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 and tells you they got a speeding ticket while on vacation in Knoxville, Tennessee. The caller tells you there's a mandatory court appearance and they need to hire an attorney to represent them. Not sure what to tell them?

    Your next caller tells you they want to talk with an attorney about the auto accident they were involved in last week. You find that the accident happened in Towson, Maryland. What do you do?

   The Solution: Give those callers our phone number. We can be your "Go-To" Resource to assist those callers. We have the resource information for about 300 different Lawyer Referral Services throughout the United States and Canada.

    The next time you have a caller who needs to consult with an attorney in a state other than Missouri, direct them to us! We'll help the caller get the right resource information they need to find an attorney who can assist them.

    Use your resources! Our number is: 573-636-3635.

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 being a "piece" of a boss.

In my position at The Missouri Bar, I supervise a couple of people and am in turn supervised by someone else. Was it Bob Dylan who said, "We all serve someone"? I agree. 

You may answer the phone for someone else, i.e., a lawyer -- but the lawyer you work for either works for other lawyers or works directly for a client. The client may own his/her own business, but unless the business serves the needs of someone else, it won't exist long.

Which brings me back to the title of this blog article. Have you ever worked for a supervisor who would act as if you and any idea you had were worthwhile, but who, despite the act, occasionally revealed a real streak of "Me, Supervisor: You, Nothing"?

The trouble with supervisor training is that it doesn't take into account that when one person has power over another person in a work setting, weird personal dynamics seep into the relationship. For someone who has a deep-seated need to lord it over others, no amount of theory will turn him or her into a good supervisor.

I've been supervised enough in my life that I hope the rough edges of my personality have been worn smooth, and that I put into practice what I believe: The secret of surviving being a supervisor or of being supervised is simple -- just do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

     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 row. His grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins were all there. His family was in shock. My husband and I were heartbroken. The folks in our community who filled the pews were grief-stricken as well. It was hard to be there. Many tears fell in the church that day. I couldn't imagine how his family would cope without him in their lives. He was so young. He was 28.

After graduating high school, he went on to culinary school. He aspired to be a chef. During semester breaks, we'd have his family over for dinner. Talk would turn to what he was learning at school. He'd tell us he was going to be The Next Food Network Star and have the best cooking show ever. His family encouraged his dream and we did too.

After culinary school, he talked about opening his own restaurant. His parents wanted him to start small. He wanted to go big. They compromised. They provided the financial backing and helped him with the remodeling of a vacant storefront. They opened a small diner in town. The young man jumped right in and never looked back. He was the top chef.

His food is tasty. He uses top-notch products. Eight months later, he has "regulars" who frequent his diner. Not long ago, he branched out a bit and started to offer daily specials. He was having the time of his life. Then it was over. He was 28.

On August 28, 2009, a new law went into effect in Missouri. It specifies that, "any person 21 years of age or younger who operates a moving motor vehicle while sending, receiving, or writing a text or electronic message by means of a hand-held electronic wireless communications device will be guilty of an infraction." The fine is $200.00.

If you're over 21 years old, then it's legal for you to read, type, receive, or send text messages while driving. But...if you're younger, legally you can't. Your age gives you this "special privilege". Can this be interpreted to mean lawmakers consider drivers over the age of 21 are more responsible when they text and drive than those who are younger? Pardon me. I don't get it. What does one's age have to do with this?

Have you ever received, read, typed, or sent a text message while you were driving? Your answer would be "yes" or "no". There's no middle ground. Either you have or you haven't.

I'll be honest. I have. The minute I did -- I became an impaired driver. Frankly, I can't look at my cell phone, read a text message, type, send one back, and drive at the same time. My solution? I turn off my phone when I get in the car and turn it back on when I arrive at my destination.

Yeah, yeah...I know. Some of you can text and drive at the same time. You've developed a skill. You've had no problems. Wow. Congratulations! It's the equivalent of driving down the road with your eyes closed. You don't even need a blindfold.

So, what does texting while driving have to do with a narrative of a funeral? For some of you, it's obvious. For others -- not so much...

