COMMUNITY
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my dear wife enjoys ! Eggs , chicken , toilet paper . Victory !
Thank you to my younger associates who talked me through daily nervous breakdowns about working remotely via the web when “ the screen doesn ’ t look like it does in the office .” Using Facetime to show them what I was looking at . Resurrecting my 2009 Sony Vaio for the first time in five years so I could have an extra screen . And so glad I bought the iPad Pro last year — I simply bought it for note taking , so I could stop searching for paper , but turns out this gadget is pretty much another computer , and it is my go-to for Zoom . So for the dozen to fifteen more years I hope to practice law , I ’ ll end up being less of a technology dinosaur than I would have been otherwise .
On a positive note , I ’ ve finally used that touchless , tapping form of payment with my credit cards .
3 . Minerva Steele , Esq . – Battle of the Bulge I gained 40 pounds . Who gains 40 pounds ?! I am only five feet high ; I cannot afford to gain 40 pounds !! What is going to happen when I am stuck at home around all those snacks and sitting on my bum all day ? I cannot get FATTER !!
As businesses transitioned to “ work from home ” these were the thoughts going through my head . I had already gained so much weight . I did not even have COVID to blame . So , I made a choice . I was going to get fit . I bought a new smoothie machine and smoothie-making ingredients and started a smoothie diet . I had a smoothie for breakfast and lunch and a sensible dinner . I started walking more - a good excuse to get outside anyway . And , it happened . The numbers on the scale were finally going the direction I wanted . I have lost twenty-five pounds ; I am halfway to my goal . I let myself have cheat meals , and sometimes cheat days . I try not to judge myself too harshly – there is a pandemic going on after all . But I do give myself some tough love to keep up my motivation . It took a pandemic to get me to the place I needed to be to make the changes I needed to make . I ’ m grateful . I ’ m hungry , but I ’ m grateful .
4 . W . Michael Smith , Esq . – Virtual Voir Dire I made two goals for myself this year regarding my professional development . One was to improve my cross-examination skills , and the other was to improve my voir dire skills . When the pandemic struck , many of the classes I had signed up for were cancelled , so I had to find another way to accomplish my goals . I had heard of virtual focus groups and wondered if it could work for voir dire . Why not give it a shot – what do I have to lose ?
I made a Craigslist ad and asked for people to be “ jurors ”, listen to a case and provide me with feedback . I paid them $ 20 each for two hours . My first virtual voir dire , I had eight people show up . I practiced a very difficult case which is currently pending . It was a little messy at first and I was not sure if this platform was going to work : however I kept practicing , again and again and things improved . I set up two to three of these Zoom voir dire sessions every week , and every week my skills improved . Four months later , I feel confident in my voir dire skills-as confident as anyone can every feel about voir dire- and I have worked out some difficult issues in many of my cases . I thought the pandemic was going to ruin any chance I had of completing my professional goals . Instead , it made me think creatively to find a solution and opened up a whole new platform for practicing my trial skills .
5 . Betsy Hodges , Esq . – Making Due As a fun and final entry , Betsy Hodges demonstrates for us what can be done with a little ingenuity and an old ironing board with her work-from-home stand-up desk !
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