Wednesday's Training

I'm posting this (as well as the entry that immediately follows it) a few days after the fact, but because it mentions a slightly different approach to training, I want to post it.

On Wednesday, May 21, I tried something new: I did my training in the morning before work on a weekday. I haven't done that in a while and it was a great way to start the day. I got over to GoTime, talked with Chad for a few minutes, and then got to my routine. Here's the recap.

• 35 minutes of roadwork
• 3 rounds of shadowboxing
• 3 rounds on the heavy bag
• 6 rounds on the double-end bag
• 2 rounds of stretching
• 1 round of situps/abs

It was nice to do a morning workout. If I am going to continue doing them, I'll have to start a little earlier than I did on Wednesday, but I am still pleased with the results. Having some variety in the training program helps me stay interested.

JD Bliss Webinar with Carolyn Elefant: "From BigLaw to YourLaw: The Secrets of Starting and Growing a Successful Solo Law Practice"

Attention all lawyers:

Many of you know that I am a guest blogger and regular contributor at the JD Bliss Blog. I'm thrilled to post this announcement about Carolyn Elefant's upcoming webinar.

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JD Bliss is proud to announce a new webinar on Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 12:30 PM EST:

From BigLaw to YourLaw: The Secrets of Starting and Growing a Successful Solo Law Practice

with

Carolyn Elefant, Esq.
Attorney, Author, Blogger and Consultant

During this 60-minute webinar, Carolyn Elefant, Esq., successful solo attorney, author of Solo by Choice, and publisher of the popular MyShingle blog for solo lawyers, will cover the nuts and bolts of starting up and growing your own successful solo law practice.

Attendees will learn:

• The 9 reasons lawyers leave law firms to start their own practices


• How to evaluate whether starting your own law firm is the right choice for you


• How to write a business plan for your new firm


• Techniques to identify potential clients and markets


• 3 easy marketing tools to help build your reputation


• How to negotiate an amicable departure from your current firm without "burning bridges"


• And much more. . . . . .

Date: Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 12:30 pm EST

Location: Participate remotely from the comfort of your own office or conference room via a webex connection!



We look forward to greeting you!

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I'm reading Carolyn's new book, Solo by Choice, and am thoroughly enjoying it. I recommend that you read the book and attend her webinar on June 3 to take advantages of these opportunities to learn about solo practice from Carolyn's extensive experience and clear, practical, and interesting way of presenting information about this exciting sector of our profession.

Preston Halliburton: Another Lawyer-boxer

As many of you know, I'm also a guest blogger at the JD Bliss Blog. A few days ago, I posted about yet another lawyer-boxer, Preston Halliburton of Buckhead, Georgia. Here's a link to the story.

http://www.jdblissblog.com/2008/05/in-this-cornerp.html

I'd like to say that the number of us lawyer-boxers is growing. I've blogged before about other lawyer boxers, and about law-student boxers. However, I don't know if our numbers are increasing or if we're just getting more press and blog coverage. It doesn't really matter, though, as long as we're enjoying the sport. Keep training, everyone!

Happy Anniversary to Me!

On May 5, 1994, I set out on my own to establish my solo law practice. It's hard to believe that was 14 years ago, but that's how quickly time flies. I can honestly say that I have had no regrets whatsoever; I am blissfully self-employed. I have certainly learned many things along the way, and I would probably do some things differently on a second attempt, but no regrets. It's a great feeling! 14 years--woohoo!

Celebrate RSS Awareness Day!

Mental Training

Yesterday, I focused on doing some mental rehearsal. It was the first time I had done it in a while; I need to do mental training more often.

For Thursday's training session, I spent about 15 minutes visualizing how to handle effectively an opponent who is always charging and hitting very hard--he's a relentless attacker. During the visualization, I recognized the importance of staying light on my feet and being able to move quickly. I always think I can't do too much footwork practice, and this mental training session affirmed that.

My imaginary opponent for the visualization is a friend of mine named Dave. I have fought him twice. I beat him the first time and he came back strong and won the second bout. I am eager to challenge him to a rematch.

Mental practice helps to point out some techniques I need to polish, such as smooth, quick footwork. It also gives me some concrete ideas about strategy; I can try out different approaches and see what works.

