Have you noticed that folks are a little cranky? I'm sure it has something to do with the five straight days of gloomy, rainy weather in our part of the state -- but I think there may be more to this -- and it's part of a bigger picture.

    The Thanksgiving holiday is right around the corner. Depending upon your situation -- you may be looking forward to the event or you might be feeling anxious or apprehensive -- particularly when you think about all those preconceived notions about how the holidays "should" be.

    For some, it's just wonderful to have relatives and friends visit. Everyone gets along, there's lots of good food...

The status of the Missouri Public Defender System can be described accurately and succinctly in only six words: "Up the creek without a paddle." Before getting to the study that is the basis for this description, it's important to point out that problems with the Public Defender System affect all of us -- not just those thousands of people who are accused of a crime in Missouri and who don't have money for a private attorney.

Image: Tom Curtis / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This is the U. S. Constitution and the Missouri Constitution we are talking about. This affects the lives of the accused, their families, crime victims,...

    If you work in a law office in Missouri and answer the phone, you get lots of calls from people who are looking for lawyers to help them. Right? Right! That's nothing new -- happens every day -- but sometimes, you have some unusual situations and you find you're not sure what to do with that caller.

    Here are a few examples of some "out-of-the-ordinary" requests:

    Your caller tells you they need to consult with an attorney about a divorce. The caller lives in Missouri, but the petition was filed by his/her soon-to-be-ex-spouse in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Can you help that caller?

    What if someone calls your office...

As you can tell by the title of this blog topic, I haven't ever been to a supervisor training session. That doesn't stop me from being a supervisor or from having been responsible for the work of different groups of employees.

At one point in my career, I thought I was really a hotshot because I was second in command over a group of about 100 people. I might have lost perspective, except for a relative who explained my role to me. "You're a piece of a boss," she said. I don't know how many people you have to supervise to be an "entire" boss, but even if you're responsible for the work of one other person, even occasionally, you qualify as...

     I wanted to lie to you. I didn't want to mislead you, but because I had a great idea that would really drive home a point about the law -- and wanted to get your attention -- then I'd have to lie. So,  I decided to lie and present the story as something that actually happened. My boss wouldn't let me.  So, here's the story I was going to tell:

He was 28.

My husband and I went to a funeral the other day. A young man we knew died in an auto accident. His parents are friends of ours. There was no visitation beforehand. His family couldn't cope with visitation. The church was crowded. His dad, mom, and older brother were in the front...