write—Analysis in Legal Writing
  
• How to Write Clear and Concise
  
• Common Denominators of Effective Legal Writing
  
• How to Write Like a 13th Century Archbishop (Online Only)

March/April 2023 Law School Education

• The State of Legal Education in 2023
• Legal Education from Consumer to Service Provider
  
• How COVID-19 Changed Everything in Legal Education
  
• Taking Charge of Your Education
  
• A Time of Change in Legal Education
  
• The Future of Diversity in Legal Education

January/February 2023 Bench-Bar Relations

• The Benefits of Bench and Bar Relations
• Openness and Informal Dialogue at the Core of the Bench-Bar Relationship
  
• Fostering Better Bench-Bar Relations through Pro Bono Opportunities
  
• Participation in Bar Associations Needed Now More Than Ever

November/December 2022 Working with Witnesses

•  Pointers and Perils of Working with Witnesses
  
• Witness Woes: How to Deal with Difficult Witnesses at Trial
  
• When the Key Witness Is a Former Employee: Ethical and Professional Considerations from a Defense and Plaintiff’s Perspective
  
• Lessons from ‘The Delaware Way’—Principles Governing Witness Interactions Before and While Testifying

September/October 2022 Elder Law

• Staying Ethical in Elder Law
  
• Affording Long-term Care—Challenges for a Growing Population
  
• Collaborative Marriage Planning
  
• Trailblazing President Sets Ambitious Goal
  
• A Tribute to Justice Randy J. Holland

July/August 2022 Reentry Programs

• Another Chance Can Change a Life of Crime
  
• Veterans Treatment Court: How It Works and Why It Succeeds
  
• The Importance of Juvenile Drug Treatment Court
  
• Safe and Healthy Families Court—Nebraska’s First Child Welfare Problem-Solving Court Centered on Domestic Violence

May/June 2022 Outreach and Pro Bono Projects

• Helping People Prove They Were Born
• Tackling ‘Enoughness’ with Pro Bono Work
  
• Long-standing Civics Organization Unites Bench and Bar with Teachers and Students
  
• Disconnecting the Passion and the Prose: Secondary Trauma in Pro Bono Work
  
• Canakaris Inn of Court Presents Guardian Ad Litem Training

March/April 2022 Wellness in the Legal Profession

• Wellness Unplugged: Technology’s Impact on Attorney Mental Health
• You Are Not Alone—Recovery Is Possible
  
• The Ethics of Wellness: Emotion, Effectiveness, and Ethical Rules When Personal Challenges Create Professional Discipline
  
• Keep an Eye on Your Heart

January/February 2022—Mentoring

• Questions to Ask Yourself Before Agreeing to Be a Mentee or a Mentor
  
• Are You My Mentor? A Reflection on 20 Years of Participation in the American Inns of Court
  
• You Are Always Mentoring
  
• Mentoring During and After the COVID Era
  
• How Can I Help? Mentoring Lunches Help Shape Careers
  
• Do I Really Need a Mentor? (Does the Sun Rise in the East?) (Online Only)
  
  

November/December 2021—Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 on the Legal Profession

• Ten Tips to Thrive as a Virtual Summer Associate
• Pivoting on Pro Bono after COVID-19
• ‘You’re on Mute!’ and Other Pandemic Practice Lessons
• Atlanta Case Exemplifies Inns’ Mission and Professional Creed
• Subchapter V Offers a Lifeline for Small Businesses (Online only)
• Landlord Right to Entry after the End of COVID-19 Tenant Protections (Online only)

September/October 2021—Bankruptcy Law

• Addressing the Moral and Ethical Pitfalls of Filing for Bankruptcy
  
• Your Client Received Notice of a Bankruptcy Filing. Now What?
  
• The Difficult Case for Dischargeability of Student Loans
  
• A New Tool to Deal with Misbehaving Bankruptcy Debtors (Broward County Bar Association's Barrister, Page 17.)
  
• What You Know about Confidentiality and Privileges May Not Hold Up in Bankruptcy Court
  
• It’s the Leased You Can Do—An Overview of §502(b)(6) and Lease Claims (Online only)
  
• Bankruptcy Basics: What Every Litigator Should Know (Online only)
  
• A Primer on the Automatic Stay For Non-Bankruptcy Lawyers (Online only)
  

July/August 2021—Ethics

• The New Normal: Technology, Law, and Ethics in an Increasingly Connected But Remote World
  
• When a Non-Conflict Really Is a Conflict: A Beginner’s Guide to Not Losing a Client
  
