The Real World

Did you ever get the feeling that you are learning the law well enough as you travel through your law school career, but that other aspects of being a lawyer may not be sinking in? For example, how exactly should you respond to a client when he is yelling at the top of his lungs over a lost motion that he paid you a lot of money to make? Or, what should you do when a judge threatens to hold your client (or you!) in contempt? Well, do we have a program for you.

The Career Services Office, the Office for Clinical Programs, and the Suffolk County Bar Association have teamed up to bring to you a series of five round-table discussions about real world lawyering. This series, called The Real World, will be held every Wednesday through mid-March, and will include seasoned lawyers who will discuss the challenges of real-world practice. No casebooks! No citations! Just the business, ethical, and interpersonal realities of dealing with tough judges, difficult adversaries, and demanding clients.

The first session, this Wednesday, February 28, from 4:45 - 6:15 p.m. in Room 312, is entitled, "You May Want to Sit Down: Giving Clients Bad News," with Susan Lebow, Esq., a partner with Sarisohn, Sarisohn, Carner, Lebow, Braun, & Schiebler, in Commack, where she directs the firm's matrimonial and family law practice. Ms. Lebow has served as Chairperson of the Suffolk County Ethics Commission and and an officer of the Board of Trustees of Suffolk Community College. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum and as Chair of the Suffolk County Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics & Civility. She is also founder of the Suffolk County Victims Information Bureau (VIBES), which advocates for victims of abuse and rape.

Future programs, all from 4:45 - 6:15, are as follows:

● @*!%#%*!: Dealing with Incompetent Adversaries!
March 7, Alumni Boardroom

● What do I do Now?: Managing Difficult Judges
March 14, Room 312

● Oh, No, Not Again: Working with Difficult Clients
Barry Warren, Esq.
March 21, Alumni Boardroom

● Leather or Lace?: Confrontation & Courtesy
Harvey Besunder, Esq. & John Bracken, Esq.
March 28, Room 312