Featured Speaker at Leadership Essentials Summit

I will be speaking at the 2009 Leadership Essentials Summit, Dec. 8-11, 2009. This is an audio conference and therefore, no travel is necessary. All 10 sessions are included in the price and companies may take advantage of the audio format to benefit numerous employees for the price of one admission. Please check out the details of those presenting and consider signing up. All you need to do is follow the link provided by clicking the title of this post. Alternatively, you may purchase an audio recording of the three days of sessions. Opportunities for Q&A are included in the sessions.

Legal Writing Workshops: Get More from your Staff Attorneys and Paralegals

Would you invest $100-$125 per person to get a more effective, more confident employee? Would you like to have staff attorneys and paralegals require less of your time when it comes to dealing with written assignments?

Some attorneys don't have the time or patience to work with their staff to get the kind of writing they want or, at least, the kind that is useful. I do. I teach others how to be clearer, more persuasive writers. I run an eight-hour workshop for effective legal writing. Locally, each session is two hours long over four days, on site at your law or corporate counsel offices. If I must travel to your site out of the Memphis area, the workshop is conducted in two four-hour sessions, over two days. Accommodations will then be necessary. Topics include review of current writing samples, grammar and usage, simplification of the essential legal points, analytical and organizational techniques for clarity of purpose, curing overuse of legalese, emphasizing saying what you mean and making it sound as if you mean what you say, proper citation and use of source materials, finding the personal style that works for each individual, and more. At the end of the workshop you will see a difference.

Cost: $600 for the eight hour workshop, with up to 6 individuals in the class. Cost for each additional participant is $125, as the larger the class, the time requirements increase beyond the standard increment. Maximum class size: 15.

Contact me at bronapinnolis@gmail.com for availability. Thank you.

I Like Legal Writing

The truth is, most people practicing law do not enjoy research and writing, but I do. I have always been at my best with a pen/Selectric/keyboard/laptop in hand, pondering the best way to commit a persuasive argument to paper/LCD screen. Understanding what is needed, searching through the intricacies of case law and other resources to find support for the proposition and then constructing it forcefully yet succinctly really is my idea of a good time (at least professionally). For many lawyers this aspect of the business is just one big interruption in the quest to make payroll. That's where I come in. I will research and write the argument. You will make money on my time while you remain free to continue with the bread and butter of your business. I am best when it comes to appellate briefs or summary judgment submissions, but I also can simply research and write background memos. All I need is access to your legal research software, where you can bill my research usage to your client and be able to verify the research time I bill. I know how to write with the punch necessary to get the attention of the judge(s). In fact, when I wrote appeals for the Public Counsel Services in Massachusetts, one of my appeals was brought up sua sponte to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. I was successful in obtaining a reversal on the point of law for which they had chosen the case. (See, Comm. v. Kirker, 2004). Writing samples are viewable at my blog, "Be Write There," at bronapinnolis.blogspot.com.

For rates and availability, reach me at bronapinnolis@gmail.com. If you need to meet with me in person, I am able to travel with reasonable notice. I am actively licensed in Massachusetts at present (BBO# 400170). Your name appears on the brief and you argue your own case. Thank you.

College Parents: Meet the Perfect Storm

By Brona Pinnolis C.2009 All rights reserved.

It's FAFSA season again. Perhaps you find yourself wondering if it is worth the effort this year. After all, it's pretty clear those of us who are working to send kids to college this year are living in the Perfect Storm when it comes to financing it. Consider these realities:

1. College expenses have gone up more than the usual rate, including state universities, because
   
2. States are close to bankruptcy and are cutting back on funds available for higher education and
3. Less money is flowing to funds designated for scholarships to state funded schools, and
4. Private universities have lost substantial funds in their endowments due to downturns in the stock market, and
5. Families have also lost substantial funds in dedicated education accounts, retirement accounts or other investment accounts traditionally used to help pay for college, and
6. Families have lost much equity value in their homes, against which they might have borrowed funds to pay for college, and
7. Even if the value of the home is not substantially reduced, the ability to secure a home equity line of credit or second mortgage has almost disappeared for all but those with the most exemplary credit, and
8. Demographics of the current college-bound generation are making competition for college placements and scholarship opportunities among the most intense in recent decades, and
9. It is more difficult than ever for teens to find employment because so many people are out of work, and many traditional businesses hiring teens are now out of business.

I look at this as the parent of four teenagers. Disasters are generally not the result of one error or one bad situation; rather, they are the result of a confluence of various realities. We shall see what happens as the letters continue to be mailed out by colleges in these upcoming weeks. Students, including my own, wait for the mail on a daily basis hoping for great news. Will there be any this year? I'm right there, holding my breath as I pull open the white metal flap on our mailbox, waiting for deliverance.

"Gas A Lot"

“Gas-a-Lot”

Lyrics by Brona Pinnolis ©2009

Obviously, to the tune of “Camelot”, duh…YouTube, here we come! On second thought, I will have to let someone else sing this.

The price of oil dipped some months ago here.

Gas prices took a dive while it was hot.

And everywhere folks flo-cked to the pumps here,

To Gas a lot!

The gas tank never dipped below half full then.

Folks let ideas of conservation rot.

We re-embraced our awesome SUVs then,

To Gas a lot!

Gas a lot! Gas a lot! It sounds too go-od to be true.

But to Gas a lot! Gas a lot! We paid only a dollar two!

Folks knew low prices couldn’t last forever

But still took wheels to travel round the block.

We said “ha ha’ to an electric car endeavor

To Gas a lot!

Gas a lot! Gas a lot! It sounds too go-od to be true.

But to Gas a lot! Gas a lot! Gave Exxon more than it was due!

Last week gas prices ke-pt on climbing

The respite for our wallets was all shot.

And now we wish we really bought that hybrid

Not to Gas a lot!

Gas a lot! Gas a lot! It was too go-od to be true.

But to Gas a lot! Gas a lot! One can drive a Hummer 2.

It really was quite ni-ce while it lasted.

It felt like driving back in ‘92

In short we had a spot

A temporary shot

Of driving where we wanted when we were free

To Gas a lot!

#30#

Welcome to my own new era at the dawn of a new beginning for our country.

With a new president in office, at long last, it really is a new year to follow through on resolutions. Mine is to write. Having changed jobs and being no longer fettered by "non-blog" regulations, I'm jumping in. Today's most stirring image, in my opinion, was watching the former president board Marine 1 as a private citizen and leave the Washington airspace. For those of us who never quite recovered from the 2000 election debacle, it felt like the end of another "long national nightmare." I was in college when Richard Nixon waved his stiff farewell to the White House staff gathered round the whirlybird as he departed in shame. There was an eerie connection between the event of 34 years ago and today's parting of another president who exhibited the same arrogance toward the citizens of this country. As moved as I was by watching President Obama's swearing in, listening to his piercing speech, watching the reactions of the throngs on the beloved Mall, the moment of greatest relief was realizing George W. Bush is gone. Where I live people still display their "W" bumper stickers. They will be loath to peel off the McCain/Palin (and in some cases, a revised "Palin" with the McCain removed) stickers. Such is it in the Bible Belt. This matters not. We have a chance to reclaim our rights under the Constitution; we have an opportunity to set our country as an example for others, not one to avoid. I wish the new President well in conquering the vast challenges facing the country. I believe he is up to the task. He is an unusual human being, period. Most people seem to get this and this realization will go a long way in giving him the support he will need, not only from Congress, but from all of us.