Most lawyers I know have at least one thing in common. No matter their practice areas, or the size of their firm, or their work setting, they all wish they had more time. More time to live, to work, to spend with family, to exercise and on and on. Think of all the things you’d like to do if you just had more time. So, give yourself the gift of more time this holiday season. With these five ideas, you can create more time in your life to do some of those things you’d do with more time. Perhaps you will even have time to achieve your New Year’s resolutions for 2022! 1. Detox Your Contacts Assess whether the people in your life make it more difficult to have the life and practice you want. Do they take more than their share of your resources — late-night calls, impossible to please, extreme lateness, repeated last-minute cancellations, or constant “fire drills”? Think about what your practice would be like without those clients. How could you use those same resources to improve your life, your time, your services to other clients? It might be worth it to end a personal or client relationship to better use your resources for yourself and other clients who do not monopolize your time and energy or compromise your sanity. 2. Hire Someone to Take on Tasks  Are you trying to do it all yourself? Or maybe you are handling too many aspects of your business life or personal life? Assess the tasks that are never completed on time. See if there are any items that remain on your to-do list for months. These could be work-related or personal tasks. Maybe you need to hire a bookkeeper or a paralegal so you can focus on building your

>John Vithayathi John Vithayathi, who is currently pursuing his LLM degree from NUALS, Kochi, analyses the role of unwritten Constitutional principles in Indian Jurisprudence, vis-à-vis the Canadian Position. Introduction The Canadian Supreme Court passed a historic yet highly controversial judgement [Toronto (City) v. Ontario (Attorney General), 2021 S.C.C. 34 (Can)] recently. ‘Unwritten Constitutional Principles cannot be used as a device for invalidating legislation, that does not otherwise infringe the written constitutional provisions’. Supreme Court of Canada in Toronto (City) v. Ontario (Attorney General) Paradoxical as it may seem, this very same judgement that negates the value of unwritten constitutional principles also opens up an avenue for contemplating the nature and, more importantly, the function performed by such principles in the modern constitutional setup. This blog seeks to evaluate the status of unwritten constitutional principles in the Indian constitutional jurisprudence and explains how they might, quite ironically, be more deeply entrenched in the Constitution than a few written ones. Dichotomy of Opinions A constitution bench of the Canadian Supreme Court was considering the validity of a provincial legislation that redrew ward boundaries and reduced the number of wards while campaigns were underway for municipal elections in the city of Toronto. The question before the court was whether the legislation could be struck down if found contravening an unwritten constitutional principle such as democracy.  The majority bench answered the question in the negative, thereby effectively relegating unwritten constitutional principles to merely interpretative tools ‘that may aid in the purposive interpretation of the expressly mentioned provisions.’ The majority gave a very interesting justification for its decision by opining that a legislation that does not infringe the express provisions of the Constitution cannot be considered as being repugnant to the basic constitutional structure.  In an equally vociferous albeit minority opinion, Justice R.S. Abella endorsed

In most practice areas, a lawyer’s marketing efforts should focus on generating a strong referral pipeline — from both business colleagues and other lawyers alike. If those efforts are successful, you’ll probably need some guidance on attorney referral fees. Here it is. There are Clear Guidelines—Mostly No referral fees permitted for non-lawyers Can lawyers pay referral fees to non-lawyers? Most attorneys know they cannot share fees with non-lawyers. The ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, adopted by most states, are quite clear. Rule 5.4 (a) states that “a lawyer or law firm shall not share legal fees with a non-lawyer.” Rule 7.2 (b) states that “a lawyer shall not give anything of value to a person for recommending the lawyer’s services.” A referral fee is certainly something of value. (See Michael Downey’s article in the ABA Litigation Journal, here, explaining the nuances of Rule 7.2(b) and the “nominal” gifts of gratitude allowed.) Referral fees permitted for lawyers Attorneys can share referral fees with other attorneys, as long as they comply with the governing ethics rules. Under Rule 1.1 of the Model Rules, for example, “lawyers” can only refer to competent lawyers. Rule 1.5 (e) specifically governs referral fees between attorneys, and spells out certain requirements, including these three: The division is in proportion to the services performed by each lawyer or each lawyer assumes joint responsibility for the representation;The client agrees to the arrangement, including the share each lawyer will receive, and the agreement is confirmed in writing; andThe total fee is reasonable. While the last two clauses are self-explanatory, many lawyers have questions about the meaning of the first clause. Some mistakenly believe that all fee division arrangements must be proportional. The rule is clear that this is not the only option. Non-proportional arrangements are allowed if “each lawyer assumes joint responsibility.”

