The VBA Journal is the official publication of The Virginia Bar Association.
Issue link: http://vba.epubxp.com/i/436865
WINTER 2014 - 2015 • 13 ples is the bane of a legal writing professor's existence. One of these days, I am going to include a nonsense "Latin" term in a sample and see how many students include the same term in their document. Tis "experiment" would likely have at least a 50 percent success rate! Forms and boilerplate have their place; they save time, and what has worked well in one case, on certain limited issues, might also work well in another. Nevertheless, do not take a cookie cutter approach to lawyering. If you use boil- erplate or forms that you fnd on the Internet, make sure that you have modifed them. Tis way, you will know why each provision is there and will not be simply relying on someone else's words without even knowing why you are including them. Re-search Effectively Te word itself says it all: research. Re-search means to search more than once for an answer. Tere are no quick solutions in the law. Google won't hack it. Tink of research as solving a puzzle or fnding a four-leaf clover. Persevere, and the result will bring you happiness and good fortune. Use Your Mind Most of us went to law school to make a diference. Mak- ing a diference requires using one's mind to efect change. Do not let all of the changes in social media and research tools drain those creative juices. Tere is still much hope for the profession. Social media has not killed the best legal stars. ■ Comments, questions, and well-thought, non-boilerplate suggestions are welcome at dspratt@wcl.american.edu. to otherwise help themselves. We cannot become creative problem solvers, however, if we shortcut the process of fnd- ing a solution. We cannot help our clients as efectively by relying on someone else's ideas and online work product in- stead of investing our own energies and cognitive abilities into whatever task we strive to complete. Is it too late to buck this trend? I hope not. But the legal profession is and will continue to be diferent than it was before. Tablets, smartphones, and the Internet aren't going away. Te ability to use these tools creatively and efectively for our clients is endless and very often critical to success, and I would not want them to disappear. Having said that, this column ofers a few tips on how to still be a legal star and not let social media get in the way. Cage the Culprits Get rid of the smartphone and avoid using social media while working. A colleague recently shared that during her frst class this semester, 1L students were taking selfes and posting them on __________ (insert site of choice). I was dumbfounded: How can this distraction and lack of profes- sionalism produce good lawyers? Te same thing applies to law practice. Tere is no need to constantly check a phone or Facebook account during meetings, particularly those meetings involving clients and legal strategies. What is next? Taking a call in the middle of closing argument? Put away the electronic devices unless you truly need them. Devoting one's full attention to the task at hand is a good thing. Let the light bulb come on in your head; the little red light bulb on your phone does not achieve results for your clients. Be Wary of Boilerplate Each year, law student reliance on forms, samples, and boilerplate seems to increase. Cutting and pasting from sam- Good writing mandates good thinking. Truly good thinking requires careful attention. And careful attention requires getting rid of the distractions inherent in social media and an overreliance on fnding a quick answer.