Michael P. Maslanka

November 07, 2011 | Texas Lawyer

What is the power of a lawyer? It is to influence and persuade, not to coerce and mandate. While we are hostage to our role, we need not be enslaved to it, writes Michael P. Maslanka. He offers five ideas on how lawyers can enhance what they can do, not what they can't.

By Michael P. Maslanka

7 minute read

February 27, 2013 | Daily Report Online

Many predicted that the film Lincoln would sweep the Oscars. That didn't happen, but Daniel Day-Lewis did win the best actor Academy Award for his portrayal of America's greatest president.

By Michael P. Maslanka

6 minute read

October 22, 2012 | Texas Lawyer

Law school never teaches you how to deal with anger, whether your own or the client's. Michael P. Maslanka offers five insights to help you do just that.

By Michael P. Maslanka

6 minute read

April 16, 2012 | Texas Lawyer

Michael P. Maslanka's first job was as a field attorney for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Houston. He says the lessons he learned at the NLRB proved more useful in the long term than any he could have learned elsewhere. He discusses five mentors and the lessons they taught him.

By Michael P. Maslanka

6 minute read

August 19, 2008 | National Law Journal

Why do students still read Shakespeare? Because of a conspiracy of finger-wagging high school English teachers? No, it's his empathetic powers, making people see themselves as they are, writes Ford & Harrison managing partner Michael Maslanka, who says Shakespeare has much to teach lawyers on judging, the rule of law and the relationship between mercy and justice. As evidence, Maslanka discusses "Measure for Measure" and its parallels to the legal world.

By Michael P. Maslanka

5 minute read

March 04, 2013 | Texas Lawyer

General counsel must engage in high-stakes, emotionally charged conversations; tell uncomfortable truths; and pry open the story beneath the surface, writes Michael P. Maslanka. He offers four keys to unlocking the fortress of fear that can surround difficult discussions in the workplace.

By Michael P. Maslanka

6 minute read

February 21, 2013 | Law.com

In light of Daniel Day-Lewis' Best-Actor Oscar win for the movie Lincoln, attorney Michael Maslanka presents six lessons that general counsel can learn from the 16th president, who had the ability to remain steadfast despite obstacles, naysayers and doubts.

By Michael P. Maslanka

6 minute read

April 01, 2013 | Texas Lawyer

General counsel can relate to the opening line of "A Frolic of His Own," a novel by William Gaddis, "Justice? — You get justice in the next world, in this world you have the law." This line is sometimes true, sometimes not, when dealing with plaintiffs and their lawyers behaving badly.

By Michael P. Maslanka

6 minute read

March 13, 2012 | Law.com

Michael Maslanka, who last year celebrated his 30th anniversary as a lawyer, here offers 10 lessons he's learned over the years, drawn from sources ranging from "The Godfather: Part 2" to "Dharma Road: A Short Cab Ride to Self Discovery." Among the lessons: Do not fight the frame.

By Michael P. Maslanka

7 minute read

December 26, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

The toughest decision that lawyers, in-house or otherwise, help clients make is whether to impose the employment-law equivalent of capital punishment: termination of an employee.

By Michael P. Maslanka

5 minute read