A challenge for mental training is the duration of it. I find myself training mentally for about 15 minutes at a time, but then I leave it on the side for too long. I am going to try more frequent mental training sessions and see if that helps me stay focused and improve my technique.

New Blog Sighting

This morning, I happened upon a relatively new blog that has some good content and insights into our sport. It's called The Current Boxing Scene, and it is published by a fellow who calls himself "the boxing fanatic." According to the archives, this blog has been online for about two and a half months and provides very good commentary about what is going on these days in boxing. It's a fine blog and I hope "the boxing fanatic" will be posting more frequently. I already like what I see!

Hat tip to Marc at My Boxing Blog for the link.

Update:

Usually, I don't second-guess myself, but shouldn't that read "glove tip" instead of "hat tip." Or, maybe, "glove tap"? Nah, the latter is too aggressive--Marc might think I'm challenging him or something!

Another Monday

Just 52 minutes of roadwork today. Even better news is that I received my replacement debit card and, unlike the previous replacement card I had, I was able to activate this card and use it. Now I can renew my gym membership (which used the old debit card that got stolen).

Automatic, recurring payments are great--as long as they work. Having my debit card stolen has been a very educational experience about how even simple personal finances and banking can become complicated in this electronic age when various accounts can be linked to one another.

It will be difficult to enjoy the same convenience without the complexity and the interrelationships among my PayPal account, debit card, and bank accounts. Nevertheless, I am developing some backup strategies to make things a lot easier in the event this situation happens again. I hope it wont, of course, but I plan to be prepared for it anyway.

Update on UNB Law Students' Boxing Event

A few days ago, I wrote about an event that law students at the University of New Brunswick planned to hold in order to raise funds for the Lawyers Against Landmines organization. Since then, I have traded a couple of e-mails with Gavin Cosgrove, the event's organizer. He seems like a great guy and he was kind enough to send me this news update about the Knocking Out Landmines event, which was a great success.

Gavin and I have talked briefly about working together to host a USA vs. Canada boxing event featuring lawyers and law students. That would be great, since I've been pondering the idea of organizing another lawyers' charitable boxing event here in Chicago. He and I will talk further about this.

Congratulations to Gavin and the rest of the UNB law students who boxed and raised a lot of funds for the Canadian Landmine Foundation. Well done, lads (and lass)!

Hey, Who Ordered the Snow???

It snowed a little yesterday. A little uncommon, but not unheard of for Chicago on March 27. It's weird because the previous day was partly sunny and very wam--about 60 degrees.

Anyway, even in the snow, I managed 46 minutes of roadwork, then another 30 minutes today. I haven't been to the gym this week (it's a long, boring story). Anyway, keep up the good work everyone!

He's Back!

"He" is a fellow boxer-blogger named Duncan Higgitt who lives in Wales. He has recently resumed blogging. Here's a link to his site.

http://boxingaches2.blogspot.com

Welcome back, Duncan. It's good to see you online again and good to know you're staying with our sport!

It's a shame you're all the way in Wales. I'd be glad to invite you to my gym. It's a great place with lots of great people.

Keep punching, man! I hope your schedule and life commitments will allow you to keep with your training.

Law Students Set to Box in Charity Event

First, we have some lawyer-boxers (such as Marc Saggese and yours truly). Then we have a lawyer-boxer-turned-Aikido-practitioner. Then there's Marc, the first law student-boxer I have met online. Also, Brett Trout is a lawyer-cage fighter, also known as Iowa's Toughest Attorney.

Continuing the fine tradition of legal types as fighters, eight law students at the University of New Brunswick's law school will climb into the ring tomorrow to put on a boxing show to raise funds for the charitable group Lawyers Against Landmines. Pretty cool stuff, eh?

Here's the Web site for the event. If you happen to be in the area, check these guys out. They're hosting the event for a good cause and it looks like it will be a blast. New Brunswick's kind of far from me; otherwise, I'd love to attend.

I expect the law students and their audience will have a great time. (I wonder if they would allow lawyers who have already been admitted/called to the bar to participate.) Several years ago, I was privileged to box in a local fundraiser for the DuPage County Legal Assistance Foundation. It was serious fun and I hope to have the chance to participate in similar events again.

That gives me an idea. Wouldn't be neat if we had an organization for lawyers and law students that could periodically hold events like the Knocking Out Landmines event? We could help some worthy organizations, encourage lawyers and law students to maintain higher levels of fitness, and have fun doing it. What do you think? Post any ideas you have here in the comments, or feel free to e-mail me at steve@lawyerboxer.com.

