Chuck Newton

A Simple Container Home Or Office

We have discussed here before, but sometimes you just need examples.  If you are in need of additional space for your home or an office, or for living space so you have a place in your home for an office, or even a small off-site location to operate your law practice, you might consider a simple structure built mainly from shipping containers.  It can afford you a cheap, comfortable and reliable place to work.

The one, as shown on Jetson Green, is out of Bangkok, Thailand, but it could just as well be Houston, Texas.  It is a one-bedroom, one bathroom home built using two, 20-foot containers with cutouts for windows and doors.  But, it could just as well be a small office, just big enough for a waiting and reception area, a private office and bathroom.  You can add some size cheaply by simply adding additional containers.  You can find used shipping containers for a couple or three thousand dollars each.  You might need a little expert help depending on your skill set and sense of adventure, but as you can see below this structure if very basic.

This building features a roof layer that's raised above the home.   It offers shade to the building and allows for passive ventilation to keep the inside of the structure cool.  It also looks good.

It is undoubted something you should consider.

 

5 Tips For Entering Law School Students

When you enter law school it is such a foreign land.  It can almost appear to be enemy territory.  Nobody teaches you how to study, succeed, thrive or survive in law school, and your base of knowledge is so small it is exceedingly hard to figure it out.  People can give you hints and a few suggestions but, like they say, you really have to figure it out for yourself.  I had one law professor that compared it to someone parachuting you behind enemy lines with nothing but a pocket knife and a Hersey bar.  I remember asking my father-in-law, who is a lawyer, for advice and he just kept telling me "don't fight the problem," and I kept thinking, what in the hell does that mean.

But, as far as advice goes, I ran across the Top 5 Tips for Entering Law School Students on Atlas LSAT Blog.  I think it is good well-rounded advice.  I will not cover all that was written here, but here are the highlights.

1.     More is not better.  Pick up one commercial outline you like for each subject.  Buy and use only the books absolutely assigned.  All else will only distract you and the truth of the matter is you do not have time to read all of that stuff anyway.

2.    One head may be better than three.  Share some.  Talk some.  Ask for help.  But nix the study group.Ambitious [I]f you stand around for 10 minutes and listen to a study group study together, they’re generally doing one of two things: being quiet and studying independently or talking about something that has nothing to do with law.

3.    Don’t overthink it.  Law professors like to complicate things, [b]ut the truth is that much of the case law is pretty straightforward in the way it will be tested.  The students that get themselves into trouble are the ones who present themselves with all sorts of convoluted exceptions, or who over complicate the concepts.

4.    You’re doing as well as you think you are.  One of the biggest concerns for 1st year law students is “How am I doing?”  You don’t receive any concrete feedback ... This kind of feedback-free environment preys on the insecurities of many students, as many feel like they’re falling behind if they don’t study endlessly.  Don’t let it shake your confidence.  Remember that no one has received any grades, and it’s a level playing field.  Focus on what you’re doing day-to-day and remind yourself to stay positive.

5.    Put down the books sometimes.  If you’re like the vast majority of people, your brain stops functioning at a high level after a certain amount of studying, and the returns will diminish dramatically after, say, the 5th hour.  Give yourself a normal schedule, including time away from the books doing things you enjoy and relaxing.  Remember, it’s not the workaholics who succeed in law school.

The Art Closing Niche

Personally, I do not.  But, there are some people, collectors, museums, art galleries and the like that pay a lot of money for art.  These art buyers, when you think about it, are investors.  They might based part of their art purchase because the art is pretty or enjoyable.  Mainly, however, they are buying the piece because the art work is purported to be something of value, such a by a famous artist.  Now, it does not take a genius to figure this out.  It does not take someone that that has an art fetish.  It probably would not hurt, but even the business type lawyer who is interested in investments or authentication or research or investigation will do.

The life of an artist generally is not easy and it is difficult to make a living in the business.  There is an old joke, more true than funny, that says a successful art career is based 90% on how much money your parents make, and 10% on who you sleep with.  So, what do some burgeoning art students do?  Why, they go to law school of course.

For these lawyers there is the art closing niche. 

Nobody in this day and age would think about buying a house, land or building without some company insuring title.  It is hard to understand why someone would spend what sometimes is many times the costs of a home on art without the same kind of policy.  The reason is that buyers of houses, art and other big ticket items want or demand transactional confidence.

An article in Forbes magazine discusses two companies that sell art title insurance.  One is Hiscox, a syndicate at Lloyd's of London, which has insured title to paintings and antiquities.  The company charges a premium of 0.5% to 2.5%, depending on the risk involved.  It charges annual renewals as well.

