NYSBA FALL /WINTER 2004

PerspectiveA publication of the Young Lawyers Sectionof the New York State Bar Association

A Message fromthe Section Chair

Why get involved in the YoungLawyer's Section ("YLS")?

New attorneys and members ofour Section frequently ask me whatthe benefits are to getting involvedin the YLS. Frankly, every personinvolved in our Section will providedifferent reasons for why they gotinvolved and what have been thebenefits of their experience. Yet, sim-ilar to volunteering time to any orga-nization or group, the more yougive, the more you receive.

First and foremost, the YLS pro-vides the easiest and quickest wayfor young lawyers to get involved inthe New York State Bar Association("NYSBA"). As I wrote in my firstChair's message and in my letter toall new members of the YLS, gettinginvolved in the YLS is as simple assending an e-mail to me at skossove@lbcclaw.com or our Bar liaison,Terry Scheid, at tscheid@nysba.org.Since the YLS is a group of yourpeers, young lawyers are very com-fortable getting involved with theYLS. The more you get involved, themore you will develop a great net-work of colleagues from around thestate that benefits you both profes-sionally and personally.

Of the many opportunities foryoung lawyers to get involved in theYLS, the two most popular are serv-ing as District Representatives, or

(Continued on page 21)

De-stressing: Lawyerly StyleBy Deborah Turchiano and Lisa Sherman

Deborah Turchiano

It's hard tofind lawyersout therewho don'tlove to com-plain abouthow stressedout and time-deprivedthey are.However, welawyers are aclever lot(seven years

of higher education will buy you atleast that attribute) and we've fig-ured out ways to de-stress, lawyerlystyle.

I. D e -Stressing In the OfficeEven if we're stuck in the office,

we are surrounded by all sorts oftension relief devices.

A. Yo u r Electronic TherapistPass by any lawyer's office on

any given day, and if they are not onthe phone or with a visitor, chancesare they will be deep in concentra-tion hacking away at their comput-ers. Are they always working on thedeal of the century? Of course not!Let's face it: preparing your profilefor an on-line dating service lookspretty much the same as revisingprovisions of a zillion-dollar con-tract. Because most of us are glued tothe computer the vast majority of theworkday, high-speed access to the

world out-side theoffice hasbecome thedigital equiv-alent of asmokingbreak. Thereare threeways we usethe magicbox to de-stress. Lisa Sherman

1. E - m a i lFor many of us, e-mail is our last

vestige of communication to the out-side world. We live for the welcom-ing "ping" or instant-message that sorudely interrupts our real work.

(Continued on page 22)

InsideFrom the Editor's Desk 3SOUND OFF! 4TECHNO TALKWho's Been Reading My E-mail? 6(Odia Kagan)The Impact of the HIPAA Privacy andSecurity Regulations on Law Firms:Attorneys As Business Associates 1 1(Melissa M. Zambri)Scenes from the Fall Meeting 1 4THE LAWYER'S BOOKSHELFBook Reviews 1 6(James S. Rizzo)Young Lawyers Section Newsand Events 1 8

N' i rS13 .A .

A Message from the Section Chair(Continued from page 1)

Liaisons to other sections within theNYSBA. With respect to our districtrepresentatives, there are twelve dis-tricts, each of which has district andalternate district representatives.These representatives serve their dis-trict on the YLS Executive Commit-tee and plan social and CLE eventsfor their district. Our ExecutiveCommittee is also comprised ofliaisons to all of the other Sections ofthe NYSBA, such as the BusinessLaw, Municipal Law and TrialLawyers' Sections. Every Section ofthe NYSBA has a YLS liaison whoalso sits on the executive committeeof that Section. These positions pro-vide a wonderful opportunity foryoung lawyers in their particulararea of specialty to meet and developrelationships with Bar leadersthroughout New York. We have sev-eral openings in our district repre-sentative and liaison positions, so ifyou are interested, again please e-mail either Terry Scheid or myself.

The YLS runs many CLE pro-grams throughout the state duringthe course of the year. YLS membersreceive discounts to all of our CLEprograms. Our two major programsare presented in New York City dur-ing the NYSBA Annual Meeting.This year the Annual Meeting runsfrom January 24-28, 2005. OnWednesday, January 26, 2005, theYLS will present its Annual Meetingprogram, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00noon. This three-credit CLE programwill deal with various topics impor-tant to our members, such as balanc-ing work and family, ethics, startingearly to plan for your retirement,and the importance of life outside ofthe office. Later that day we host acocktail reception, and that evening,all members get together for a casualdinner in the city. I strongly encour-age all of you to try and attend theseevents.

Later that week, on Friday, Janu-ary 28, 2005, the YLS runs its full-dayBridging-the-Gap Program. Thiseight-credit CLE program isdesigned to cover many differentpractical issues important to newattorneys, including topics such asattending preliminary conferences,conducting and defending deposi-tions and ethical issues for newattorneys. A featured highlight ofthis program is that a panel of judgesfrom across the state will providetips to new attorneys.

