Dear William, Daniel, Catherine, (and Michael & Baby Girl Y) (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

Every year, in May, the N.J. State Bar (an association for lawyers licensed to practice law in New Jersey) holds a convention in Atlantic City, N.J. I do no not go every year, but I decided to go this year. Originally, Babcia Krysia was going to go with me, but then she had a work-related meeting that she had to attend, so I went alone. I was scheduled to go for three days (but as it turned out, I only went for two).

Atlantic City is known for its may glamorous casinos. A casino is a place were legalized gambling is permitted on various games of chance — I will tell you more about this a bit later.

On Wednesday morning, I packed my suitcase, and drove about two hours from my house to Atlantic City. I had been in Atlantic City several time before, but not in the last several years. So, the first thing that amazed me was the GIANT windmills that came into view as I approached the city — they were not there the last time I was in Atlantic City.

These giant windmills reminded me of one of my favorite plays, “Man of La Mancha,” about “Don Quixote,” a story by Miguel de Cervantes. I hope that you get to see this play some day.

 

I got to my destination, the Borgata Casino & Hotel, at approximately 10 am. The place is GIGANTIC! First things first — park the car. For me, the most important thing is to be parked near an elevator, so … I automatically skipped the first two floors, and drove straight to the third floor. There, I was able to find parking near an elevator. I left my luggage in the car, grabbed my briefcase, and went to the elevator; down to the casino floor, and found myself in a burst of lights and excitement (casinos are like that). I had to figure out where to go — so I approached a  police officer and stated with authority “Bar Convention” — he pointed left; I nodded in appreciation, and headed off in that direction, hoping it would become obvious where to go. After a while, I reached a long escalator (it looked like it was going to heaven), I decided that this was probably the place I was looking for, as many people that looked like lawyers were taking it. [A lawyer looks (usually; often; sometimes) intense, purposeful, not frivolous.]

I was right! At the top, lines to register — I quickly figured out where to go — registration was by your last name, so I went into the queue for the letter K. I was promptly processed, and off I went to my where I wanted to take my first class: “Estate Planning 101” Of course, this was a new problem — the place was a maze of meeting rooms with people going in all directions, everyone lost, all looking for whatever they wanted.

Ask and ye shall find, and I found — I got there, and such a let down, too many people got there before me, and I was closed out! No time to fret — look at the schedule; see what else is being offered at the same time; Ethics! Ethics is always a good choice — so, I run off to find “Marketing and Ethics: Maximizing Results While Avoiding Liability”.

It was a good class — we discussed BAD (i.e., unethical) lawyer adds; like this one:

 

These adds are BAD (i.e., unethical) because they create unreasonable expectations in the viewer’s mind; and they make unfair comparisons.

After class, we received a “box lunch.” I was not too excited about this — but, what can you do. I ate half my roast beef sandwich, and my banana, some of my chips, and drank some of diet coke; and then went to explore the Exhibitors Gallery.

At the Exhibitors Gallery there is a variety of vendors who sell services of goods to attorneys, who have small booths (or tables) in a large hall. Each of these vendors tries to tell you why their services are the greatest, and why your life will be so much better off once you use their services or buy their goods (e.g., legal books).

I looked at all the displays, but I did not see anything of particular interest to me. So, I headed off to my next class: “Hot Tips for Hot Litigators.”

This was a fast paced session, where about fifteen different lawyers gave their “hot tips” on a variety of litigation topics; each one about ten minutes in duration. These are usually fascinating, but very tiring, because you have to pay very close attention, and any one presentation is not related to the previous or next presentation.

When that was over, I signed up for: “Hot Topics in Custody and Parenting Time.” Again, a very high quality collection or presentations — this time much more focused on one topic. By the end, I was exhausted!

I went back to the garage, got my suitcase, checked into the hotel, and found my room — on the 37th floor — it was very nice; with a GREAT view. I called Babcia Krysia and told her all about it, and she asked me to send her some pictures — here they are:

Then, I went to a dinner reception next to one of the pools.

In this picture, where you see the beach chairs, they had tables, and buffet tables; and the doors to the outside were opened, where they were serving drinks.

I got some dinner, met with some acquaintances, and had some drinks.

After a while, I went back to my hotel room, and watched “Survivor” (actually, I fell asleep through part of it), and then the news on the television.

Because my hips where hurting me, I had difficulty sleeping; but eventually morning came, and a new day began.

After I showered, I packed my luggage, and took it back to the car; and then I checked out of the hotel. On line, I met a very nice FBI agent who was checking in — he was from Washington D.C.

Where the Exhibitors Gallery was yesterday, today was a buffet breakfast. I had a bagel with cream cheese, coffee, and my MANY medicines. I met some nice attorneys and judges I did not know from prior encounters; and then headed off to my 8 am class: “Fiduciary Litigation Update.” After every class, I am always amazed as to how much more there is to know!

After that, I signed up for “DWI Update – Advanced DWI Practice.” Just on Wednesday I got a call from someone who was arrested for Driving While under the Influence of alcohol, and he wanted me to represent him. He apparently had refused to take the breathalyzer test, which in N.J. is an automatic conviction — so I told him that I do not think that there is much that I could do for him; but he insisted that he wanted me to represent him nonetheless — so, I decided that I should at least have the latest knowledge in this area of the law.

This day’s lunch was much better than the prior day’s “box lunch.”

After lunch, “Estate Planning 101.” That is the class that I was locked-out off yesterday. I made sure that I got there early, and registered for it, and went and claimed a seat. It was in a great big hall (at least a thousand seats!!!). It was worth the time!

For my final class, I registered for: “Ethics and The Trial Lawyer.” Here we discussed how to keep our emotions in check, and avoid embarrassing (and criminal) situations such as some others fail to do [see the newspaper headline from a recent event — on the right]. Overall, this class was the least informative, but by this time my brain was fried.

At the end of class, I went off to my car, drove for two hours back home to Babcia Krysia, and was SO HAPPY to see her again.

Love,

Dziadziuś Paweł.