I have been asked to contribute to the ALPS Blog. I am not a blogger. As I tell people who will listen (or read), my first experience with a computer came in my second year of college. That computer was a dot matrix keyboard that you typed out your BASIC, COBAL or FORTRAN computer language for the program you wanted to run and then you waited for up to one week for the university’s main frame to run the business college’s batch of programs. Then and only then did you know whether your submission worked. I wasn’t impressed with those new-fangled contraptions. I’m only marginally more impressed with them now. Back then I thought they would never catch on and that is the single most important reason I continue to have to work while those who accepted them do not. Now I think they have almost taken over the world. Everyone has ideas about how to do things better, quicker, cheaper, etc. and so they write about it or they record it and of course they post it. Today there is no shortage of podcasts on how to succeed in life or YouTube videos on how to install your own toilet. Some are even helpful. What does this have to do with lawyers or insurance? Nothing. I just wanted to vent about computers and blogs.
I have been handling lawyer malpractice claims for a little over 20 years. Technology has changed significantly during that time (Al Gore’s world wide web went public about the time I graduated from law school). The ways lawyers get themselves into trouble however really haven’t changed. They miss statutes of limitation, they fail to document advice to clients, they fail to know the law, blah, blah, blah. So I am going to offer a simple observation and that observation is not earth shattering, profound or even anything that you haven’t already read or heard. The practice of law will wear you down, if you let it. DON’T! Attorney burnout is real. Don’t be too proud to seek help. Don’t let the stress snowball to the point it destroys all you and your law firm have worked to build.
I am not going to tell you how because then I would be just like every other blogger.
Rob served as the Claims Manager with ALPS since 2005 and was responsible for the company's day-to-day claims operation. Upon joining ALPS in 1999, Rob’s work experience included the investigation, evaluation and resolution of complex lawyers’ professional liability claims and supervising the claims department. In addition to working as a claims attorney, he also worked as Associate Counsel for ALPS parent company, ALPS Corporation. Prior to joining ALPS, Rob practiced law for eight years in Montana and Pennsylvania where the bulk of his experience was in malpractice defense and general litigation. He is a graduate of the University of Montana, 1983, and the University of Montana School of Law, 1991, where he graduated with high honors.
3 min read
Rob Tameler, Claims Manager : Apr 24, 2019
Asking an attorney not to “dabble” in an unfamiliar area of practice is an easy concept to grasp, but much more difficult to put in practice....
1 min read
Mark Bassingthwaighte, Risk Manager : Jun 5, 2019
The belief that a computer or network breach is a ‘when,’ not an ‘if’ is practically dogma now. Given this reality, every law practice, regardless...
4 min read
Mark Bassingthwaighte, Risk Manager : Jan 23, 2020
In this episode of ALPS In Brief, ALPS Risk Manager Mark Bassingthwaighte shares an insightful story of a dream cruise, a freak accident, and an...
