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We live in an accelerated world. If you’ve read Juliet B. Schor’s pathbreaking book, The Overworked American, you know that US workers log more hours and less vacation than the average medieval peasant. This was true in 1991 when Schor’s book was published and, if anything, it is even more true now. The supercharged pace of daily life creates a world of unrealistic expectations. We overextend ourselves because hard work is a moral imperative. Amidst this “always-more” mindset, excuses provide a lifeline. After all, being too busy is a legitimate—even revered—state of affairs, and so it provides a clean getaway from stressful tasks. In warp-speed economics, excuses save us from ourselves.

Law school is not your average pursuit and there’s nothing elitist about saying so. The average median GPA required to gain admission to a Top 10 School is 3.865. Schools ranked outside of the Top 10 still require a 3.4. Not a lot of people cruise through school picking up these sorts of grades (the national average GPA is 3.0). While good grades say precious little about a person they are nonetheless a wide-spread trading token and when your token is marked with a fancy number it means that in academic pursuits you’re trading above average.

If you’re like so many folks out there, your first thought upon learning that non-lawyers can now own law firms was probably, Is that even legal? But you’re not like most folks out there. You’re a lawyer, and so of course you know that it’s legal. What might surprise you is that it’s also a good thing.

You’ve got to admit it’s a little worrying if you run a law firm and you’re reading this wondering about the 7 essential law firm processes. After all, any firm hoping to remain competitive in this always-accelerating world ought to at a minimum have a grasp on the essentials, right? Don’t worry, though, you’re not alone. The number of firms stumbling forward unaware of how best to streamline their processes is, frankly, stunning.

“Let me think about it” is the dating equivalent of “It was great to meet you! (Full stop).” Both mean you likely won’t be hearing from the person again. In dating, this means back to #swipelife; in business, where pushing the point isn’t utterly uncool, you might yet save the sale—but only if you know which questions to ask.

In times as disruptive as these, embracing change may feel scarier than ever. As a nation, we are weathering an unprecedented moment. First came the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, the riots sparked by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. These events may or may not be disconnected—but one common element worth underscoring is that both events teach us that things cannot return to normal. Events playing out on streets across the U.S. make this painfully clear.