• Everyday Ethics—Building a Professional Reputation
  
• Behavior Reminders for the Young Lawyer

May/June 2021—Generational Perspectives in the Practice of Law

• How We Can Benefit from Our Generational Differences
• Generational Perspective: The View from Millennials During COVID-19
• Generational Issues in the Practice of Law
• Changing Culture of Law Practice
• A Generational Perspective: Retro Is Trending

March/April 2021—Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg

• A Tribute to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
  
• Heroes Never Die: A Dissent from RBG’s Death
  
• Justice Ginsburg: A Voice of Reasons
  
• Remembering Justice Ginsburg
  
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Legal Icon While a Model of Civility
  
• Lessons from RBG on the Role of the Judiciary

January/February 2021—Working With Clients and Potential Clients

• Preparing and Managing Clients During Litigation: for COVID-19 Times and Beyond
  
• Clients on the Cusp: How to Reconcile a Normal Lawyer-Client Relationship With the Heightened Duty to Protect a Client Under a Mental Impairment
  
• Navigating the Attorney-Client Relationship as a Junior Associate
  
• Who Is the Client and Why It Matters

November/December 2020—Cybersecurity

• Ethical Issues in a Cyberworld
• All About Exceeding Authorized Access
  

September/October 2020—Practicing Law in a Multicultural Society

• Multicultural Awareness in the Practice of Law
• It’s a Small, Small World: Broadening Your Multicultural Client Base

July/August 2020—Practicing in a Pandemic

• Professionalism in a Pandemic with the Illinois Inns of Court—2Civility Blog
• How the Chief Justice Moyer Inn of Court has Adapted to Operating During Social Distancing
  
• What we Learned about the Practice of Law and Ourselves from the Novel Coronavirus
  
• Taking your Inn, and your Practice, Online—Welcoming Members to the Virtual Courts
  
• Promoting a Sense of Community During a Pandemic
  
• Pandemic Play List
  
• Lockdown, But Not Out: A Lawyer’s Personal COVID-19 Journey
  
• Virtual Open Court
  
• Pivoting during the Pandemic
  
• What Professionalism Looks Like in a Pandemic—We Can Help the Judiciary and Our System of Justice Right Now
  Adaptation and Innovation: Judicial Response and Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic 
  
• Adapting to the Present and Maybe to the Future Too
  
• COVID-19 Law Student Impact
  
• On Beyond Unicorns
  
• William A. Ingram American Inn of Court Essay Contest Winner
  
• Nurturing Connection in Crisis
  
• Counseling 'Panicked and Desperate Clients': Practicing Family Law in a Pandemic
  Practicing During a Pandemic: Remote Depositions
• I Am the American Inns of Court: Come Along with Me
• 14th Annual New York American Inn of Court Opening Dinner Keynote Address on January 16, 2020
  

May/June 2020—Protecting the Vulnerable

• Pro Bono Service Does More than Help the Vulnerable
  
• Civil Legal Aid Firms Protect the Most Vulnerable
  
• You Can Make a Difference to the Abused and Neglected Children in Your Community
  
• How Sports Made Me a Better Pro Bono Attorney
  
• Representation of Indigent Parents 

March/April 2020—Lawyer Well-Being

• Stress Success
  
• Make Mental Health a Priority
  
• Sleep: Vital Component of Attorney Wellness
  
• Pathways to Wellness in the Practice of Law
  
• Getting Through Rough Days: Changing our Culture and Building a Community of Hope
  
• The Benefits of Mentorship to Lawyer Wellness

January/February 2020—Women in the Legal Profession

• A Conversation with Military Lawyer Trailblazer Malinda E. Dunn
• Like Mother, Like Daughter?
• Women in the Law: Reflections from a Mother-at-Law
• Women in the Legal Profession: We’ve Made Progress but We’re Not There Yet
• "Miss, Are You an Attorney?" Tales of a ‘Lady Lawyer’ in the Midwest
• Virginia’s First: An Interview with Judge Rebecca Beach Smith

November/December 2019—Communication in the Age of Social Media

• Taking Heat for a Tweet: Ethical Concerns with Lawyers Communicating on Social Media
• Social Media Evidence: From Preservation to Authentication
• Dark Window: A Look into Privacy in the Age of Social Media

September/October 2019—Disaster & Emergency Preparedness

• When a Tornado Strikes: Reflections on Lessons Learned from a Natural Disaster
• Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina
• Disasters & Emergency Preparedness

July/August 2019—Alternatives to Traditional Practice

• Using Legal Skills in Unexpected Ways: How Being a Citizen Lawyer Can Better the Community and the Profession
  