The young chef was driving home from the restaurant when he heard the beep from his cell phone indicating he had a text message. The message was from his Mom. She asked when he was coming home. He began to type a reply...and as he did, he drifted off the road and lost control of his car. His mother never got the message. He was 28.

   So, what do you think about this story? Is it wrong to present it as something that actually happened? Does it do more good than harm? Does it alter your perception about texting while driving? Did it make a difference? Did it make you think? Feel free to give us your feedback. We'd like to hear what you think... 

    I assume you know that drivers in Missouri must have motor vehicle liability insurance coverage. If you drive in our state, you must show proof of insurance when you register a vehicle and when you renew your license plates. You must have proof of insurance in your vehicle at all times. Liability insurance covers your legal liability when there are injuries or property damage as a result of your actions. It's the law. Period.

    Here are two things you cannot assume:

    (1) Your doctor and/or your surgeon has medical malpractice insurance.

    Physicians and/or surgeons who practice in Missouri are not required to have medical malpractice insurance -- unless they're on the staff of a hospital located in a county with a population of more than 75,000 inhabitants.

    There are 102 Missouri counties where there are less than 75,000 inhabitants. Did you assume your doctor and/or your surgeon has medical malpractice insurance?

    (2) Your attorney has professional liability insurance.

    Attorneys who practice law in Missouri are not required to have professional liability insurance. There are over 30,000 licensed Missouri attorneys. Did you assume that your lawyer had professional liability insurance? There is no law.

    Since it's illegal to drive a motor vehicle in Missouri without vehicle insurance, then you can assume your doctor and your lawyer has car insurance -- just like you.

    On the other hand, your doctor or your surgeon may or may not have medical malpractice insurance and your attorney may or may not have professional liability insurance. You can't assume they do.

    If you need a lawyer and you call The Missouri Bar Lawyer Referral Service, you CAN be assured that the attorney you're referred to DOES have professional liability insurance. All of our members are required to be insured.

    That's one less thing you need to wonder or worry about -- it's taken care of. You don't have to ask and you don't have to assume. We insist they have insurance. It's a requirement. It's a rule. Period.

    I've heard a lot of lawyer jokes over the years. I understand how someone who has been sued can feel like the world would be a better place if there were no lawyers...and I'm sure most people who have been through a divorce don't have a warm feeling about their ex-spouse's attorney.

    I am not going to subject you to a defense of the legal profession. I'm not going to tell you how some of the best people you'll ever meet are lawyers. That's because some of the best people you'll ever meet are cooks, plumbers, school teachers, parents, janitors, and engineers. No single profession has a monopoly on people who are sincere, who care about doing their best for others, and who make the world a better place.

    I mention this because part of my job last month was to interview all the attorneys who will be receiving awards at this year's Annual Meeting of The Missouri Bar. I asked them each a few questions about their accomplishments, and I was impressed -- not by what they did -- but by who they were.

    They've used their law degrees to make the world a little more just. They are passionate. Some, about helping others; some about understanding an area of law; others about improving Missouri's legal system.

    If you have a few minutes, you might get your day off to a good start by clicking on a few of the interviews -- just to meet some lawyers who will never be the butt of a lawyer joke.

    Here's the link: Interviews with Award Winners

    First things first -- Be forewarned. I'm going to be blunt.

    We're going to have a frank discussion in an open forum where there are no filters. We're going to talk about the "F" word.

    Now that I have your attention -- know this. Ignoring this won't help. Ignoring this won't make it go away. How you choose to behave will have an impact on yourself, your family, your friends, and your co-workers. Frankly, I don't have a choice, and neither do you.

    We're all going to have to step up to the plate and act like grown-ups. It's our personal responsibility. Why? It's simple. We're all in this together.

    What am I talking about? You haven't figured it out yet? You have some clues. I'm talking about the BIG "F" word. I'm talking about the FLU.

    Here are some facts. On September 11, 2009, Donald McNeil, Jr., reported in The New York Times, that the flu pandemic has now reached 168 countries. "Swine flu" has infected more than one million people. More than 550 people have died. There have been 8,800 hospitalizations reported to the CDC.

