Editor's Column

By:  Alex Yarbrough

As lawyers, we face the day-to-day task of dealing with conflicts and problems.  At this time of the year, it is common for many people to make New Year’s resolutions.  Yes, the New Year’s resolutions that take us all the way to St. Patrick’s Day or even Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  Unfortunately, no matter how committed we may be in the beginning, we find it almost impossible to keep the resolution.  Along with our personal resolutions it is just as helpful to make a list of those items in your practice you need to improve upon. 

1.  Learn from 2014. For this resolution, make a list of three things about your law practice that worked and three things that did not. This is an easy resolution because you really don’t have to do anything. Simply bringing into awareness the good and bad points should help your law firm’s dynamics in 2015.

2.  Keep your desk/office organized. There are a great deal of articles and studies out there that suggest we are more productive with cleaner and organized desks. What law practice couldn’t use more productivity? Just make sure you don’t accomplish this resolution by stuffing all of your paperwork and files in your assistant’s office.

3.  Turn in TYLA eNews articles timely. OK, this resolution may be just for me. Moreover, some resolutions just never get started.

In this month’s eNews are some great articles that should be on every young lawyer’s list of New Year’s resolutions.  For example, John Grace’s article as to why we should “Join the College of the State Bar of Texas” and Belashia Wallace’s article addressing healthy habits are all things we should keep in mind in 2015. 

TYLA wishes everyone a happy and prosperous 2015.  Additionally, we will be flattered if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to always read eNews.