Dena Lefkowitz

July 27, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

As children, we learn every day how to do life, from the basics of how to eat, get dressed, tie our shoes to more complex educational and societal lessons. Children need the release of play, at intervals, as a break from all that learning. Play is generally recognized as an essential part of growing up and is built-in. Kids have recess, build forts, cultivate hobbies, and create unique worlds, characters, secret languages and societies.

By Dena Lefkowitz

7 minute read

June 29, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

"In order to practice, you must be present in your mind," said the yoga teacher at the beginning of a recent class. So it goes with any practice whether it be law, medicine, or running a business. In order to be fully present, however, you must find a way to be calm. That's the tricky part.

By Dena Lefkowitz

13 minute read

May 19, 2016 | New Jersey Law Journal

How to connect with sources of inspiration when you need a little nudge in your career.

By Dena Lefkowitz

6 minute read

May 19, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

What do you do when you need a little inspiration? A nudge to get you going? Reassurance that you can make it work? Affirmation that you are enough?

By Dena Lefkowitz

6 minute read

April 21, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

It feels like 1994 all over again.

By Dena Lefkowitz

12 minute read

March 24, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

In a recent episode of the television show "Better Call Saul," the titular lawyer who has scrambled and struggled to earn a living decides to call it quits with the law right after being offered the best opportunity of his life with a prestigious firm. He thought that was his dream, until it came true.

By Dena Lefkowitz

14 minute read

February 18, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

Do you dread and procrastinate initiating discussions when you think others will respond negatively to what you have to say? Are you hesitant to voice an opinion because you presume negative consequences? Practicing law, by its very nature, requires a facility for difficult conversations with clients, witnesses, supervisors, direct-reports and judges where outcomes can be greatly influenced by developing skills in handling conflict. This is at the heart of "Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High," by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler. The methods described in this book are invaluable in any profession and I have had clients transform their leadership skills by incorporating the techniques.

By Dena Lefkowitz

7 minute read

January 28, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

When I think of a brand new year, I envision a beautiful, tranquil lake, so still that it mirrors everything surrounding it. Nothing has happened yet to disturb or disrupt that peaceful surface. Our actions are like pebbles thrown into the lake that ripple out, changing the reflection in the mirror and rearranging the landscape in expected and surprising ways.

By Dena Lefkowitz

7 minute read

December 02, 2015 | The Legal Intelligencer

During this country's infancy, lawyers were educated and trained for the profession not by attending law school, but through an apprenticeship with a practicing attorney. At the start of the 19th century, a college degree was not required for bar admission and 68 percent of Philadelphia lawyers were college graduates at that time, according to A. Christopher Bryant in an article for the Nevada Law Journal titled, "Reading the Law in the Office of Calvin Fletcher: The Apprenticeship System and the Practice of Law in Frontier Indiana," which explores the apprenticeship system. By the end of that century, university law schools had replaced apprenticeships as the dominant method of educating and training lawyers.

By Dena Lefkowitz

7 minute read

December 02, 2015 | The Legal Intelligencer

During this country's infancy, lawyers were educated and trained for the profession not by attending law school, but through an apprenticeship with a practicing attorney. At the start of the 19th century, a college degree was not required for bar admission and 68 percent of Philadelphia lawyers were college graduates at that time, according to A. Christopher Bryant in an article for the Nevada Law Journal titled, "Reading the Law in the Office of Calvin Fletcher: The Apprenticeship System and the Practice of Law in Frontier Indiana," which explores the apprenticeship system. By the end of that century, university law schools had replaced apprenticeships as the dominant method of educating and training lawyers.

By Dena Lefkowitz

7 minute read