Gargi Yadav, a 3rd Year law student pursuing BBA LLB (Hons.) from The Northcap University explains the relation between appreciation and appropriation in fashion law. Introduction Perhaps the most clear-cut and significant definition of cultural appropriation was given by Susan Scafidi, an author and law professor at Fordham University, who wrote in her book “who owns culture?: Appropriation and Authenticity in American law” as follows. “Taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from someone else’s culture without permission. This can include unauthorized use of another culture’s dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc. It’s most likely to be harmful when the source community is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited in other ways or when the object of appropriation is particularly sensitive, e.g. sacred objects.”(1)   Susan Scafidi, “Who Owns Culture?: Appropraition and Authenticity in American Law” While this may appear to be a well-intentioned act that treads on the foundation of cultural inspiration, the danger of such appropriation is that the cultural outcome may one day become entirely disconnected from its original community. In fashion, cultural appropriation refers to the usage of non-dominant culture in a way that disregards its original meaning or fails to give credit to its source. It is not a new phenomenon but has existed for decades. Consider the seventeenth century. The three-piece suit, which is the typical ensemble of Islamic nations, was adopted by English and French aristocracy. Similarly, dandies from the English Regency period adopted the Indian “churidar” into the slim fitting pants. “Appropriation occurs when a style leads to racist generalizations or stereotypes of where it originated, but is deemed ‘high fashion,’ ‘cool’ or ‘funny’ when the privileged take it for themselves. When power is imbalanced, cultures are no longer mingling; they’re being redefined externally

Is your day filled with internal meetings, Zoom calls with clients, and trips to the courthouse? Manage it all at a glance with Outlook categories. Try these tricks, adapted from Affinity Consulting Group’s “Microsoft Outlook for Legal Professionals.” Introduction to Categories Categories allow you to “color-code” emails, tasks, appointments and contacts. Categories carry across Outlook. If you create a new category while updating an appointment, that same category will be available for email, tasks and contacts. Categories can be used to color-code things, and they can be used to filter. Each category is assigned a color. While you can assign multiple categories the same color, most people assign each category a unique color to help distinguish them at a glance. Color-coding is especially useful on your calendar. Setting Up Categories From your email, categories are found on the Home ribbon. From your calendar, click on an appointment to open the Meeting tab where you’ll find categories. You can also find them by right-clicking on an email, appointment, task or contact. Whichever way you open the categories dialog, from Categorize, select All Categories… at the bottom of the list. Outlook contains categories like red, blue and yellow out of the box. Either rename those to something meaningful to you or delete them and start from scratch. When setting up categories, think about ways you’d like to color-code your calendar (or emails, tasks and contacts). What do you want to be able to tell at a glance? Do you want to know whether your meetings are internal ones, ones with the client, or ones with the court? Set up a category for each of those. For example, if internal meetings are yellow, client meetings are red, and hearings are blue, just by glancing at your Outlook calendar, you’ll know what types of

Say what you will, but when it comes to effective marketing and business development, how you act matters more than the words you choose. If you spend any time reading lawyer bios (as I do), you will run across characteristics lawyers emphasize to differentiate themselves. Qualities like responsiveness, creativity, writing skills, thoroughness and pragmatism are regularly inserted in LinkedIn profiles and website bios. I’m all for identifying and promoting the things that set you apart from others. However, it’s important to remember that people’s impressions are based on their experiences with you more than on your words. Creating Impressions Through Your Marketing Activities Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of clients and representatives of the community complain about board members who consistently miss meetings, speakers who don’t submit their materials before the meeting or authors who miss due dates. Your marketing and business development activities have the potential to either demonstrate or damage your professional brand. Here are some examples. Proposals or pitches When you have opportunities to get new business, do you: Make an effort to research the entity, individuals and opportunity?Ask the prospect informed questions so you can tailor your response?Answer all the questions that have been asked?Find out the preferred form or format of the pitch or proposal?Meet the deadline? Presentations If you have a speaking opportunity, do you: Pay attention to the organization’s desired topics and formats?Tailor your program to the audience?Respond in a timely way to requests for bios, session descriptions and session titles?Submit your paper or slide deck on time? Board or committee memberships As a leader of a group or association, do you: Show up — and show up on time?Come prepared to the meetings (e.g., read the agenda and prepare materials/information in advance)?Follow through on your assignments? rticles When you are

Recently, a marketing company asked me to take over writing the blog posts for one of its clients, a law firm that specializes in construction law. According to my contact, while their marketers are “quick to learn, they are not legal experts, and our client has made the comment they need to spend more time than they would like to with revisions.” What I thought was, “Duh. You’ve hired a group of non-lawyers to write posts that sound like they were written by an expert in construction law.” What I said was, “It sounds like you have an issue with this client’s expectations.” Outsourcing Your Legal Blog is Not a ‘Set-it-and-Forget-it’ Endeavor It’s impractical to expect third-party marketers to write as if they are lawyers. Just like clients hire lawyers because we can effectively help them with their legal problems, we hire marketers because they have expertise in marketing. They probably didn’t go to law school, and definitely haven’t spent years focusing on any area of law for 40-plus hours a week. Additionally, each legal specialty has its own jargon and rules that are unfamiliar to outsiders. It will take time for even the brightest marketers and copywriters to build up their knowledge base so they can write more efficiently. What to Expect When Outsourcing Your Legal Blog If you want to outsource any aspect of your content marketing — blog posts, social media posts, videos — expect to have an ongoing dialogue with your marketing team. At the beginning of your relationship, your marketing team will need a crash course in your area of law. Here’s my recommendation: As part of the onboarding process, schedule three two-hour meetings with your marketing team. The first meeting will be more of an academic lecture where you will teach your marketing team

