The Red Velvet Lawyer

Another New Tribe Part of my transition as a new resident of the Arabian Gulf region involves finding new tribes to join and help lead.   In March 2016 , I talked about the ADR tribes that I’ve found in Dubai and Doha.  I found another tribe that reflects my new place in the world. At the end of May, I attended the Global Legal Skills Conference in Verona, Italy at the University of Verona's Facolta Giurisprudenza.  Last year, I attended this conference for the first time.  I came back for the reason that the folks organizing and attending this conference are highly dedicated professors of law from all over the world who want to learn how better to teach law across cultures and across languages.    In other words, they are process people – my type of people.  Mediators often say that if the process is good, the outcome will be just fine, too.   So, if we continue to explore skillful ways of teaching student...

Back in the Middle with You:  Re-Joining my U.S. ADR Tribe In early April 2016, after a gap of several years, I finally joined an old tribe of ADR scholars, trainers, and practitioners at the annual conference, this year in New York, sponsored by the American Bar Association’s Section of Dispute Resolution . This ABA tribe claims my heart. These are great folks doing interesting and world-altering work. I love being among them. In my last post , I talked about several new tribes that reflect my transition to a new life in Doha, Qatar as a law professor. My new Arabian Gulf ADR tribes are important to my desire to scale-up my ADR practice and training. Yet, the anchor for my work has always been my old ABA tribe. I have tried to serve it in several ways: Member, Standing Committee on Ethical Guidance for Mediators (2006-2011). Co-Chair, Mediator Ethical Opinions Database Sub-Committee of the Standing Committee on Ethical Guidance for Mediators ...

Building the  ADR Tribe Seth Godin's book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (2014),  has played a big role in my thinking and behavior since I read it shortly after its publication.  Amazon describes the theme of the book as:  A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have joined tribes . . . . It’s our nature. Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger and enabling new tribes to be born―groups of ten or ten million who care about a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming. Who is going to lead all these tribes? . . . . Anyone who wants to make a difference now has the tools at their fingertips. Tribes will make you think (really think) about the opportunities for leading your fellow employees, customers, investors, believers, hobbyists,...

Groundhog Day as an Analogy This week, I taught my Qatari students the difference between Common Law and Civil Law systems.  As I heard myself explain the major differences, I found myself wondering which system might be "better." In doing the research for the class, I learned that the civil law system has the widest application worldwide.  About 150 countries have adopted it.  Born in Europe and derived from Roman law, it found its most famous expression in the Napoleonic Code of France.  The idea behind it is simple.  The code organizes the law in a small book, easily accessible by the common man, who then knows with much greater clarity his or her legal rights and the procedures required to enforce those rights.  That citizen does not need to review -- at least in theory -- any case that has applied a particular section of the code.  Instead, the code serves as the primary authority and judges applying it are not bound by legal prece...

Growth Sucks! "We were hoping the college would drop the requirement. That's why we waited so long to take the course."  So said a candid senior student this past week. I teach Legal Research and Writing 1 at Qatar University College of Law.  Even in the U.S. students find the course challenging.  It forces them to grow in ways they resist.  And, it's a lot of work! No passive learning in this course.  Students produce a Memorandum of Law over the course of the semester. And learn critical thinking skills. So, the course is hard even for native English speakers.  But here, in Doha, I am teaching Arab students who take the course in English. Some students have very good English language skills, even if they are not so confident about them. Some students read at about a fourth grade level.  My job is to help them engage in very sophisticated legal thinking while they read and write in English. Why English!  Many of my student ...

Working on Your Craft This week, I began discussing some of the ideas in Elizabeth Gilbert's new book:  Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear  (2015). Today, I want to summarize some of her suggestions about doing creative work.  She says: Make things. Then share them with an open heart. You can live a long life, making and doing really cool things the entire time. Thank creativity for having blessed you with a charmed, interesting, passionate existence. Simply vow to the Universe to write forever, regardless of the result. Be brave. Grateful. Uncomplaining. Never ask writing to be easy. Ask only that it be interesting. Sneak off and have an affair with your most creative self. Curiosity is the secret.  Curiosity is the is the truth and the way of creative living. Curiosity is the beginning and the end. You will have the satisfaction of knowing that you passed your entire existence in devotion to the noble human virtue of in...

Devotion to the Work I've been sharing some of my favorite quotes from Elizabeth Gilbert's new book:  Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear  (2015).  These quotes explore attitudes about doing the work: Measure your work by your dedication to your path. Focus on the devotion to my creative work.  That is how to measure my worth.  I only have control over my discipline. Just say what you want to say, then say it with all your heart. Write a book to entertain yourself, not to help someone else. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart. Work on your craft every day with steady discipline and love. Make absolutely whatever you want to make.  It's nobody's business but your own. Write with the fealty of a holy pilgrim. Frustration is not an interruption of the process.  Frustration is the process. Mere completion is an honorable achievement in its own right.  What's more, it's a rare one. Rele...