The Zen Lawyer

Dad, Win Without a Lawyer, written by Canadian family law pioneer Carey Linde, is the undisputed bible for self-represented parents serious about being actively involved in their child's life. You wouldn't want to perform your own heart surgery but you sure can do a good job - perhaps the best - speaking from your heart on behalf of your own children in a court of law. There is no person better at any fee. You are your own best advocate. Dad, Win Without a Lawyer will help you survive the legal process and assist you in becoming a more creative, purposeful, and compassionate parent. His revealing book is primarily aimed at fathers, but Carey's work is useful for any parent - mother or father - who is being pushed out of their children's lives by the other parent. Whether you have just separated from the mother of your children and the court process is ahead of you, or you are in the court process now, or this life-changing event is behind you, the key message of Dad, Win Without a Lawyer is the same: Every misfortune is an opportunity in disguise. Dad, Win Without a Lawyer takes the reader on a journey that will not only make you a stronger person in court but a stronger person in life and a better overall parent. Contained in the pages of this insightful manual are strategies, tactics, and tips from many decades litigating in the gauntlets of court, negotiating on courthouse steps, and mediating family disputes. But success in family court requires more than a clever legal strategy. It also requires a healthy body and mind. Good parents are mentally stable and present themselves as such in court. Without emotional stability and your eye on the correct ball, the court biases against fathers and the maneuvers of opposing lawyers can keep you from your children. It's absolutely critical you bring your very best game to court. Key to being at the top of your game is emotional stability, conviction of purpose, positive energy, and a respect for the role of the mother in your child's life. When you walk into the courtroom, it must be with a mental attitude imbued with self-knowledge, enabling you to put aside the pain, losses and failures so that you can become the father your child needs. Like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Carey Linde' s inspiring book speaks to a great deal more than its title suggests, to more than people with only legal problems. It is a primer for any person with the will to rise up out of the shadows of despair however caused to higher self-awareness.

I am about to be left in charge of the office. I'm not sure I'm ready for the responsibility, so I double-check with my boss. He reassures me. "You'll be fine, Marianne. As long as no one kills Amanullah Khan, you'll be fine." By midday, Amanullah Khan is dead. Marianne Elliot is a human rights lawyer stationed with the UN in Herat when the unthinkable happens: a tribal leader is assassinated, and she must defuse the situation before it leads to widespread bloodshed. And this is just the beginning of the story in Afghanistan. Zen Under Fire lays bare the struggles of a war-torn region from a uniquely personal perspective. Honest and vivid, her story reveals the shattering effect that the high-stress environment has on Marianne and her relationships. Redefining the question of what it really means to do good in a country that is under siege from within, Zen Under Fire is an honest, moving, at times terrifying true story of a women's experience at peacekeeping in one of the most dangerous places on Earth. "This is an amazing book, kind of like if Eat, Pray, Love had happened in Afghanistan and the stakes were life and death."—Susan Piver, New York Times bestselling author of Wisdom of a Broken Heart

The Anxious Lawyer provides a straightforward 8-week introductory program on meditation and mindfulness, created by lawyers for lawyers. The program draws on examples from Cho and Gifford's professional and personal lives to create an accessible and enjoyable entry into practices that can reduce anxiety, improve focus and clarity, and enrich the quality of life.

Every lawyer wants to be a good lawyer. They want to do right by their clients, contribute to the professional community, become good colleagues, interact effectively with people of all persuasions, and choose the right cases. All of these skills and behaviors are important, but they spring from hard-to-identify foundational qualities necessary for good lawyering. After focusing for three years on getting high grades and sharpening analytical skills, far too many lawyers leave law school without a real sense of what it takes to be a good lawyer. In The Good Lawyer, Douglas O. Linder and Nancy Levit combine evidence from the latest social science research with numerous engaging accounts of top-notch attorneys at work to explain just what makes a good lawyer. They outline and analyze several crucial qualities: courage, empathy, integrity, diligence, realism, a strong sense of justice, clarity of purpose, and an ability to transcend emotionalism. Many qualities require apportionment in the right measure, and achieving the right balance is difficult. Lawyers need to know when to empathize and also when to detach; courage without an appreciation of consequences becomes recklessness; working too hard leads to exhaustion and mistakes. And what do you do in tricky situations, where the urge to deceive is high? How can you maintain focus through a mind-taxing (or mind-numbing) project? Every lawyer faces these problems at some point, but if properly recognized and approached, they can be overcome. It's not easy being good, but this engaging guide will serve as a handbook for any lawyer trying not only to figure out how to become a better--and, almost always, more fulfilled--lawyer.

The Zen of Passing the Bar Exam offers a comprehensive approach to studying for (and passing) the bar exam. Couched in neuroscience and Zen principles of focus, discipline, awareness, balance, and simplicity, the book provides guidance for the best daily practices for uplifting your mind, body, and spirit during the rigors of studying. A central theme is harnessing a Zen mindset to stay motivated and mentally sharp. In addition to lifestyle and mindset, the book also offers specific, practical advice for maximizing scores on the essay, MBE, and MPT portions of the bar exam. The book outlines specific organizational/formatting tips for how to write effective (and efficient) essays under bar exam time constraints. The book is ideal for adoption for any law school bar preparation course (or Academic Support Program), providing many exercises, examples, and model answers applicable to any state's bar exam.

“The courtroom scenes are sharp and suspenseful, the twists in the plot are unexpected, and the tension ratchets up until we are truly eager to find out what happens.” -New York Times Book Review A Library Journal Best Debut Novel of Spring and Summer 2021 A gripping debut thriller about two young mothers, one shocking murder and a court case that puts them both on trial. When a soldier is found stabbed through the heart at a US Army base, there is no doubt that his wife, Luz, is to blame. But was it an act of self-defense? An attempt to save her infant daughter? Or the cold-blooded murder of an innocent man? Ambitious public defender Abby is determined to win at all costs. As a new mother herself, she wants to keep Luz out of prison and with her daughter. But when the surprises stack up and shocking new evidence emerges, Abby realizes the task proves far more difficult than she suspected and will require a terrible sacrifice. As the trial hurtles toward an outcome no one expects, Abby, Luz and a captivated jury are forced to answer the question that will decide everything—what does it mean to be a good mother? “Lara Bazelon combines a riveting courtroom thriller with a nuanced and thought-provoking examination of gender, race, and justice. Helmed by an intelligent, complex, and flawed protagonist, A Good Mother is a beautifully written debut that kept me turning the pages late into the night.” —Angie Kim, author of Miracle Creek "Sexy, shrewd, and wholly contemporary, A Good Mother takes pitch-perfect characters, a page-whipping plot, and themes about marriage, lust, betrayal, and the juggling of new motherhood plus a hard-driving career and mixes it all into a deeply perceptive legal thriller that made me drop everything else and just READ." —Cathi Hanauer, New York Times bestselling author of Gone, The Bitch in the House and The Bitch Is Back

Attorney Abby Keane’s vacation is perfect, especially her steamy interlude with a beautiful stranger. But her newfound zen crumbles when her biggest client, a chain of bridal stores, leaves hundreds of brides without dresses. As if reentry isn’t bad enough, a new wedding blogger is doing her best to stoke the anger of the already unhappy brides, and has chosen Abby as the villain. Roxanne Daly’s blog has finally hit the sweet spot, and her popularity is soaring. With a regular TV spot on the line, she’ll do whatever it takes to impress the network producers. Running point for a horde of angry brides against a hotshot lawyer seems like the perfect plan until her crusade collides with Abby, the woman she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about since she left her in a tropical paradise. Legal Affairs: one law firm, three best friends, three chances to fall in love.