Blogs

Taking Stock – Why I Got Involved with the NLD in 2023 By: Matthew Freeman As we wrap up 2023, I look back on my participation with the NLD and AAJ as one of the highlights of the year. I have only been active for a little over a year -- and I have already made numerous lifelong friends and have taken advantage of some of the benefits that the NLD provides for professional growth and development. I’d like to share some of the reasons that I got involved and encourage you all to check out the programming for the NLD Spotlight Month in January. There are virtual and in-person events that will illustrate each of the points below. ...

STAC: It Means More than You Know By: Jacob Morse What is it? STAC—one of AAJ’s most successful and meaningful educational programming events—is an opportunity for law students to get a taste of what it means to become a trial lawyer. The tournament, held annually each spring, begins on March 2, 2023 with hundreds of law student teams competing in 10 geographic regions across the United States. After the regional weekend, the tournament culminates in a national finals weekend among the 10 regional winners, this year held in conjunction with AAJ’s PAC drive in New Orleans beginning on March 29, 2023. The fictional case involves a civil fact pattern, ...

The Importance of Financial Wellness for New Lawyers By: Robert J. Hartigan The path to becoming a lawyer is not cheap and student loan debt affects many areas of a new lawyer’s life. A recent report authored by the American Bar Association (ABA) found that student loan debt has a significant impact on new lawyer’s life milestones including getting married, having children, and buying a house. [1] That same survey found that around 90 percent of the respondents owed approximately $108,000 in law school loans and $130,000 in combined undergraduate and graduate loans. These figures do not include other forms of debt including credit cards and personal ...

Lessons Learned at Trial By: Jordan Butler Samantha Sweeney and I recently were given the honor of representing a mother, father and their child at civil jury trial in Vermilion County, Illinois. The case arose from a crash that occurred out on rural intersection. The mother and her daughter were heading home for dinner at the time. They were just .6 miles from their home when they were catastrophically t-boned by a fatigued farmer who blew a stop sign while he was also on his way home for dinner. The impact between the vehicles was so severe it knocked our clients’ vehicle onto its side and into a nearby ditch. The mother who was driving the vehicle was instantly ...

How Meditation Can Help Your Practice By: Anthony M. Beneduce, Esq. Representing injury victims can be taxing. The monkey mind is racing. Managing client appointments, preparing for deadlines and depositions, conducting discovery, and reading hundreds of daily emails…it’s no surprise that 50% of lawyers say they are depressed. What can we do to ensure that these legal advocates can show up to work and thrive? One possible answer is meditation. Taking time to connect with one’s inner source and allowing the external world to pass by can be an important tool to calm the never-ending stress of a typical workday. It is unbelievable how freeing just one or two ...

Asset protection refers to the concept of guarding your wealth. Essentially, it helps keep your assets safe from future lawsuits, creditors or divorces. Keep in mind that if you don’t do any type of asset protection planning, your property may get taken away from you. Because of this, it’s important to come up with good strategies to protect your wealth both in the corporate world and your personal life. Start Devising a Plan Now It will be too late for you to come up with an asset protection strategy if you’ve already been served with a lawsuit. That’s why it’s important to take action prior to a claim. Keep in mind that having a good strategy in place ...

Jurisdictional Discovery – Better than it Sounds! By: Pat Wallace The Supreme Court of the United States has taken a renewed interest in personal jurisdiction – see e.g. , Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California , 137 S.Ct. 1773 (2017), Daimler AG v. Bauman , 571 U.S. 117 (2014) – and defendants have likewise grown more bullish on filing challenges to personal jurisdiction at the pleading stage. While in some cases it is obvious who the appropriate parties are, many companies intentionally create opaque networks of entities that obscure which one is liable for the harm done to our clients. This article provides one tool for unearthing ...