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Harvey R. Heller

Life Lessons Learned Along the Way: Time for a Cool Change!

01.20.21

By Harvey R. Heller

I have used this space to tell stories about who I am and to introduce you to our group. My stories aren’t about me, but about people and events that have had a profound impact on me.

I’m sure everyone is looking forward to the day when we can see and hug our families, spend time with friends, dine out, and of course get back to work in what is surely going to be a modified environment. Of the foregoing items, the one thing I want to touch on in this space is getting back to work as we knew it.

I have this wonderful coffee group that currently meets at 8 a.m. on Zoom daily. Back in April when the “new normal” was ringing in my ear along with “Ok, Boomer,” we were discussing the challenges of getting back to normal, or, as my medical friends say: “baseline.” I simply noted then that in order to take appropriate advantage of the slower pace that we were experiencing, we should be ready to put our best foot forward and move quickly and expeditiously in order to get back to where we were BP (before pandemic). As many of us get ready to do that, we must quickly adapt, recognizing now (I’m a slow learner!) that “where we were” has been forever modified and immediate changes are needed.

By example, our collective careers, no matter what we have chosen, are all limited by time, whether quantified by the tenth of an hour or otherwise. Working remotely and virtually has provided opportunities to experience new and more efficient methods to do our business. Top of mind is, of course, videoconferencing for certain court hearings. The elimination of costly travel time to these hearings will free us all up and create availability for more substantive work. To be sure, it will take time to find the correct balance between in-person and remote hearings, but like everything else, we will adapt and grow.

We look forward to this exciting time for change, adapting and increasing our efficiencies so that we may serve our clients better.

In our second article this month, Does It Appeal To You? Jesse Roth discusses strategic appellate thinking.