Good Records, Good Protection

As our society moves more and more to a compliance based bureaucracy, it becomes more and more important to anticipate the challenges that will arise. For example, as the tax code becomes more complicated, the level of recordkeeping required to sustain your position on an audit increases. As the new health care system extends its claws into your life, the more information will be required of you. From a corporate perspective, anticipation of bureaucratic challenges will be even more important. For example, most new business ventures are formed as limited liability companies ("LLCs"). Originally, people enjoyed the freedom from corporate requirements such as minute books, officers, and annual meetings. However, as government entities and others are stepping up their challenge of such entities, it is becoming more and more apparent that good minute books, annual meetings, and the other "corporate" trappings, are necessary to fend off claims against the Company, audits, and other unpleasantness. Lenders are even requiring peeks at minute books as part of their underwriting.

The Lesson: Keep good consistent records. As the times change, practices do too. You would not want to get caught being held up to new standards with only old practices to support you.

The Tax Man Cometh...

Is real estate back? Maybe. Is business back? Maybe. I think this year will show some uptick. For example, it was reported today that new jobless claims fell to their lowest point since 2008. Is this a trend? Given those who have abandoned the work force, is it real? These are all things we do not know. What we DO know is that taxes are going up- especially on real estate investments. So, polish off your dusty Section 1031 exchange regulations and get ready to swap until you drop!

Perspectives

Lawyers are supposed to be able to advocate from their client's perspective. This is not always easy to do. Clients are often difficult to figure out or uncertain of what they want. A lawyer who is able to understand and advocate for a client should be proud of that achievement...and should then be ready when the client's perspective changes.

Jet

What is an Achievement?

Dictionary.com defines Achievement as follows:

A thing done successfully, typically by effort, courage, or skill The process or fact of achieving something A child's or student's progress in a course of learning, typically as measured by standardized tests or objectives A representation of a coat of arms with all the adjuncts to which a bearer of arms is entitled Achievement in the practice of law can be measured in both large and small ways. Successfully filing the articles for a company is an achievement. Whether it is a large or small achievement depends on the difficulty involved in getting there! But, for the practicing lawyer, filing your first company is an achievment- a thing done successfully. Interestingly achievement is also defined as the "process" of achieving something. Yes, I can make a reference to "its the journey, not the destination" line of thought. For a lawyer though, that is often the case. We learn by doing. A good lawyer is often one experienced or clever in the process rather than merely one who achieves the goal. Achievement can also mean a simple measure. Passing the bar. Achieving an AV Rating. These too, are part of the practice of law. As much as we might view much of what we do as subjective or subject to interpretation, there is much that is not. You either are a lawyer or you are not. You either have an AV Rating or you do not. Objective measures of achievement can set us apart...or simply be the barrier to entry we must overcome... The last definition of achievement is a bit of a surprise to most:   "a representation of a coat of arms with all the adjuncts to which a bearer of arms is entitled." If you think about it, it shouldn't be. In the "olden days" a knight had his shield where he displayed his crest (Yes, we lawyers are like knights but I will save that for another post). We, too, have a coat of arms-- our name. Our name as reflected on our stationary or business card. So achievements for lawyers can be many things- objective, subjective, practical, and personal. We should remember our achievements and realize that are associated with our name- our crest, our coat of arms.

Welcome to Lawyercraft!

Welcome to Lawyercraft! My goal in starting this blog is to create a place on the web where I may comment on my view of the practice of law in all its glory. As any practicing lawyer knows, the practice of law is like a baseball game:

Every day, you step up to the plate and hope you get a hit. Some days, you hit a single, a double, or occassionally, even a triple or a home run.

Some days you just get a walk.

Some days you strike out. Three times.

However, the joy is in the swinging! So, each day you step up and keep swinging. 

One of the ways to capture that joy is to capture the hits- those moments of achievement. To a large extent, that is what this blog will be about. Thank you in advance for reading it!