General Practice, Solo, and Small Firm Division
Solo
Winter 2003 vol. 9 Number 2
From the Editor-in-Chief: Leaving Your Safety "Net"
Behind
By Robin Page West
It's been a long time since I've operated without technical
support. Over the past decade, I've built what I consider to be a
highly effective assemblage of gadgets to help me function at
peak levels as a small-firm litigator, taking them with me
wherever I go.
I can "ultra-forward" my office phone anywhere, so clients can
call me without knowing my whereabouts or my home number. My cell
phone is equipped with caller ID and text messaging. My e-mail is
configured to be accessible from any location; my PDA is nestled
in my purse, and my featherweight laptop sports a chic
retractable modem cord I picked up free at an ABA Annual Meeting
Expo.
Early on, though, I recognized that used indiscriminately, these
gadgets could pull me in too many directions at once, making me a
frantic mess. I decided technology should help me be more
productive and efficient and not provide whoever wants it
immediate access to me 24/7 (which is what happens when you give
your mobile number to too many people.)
I was feeling pretty darn smug about the wonderful balance I had
struck between work and personal life, and how my
techno-solutions made it all possible, when my husband proposed a
romantic Valentine's Day getaway to a bed and breakfast in the
historic Chesapeake Bay seaport of St. Michaels, Maryland. He
told me the tiny brick Victorian boasted authentic period
décor, a wood-burning fireplace in our bedroom, Laura
Ashley bed linens, and a gourmet chef on the premises. "When do
we leave?" I asked.
But after my initial delight, I started wondering. Do they have a
fax machine? Will I be able to get online with my laptop? What
about the phone? I called and learned to my dismay that there was
no phone in our room, not even a phone jack for the laptop, much
less a high-speed connection. No, there's no TV in your room,
either, the property manager stated, without apology. I'm sure we
could have found a place that would have fed my e-mail addiction,
but I decided to stick with my husband's plan. I packed my bags,
and left the gadgetry behind.
A couple of times in the car I thought about checking for
messages or e-mail, but once it finally sank in that I could not,
a funny thing happened. A feeling of relaxation swept over me,
and for the next 48 hours, I did something I had not done since
technology entered my law practice. I put work out of my mind,
and lived in the moment. We strolled around town, admired the
architecture, and talked about the weather. The anticipation of
sitting in front of the fire at the end of the day, eating
chili-spiced brownies, and drinking hot chai, was enough. I was
complete, just being there, and being in the moment. Something
that just would not have been possible if my laptop had been
along.
Robin Page West, editor-in-chief of SOLO, is
a principal at Cohan & West, P.C., a four-lawyer firm in
Baltimore, Maryland. She can be reached at
rpw@cohanwest.com.
