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

Yesterday evening I attended a WordPress Meetup in Asbury Park, N.J.; this morning, I attended a Mediation seminar at Union County College in Cranford, N.J. I go to a lot of seminars.

When we first got married, it was Babcia Krysia who loved going to seminars — I remember her telling me that she could be a perpetual student (as long as she did not have to take tests). But now, it is I who likes to go to seminars, all kinds of seminars, and Babcia Krysia is no longer interested. (She will go with me occasionally, but rarely — and I usually have to drag her kicking and screaming.)

Meetup is an organization that I belong to. Anyone can join, and once you are a member, you can set up your own meetups, or you can join the meetups that other people have set up. At the current time, I am a member of the “N.J. WordPress Meetup Group,” which meets every couple of months in Asbury Park, N.J.; of the “Westfield Dinner and a Movie Meetup Group,” which meets every couple weeks in the Westfield, N.J. area for a movie and a dinner; the “N.J. Tech Meetup Group,” which meets monthly in Hoboken, N.J. , and claims to be N.J.’s largest technology and entrepreneurial community; and several business networking groups, where we shake hands, introduce ourselves, exchange business cards, drink, and talk — it is a way to get to know people who MAY have something in common with you (it is not always very productive, but sometimes it is fun; as everything else in life, you just do not know unless you try it — you have to make an effort to get ahead).

I found the WordPress Meetup very frustrating this time (and last time also; and I think the one before that also). The reason for my frustration is my own inadequacy — WordPress is a blogging tool and a content management system. My letters to YOU are written using WordPress. I also have several blogs for my law office, and several web pages. For example: www.Kostro.com and www.NJFamilyIssues.com.

Also, in the past, I knew how to program computers using the Fortran and APL languages. So, I would think, I am no dummy in this area — but, at this WordPress Meetup, they speaker was just speaking a foreign language — I did NOT understand ANYTHING he said (except, perhaps half a phrase towards the end of his presentation — I still need to explore that idea, to see if in fact I did understand that much). Oh, so frustrating! But, I still keep attending — each time, hoping to learn something new. Each time being amazed how little I know! (My only consolation was that I do not believe anyone else in the audience knew what the speaker was talking about — everyone was just smiling and nodding their heads, but their eyes told me that they were just as lost as I was.)

If you decide to start you own Blog (I would encourage you to do so), talk to your Parents about it, and ask them to watch this video with you, and help you to set it up (the cost is not great, but it is NOT free):

The Mediation Seminar I attended this morning was given by the court system — it was the 15th annual mediation seminar given by the Union County Bar Association. It was pretty good this time.

In addition to being a Litigator, I am also a Mediator. I enjoy being a Mediator — helping people finding a resolution to their disputes. It does not always work, but often it does, and very often it helps people in starting to think about how to resolve their dispute, that means, to define the price or terms at which they are willing to settle. Overall, approximately 98% of all court cases are terminated by a dismissal or a settlement — very few cases actually result in a verdict, mostly because of the time, cost and energy required. So, when a new client comes to me, I always encourage them to start thinking about settlement from the very beginning, and I always encourage them to try Mediation and the Collaborative Law Process instead of Litigation — however, if they want Litigation, I am ready to represent them in court as well.

Love,

Dziadziuś Paweł.