Chuck Newton

Future Shock

I have always been amazed at the number of emails, mainly, that I receive which take pot shots on how I chose to practice law at home and virtually, with no public office space, and without staff.  Some act like I have chosen to practice this way just to offend them.  I try to be polite about it, but just because I chose to encourage the Third Wave practice of law, it is not like I force anybody to read my blog or to do what I do.  If you want to continue with office space, staff and associates, then do it.  Please do not let me stop you.

The question is why do some lawyers find this so offensive.  Alvin Toffler, the man who defined the Third Wave, stated, "Man has a limited biological capacity for change. When this capacity is overwhelmed, the capacity is in future shock". 

I have got to admit that I came to where I am, and in my beliefs in how a law firm should operate in stages because I did not have the initial capacity to accept such changes.  I had to move into a series of smaller offices with fewer staff and fewer lawyers in order to realize where I was heading.  All I could do was go as far as I could see, and then, of course, I could see further.

I tend to think that those who disagree with me suffer from the same lack of capacity for change.  They feel overwhelmed in considering what I am suggesting.  They act like I am asking them to give up all of their wealth and belongings and to follow me.  But, I am not.  They cannot get their heads around the concept because it is just too foreign to them.  They are overwhelmed and they are suffering future shock.  They are suffering from, to quote Toffler further, "shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short of time".

Yet, they know the practice of law must change or that it is changing radically around them.  Why else would they seek out my little blog and read anything that I have written.

If you are suffering from future shock, and believe you just cannot make the sacrifice, then I suggest that you do as I did.  Just start making steps in the direction that i suggest.  You will always go further.

Dinette Set - New Year's Resolutions

A Special Message To You From Our President

Keeping New Year's Resolutions (The Reality)

The New Year's Resolutions

No New Year's Resolutions For Me

What are New Year's resolutions other than a STOP DOING LIST.  Next year I will stop eating as much.  I will stop sitting on my fat ass as much.  I will stop sleeping as much.  I will stop spending as much money.  I will stop cussing.  I will stop being disrespectful to to others.  I will quit using heroin.  (JUST KIDDING ON THE LAST ONE).  And I am thinking, who needs this!

We sit down and make these resolutions with all of the introspection of making a grocery list.  And, just like going to the grocery store we do not stick to the list when we get there.  Mmmm, that ice cream looks good.  Let's try it.

I think we all need goals, and these can certainly be recognized in any New Year's list.  For me, however, I think I will save the give ups for Lent, the 40-day period between Ash Wednesday and to Holy Thursday.  This at least represents the time that Jesus supposedly spent 40 days in the desert enduring temptation by Satan.  At least after 40 days I can pretty much go back to my old ways, and I have learned that most New Year's resolutions do not last that long.

But, what the new year will bring is an immediate need to pay your quarterly taxes, the new semester's tuition, gather your expenses, 1099s and prepare your tax returns, and begin work on your financial aid requests so your kids may stay in college or law school another year.

I think the better goal is to shoot for incremental change.  You can always better yourself.  You can always better your best.  But, if you are waiting for the New Year, or for a new Congress, for your children to graduate, or for something else to do this, it is not going to work anyway.  Change does not start on January 1st.  It starts every single day of your life.

Are Dual Degrees The Wave Of The Future

My daughter, Mary Newton, was recently attempting to decided if she wanted to enter the JD/MBA program an the University of Houston Law Center.  Both are outstanding programs.  And, I had to ask, is this the wave of the future?

Jackie Mason's New Years Message

ABBA Happy New Year

One Disturbing Trend In Law School Admissions

The older I get, the more I realize that diversity is so important in the legal profession.  Yet, diversity seems to be declining in some areas.

According to Columbia Law School, law school enrollment of first year African American and Mexican American has been actually declining.  And, whereas law school applications are down overall, we are talking about an unexceptionable trend.

This is particularly disturbing because over the last 15 years African Americans and Mexican Americans have been apply to law school in in relatively constant numbers.  They have been doing better and better on all leading indicators to determine admissibility, such as GPA and LSAT.  While during the same time both the size of law school entering classes and the total number of law schools has increased.  There are now 4,000 more first year positions than 15 years ago at the same time that there are fewer applications for those spots overall.

The net result is that for African Americans and Mexican Americans, law schools are simply not progressing toward inclusive admissions.  And, this affects everyone who is concerned about better education and a more representative legal education.