ABA Section of Business Law

Our mini-theme: The Business of lawyers

Our mini-theme for this issue is the business of lawyers, which is not to be confused with the business of law. Today, we as lawyers are busier than ever in both our personal and professional lives. To address this plight, we have included a number of articles that discuss how to take care of ourselves, our families, and our businesses in order to achieve a stress-free practice and to better serve our clients.

The first article, by Cathy Benton and Nicole Brown, discusses "Taking care of lawyers taking care of children." This article advises us on the salient points of providing child care in a law firm setting. Terrie Wheeler then highlights the significance of marketing our law practices and gives us tips on how to do so effectively.

Next, we hear from Gary Munneke, who writes about disaster preparedness for law firms and tells us how to plan for the worst-case scenario. We then shift our focus to professional development. In an article by Craighton Goeppele, we learn how working on a secondment (a temporary loan of a lawyer to a client to work in-house at a negotiated rate of compensation) can be beneficial to the client, the firm, and the lawyer.

When lawyers find themselves facing personal or professional dilemmas that can adversely affect their practices, they need to know where to turn for help. Ellen Murphy closes out our mini-theme with a description of Lawyer Assistance Programs (LAPs) and Law Office Management Assistance Programs (LOMAPs), distinguishes between the two, and provides information on how to locate these programs in your jurisdiction.

We hope you find these articles to be informative, but what is more important is that you find them instructive in attaining a better quality of life within the business of law.

— Pamela M. Dashiell
Boston

— Donna Nance
Atlanta