We also offer several opportuni-ties for our members to get pub-lished. First, this publication, Per-spective, is always seeking newarticles from YLS members. Westrongly encourage all of our mem-bers to consider this great opportuni-ty. Further, the YLS, for the past fewyears, has been involved in an excit-ing endeavor called On the Case.This is a program in which all mem-bers who volunteer are called uponto write a very brief and generalstatement that is used by newsreporters to help them understanddifferent concepts of the law thatthey are covering. Since reporters,and not attorneys, use these, ourmembers find them very easy to dobecause they only require a limitedamount of time and a very generalexplanation of broad principles oflaw.

The YLS is also very proud of itsmentor program. The importance ofa mentor cannot be overstated. TheMentor Directory is a list of mentorsthroughout the NYSBA that our

members can contact if they havequestions or need help on specificissues. We are in the process ofimproving and updating our MentorDirectory and are looking for volun-teers to help work on this initiative.

Finally, we are again runningone of our most exciting programs,our United States Supreme CourtAdmissions Program. The SupremeCourt admissions program will takeplace the weekend of June 4-6, 2005.The actual admission to the U.S.Supreme Court will take place on themorning of June 6, 2005. This is agreat program that is only availableto members of our Section. We com-bine this exciting program with ourSpring 2005 Executive CommitteeMeeting so that our members canenjoy the weekend in Washington,D.C. Presently, the night before theadmission, Sunday, June 5, 2005, wehave a special dinner planned with avery prominent guest speaker. Twoyears ago, when we last ran this pro-gram, our guest speaker was formerSolicitor General and IndependentCounsel Kenneth Starr. We are look-ing forward to another exciting pro-gram this June and will be sendingmaterials about this program in thecoming months.

In addition to the opportunitiesand events listed above, there arealso additional ways for younglawyers to get involved in the YLS. I,again, strongly encourage all of youto contact Terry Scheid or me to getinvolved, or if you have any ques-tions about the YLS.

Scott E. Kossove

"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carrieswith it the seed of an equal or greater benefit."

— Napolean Hill (1883-1970) U.S. motivational author

NYSBA Perspective I Fall/Winter 2004 2 1

De-stressing: Lawyerly Style(Continued from page 1)

While many of us reside a mere twooffices away from our best friend'soffice, it's much faster to type whatyou have to say than walk 10 feetaway. Besides functioning as criticaldistraction to mind-numbing docu-ment review, e-mail is loved by alllawyers because, devoid of humanemotion, it offers completely neutraldelivery of any message, even fromthe most evil partner. Yelling, stomp-ing and degrading tones are undeliv-erable. It's virtually impossible todetect the mood of the senderand/or tone of the message in mostcases (the exception being when youinsert those little yellow smiley facesat the bottom of your e-mails tofriends) even though you may spendhalf a day obsessively dissectingevery word to try to figure out whatwas really meant by the sender.

E-mail also facilitates our anal-retentive disorder, an ailment withwhich we are all plagued. We type,review, revise seven times, save asdraft, review a few hours later whenwe've had a chance to think aboutthings, and then send, but only afterchecking three times to make sureeach recipient is correct. Of course,by the time we hit "send," all that isleft is the subject line because we'reso neurotic that our written words(which can't be taken back ordenied) will be misinterpreted, print-ed and shown to the rest of theworld.

Since we are all so time-crunched, e-mail is also perfect forenabling us to multitask—we canhave a blow-out fight with our sig-nificant other via insta-messagingwhile simultaneously participatingon an overseas conference call, draft-ing schedules to a deal documentand eating lunch. Oftentimes, themere banging away on the keyboardin a message to our friend abouthow inconsiderate our boss may be(with the most egregious behavioralways spelled out in capital letters)is therapeutic in and of itself because

it takes four times longer to type thestory than to tell it. By the time youhit "send," your anxiety has com-pletely dissipated.

2. Sur f ingWhat did we do before the

advent of Saint Google? Whether it'slooking for a piece of information orjust filling our tired noggins withbrain candy, we all spend more timethan we are willing to admit surfingthe Web for periodic stress relief.From the comfort of our office chairs,we can check our stock portfolios (anactivity closely followed by a trip toNiemanmarcus.com for many of usif the market is up), plan our nextextravagant vacation, read the recipeof the day on Epicurious.com (as ifwe had time to cook) and watch amovie trailer, all while giving theappearance that we are answering a50-page interrogatory.

