I am very impressed by John Medina, Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Pear Press, 2008). Medina recently spoke at a client of mine, I relished his presentation, and his engaging style is matched by his thoughtful and useful book. It devotes a…
“The motor response of the retina, and the time it takes the image of a word to travel from the macula to the visual cortex for processing, limits the eye to about 500 words a minute.” Worse, most people top out at half that rate. According to Wired, May 28…
A future where in-house lawyers and their external counsel use brain-boosting drugs may not be far away. Just as with steroid abuse in baseball, the winner-takes-all competitions of major league law will mean that some lawyers will dabble in powerful drugs to enhance their cognitive powers (See my posts of…
Here is a neurological gulp to go along with my sip on coffee previously espressoed (See my post of Dec. 19, 2007: grounds for insight.). Your brain continuously creates adenosine, a chemical that scientists believe causes mental fatigue. Caffeine blocks the brain’s adenosine receptors, which counters the chemical’s dulling effects.…
The Economist, April 12, 2008, at 8, sketches three addictive features of Blackberry use (or any PD). Since I have turned to the theme of destructive PDA-fixation before (See my post posts of April 3, 2005: productivity increases from PDAs, July 14, 2005: diminished productivity; June 5, 2006: workplace stress…
Corp. Counsel, Vol. 15, April 2008 at 100, reports that a team of four lawyers of HSBC Holdings, the global banking giant, will respond to routine queries on UK law from its global service center in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur. The pilot effort, if successful, may expand to handle questions…
For all I have lashed out at tasks that should fall below the radar of in-house attorneys – which I refer to as quasi-legal services – I certainly have banged on about them. Many posts have fingered suspects (See my posts of March 18, 2005: contract management; April 18, 2005:…
In a company that patents inventions frequently, the legal department can improve many aspects of its contribution to that process. Lawyers can educate clients (See my post of May 10, 2006: Kraft Foods.), use technology (See my post of March 1, 2007 #2: Honeywell’s online tool.), take part in IP…
Many lawyers drive to and from their office. They can make productive use of that time. For example, they can listen to voicemail and return calls. They can jot down notes of what they need to do during the day or other ideas that will be useful. They can, like…
In many high-tech companies, or perhaps I should say in many young companies, lawyers commonly bring their laptops to meetings. With power cables, LANs and WIFI networks readily available, the lawyers need never be electronically out of touch. They can be present at the meeting while all the time attending…