Much has been written about the risks and benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the context of the practice of law. But what does AI think? To get an insider’s perspective, we typed the prompt “Artificial Intelligence and the Practice of Law: Risks and Benefits” into the Editpad AI Essay Writer and asked it to write a medium length article with references. The following article is the result. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the article and about the pros and cons of lawyers using AI to draft documents and pleadings, review documents and conduct legal research. Email your resp ..read more

By Andromeda Monroe Articles of Interest As experienced attorneys consider our lives as we reach 65 and beyond, here are a few articles of interest that may assist during the contemplative stage. Please refer to the policies (including privacy policies) of each owner of the following websites regarding linking, copying, downloading, printing, etc., of any information before sharing with anyone. “Older Workers Are Growing in Number and Earning Higher Wages.” Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. (December 14, 2023). “Florida Lawyers Considering Retirement Have Options and Need to Study the Rul ..read more

The following quotes from Mahatma Ghandi were collected by SLC member Bruce Blitman. Readers may find that they are particularly relevant to lawyers. Before he became known as the Mahatma (“Great Soul”), leader of the successful nationalist movement against British rule, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a lawyer. Over the course of his 25 years as a practicing attorney, he gradually became an activist lawyer. By the time he ended his legal career to devote his life to ending colonialism, his entire law practice consisted of matters that reflected his political, moral, and spiritual beliefs. Char ..read more

Reviewed by Susan Healy Even if you haven’t read “Breaking the Age Code: How Your Age Beliefs Determine How Long and Well You Live,” you may have heard of its author. With the publication of her book in 2023, Becca Levy, PhD, was celebrated in the popular press as the person who told us that we can add seven and a half years to our lives by rejecting negative cultural stereotypes that society attaches to aging. Levy’s conclusion is supported by her research. In 2009, she reviewed a long term project that followed a population of healthy adults aged 18-49 and collected information about their h ..read more

Judge Wesley Earnest Brown attended law school at night while working on the Ford Motor assembly line making Model As. He graduated in 1933, after having been fired by Ford during the Depression. (see “Wesley Brown, Oldest Federal Judge, Dies at 104,” Courthouse News Service). After a career in private practice, and two years of service in the Navy during WWII, he was appointed to the federal bench in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy. He assumed senior status in 1979 and continued to serve as a senior judge until his death on January 23, 2012. During his five decades on the bench, he saw one ..read more

By Frank Natter The “Odd Couple” – Oscar and Felix – showcases the ego clash between those preferring an orderly lifestyle, and those preferring a flexible lifestyle. A neatly dressed client, arriving on time, sits in front of my desk unconsciously organizing what they can reach, “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean…” In Myers-Briggs Personality terms, this client may be indicating a preference for Judging, expressed in an orderly lifestyle, tending to automatically organize what they even unconsciously consider disorganized. A casually dressed client arrives late, explaining, “I’m so sorry, I’m r ..read more

By Susan R. Healy Ninety-three-year-old Richard Morgan is a four-time world champion in indoor rowing. A case study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology revealed that he has the heart, muscles, metabolism and lungs of someone less than half his age. The results would be surprising even if he had been a lifelong athlete, but Morgan didn’t begin exercising at all until he was 73. Morgan was inspired to try out a rowing machine after watching his grandson, a competitive collegiate rower. Morgan’s routine consists of 40 minutes of rowing a day, plus resistance training 2-3 times a week ..read more

By Susan R. Healy Our two presumptive presidential candidates are senior citizens who have suffered from memory lapses that have triggered speculation that they are too old for the job. Of course, with the amount of talking they do in front of cameras and microphones, it is easy to catch them searching for a word or blanking on a name. Do these slips mean that they no longer have the mental acuity it takes to serve as President? Not necessarily. There are different types of memory loss. In the most serious form, the information isn’t available because it has been permanently lost and inaccessi ..read more

Death by PowerPoint has become the butt of jokes across social media; people complain about endless rows of text on nearly every slide, and speakers who drone on and on. In this Forbes.com article, award-winning entrepreneur and leadership expert Rachel Wells gives five skills you need to master so you can craft and deliver slide decks that capture your audience’s attention and gain their buy-in. The Seven Essentials Of Public Speaking Public speaking coach Meta Groselj writes that mastering presentation skills requires a combination of understanding self (nonverbal and verbal messages you sen ..read more

Sometimes no matter how prepared you are for a speech—no matter how much you memorize, rehearse your material, exercise your voice, or map your movements—things go awry. Your computer dies, someone in the audience is drunk, you fall ill. Events happen that you would never have anticipated. Professional speaker and author Jim Cathcart has been there! In this Toastmasters International article (and companion podcast) Cathcart shares his stories, strategies, and mindset for dealing with the unexpected with grace. The Power Of Eye Contact During A Speech In our tech-driven culture, we sometim ..read more