I just concluded my twentieth (I think? Maybe 21?) semester of teaching family law at John Marshall Law School in Atlanta. It is so rewarding. While it takes time to prepare and teach (3.5 hours per week of instruction), it feels like I am making a small difference in the students’ lives. Certainly not all of them will practice family law, but my goal has been and continues to be to pass along any skills I have learned that will help them help future clients. But more important than the classroom interaction, is the post law school interaction. I am often contacted by former students with questions about a case. And I see them in courthouses, doing their thing, flourishing.

And for me, the interaction is helpful and rewarding. And it helps my clients. Oftentimes we are discussing an issue, such as Modification of Child Support. I may teach by reviewing a fact pattern of a current case of mine and get their thoughts. I like the students to go through the analysis of a case with me and while I think I am teaching them, they often teach me. The average class size is fifty students so how can I ignore the comments and input of fifty law students? They are often insightful and helpful.

I appreciate the opportunity to teach and appreciate the rewards it gives me. Knowing I am helping young lawyers is an unbelievable reward. Whether we teach law school, present at seminars or simply assist young lawyers (in our own offices or elsewhere), lawyers who give back (and so many do), know these rewards. I am just blessed to have this opportunity and look forward to doing it at least a few more years, because there is much more (for me) to learn.

This week, family law attorney, and my boss from 1989-1991, Pamela Tremayne, passed away. Pamela offered me employment when I was a very young lawyer, in my mid-twenties. To work with her was very appealing to me since she was a former teacher, and I had much to learn. Pamela taught me the importance of bar involvement (her father had been a leader in the St. Louis Bar). It was a very small firm (Pamela and I, and then one other lawyer, Kit Carson). We all learned from each other. I tried my first (and only) personal injury jury trial while with her firm, yet the majority of my work was in domestic relations. Pamela was a stickler for details and grammar and that made me a better lawyer. When it came time to part ways, we remained friends and have ever since. In fact, just next week we were scheduled to present together on a panel in Cabo, Mexico at the Sports and Entertainment Law seminar we attend every year. I am sorry she will not be there, she will be missed.

I probably never thanked her sufficiently for what she contributed to my limited success as a lawyer, so Pamela, thank you, I wish I had told you more often how grateful I was for the opportunity you gave me. And I hope I remember to thank anyone and everyone else who has helped me in life and in my career. Not to do so would be a further tragedy.

The program enrollment for next week at the Encore in Las Vegas is great (over 250!) and you can still sign up.

For those of you coming or thinking about coming who are reading this on a smartphone, you can text FLS to 99699 and you will be provided an immediate link to the schedule and related info. Or you can simply click
https://mobilezen.com/FLS and then save that page to your home page for instant access to the schedule around the clock (like so you know where the next program is, etc). This is one of our new efforts to improve the programs and I look forward to your feedback on it.

See you in Vegas, I hope!

The upcoming ABA Family Law Seminar has already generated a tremendous response. The advance registration numbers are great with more people registering each day.

And now, more good news. The entire program schedule and related information (presentation titles, times and locations for instance) can be downloaded right to your cell phone, in advance.

You can access the mobile website in one of three ways:

1. Text FLS to 99699, then click the link in the text message reply you receive.
2. Scan the QR code which will be available at the seminar, with your smartphone to be taken directly to the website.
3. Enter the following URL in your browser: https://mobilezen.com/FLS

Once you do this from your smartphone, you can then add the site to your phone’s home page and access it at anytime (like when you need to know where the next presentation is).

I am really excited that we are bringing this technology to our program and grateful to Mobilezen for setting it up for us.

Where’s the silver lining? Maybe that in life, you should never give up? I think so. That’s the optimist in me. As a divorce lawyer, every day I see people who feel their life is collapsing. Baseball is, in the end, just a game. But what did we learn?

The Braves and the Sox, both leaders in the wild card playoff race for the last month, each faltered in ninth inning of the last game of the season. They each only needed to finish off the ninth with the lead of 3-2 they had going into it. Too weird and too sad. But this is, unfortunately a year to remember (since it will be impossible to forget).

But just as in life, there is always next year. In fact, growing up a New Orleans Saints fan, we usually came to understand this after the first few games of every season. And look what happened! It took 47 years, but we won the Superbowl. Time heals all wounds and for Red Sox and Braves’ fans, this too shall pass.