Outrunning Burnout

This month’s Wisconsin Lawyer magazine features an article by Paula Davis-Laack on burnout.  When I think of the word “burnout,” the first thought that comes to my mind is “I don’t have time for burnout.”  Maybe other lawyers and law students feel the same way–burnout is not an option.   

The article suggests five tips for preventing burnout:

1.  Increase your self-efficacy.
2.  Have creative outlets.
3.  Take care of yourself.
4.  Get support where you can find it.
5.  Identify your values.

What I like about these tips is that Ms. Davis-Laack comes at the problem of burnout from a constructive, positive angle.  The law profession is time-intensive and demanding, even though it is hugely rewarding.  The same can be said of law school.  Putting these tips into place seems fairly easy–simple habits to avoid big problems. 

By increasing your self-efficacy, the article says, you can help yourself to feel in control, and feeling in control reduces stress.  If you are in law school, start working on your outlines now–not at Thanksgiving. 

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Not an Ordinary Day

Campus walkTwelve years ago, around 8:45 am, I entered the subway station on Broadway and 86th Street. A busy day lay ahead of me: an orientation meeting of the New York State Bar, followed by callback interviews for a summer job, then maybe class if I could make it back uptown in time. But when I emerged from the subway, the world had changed. As I started walking east on 23rd Street I was startled to find clusters of people standing still on the sidewalk, all facing the same direction, many with their mouths wide open. I turned to see what they were seeing, and gasped when I saw the two World Trade Center towers, a ring of smoke around them.

The aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks has given us lawyers a lot to chew on: two wars of debatable legality, Guantanamo Bay, and the precarious balance between civil rights and national security, to name just a few things. But today is for remembering. My thoughts are with those who died, those who were left behind, and those who so bravely stepped up on that day.

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Ninth Circuit Rejects Google Wi-Fi Argument

car radio dial tnTime, and the Ninth Circuit, wait for no man. You may recall that I was halfway through my four-part series on the arguments in Joffe v. Google, the “Wi-Spy” case in which Google’s Street View cars intercepted and stored data captured from residential wireless networks. Google argued that that activity did not violate the Wiretap Act, because the Wiretap Act does not apply at all to Wi-Fi. There’s an exception in the Wiretap Act for “electronic communications readily accessible to the general public,” and the Act defines “readily accessible” for “radio communications” to mean that the communications must be encrypted or otherwise protected. Wi-Fi is broadcast over radio, and the plaintiffs did not set up encryption. Here’s Part I and Part II if you want to read more.

Earlier today, the Ninth Circuit issued its decision: the district court’s denial of Google’s motion to dismiss is affirmed; the exception does not apply. The Ninth Circuit essentially signed on to the district court’s “radio means radio” approach:

Continue ReadingNinth Circuit Rejects Google Wi-Fi Argument
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