bout RMLNLU Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University is an institute for law in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. Dr. RMLNLU was established in the year 2005, and since then, has been providing undergraduate and post-graduate legal education. bout the Journal Committee The Committee was constituted with the objective of promoting legal research and writing. Apart from conducting the RMLNLU International Legal Essay Writing Competition every year, the Committee annually publishes two peer reviewed journals – the RMLNLU Law Review and the RMLNLU Journal on CMET (Communication, Media, Entertainment and Technology) Law. Both these journals publish articles, essays, case notes/comments and book reviews from contributors all over the world. The RMLNLU Law Review also runs a blog which provides a platform for people in the field to express their opinions on contemporary legal issues. bout the Journal The RMLNLU Journal on Communication, Media, Entertainment & Technology Law (hereinafter ‘the Journal’) is an annual, student-edited, peer-reviewed law journal published by the Journal Committee of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow. Through this Journal, the Committee aims to foster the spirit of writing and set in motion a discourse among knowledgeable intellectuals from various fields of law. The Journal Committee is pleased to announce the call for papers for The RMLNLU Journal on Communication, Media, Entertainment & Technology Law, Volume IX. This is a theme-based journal and only accepts submissions pertaining to the same. Call for Papers The Journal accepts submissions from law students, academicians and legal professionals all over the country and abroad in the form of: Articles: 5000-7000 words. (These are evaluations of specific contemporary issues and aim at conceptualizing the issues in a unique and unconventional manner. The assessment of contemporary issues shall be appreciated, though not mandatory). Case notes/comments: 2000-3000 words. (These are assessments of the

This year’s annual Analog Gift Guide for Attorneys Who Analog has taken the concept of analog onto a new path to offer you, our discerning readers, a collection of small-batch, hard-to-find, mostly unknown, rather extraordinary and award-winning American whiskies. Wait, Did You Say Whiskey? I know what you’re wondering: Where are the pencils? Where are the Post-it notes? I assure you, I swear, there is nothing more analog than creating a truly brilliant bottle of whiskey, bourbon or rye. It is a craft that can only be wrought by hand, slowly, over time, resulting in a product where every bottle is unique. Like a signature. Because the American Whiskey Renaissance Is Real You may have heard of some of the brands that have leaped into the public eye in the last decade. Brands like Pappy Van Winkle, Michter’s and Basil Hayden’s. But here’s the interesting thing about these and other seemingly independent whiskies you may have noticed at your liquor emporium: They’re made in the same distilleries as the big brands that own them. They are fine whiskies, but they are just the tip of the spear. Hundreds of startup distilleries in nearly every state are racing to be the next Pappy. Distilleries like Milam & Greene, started by two Texas legends, entrepreneur Marsha Milam and global whiskey consultant Heather Greene. Greene’s status in the whiskey world is unassailable. But you’ve probably never heard of her whiskey, which is swoonfully good. Garrison Brothers is another regional spirit poised to breach the brand recognition level enjoyed by Woodford Reserve and Jim Beam. Produced in Hye, Texas, which is exactly nowhere, Garrison Bros. bourbon is unique and in such insane demand, that its annual release of their signature Cowboy Bourbon is met by thousands of cars lined up the dirt road to

bout IDIA  Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education (IDIA) is a non- profit   organization working in India which aims to empower underprivileged children by providing them with equal access to quality legal education. It is a student-run organization that aims to train underprivileged students and transform them into leading lawyers and community advocates. We conduct sensitizations across India to spread awareness among underprivileged children about opportunities in pursuing law as a career, select promising students and provide training for law entrance examinations, including the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), provide financial aid and mentorship to these students once they secure their admission to a leading law school. IDIA – Kerala Chapter functions from its base at The National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS), Kochi, which is the only National Law University in Kerala. The Kerala Chapter is run entirely by student volunteers from NUALS, with an aim to help underprivileged students in the state.  For further details, visit IDIA’s official website here. The Event An LLM from a NLU can be a game changer in your career. However, the CLAT PG and AILET PG entrance exams are competitive. It is important to have a focussed and systematic preparation for the exams. Important areas relating to law must be clearly understood by the aspirants. Starting your preparation early and following the right method of studying will go a long way in helping you crack these exams.  IDIA Kerala Chapter is conducting a workshop where we will be discussing the opportunities that open up after a LLM from a NLU, pattern of CLAT PG and AILET PG, preparation strategies, tips and tricks, and recommendations for materials by our resource persons. To lead the talk, we have Krithika Singh and Dhanya Prasad, who have cracked these exams with top