Archive | Getting the Job Done

Different Direction

Last week I got a call from a paralegal who asked me to provide a proposal for a mock trial for a commercial case.  She told me that, although she’d been a paralegal for 25 years, she had never shopped for a trial consultant.  I walked her through the process, provided her with information on […]

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If you think about it, and I certainly have, “We are moving in a different direction” or “We are moving in another direction” is meaningless drivel.  This statement has somehow become common when it comes to rejecting job applicants, consultants’ proposals, and people, in general.  In preparing for my part of David’s post, I have […]

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Carole’s rock collection

The recent passing of David’s dear mother, Carole, has brought to the surface many fond memories of her. In preparing for her memorial service, David’s brother, Dale, asked me to review the beautiful eulogy he wrote. In addition, David asked me to send some of my favorite stories about his mother to the pastor who […]

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I will admit that I was not thrilled about loading and unloading a couple hundred rocks, but it was clear that the rocks were meaningful to Mom and Melissa and I had a great place to put them, so off to U-Haul I went.  When my parents downsized, or rather, each time they downsized, we […]

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Ghosting

Ghosting. This is a relatively new term used to indicate what might otherwise be called “radio silence,” that is, a loss of communications. Despite the many ways we can now communicate, via email, text, direct messaging, “zoom” calls, or even the good old phone or maybe “snail” mail, it amazes me that we often end […]

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Ghosting is rude, unprofessional, and, when it comes to friends and family, mean.  I have been ghosted on several occasions, by long time friends who chose to cut me out of their lives for unknown reasons.  One of these friends remained out of touch for about 20 years, another, for 7 years, and another, 6 […]

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No One Has Ever Said They Wish Their Jury Research Had Been Later

In almost 30 years of owning and operating Magnus Research Consultants, David and I have been fortunate to have few complaints from clients. When there have been complaints, they have been of the following type: (1) “Your report is too long and comprehensive; it took too long for me to read”; (2) ”The charts summarizing […]

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This topic is salient because I had the discussion again recently, “What is your lead time for conducting research? My client wants to put it off as long as possible, because maybe they can settle…”  I patiently explained that the ramp up period, once we’ve provided a proposal, agreed on the research design, gotten approval […]

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Mercy of the Court

Twice this week, when talking with clients, or prospective clients, I’ve been told they are waiting on the judge to do something. The language they used was “I’m at the mercy of the court.” Their lamentations are painful reminders of the nature of our work. Often the idea of “mercy of the court” is mentioned, […]

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“I’m at the mercy of…” usually means one is powerless to protect oneself from someone or something.  When attorneys tell David and me they are at the mercy of the Court, this expression doesn’t have the same ominous meaning that it does in other contexts.  Often, attorneys mention being at the Court’s mercy as a […]

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Juggling

I shot a photograph of a juggler a couple years ago when I was wandering the streets of New York City while there to work on a client’s case. My eye was drawn to the colorful balls flying in the air so I walked toward the area behind the main NYC library. Turns out, several […]

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Most people have a difficult time “walking in someone else’s shoes.”  We live our daily lives, caught up in dealing with our personal issues, rarely giving much thought to what other people are going through.  David and I have a dear friend who, for as long as we have known her, has been battling a […]

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Be Free

A number of Melissa’s and my prior posts have discussed aging parents, dealing with dementia, being a caregiver, and the like. Because we’re sharing our journey, I’m writing to report the end of a portion of that journey with the recent passing of my Mom. Melissa has written about this from a different perspective; my […]

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I keep hearing Martin Luther King, Jr. saying “Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we’re free at last” as I reflect upon Carole’s passing.  If one is a spiritual person, one usually believes the soul of good people go to heaven (or a similar place, according to one’s religion) when they pass […]

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PowerPoint Exhibits: Good-Bad-Ugly

I had an interesting conversation today with a client who was preparing a PowerPoint presentation for an upcoming mock trial. As we discussed his plan, he mentioned that he was planning to use 20 slides for a 10 minute presentation. I tactfully suggested that 1 slide every 30 seconds is too many. This led to […]

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Death by Powerpoint.  That’s what I call the majority of Powerpoint and other, similar, electronic presentations.  I have witnessed countless attorneys “kill” their audience with electronic presentations that contain words, then more words, then even more words.  These well meaning attorneys, in their quest to educate the jury about their case, put everything they can […]

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Say “Thank you!”

David and I have written about gratitude in previous posts. Some people are quick to say, “Thank you” when someone gives them a gift or does something nice, while other people rarely, if ever, show their appreciation. This post is prompted by a recent experience with someone with whom I have been acquainted for many […]

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I recall a fairly regular cause for a letter to “Dear Abby” or “Ann Landers” was the complaint that grandchildren never wrote thank you notes.  My Mom drilled that into me by buying special stationery to use for just such occasions.  And, doing so timely was expected.  It was always a bit difficult to me […]

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Entrepreneurial Addiction

It is well known that gamblers must occasionally win in order to keep playing their games. The easiest example is that slot machines are programmed to give back a penny or a quarter based on some number of pulls of the handle (or, push of the button). I was thinking about this phenomenon recently when […]

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Interestingly to me, both David and I wrote this post on December 17, 2020, the anniversary of our first retainer check.  Although David and I are in two different cities today, we must both be thinking of Magnus’ beginnings and the hope we had for our continued success.  As anyone who knows me will verify, […]

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