Do not waste this financial crisis!!!

Most Americans are frozen by fear in this time of crisis. Our consumer spending is the driving engine of our economy and small business provides employment for 70% of our country. Consumers and small business need to be a leaders and charge into the gap created by our recent crisis. Office rents are down, well qualified employees are willing to work for reasonable wages, stocks are low and cars are being given away. There are a lot of people holding a lot of money on the sidelines, and will all be racing to take advantge of what is a good opportunity when the economy is back in full swing. The recovery will be discovered in hindsight, not during the time of turning. Why wait? Expand capacity and marketing when rates are low, hire employees when salary wars are a distant past.
My wise CFO stated " all business face challenges, but is the creation of solutions and the decisions made during the time of crisis that determines the winners". Taking this too heart and look to the future, we all need to make good LONG TERM decisions and act from abundance and not from fear. Our firm is going to expand it's Pasadena office ( one of three offices) from 12000 feet to 18000 feet and because of the rent decreases pay about the same. I am going to look for vulnerable law firms that want security and "cherry pick" the undervalued lawyers to fill my space. Also, with the low rent, we can even rent out space to the other lawyers that are forced by the economy to open their own firms as they are laid off. We are going to hold a recession reception to kick off our new marketing efforts. We have the same challenges other firms face, declining payments, extended payments, lower clients, but we are moving forward. We have shifted our firm to probate related matters which are dependent on death rates not ability to pay. We are experiencing a huge growth in this area. This is all because of the economic crisis. Embrace the current reality instead of running from it. Look for solutions now instead of waiting for the Fed or the government to determine your economic future. The best lessons in management is the time of crisis. Be a leader and kick start the economy.

Do not keep your money, gun or drugs in a shoe box

My Law Partner wrote a blog a year ago about not keeping you money in a safe because when you die, your relatives or friends steal it and there is no evidence to prove it. Well, I have a new slant, " Do not keep your money, gun or drugs in a shoe box". Now for those of you that do not have a gun or drugs, this still applies to you. When you get in a fight with your spouse, they often race to the bank to clean out the checking account, UNLESS you have lots of cash in a shoe box in your home under the bed. When they clean out your account, we have a nice little paper trail to show your evil spouse stole the money. When you are raving like a lunatic you had 100 grand in a box in small bills, everyone including your lawyer thinks you are lying. So don't keep your money in a shoe box because when your spouse decides to dump you, they will also take your cash and you will never see it.

Now, for the gun and drugs. If your spouse is really smart they will call the police and you will go to jail for drug dealing and then they will have the house, kids and money. So, if you are going to keep money in the home, put your gun in the safe deposit box at the bank ..... Or is that the other way around?

Estate Plan

I am really mystified why everyone waits to do an estate plan until someone they know dies without one. Our firm is constantly dealing with huge family problems created by people who think they are going to live forever and then they die. Everyone is going to die, so why not do an estate plan? Most adults with a family get life insurace, disability insurance but neglect a simple will or trust. Then the family is stuck in probate court trying to get court approval to have funds to pay the bills. The probate court moves very slow and families sometimes fall on hard times during this long process. Additionally, with the economic crisis, it is hard to sell assets in a dropping real estate market or stock market because the process of court approval slows down any decision making and casues waste. This can all be avoided with a simple estate plan. I know this blog is self serving as our firm does estate planning, but it is really heart breaking to see all these situations almost on a dailey basis. Instead of going to vegas, spend the money on an estate plan and stop gambling with your family.

I will speak about the other big problem about who the kids live with when both parents dies and the family of each parent fight huge court battles over custody in another blog. Thanks for listening. Mark.

New car

I am trying to figure out what new care to lease. I currently have a bmw 6 series conver and looking to get a new car in about 60 days. Any ideas what an attorney should drive? Please no suggestions of Ferrari, not good dailey driver.

Can people afford to get a divorce?

During these desperate times we are seeing a lot of people staying in bad marriages due to lack of funds to move out of their homes and start their new lives. In the past, people have used the equity in their homes as a spring board to a new life. Now that the housing market is tanked, we are seeing a decrease in divorce cases, a rise in domestic violence and separations without divorce. If find it kind of weird how money can not only affect entering into marriage, but the exit as well. Money traditionally has been the number one reason for divorce, but now it appears to be the reason to stay together. I wonder if this recession will cause a dip in the divorce rate in California? We have also noticed many people are getting divorced while still living in the same homes. This is probably why domestic violence is on the rise. Anyway, that is what I am thinking about this morning. Any comments or similar thoughts will be appreciated.

test blog

Just seeing if this works. Will be writing lots more.