Would you want a vacation from your Blackberry?
Bloggers tend to be so hyper-connected that being away from Internet service for more than two hours can feel like an eternity. Due to the numerous e-mails flying around law firms, and the expectation of rapid response, lawyers tend to have a similar connectivity addiction. The Blackberry is the sweet, sweet drug that feeds the need.
We know how dedicated you all are to your Blackberries. What if you were forced to give it up in order to really go on vacation and get away from the firm?
UK-based Linklaters is doing just that, reports Law People.
Linklaters is reported having decreed, in a fit of concern for work/life balance, that lawyers leave their Blackberrys at home while on holiday (vacation to us).The order is designed to insulate associates, in particular, from the relentless rat race for a few sweet weeks a year, according to management. “Sometimes it’s the small things that count,” one partner averred. While another lawyer confessed that “I feel naked without my Blackberry and there are times when you just have to be reachable.” Whether the firm is successful in enforcing this edict is not yet clear.
We think this will just result in compounding of guilt, as attorneys feel the shame of obsessively checking their Blackberries while “on holiday,” and the need to hide the illicit Blackberry checking from the firm. What do you think about the policy?
Blackberry Withdrawal [Law People]
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I've noticed disturbing trends in my internet activity. When I wake up, I need to surf the internet for at least ten minutes, like a smoker taking his first puff; and, afterward, I maintain steady communion with blogs like ATL throughout the day.
Blackberry's are so TTT.
This post is why Kash is better than any of the contestants; it's clear, concise, and invites comment in a positive way.
4:11 - You should go to internet rehab in Korea:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/technology/18rehab.html
(Which, of course, I learned about from surfing the internet.)
The term "Crackberry" was never funny to begin with and has by now long since lost its novelty.
Wow - - what a great way to employ "stealth layoffs!" Forbid associates to use their Blackberry on "holiday," then send them a very urgent message in need of response ASAP while they are on vacation. If they respond - - a ha! caught you, you're fired! If they don't - - well you missed a deadline and you're now fired.
Win - win for firms looking to lighten the load!
zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....
Um, I want Kash to be the new editor. Please.
I think my leaving the blackberry at home would be great for me, but would inevitably cause at least one or two partners to have a nervous meltdown as their "fix" is in sending random emails at random times of the night and early morning wanting status updates on cases that no one has thought about in weeks.
Blackberry is a proper noun. Proper nouns that end in "y" are made plural by adding an "s" not by dropping the "y" and adding "ies."
If Blackberry now can be used to refer generically to all wireless email devices, then it shouldn't be capitalized, but the "ies" is fine.
I'm glad we cleared this up.
Lat, here's some friendly advice:
1. Take Kash's salary.
2. Double it.
3. Heck, triple it.
4. Make her EIC.
On a different topic, I am thinking about applying to law school, again. I graduated a few years ago from a "tier 1" school, but did not receive any job offers of my choice and now am not practicing law. I realize now that "tier 1" is B.S., and it is T-14 or nothing.
Serioiusly, what do you think about me re-applying and re-taking lawschool. This time at a T-14 school and since I have been through school already, I know what to expect and will have a better chance at top 10%.
Of course, I would have to conceal my previous education somehow.
Any thoughts???
4:41: I think you may have the cleverest post on this thread thus far...
4:41 - I'd rather spend that money doing something else..
I leave my BB at home on vacation and check email one time each day, sometimes less if out of the country. Just tell people beforehand that you will have limited email access on your vacation.
Translation: If you go on vacation, you cannot take your blackberry, but if you fail to respond to an email while on "holiday" you will be fired. If you break the rule and take your blackberry, you will also be fired.
Solution: Don't take a vacation and you'll work out great here.
Translation: If you go on vacation, you cannot take your blackberry, but if you fail to respond to an email while on "holiday" you will be fired. If you break the rule and take your blackberry, you will also be fired.
Solution: Don't take a vacation and you'll work out great here.
How would that work if your blackberry was also your cell phone? Are you supposed to be phone-less while on vacation too?