• Service as a Lawyer Leads to Service of Another Kind
  
• How I Found Higher Education after Law School and Film School
  
• Alternatives to Traditional Practice

May/June 2019—Professionalism and Civility

• Attorneys and the #MeToo Movement—Where Do We Go from Here?
• Professionalism and Civility
• "Can't We All Just Get Along?" Civility Across the V.
• Civility and the Inns of Court

March/April 2019—Litigation and Effective Advocacy

• Professionalism Benefits Attorneys, Their Clients, and the Legal Community
  
• Preparation is the Key to a Rewarding and Successful Mediation
  
• Winning Appeals Through Strategic Thinking
  
• Client Advocacy Isn’t Personal: A Lesson from the National Trial Advocacy Program
  
• Thinking About Thinking: Implicit Biases in Litigation

January/February 2019—Mentoring

• Mentoring: One Size Doesn’t Fit All
  
• How to Be a Great Mentee
  
• Five Easy Ways to Get the Most Out of Mentorship at Small-Group Meetings
  
• Promoting Confidence in the Legal Profession Requires Promoting Competence through Mentorship

November/December 2018—Technology

• Technology and the Practice of Law: A Necessary Union
  
• A Blueprint for a User-friendly, Nonjury High-tech Courtroom
  
• Blockchain: Beyond Cryptocurrency
  
• Bot to the Future
  
• Is It Ethical to Tape a Client?

September/October 2018—The Family Law Issue

• William C. Koch, Jr. Welcomed as President of the American Inns of Court
• Practicing Professionalism Does Not Conflict With Zealous Advocacy
  
• Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: The New Federal Divorce Law
  
• The American Inns of Court and the Collaborative Process: Shared Ideals of Professionalism and Civility
  
• Helping Families in Challenging Situations Find Healthy Solutions
  
• Why Family Law Inns are Special

July/August 2018—Enjoying the Practice of Law

• Get a Life! Advice for Living an Honorable and Reasonably Happy Live as an Attorney
  
• The Practice of Law Becomes More Satisfying with Every Passing Year
  
• Fatherly and Other Wisdom for Enjoying the Practice of Law and More

May/June 2018—Law School Education

• Reimagining Legal Education: Forging Ahead with Experiential Learning in Law Schools and American Inns of Court
• The Buck Stops with the American Inns of Court
• Experiential Learning in Law School
• Developing the Whole Professional
• Post-Law School: Wings to Fly or Freefalling

March/April 2018—Checks and Balances

• A Role for Lawyers in Restoring Civil Discourse
• The Key to Balance: A Fair and Impartial Judiciary

January/February 2018—Mentoring

• Legal and Ethical Issues in Mentoring
• Harry V. Booth–Judge Henry A. Politz American Inn of Court Puts Mentoring First
• Mentoring Millennials
• 10 Mentoring Tips
• Mentoring: Your Wouldn't Be Here Without It
• Making Mentoring Work for Your Inn

November/December 2017—Worldwide Connections

• The World is Wide, But Within Your Grasp
• The Global Intellectual Property Practitioner
• A Journey in Israel
• Train Up a Child

September/August 2017—Solo/Small Firm Practice

• Planning to Start Your Law Firm
• Good Things Come in Small Packages
• The Benefits and Challenges of Our Solo and Small Firm Practices
• Experience and Observations of a Founding Member of the American Inns of Court

July/August 2017—Access to Justice

• Pro Se Litigation: A View from the Bench
  
• Providing Access to Justice
  
• To Everything There Is a Season…Now Is the Season to Be a Lawyer
  
• Delivery of Legal Services to the Underserved in Ohio

May/June 2017—Judicial Transparency

• Judicial Transparency—One State's Approach 
• Pitfalls of Social Media for Judicial Transparency

March/April 2017—Diversity Matters

• Diversity and Inclusion Matter: Why and How
  
• The Lack of Diversity in ADR—and the Current Beneath
  
• Ethical Prohibitions Against Discrimination Promote Diversity in Our Profession
  
• Diversifying the Socioeconomic Dynamics of the Bench

January/February 2017—Networking

• Networking Works, If You…
• When Networking Means Careworking
• 10 Tips for Better In-Person Networking
• Networking, Marketing, and Everything in Between

November/December 2016—Work/Life Balance

• Finding Fulfillment in the Practice of Law
  
• Ten Tips for Achieving Better Work–Life Balance
  
• Emotional Intelligence: Know Thyself to Achieve Work and Life Balance
  
• Work–Life Balance: Excellence in the Moment as a Lawyer, Juggler, and Firefighter
  