3. E -ShoppingSince most of us don't have time

to hit the stores during the week(and for many of us, during theweekends), there really isn't anytime left in the day to shop outsidethe office. For most lawyers (particu-larly those without the Y chromo-some), there is no better therapythan spending our hard-earnedgreenbacks without leaving the com-fort of our chair. A few simple clicksof a button (usually occurring at thetail end of two hours of Web win-dow shopping and price compar-isons) and a thousand dollars later($300 of which are overnight deliv-ery fees) gets you the fruits of yourlabor delivered right to your chair.

B. L i v e Office Therapists (a/k/aBitching Buddies)

Sometimes, there's only one wayto deal with the stressful practice oflaw without internally combusting:bitching, complaining, kvetching(Yiddish for black-belt, master com-plaining), grumbling, nagging, nit-picking and whining about how

much everything and anythingSUCKS to ANYONE who will listen.For many of us, nothing is moretherapeutic than storming into a col-league's office, closing the door andventing (and for many of us in theearly years, crying) about the partnerwho just chewed us up and spit usout. The scenario usually goes some-thing like this:

Evil Partner hands you yourred-sea memorandum and tellsyou that you "dropped the ball"and missed an importantresearch point, so you can'tleave the premises until it'sdone (which won't be until nextTuesday because it's so compli-cated and you have no ideawhat you're doing). You runinto your Bitchin' Buddy'soffice, call Evil Partner all ofthe George Carlin words youcan't say on TV, and threatento: (1) quit; (2) give up yourpersonal trainer; (3) sell yourHam ptons share; and (4) open aflower shop. After consuming300 M&M's with your buddy,she calmly reminds you that:(1) you are florally challengedand a herbicidal maniac; (2)because all of the other peoplein your Ham ptons house arelawyers, there is a transferabili-ty restriction on your share;and (3) without a personaltrainer, you would develop anincurable case of Lawyer AssSpread Syndrome (the dreaded"LASS"). Before you know it,you have calmed down, re-gained your composure andeven discussed how you may goabout tackling the memo fromHell (thereby rendering theentire bitching session billable).

II. D e -stressing BreaksEven the most obsessive billing

machine cannot be in the office 24/7.Everyone needs a break. While shortbreaks (i.e., bathroom runs or grab-bing a sandwich to eat at your desk)

22 N Y S B A Perspective I Fall/Winter 2004

are generally accepted, lawyers tendto be neurotic about letting anyoneknow that they have left their work-station for anything more than that(thereby causing every attorney tobrainwash their secretary to alwaystell callers that "lawyer X juststepped away from his desk, may Itake a message?").

A. M i d d a y BreaksSo what are lawyers doing when

they take their long midday breaksthat are completely unrelated towork? While marathon-eatingescapades do occur from time totime during the "extended lunchbreak," this break usually has noth-ing whatsoever to do with food.Most of us will use the midday workreprieve for shopping, workouts,interviewing with kinder and gentlerfirms, mani/pedis for the ladies,shoe shines for the guys, doctor (andshrink) visits, or running home tovisit baby, pet or pillow.

B. T h e Nightly BreakAt the end of the workday

(assuming there is an "end") eventhe most dedicated workaholics tendto vanish without a trace. Most of usunderstand that preparation for thistype of break is much more exten-sive than the other breaks becauseit's a bigger time commitment awayfrom billing (i.e., at least 6 hours).Even amateurs know that at a mini-mum, you should consider litteringyour desk with paperwork and openbooks, leaving an open lit-bag (theone you never use) in your clientchair, throwing a suit jacket behindyour chair and of course, leaving thelights on. More experienced attor-neys may also leave an extra set ofkeys and glasses on their desk, alongwith a half-eaten sandwich, in addi-tion to spraying cologne in the air togive the impression that you "musthave just stepped away."

C. T h e Vacation BreakMany lawyers confess that they

live to vacation and vacation to live.Since lawyers generally have a lowtolerance for boredom, nothing but

the most exotic, adventurous andluxurious holidays will do. No soon-er do we return to post-vacation Hellthan we start researching our nextjourney. As an aside, it seems thatthe Blackberry does not functionoptimally in cold climates, Europeancountries, and while flying at alti-tudes of 30,000 feet. Perhaps thiswould explain why so many lawyersare now vacationing in Alaska, Italyand/or Costa Rica.

III. D e -stressing Outside theOffice

Once we have escaped the office,there are a myriad of diversions weturn to for relaxation. The most obvi-ous de-stressor, of course, should bedoing nothing and getting somesleep. For most of us, however,peace, quiet and solitude drive usmad after about 10 minutes.

A. ExerciseWhile almost all of us shell out

money to belong to a health club, thetrouble with exercise is that, like eat-ing, lawyers can't seem to do it inmoderation. We don't feel fulfilledunless we submit ourselves to hour-long, high-impact cardio workoutswhere our heart rate tops 170 andsweat drips out of every pore of ourbody. We can't just jog three miles—we have to train for marathons.

