Friday Five: Thanksgiving Special
Posted: November 21st, 2007
By: Zach Heller
Category: Friday Five, Lawline.com

I know, I know, it’s only Wednesday.  But it’s a special week.  With Thanksgiving tomorrow, we thought it would be better for everyone if this week’s Friday Five turned into the Wednesday Five.  This way you can sleep in on Friday to nurse the full belly, instead of excitedly waking up to see the top five list you have been thinking about all week.

TOP 5 REASONS FOR LAWYERS TO GIVE THANKS

1) ONLINE CLE.  The fact of the matter is that CLE is now mandatory in 41 states nationwide.  Soon, that number will increase to 50.  It is already in the works.  And even though this is an important step toward furthering the knowledge of every attorney, it can still be a hassle to get all those hours done on time.  Thankfully, now you can complete almost all of your CLE credits online with the use of new media.  This makes the CLE experience easier and less time consuming, so you can focus the rest of your time on your clients.

2) THE BILLABLE HOUR.  The average hourly wages for attorneys is rising.  In New York City this year some of the top attorneys in certain fields just topped $1000/hour.  That means that the lower wages are going to start to come up as well.  This is one reason that anyone seeking an attorney might not be so thankful.  But for you lawyers out there, its money to be made.

3) STUPID COMPANIES.  Even the smartest and most knowledgeable corporations in the world are bound to screw up from time to time.  And as a lawyer, that makes it easier to go after them with lawsuit after lawsuit.  Some of the big name companies that were in court in the past year are Apple, Merck, Mattel, Microsoft, and many, many more.  Almost every company who did anything this year faced some legal issues because of it.

4) STUPID JURIES.  Lawyers and Weathermen are the only two professionals that I know of that can be very successful without ever being right.  A talented lawyer has the ability to win cases whether or not he is correct.  And since the legal system in the US puts 12 average citizens in charge, you just have to be the most convincing lawyer in the room.  With simple tools and tricks you learn along the way, you can become a better lawyer by learning how to talk.

5) STUPID CLIENTS.  There are so many people out there looking for legal advice.  People are willing to pay you incredible amounts of money to help them out of a jam, try to win a chunk of change, or just assist them with legal things they know nothing about.  Most clients can be so ignorant that you can drag them along for as long as you like if you convince them good things are coming for them.  Again, you can control the outcome of a situation that is generating you more money.

So basically it wraps up like this.  Thank the world for being imperfect, thank people for being ignorant, and thank Lawline.com for Stress-Free CLE.  Thank you for reading.  Happy Thanksgiving!

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Comments
This was great! I was laughing the entire way through
Comment By: Don - November 21, 2007

I love online CLE. Without it, i would barely have any time for myself.
Comment By: Gregory - December 18, 2007