The other is Aris Title Insurance of New York.  The company has a broad range of clients who are art collectors, art intermediaries, financial consultants, insurance professionals, legal advisers, museums and wealth advisers.

So you say, but does this have to do more with insurance than law?  Well, no more than a real estate transactional business.  It is the combination of insurance, accounting and law when you think about it.  Ultimately, insurance is not going to be written without legal opinions, determinations, investigation and research.  Combine them as some lawyers do with a real estate title company and you have the ultimate service.  It is transactional.  Close a $1,000,000.00 purchase and pocket somewhere under $25,000.00 in premium dollar, plus amount for a title opinion, escrow services and the like.

You can read a little bit more about it in Risk & Insurance, the Art Law Gallery, FindArticles, Fine Art Registry, NYU Sterm among other sites.

Look into it more for yourself.  It might truly be a way to expose yourself to art, practice law and make some money.

Growing Primitive

Sometimes you need to trade technology for telephony.  A chat message for yakking it up.  Getting on the horn instead of getting online.

Growing primitive is a combination, for me anyway, of growing your law practice with going primitive, which is a term that describes trading keyboarding or texting for a phone call.

Do not get me wrong, social media is awesome in so many ways.  But, it is also lacking in so many ways.  Ways that it takes to grow a law practice rapidly.  It is hard to sometimes express warmth, affinity, empathy and appreciation by texting or email.  It is hard to measure tonality or the inflection of one's voice.

Phone calling is more complicated.  You run into the palace guards, voicemail, and wrong numbers.  Sure it is a little reminiscent of going back to dial-up, but let us face facts.  Phone calling is so retro these days it is cool.

It is more personal.  It represents a slower pace.  It is more distinguishing.  It is native.

It might be easier to make contact with social media, but all of the emails, texts, and tweets somehow get lost in the mix.  Phone calls represent a little more lasting impression.  Try calling someone, when you do not need them for anything specific, and for no reason at all but to figure out how they are doing.

Next to personal contact, telephone communications probably work best, especially for the initial contact.

It is all about marketing, and just making friends.  These two tasks really go hand in hand.  In the area of network or relationship marketing, phone calls are key.

I will get more immediate referrals for staying in contact by phone with my referral sources than by emailing them constantly.  Sure both help, but calling is more memorable.

So my tip to you is to grow primitive.

Home Office Sloth-Cloth

Oh come on.  You work from home.  Do not pretend that you shave and dress up in a business suit every doggone day.  And, if you do, the question is why?

We all need some down time.  The beauty of working from home is that you get more down time than everybody else.  When you work at home you can be a little less guarded.  Maybe that is part of the joy of working at home.  You do not have to please anybody but yourself most of the time.

Sure, you have to clean up well when you go out of the house, but while at home it is all comfort without a commute.  In fact, the term "carpet commute" describes the homey feel of it all.

I have got to admit that I use to be a little embarrassed when the mail person or FedEx person came to the door.  Not because I was obscene, but in my ease I can get a little raggedy.  But, what I have found out is that these professionals are not necessarily over dressed themselves.  Further, I think they might be just a little jealous.

Home office clothes?  Too often it is an old baggy pair of Dockers or shorts and an sloth-cloth.  You know, an old t-shirt that you like to wear around the house.  And, depending on the time of the year, I am usually barefoot, wearing white crew socks (with the gray toe and heal), or my old-man slippers (well, because the floors get cold in the winter).

I am not saying that I go out of the house this way, unless it is a quick trip to the grocery store or the hardware store.  If I am meeting with a client, I am at least semi-formal -- meaning a suit without a tie.  Of course in Court I wear a suit and a tie.

At home, it is all about comfort and I do not have to be self-conscious.  I do not have to be anxious or artificial in any way.  Nobody can see me over the phone or online.  So, being just me, I do not have to feel contrived, or hammy, or studied, or Hollywood.

My clothing often allows me to go from office work to manual labor of sorts.  The other day, for example, I was working on pleadings, then I took a break, went to Home  Depot, and came home, rolled on the ground, and replaced a sprinkler head I drove over previously.  I washed up a little, and then I was back to the pleadings.  (I know, I know, you are asking how much fun can one guy have)?

I think it was Mark Twain who said, "The finest clothing made is a person's skin, but, of course, society demands something more than this."  And, even at home, I wear a lot more than this.  After all, some people should not be caught naked in the privacy of their own home, and I certainly fall into that category.

So, on what do I base my home office fashion sense?  As the late, great Gilda Radner said, " I base most of my fashion sense on what doesn't itch".  For me that represents khakis and pocket tees.

Now these are not my church clothes because I have come to learn that God prefers ironed, buttoned up shirts, with a collar, nice slacks and dress shoes.  Go to church in your home office sloth-cloth and you are going straight to hell.  Go to court in your sloth-cloth and you are going straight to jail.