On the other hand, if we suspectthat we have anything less than anhour to kill ourselves, it's not evenworth it to waste our precious time.Similarly, if we don't stick to our newcarb-free, under-1,200-calorie fantasydiet (i.e., we binge on a giant size bagof Hershey kisses in the morning,indulge in a greasy burger and friesat noon, and slurp down a CarmelMacchiato at 3 p.m.), all the workingout in the world will not burn offthose calories, so why bother?

B. Can ine and Feline TherapyM a t better way to help you de-

stress than to know that you have afurry companion who loves youunconditionally, doesn't talk backand thinks you are the nicest,

smartest, most loving person thatever walked on the face of thisearth? Although it may be scary for arisk-adverse, obsessive-compulsivelawyer to be responsible for keepingsomething alive other than herself(and we barely manage to do thatsometimes), lawyers say there'snothing like it. A simple lick, bark,snuggle or wag of the tail can bright-en even our worst days. And it's bla-tantly clear that you will never find asignificant other who can live up tothis perfect furry lover. Relationshipsinvolve mind games, sexual needs,and battles over the remote controls.All your snuggly boarder wantsfrom you is a scratch on his tummyand a toss of the tennis ball. Andthey will never correct your gram-mar or punctuation, either.

C. HobbiesLawyers have a fascination with

signing up for classes that will osten-sibly unleash their creative juiceswhich have been quashed by thepractice of law. Despite our initialcuriosity in, for example, cookingand pottery classes, and tennis andgolf lessons, our interest generallypeters out after the first few classeswhen we discover that we are com-pletely mediocre in these activities.Yet again, we are hit by the brutalreality that we cannot give up ourday jobs.

D. Professional (i.e., Expensive)Therapy

For those of us who remainstressed-out messes despite our com-puter therapy, breaks and outsidediversions, it may be time to hit theprofessional's couch. Formerly a stig-matized activity limited to crazypeople, it has now seeminglybecome a mandatory line-item onevery lawyers' maintenance budget.The only problem is, we usuallydon't have enough down time toresearch the perfect therapist for ourparticular problem, and even whenwe manage to finally pick a shrink,we incur even more stress when weworry about whether or not we'll beable to fit the appointment into our

NYSBA Perspective I Fall/Winter 2004 2 3

busy schedule. In fact, some of usmay have to retain therapist #2 tomake us feel better about repeatedlycanceling on therapist #1 due to"work-related emergencies." What-ever these highly paid listeners do,however, seems to be working. Ormaybe we are just nostalgic for theSocratic method of our law schooldays—we long for the perpetual cir-cular reasoning and illogical analysisin which we eventually wind upanswering all of our questions our-selves anyway.

IV. Relax!The first few years of practice

knocks even the most hardenedattorneys off balance, and sometimesthe only thing that keeps us from

falling flat on our LASSES are ourcomrades in training. Seek out yourBitchin' Buddies early in your careerand make nice with your electronictherapist. And don't forget, if all elsefails, at least you'll be makingenough money to pay someone totell you that you are still sane.

Deborah L. Turchiano, Esq. is agraduate of Cornell University andthe University of Florida College ofLaw. She clerked for the HonorableSusan H. Black on the Eleventh Cir-cuit Court of Appeals and thenworked as an ERISA attorney for alarge Wall Street law firm for sevenyears. She currently practices at anexecutive compensation consultingfirm in New York City, and is a

member of the New York and Flori-da bars.

Lisa G. Sherman, Esq. is a grad-uate of the University of Rochesterand Washington University Schoolof Law. She has practiced labor andemployment law for the past elevenyears, and currently practices at amid-size defense firm in Los Ange-les. She is a member of the Califor-nia and Nevada bars.

The above article is excerptedfrom Chapter 8 of a new book enti-tled Sisters-in-Law: An UncensoredGuide for Women Practicing Law inthe Real World, by Lisa Sherman,Esq., and Deborah Turchiano, Esq.,and is reprinted here with permis-sion.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is notan act, but a habit."

— Aristotle

REQUEST FOR ARTICLESPerspective welcomes the submission of substantive articles,humor, artwork, photographs, anecdotes, book and moviereviews, "Sound Off!" comments and responses and quotes oftimely interest to our Section, in addition to suggestions for futureissues.Please send to:James S. Rizzo, Esq.Office of the Corporation Counsel for the City of RomeCity Hall, 198 North Washington StreetRome, New York 13440Phone: (315) 339-7670Fax: (315) 339-7788E-mail: jrizzo@romegov.comArticles can be sent as an e-mail attachment to the addressabove, or submitted on a 3%2" floppy disk, in Microsoft Word for-mat, along with a double-spaced, printed original, biographicalinformation and a photograph (if desired). Please note that anyarticles previously published in another forum will need writtenpermission from that publisher before they can be reprinted inPerspective.

24 NYSBA Perspective I Fall/Winter 2004