• Mother Lawyer: A Perspective on Work/Life Balance

September/October 2016—Alternative Dispute Resolution

• Alternative Dispute Resolution: A New Harmony of Civility and Professionalism
  
• Victim Offender Dialogue: A Benefit to Youth and Society
  
• Improving Professionalism by Improving Judgment—Keys to Advising About Settlement and Mediation
  
• Disputants: The Missing Third Leg of the ADR Stool

July/August 2016—Supreme Court

• Practicing Before the Supreme Court
• Improvident Grants

May/June 2016—Specialized Inns

• Workers’ Comp: Virginia Workers’ Compensation American Inn of Court: Crossing New Ground in the American Inns of Court Movement
  
• Workers’ Comp: Motels of Comp? (Not in Jersey)
  
• ADR: The Justice Marie L. Garibaldi American Inn of Court for Alternate Dispute Resolution
  
• Criminal: Herbert G. Goldburg & Ronald K. Cacciatore Criminal Law American Inn of Court
  
• Appellate: Bruce R. Jacob Criminal Appellate American Inn of Court
  
• Elder: Thomas E. Penick, Jr. American Inn of Court at Stetson Law: First Elder Law American Inn of Court Raising Awareness and Finding Solutions in Florida
  
• IP: The National Success of, and Challenges for, Intellectual Property American Inns of Court
  
• Family: Melson Arsht American Inn of Court: What’s So Special About a Specialty Inn
  
• Bankruptcy: Broadening the American Inns of Court Through Specialization
  

March/April 2016—Practical Legal Skills

• Preparing, Briefing, and Arguing Your Case with a Judicial Opinion in Mind
• Making Mediation Work
• Effective Written Advocacy
• The View from WAY Behind the Bench
• Endgame at the Witness Stand
  
  

January/February 2016—Lawyers Assistance Programs

• Alcohol-Free Socializing as a Solution?
• Lousiana’s Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program
• New Jersey Lawyers’ Assistance Program: A Case Study in Creative and Compassionate Caring
  
  

November/December 2015—Technology

• Avoiding the Heat for a Tweet-Ethical Limits of Advising Clients to "Clean Up" Their Social Media Profiles
• Using the New to Preserve the Old: The Value of Social Media and Other Connectors to Enhance Your Inn's Collegiality and Recruitment
• Using Technology to "Ramp" Accessibility Barriers in the Legal Profession
• Maintaining Competence in Your Legal Practice in the Face of Technological Advancement
  
  

September/October 2015—35th Anniversary

• Reflections on the Genesis of an Innovative, Productive, and Prospering Inn
• Reflections of Chief Justice Warren E. Burger at the Robert A. Grant American Inn of Court 20th Anniversary
• Blazing the Trail-Delawareans Instrumental in the Development of the American Inns of Court
  
  

July/August 2015—Professionalism

• Civility and Deposition Objections
• Professionalism: Why is it Important?
• Professionalism on the Road: Lessons Learned from Taking the Inn on Tour
• Fallacy and the Professional
  
  

May/June 2015—Magna Carta

• Magna Carta: Muse & Mentor
• Magna Carta Saves Legality of the Declaration of Independence
• Anatomy of a Magna Carta Program
• Thirteenth Century Revolutionaries: Magna Carta and Beyond
• Magna Carta Pie (or The Day the Law Came Alive)
  
  

March/April 2015—Mentoring

• Mentoring: Observations from the Bottom
• Mentoring 101, 102, 103, and 104: The Ferguson-White American Inn of Court Mentoring Program
• Tools for a Fulfilling Mentorship
• Let the Circle Be Unbroken
• Apprenticing for a Flourishing Life in the Law: The Virtues of Judicial Clerkships
  
  

January/February 2015—Humor in the Law

• Laughing Matters
• Does this Robe Make Me Look Fat?
• Humor in the Practice of Law
• The Juror
• Pop Culture in the Law: I Fought the Law III

November/December 2014—Pro Bono & Access to Justice

• Have You Ever Been Experienced? Attorneys Provide Critical Pro Bono Representation
  
• More Than a Responsibility: A Case for Strengthening the Profession and Feeding Your Passion Through Pro Bono Work
  
• The Silvonus Shannon Story
  
• William Reece Smith, Jr. Litigation American Inn of Court Focuses on Pro Bono and Diversity

September/October 2014—Judicial Clerks

• A Few Personal Observations on my Relationships with my Law Clerks
• Roots and Wings: My Experience as a Judicial Clerk
• The Judge-Law Clerk Relationship: More Than Just a Job
• One Set of Eyes, Two Perspectives: Clerking in the State Trial Court and Federal Court of Appeals
• Family Albums
• Judicial Internships Yield Valuable Lessons    

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