        The Associated Press reports that so far, one in 13 "swine flu" deaths have been of children -- most of school age. Over 80% of the children who have died were age 5 or older. Those are sobering reports. It's going to get worse.

    Most of you are reading this at work. So, let's talk about the workplace. I'm sure you've heard some of these ... "Oh, I don't believe in getting a flu shot." How about this one? "I take lots of Vitamin C so I don't get the flu." Or, this one ... "I'm not that sick. I'll just shut my office door so I won't give it to someone else." Oh yeah? Get real.

    You're sick. You go to work. Now, you've spread the wealth. Other employees can get sick because of you. They go home and expose their family and their family members can get sick too. How responsible is that? Do you think people will thank you? I don't think so.

    Exposing other employees to your crud is not responsible adult behavior. It's a mistaken belief that you are more important than the rest of the folks you work with. It's a clear indication that you don't care about or respect your co-workers. Think about that for just a minute.

    No, this isn't some far-fetched scenario. It happens. It happens all the time. I think it's time for a good dose of some old-fashioned common sense.

    Step up and educate yourself. You can start right here -- Center for Disease Control. You owe it to yourself, your family, your friends, and your co-workers. Read about what is happening and the steps you can take to reduce the impact on yourself and others.

    Get a seasonal flu shot. They're available right now. Oh, you don't have time? Sorry. I'm not buying that. In some areas, flu shots are available seven days a week. I got my seasonal flu shot this past Sunday afternoon.

     One important note. The seasonal flu vaccine won't specifically protect you against the H1N1 "swine flu"... but the H1N1 vaccine is on the way.

    I just read on-line that Kathleen Sebelius, our nation's Health Secretary, said the H1N1 "swine flu" vaccine might be available as early as the first week in October -- sooner than expected. When the "swine flu" vaccine is available, if you can, get one of those shots too.

    Be responsible. Be a grown-up. It's just the right thing to do.

P. S.   Just to be clear ... The CDC answers the question: Why is 2009 H1N1 virus sometimes called "swine flu"?  This virus was originally referred to as "swine flu" because laboratory testing showed that many of the genes in this new virus were very similar to influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs (swine) in North America. But further study has shown that this new virus is very different from what normally circulates in North American pigs. It has two genes from flu viruses that normally circulate in pigs in Europe and Asia and bird (avian) genes and human genes. Scientists call this a "quadruple reassortant".  

    Late in the afternoon, as I was getting close to finishing up a project, I took a break and went outside. The air was heavy. It was hot and humid -- a definite change from the morning. I wasn't outside for very long. I got an instant headache.

    The pain was right above and between my eyebrow bones. It was nasty. I took some Ibuprofen. Even though the pain subsided a little, it wasn't going away. I woke up the next morning and still had this headache. It wasn't bad enough to call in to work and claim I was sick -- but it was one of those headaches that made me pretty darn cranky.

    Having a headache can interfere with your job. When your head is pounding, your thinking is impaired. You're more irritable and your efficiency decreases. Your energy level dips. Your focus is on the pain. All you have to do is add a complaining client to that mix -- and both your customer service and concentration skills go right out the window.

    The New England Center for Headache reports headaches are the leading cause of absenteeism from the workplace and accounts for the loss of some 150 million workdays per year in the United States alone. The cost of lost labor hours is estimated to be as high as $17 billion dollars each year. More patients who visit doctors complain of headaches than of any other single ailment.

    Modifying your lifestyle may significantly lower the frequency of headaches. Get regular sleep, eat regular meals, get moderate amounts of routine exercise, drink plenty of water, limit caffeine, alcohol, other drugs, and reduce stress.

    Some foods can trigger headaches. Among some of the culprits: processed and cured meats (containing nitrates), nuts, MSG, chocolate, aged cheese, and freshly baked yeast bread products. Sudden changes in temperature and drops in barometric pressure can also trigger headaches.

    After it rained, my headache was gone. My headache may have been due to the abrupt change in the weather. When The National Headache Foundation conducted a survey of headache sufferers, three out of four people reported weather or barometric pressure changes as triggers.

