Good Thursday morning.
I’m not sure how many of you reading this are in the “choosing a profession” stage of your life – probably not a lot. Maybe some of you are – like me – still trying to figure out what you’re going to be when you finally grow up.
Maybe that’a lifelong decision-making process.
One thing I never spent much time worrying about when making career choices was the popularity – or lack thereof – of any particular profession. I was more concerned, in no particular order, with how personally fulfilled and/or challenged I would be and whether I would be able to support myself (and my pets) and pay off my car and college loans, and later (much later) my mortgage.
The truth is that if you care about the popularity thing, then you probably should opt to be a nurse. For the past 20 years, according to the Gallup poll, nurses have led the nation in ratings for honest and ethics. Also high up on the list – though considerably lower than nurses – are doctors, teachers, and cops.
At the lower end of the spectrum – newspaper and TV reporters (good thing I jettisoned that career), members of Congress, care salespeople, and – ranking dead last – lobbyists.
Also close to the bottom of the list are lawyers, who, for some reason, rank lower than judges, even though it’s judges who ultimately call the shots (in the absence of a jury, anyway) when it comes to determining whether an offender is guilty and what their resulting penalty will be.
And yet, for some reason, people continue to enter the legal profession in droves. As of last year, there were more than 1.32 million active lawyers in the U.S., according to the ABA National Lawyer Population Survey, a tally of lawyers in every state and territory.
New York is just lousy with lawyers. We’ve got far more of them than any other state – 187,246 to be exact (or as of that last ABA tally) – which turns out to be just over 9 attorneys for every 1,000 New York residents. California is a close second with 10,306, though that’s just over 4 attorneys per Golden State resident.
Personally, I think lawyers get a bad rap – and I’m not just saying that because I happen to work with the New York State Bar Association on their communications. A lot of my friends are lawyers. They are some of the most dedicated, caring, and hard-working people I know.
And though they are generally well compensated (unless they’re public defenders, which is the subject of a different post entirely), they also are under a lot of stress. Just getting to the point where you can be an attorney – LSAT, law school, bar exam, landing a job etc. – is stressful. And then when you take clients, their very future and wellbeing is in your hands. It’s a lot of responsibility to bear.
That stress takes its toll. A 2016 study found that attorneys have higher rates of alcohol abuse, depression and anxiety than other highly educated professionals. And those problems manifest at higher rates among younger members of the legal profession – many of whom – if they go into big, white shoe firms – are under enormous pressure to perform, bill, and advance.
We are coming to the tail end of National Lawyer Well-Being Week (May 1-5), held annually during Mental Health Awareness Month to help shed light on the challenges attorneys face – and de-stigmatize asking for help.
If you are a lawyer, now is a good moment to practice a little self-awareness. If you know a lawyer or have one in the family, now is time to take the opportunity to ask: Hey, are you OK? It couldn’t hurt to try.
Guess what? There’s rain in the forecast. Surprise, surprise. It will be coming in the form of morning showers, and then things will dry out – but still remain overcast – later in the day. Temperatures will be in the mid-to-high 50s.
In the headlines…
Two top congressional Republicans are demanding internal FBI documents that an unnamed whistleblower claims will show then-Vice President Joe Biden was involved in a criminal scheme with a foreign national, according to a letter from the Republicans.
House Oversight Chair James Comer dramatically escalated his investigation into Biden with a subpoena to the FBI citing the broad outlines of a “highly credible” whistleblower complaint.
The U.S. Senate voted to repeal Biden’s suspension of tariffs on solar panels from four Southeast Asian nations, a measure aimed at supporting the small domestic manufacturing industry.
Twelve Democrats joined 209 Republicans to vote in favor of the Congressional Review Act resolution, H.J. Res. 39 (118). Eight Republicans voted against the resolution.
Biden has vowed to veto the legislation, which passed the House last week. It is not expected to have enough support to override a presidential veto.
Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema saved the filibuster and cut down Biden’s agenda, delighting Republicans. Now they’re breaking with Democrats on the debt limit, and Republicans hope they keep it coming.