My point is dress appropriately for where you are, but in your home office it is okay to be a Raggedy Ann or Raggedy Andy.

Enjoy the home office experience.

Law School Is Sooo Easy!

Western State University College Of Law Receives Full ABA Approval

I previously posted about Florida A&M University College of Law receiving ABA full approval, but the ABA has also granted full approval to Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California.

Western State University College of Law, the oldest law school in Orange County, California.  Its full approval follows the ABA Accreditation Committee’s recommendation to its Council of the Section on Legal Education and Admission in early July. In 2005, the school was granted provisional approval by the ABA, signifying substantial compliance with ABA standards and a plan to bring the school into full compliance. A school is only granted provisional approval for a maximum of five years.

Also, Western State University remains accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California (CBE), which permits students to sit for the bar examination in California, and by the Senior Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

Western Law offers a full-time program, which normally can be completed within three years; and a part-time program, which makes it possible for a student to continue at his or her job while going to law school.

ABA approval is vitally important because it ensures that Western Law graduates can not only sit for the California bar examination, but can take the bar exam or otherwise practice in any jurisdiction in the United States.  Portability is increasingly becoming an issue with graduates of law schools in the United States.

There are now 20 law school in California that are in one stage of ABA approval or another.

Office Sheds Offer Architectural Experimentation

I get mail every week from attorneys who have qualms about practicing from home.  The desire is there, but the concern centers around family and other obligations, a lack of space, or just the need to have the home office physically away from the rest of the household.

Now, combine this with the visual need of some lawyers for an exciting and dynamic office space.  After all, we are a visual people and we want to feel comfortable in a real office environment sometimes.

I have written about shed work or back yard offices before.  I will undoubtedly do so again because I see it as a real solution to the visual, artistic, separate space, office environment difficulties some lawyers have with the home office and the carpet commute.

So, I was happy to read on Treehugger that these so-called "garden sheds" allow for a great deal of architectural experimentation.  As stated in the article, the small size and costs of these additions allows most people (in our case, lawyers) to do something different and to have some fun in the process.  To build, in effect, something we really want in an office.  Something that gives us a degree of separation.  Something that is ours to own and admire.

Here are some examples:

The Dog Bite Niche

Okay this area of personal injury law might not be as glamorous as pursuing giant corporations for wrongdoing, but it can be a profitable niche practice of law nonetheless.

There are currently 74.8 million dogs in America according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA).  And, according to the Centers for Disease Control And Prevention (CDC), 2 percent of the United States population is bitten each year by dogs, or more than 4.7 million people, and almost 800,000 of these bits require medical attention.  1,008 people a day are sent to the emergency room by dog bites every year.  And, here is the interesting part.  16,475 dog bites in 2001 were work related.  For example, approximately 2,851 letter carriers are bitten by dogs each year.  Dog bites are the 5th most frequent cause for children's' visits to the emergency room.  Americans have a one in fifty chance of being bitten by a dog each year.  And, in 2007 33 people died from dog maulings in the USA.  By all indications dog bite incidents are going up in number.

Facing facts, there are just some dangerous dogs out there.  Did you know that Presa Canarios, Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and their mixes are responsible for 74% of all dog attacks, including 68% of attacks upon children, 82% of the attacks on adults, 65% of dog mauling deaths, and 68% of maimings.

Over 50% of all dog bites occur on the dog owner's property, meaning that there is usually insurance to cover these bites.

Although estimating the actual costs of dog bites has varied, at one point the American Medical Association indicated it might be as high as $2 billion as year.

Florida A & M University College Of Law Is Granted Full Approval

Congratulation to Florida A & M University College of Law.  It is well deserved.

The FAMU College of Law was reestablished in 2000 and opened its doors to 89 students in 2002. The ABA granted the law school provisional accreditation in August 2004.  Since that time, the FAMU College of Law continued to grow and pursue its mission.

The American Bar Association Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar granted full approval to Florida A&M University College of Law during its meeting in Chicago on July 30, 2009.

FAMU President James H. Ammons announced the Council’s decision regarding accreditation during a press conference held in the ceremonial moot courtroom of the FAMU College of Law in downtown Orlando.

Under the rules of the ABA, the Council’s decision is final and effective immediately, subject to review by the ABA House of Delegates. While the House of Delegates may request reconsideration of the Council’s decision, the group has never done so in the history of the ABA.

The FAMU College of Law becomes one of only 189 law schools fully approved by the ABA, which means that 500-plus FAMU College of Law graduates can continue to sit for the Bar exam in any state in the nation.

The law school was recognized as the most diverse law school in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, and ranked 7th nationally for providing clinical opportunities by National Jurist magazine.