    On the other hand, it may have had something to do with -- the donut I ate that morning, the coffee I drank all day long, and the huge amount of chocolate that was missing from my candy bowl. Ya think?

    Do you dread headaches? Have you called in sick due to a headache? Did you feel guilty? Have you ever heard anyone say they've never had a headache? Nope, me neither.

    Interested in learning more about headaches? Here are a couple of resources for you.

    The New England Center for Headache

    National Headache Foundation  

    

 

    

    If you stayed in a hotel in Missouri, it's possible that the person who made your bed was a slave.

    Although slavery was abolished in our country in 1865 with the adoption of the 13th Amendment --  it still exists -- in a new form -- with a new name -- human trafficking. Don't believe me?

    Here in Missouri, a federal grand jury recently indicted 12 defendants on RICO (racketeering) and human trafficking charges. The indictment charges many of the victims of this scheme were forced to work at hotels in Kansas City and Branson, MO.

    People who are the victims of human trafficking are typically immigrants, tricked into coming to the U. S. with promises of good pay and steady work. What they find instead is that they are paid far less than minimum wage, cheated, and forced to live and work where their trafficker tells them. They are threatened and told that if they quit working for that, their families in their homeland will be harmed or forced to pay thousands of dollars. Some are sexually abused; others live in fear, making their traffickers wealthy, while they're given barely enough money to subsist.

    In a recent interview Dr. Deb Hume of the University of Missouri and Co-Chair of the Central Missouri, "Stop Human Trafficking" group, explains how to spot people who may be human trafficking victims and how to help them.

    You're walking on a beach. Look over there -- Do you see that bottle in the water? There's a message inside the bottle and it's within easy reach. You start to walk by. Wait a second! Are you just going to walk away? Aren't you curious? No one I know will just walk by when there's a message in a bottle.

    There's lots of information in the vast ocean we call the Internet. Much of the information floating around you can discard, delete, or ignore -- but sometimes, the cyberwaves crash onto your beach and something valuable washes up.

    Unexpected things happen to all of us -- People become seriously ill, people have accidents, people have emergencies, and people die. If you're faced with having to deal with the responsibility of taking care of someone else's business -- would you be able to find the information you need? Probably not.

    What if something happens to you? If there's an emergency -- are your own records easy to find if someone needs to get that information?

    If you lost your wallet with all your credit cards in it, would you know how to contact the credit card companies to report your card stolen? What's that 800 number you need to call? Do you know your credit card numbers or your driver's license number off the top of your head? If you had that basic information in a file -- written down -- you could get that information quickly and take care of business.

    You could start small by writing down the information you have in your wallet onto a piece of paper so if you lose your wallet -- or if it's stolen -- you'll have the information you need. Then, expand the idea -- little by little, you can write down ALL your vital financial and personal information so you have it all in one place -- just in case you need it quickly or if someone else needs it in an emergency.

    Need some tools to help you organize your information? We've found a few resources that washed up on the beach that can help you get a good start on your project.

    At Today's Seniors there are six different kinds of personal and financial organizers in PDF form for you to download and they're FREE.

    At Frankford Financial there's a 25-page Financial Organizer that's FREE to download entitled, "Are You Prepared For a Financial Emergency?" Access it by clicking on the word "Hello".

    The University of Wisconsin-Extension has a publication called, "Money 2000 and Beyond: Organizing Your Financial Records". You can view it in PDF form and can order it for $1.00 plus shipping. It's at the University of Wisconsin-Extension Learning Store.

    There are a number of different organizers on the Internet that can be purchased. Prices range from $20.00 plus shipping on up. They're found in many forms -- binders, notebooks, with dividers, with pre-printed forms, refill forms, etc.

    Consulting with an attorney about your estate planning issues is also a good idea -- but if you write down your vital financial and personal information and take it with you when you visit with your attorney, it can provide your attorney with some of the information he/she will need to prepare your estate ahead of time.

    Don't forget to tell your family members where you put your information so they can find it. Be careful -- there's confidential and sensitive information that you'll be putting in writing -- so make sure you put it in a safe place.

    Did you figure out what the message in the bottle is? ... "Prepare for the Unexpected".