4:50/51: I think you're probably fairly close. The other possible translation would be that you can go on vacation, but don't go do any sightseeing; instead, stay in your hotel and be near to the computer so you can check email via your firm's web portal. That way your family can go on vacation and you'll be there...kinda.
4:52
Telecommuting via Blackberry? By the end of the holiday, you'll have tendinitis of the thumbs from all the typing of all the depositions and briefs via Blackberry.
4:59- I was referring to those who take their laptops with them and then vpn back to the network, or use other computers (like in a hotel business center) to webportal into email. No, I wouldn't telecommute with my blackberry...
I would gladly take my Blackberry with me if I could get away for "a few weeks a year."
I don't mind the occasional work email, and my bosses are generally good about vacations with work having lightened since last year. I do actually like having my blackberry around to use its various non-work functions like gmail, gmaps and occasionally things I can find on the web like restaurants, movie times and whatnot..
My blackberry is locked away in the office every night.
Went on my honeymoon last year to Greece, having requested an international blackberry before leaving. Turned it on at the airport, no reception. Tried it again a few times during the trip. When I realized I was free from the tyranny that was my blackberry, I emailed my secretary telling her that I was out of contact, and proceeded to enjoy the topless women on the beach.
And that is how I learned to love the blackberry.
Firm should have figured out how to allow us to check out email via the web.
5:18: on your honeymoon enjoying the topless women on the beach? Classy.
To #19 / 4:52 - To use your Blackberry as a phone only, without receiving emails, go to Settings > Options > Mobile Network and set Data Services to Off. Or just get yourself your own phone.
I don't do anything without my Blackberry. Anything.
You who can't let go of email over vacation seriously should see a shrink. I know you think you're curing cancer here with your document reviews, securities filings and agreement drafts. But here's a tip: it's. not. that. important.
I take my blackberry on vacation, but leave it at the hotel, that way I check it in the morning when i get up, and at night when we get back to the hotel. I dont miss anything important but still have wonderful bb-free days. Oh - I also leave it in the hotel room if we go out to dinner. I must be blessed too, b/c the partners I work for usually respect the fact that I am on vacation and don't email unless it really is urgent.
I'm not a lawyer, so I'm probably wrong, but I don't see the big deal of answering work emails if you're on vacation. If its a view piddling things, like questions about a certain document or something, I don't think that will ruin anybody's vacation. IT would be a program if you had to do serious hard core work (i.e., more than an hour a day) while you're in vacation.
What if there is a raffle for Red Sox tickets while I am on vacation?
Does anyone else think that "no blackberry on vacation" really means "no vacations"?
31-
I do the same thing. Makes for a saner vacation. Plus you can still bill time in the mornings and evenings when catching up with email.
I do the same thing as 31 and 35. I check and respond to emails in the morning and enjoy the rest of my day. I will admit to getting a little anxious about what I'm missing, but it's more likely from a client than a partner. Most of the partners respect my vacations.
My husband threatened to throw my Blackberry into the Pacific if I brought it on our honeymoon. (He also planned to dress it in a little tux and bring it to the altar with him at our wedding, since it was my "other boyfriend.") Fortunately, I left the firm right before we got married, so it never came up. (My husband is not a lawyer, so he is sane.)
At the firm, the word among associates was, if you really want a vacation, go on a cruise. Not much wireless service, and no phones except a really expensive ship-to-shore service.
27 = clearly never been married.
32 - if you're not a lawyer (or law student or paralegal), then what are you doing here? You came from Marin's blog, didn't you. GO AWAY!
32 - if you're not a lawyer (or law student or paralegal), then what are you doing here? You came from Marin's blog, didn't you? GO AWAY!
26, what kind of TTT do you work at that doesn't have remote access via Citrix?
Adding to tip from #37, if planning trip overseas, check out which countries DON'T have Blackberry service. Several years ago, combining 1st real vacation since law school (2 weeks!) with visit to friend then re-located to South Korea, firm's IT regrettably informed me and senior partners of no service. Yeah, I cried buckets, promised to check emails at least 2x/day (pretty useless given 13hr time difference) and boozily smiled all thru non-stop 15hr flight.
Note: recent news will knock Korea out of Blackberry-free zone in near future.
Write in Kash for EIC.