To the New Brunswick law student-boxers: good luck in your event. I hope it will be a great time, a huge success for the fund-raising campaign, and a memorable and fun event for everyone. Let us know how it goes!

Updated on March 25, 2008 at 5:20 p.m.: Here is another news article about the event.

Updated on March 27, 2008 at 12:12 a.m.: I don't have any post-fight coverage of the event, but here's an additional story about it:

http://law.unb.ca/news/2008/03/knocking_out_landmines.html

Monday Brief Update

Nothing extraordinary going on in the training department here: just some roadwork (40 minutes today), shadowboxing, and mental training. Work has been consuming tons of time again. It's amazing how busy a guy can be doing essentially non-paying (or, as we lawyer like to call it, "non-billable" work). Oh well, just a temporary situation. Stay positive!

A New Yorker's Look at Gleason's Gym Gets Me Thinking

Jeremiah Moss recounts a visit to Gleason's Gym on his blog. It's not a bad read, as blog entries go, and much of its message resonates with me.

I grew up as an inner-city boy. I was multicultural before that word was used fairly widely in common parlance. I was diverse before diversity was a multi-million-dollar industry. I know the pain of seeing my beloved city (in my case, Chicago) become gentrified and lose its familiar roughness and grittiness.

While I train today at a gym that some might call "upscale," I'm no stranger to the rough-and-tumble world of the storied Windy City Gym and various Chicago Park District boxing gyms. While I am technically, I suppose--can you sense my ambivalence about this?--one of those "white collar" guys about whom Moss seems to have deep misgivings, I'm pretty simple and pretense never did much for me. I'm equally at home throwing down with a kid several years younger than me in a gym in a rough part of town, and boxing against another lawyer in a charitable fund-raising event.

While I could complain a bit about how Mr. Moss painted his picture of Gleason's Gym and its environs, my complaint would not really be about his message or even how he delivers it. My frustration may be the same as his: I lament the loss of many things that give our cities an identity that goes beyond block after block of what Malvina Reynolds famously called "little boxes."

One can't dismiss me as some sort of anti-progress Luddite who naively yearns for "the good old days." I'm a technology kind of guy. My law practice and much of my writing concentrate on Internet and computer law and I have lots of information technology experience. I don't dislike innovation and change; technological progress fuels my livelihood. Still, I don't necessarily think something is better just because it's new. I may be in the minority, but I feel a lot safer in integrated neighborhoods, where all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds learn to live together peacefully, than I do in places where everyone looks the same, talks the same, lives in the same kind of house, and drives basically the same kind of cars.

I can't do very much to stop the tide of gentrification and all the phenomena that accompany it. But I don't have to like it and I certainly won't stop asking whether there are other, better ways to improve our cities.

Slow Training this Week

It has been one of those slow weeks of training. I wanted to do more this week, but the demands of work have required me to spend more hours on my law practice. That's fine. While I'm a bit disappointed, I remember that I am learning my livelihood as a lawyer rather than an athlete, and I am able to keep things in perspective. There are also some really good aspects of this week, so I want to share those, too.

• After almost 14 years, I am still positively thrilled to be in solo practice. It is the right fit for me. From talking with friends of mine over the years, as well as blogging for the JD Bliss Blog, I have learned that I am really blessed to be working on my own and not at one of the "law factories" (or in "big law," as it's often called). Sure, I have made my share of mistakes in solo practice and I've learned better ways to do things, but going solo in 1994 was undoubtedly the very best decision I have made in my career.
• I have been working with a new client and they have presented me with a fascinating legal issue. Because of professional confidentiality and the attorney-client privilege, I can't go into details here, but the project is perfect for my hyper-analytical mind; my neurons can really crunch on it and savor it. It's taking somewhat longer than I originally expected it would. I appreciate the client's patience and the opportunity to be at the forefront of important legal questions related to doing business on the Internet.
• I earn part of my living by writing. I update my book quarterly, to keep it current, and doing that helps me keep up to date, too.
• I earn part of my living by blogging. How cool is that?

Overall, at least in this moment, I am blessed and I am grateful.

Tuesday Roadwork and Shadowboxing

36 minutes today. Gotta keep going.