An untested legal theory allowing Biden to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling is gaining traction on Capitol Hill, as Congress and the White House face a looming deadline for avoiding a catastrophic default.
Biden’s former executive assistant who helped pack up materials at his private office at the Penn Biden Center testified that she didn’t come across documents marked classified, according to a memo released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee.
The powerful United Auto Workers is holding off on endorsing Biden’s reelection bid, citing concerns over his policies that would encourage a transition to electric vehicles, according to a memo from the union.
In a memo sent to UAW members this week, President Shawn Fain said the union wants to see Biden push more forcefully for better wages and benefits for workers at EV facilities.
Federal prosecutors are getting close to deciding whether to criminally charge Hunter Biden, the president’s son, after a yearslong investigation, a new report said.
The suspected gunman who opened fire in an Atlanta medical center, killing one woman and injuring four others, was apprehended last night.
Deion Patterson, 24, allegedly opened fire in a waiting room at Northside Hospital Medical Midtown at 12:08 p.m., killing a 39-year-old woman, according to police.
Patterson stole a vehicle after the shooting and later fled on foot, the Atlanta Police Department said. He left the surrounding area armed.
Federal Reserve officials raised interest rates by a quarter-point, the 10th straight increase in an aggressive campaign to tame rapid inflation. They also opened the door to pausing increases as their policies combine with bank turmoil to weigh down the economy.
The rate sets what banks charge each other for overnight lending but feeds through to many consumer debt products such as mortgages, auto loans and credit cards.
In a statement after a two-day meeting, the central bank removed previous guidance that “some additional policy firming (rate hikes) may be appropriate” to lower yearly inflation to its 2% target.
With signs of a softening job market and slower economic growth, this could be the central bank’s last rate hike for a while, especially as turmoil in the banking sector raises new uncertainties.
Former President Donald Trump called E. Jean Carroll’s rape allegation against him the “most ridiculous, disgusting story” when questioned by her lawyers, according to a tape of his deposition played in Manhattan federal court.
A lawyer defending Trump against Carroll’s lawsuit accusing him of rape said that he would present no witnesses during the trial, which completed its sixth day yesterday.
A New York judge dismissed Trump’s lawsuit against The New York Times, saying the newspaper’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into his finances was clearly protected by the First Amendment.
Trump has been ordered to pay all attorneys’ fees and legal expenses the Times and its reporters had incurred. The lawsuit alleged that the newspaper sought out Trump’s niece Mary Trump and persuaded her “to smuggle the records out of her attorney’s office”.
If Trump is convicted of any of the charges pending against him, there are three ways he could be pardoned: by a state executive, by the current president or by himself.
Trump faced questions from Irish reporters about why he had elected to go golfing in the Emerald Isle instead of attending his bombshell rape case in New York City.
Trump lashed out at an NBC reporter following a March campaign rally after getting frustrated with the reporter’s line of questioning.
Chris Christie taunted Trump for threatening to skip the first 2024 Republican presidential debates.
China’s domestic tourism rebounded above pre-pandemic levels during the five-day May Day break. The China Tourism Academy predicted that more than 240 million passenger trips would be made during the five-day period this year.
Federal police in Brazil raided the home of the former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday, as part of an investigation into possible falsification of COVID-19 vaccine cards.
Two of Bolsonaro’s closest aides, Mauro Cid and Max Guilherme, have reportedly been arrested in the same operation.
A panel of global health experts will meet today to decide if COVID-19 is still an emergency under the World Health Organization’s rules, a status that helps maintain international focus on the pandemic.
Nearly six years before Adam Sullivan lost his job with Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democratic group fired him amid sexual harassment complaints from colleagues.
Sullivan did not deny the allegations to the New York Times while expressing general contrition about “anyone I made uncomfortable at any point.”
Hochul stood with New York City prosecutors to celebrate reining in the state’s controversial 2019 bail reforms and boosting funding for gun-violence prevention, 12 hours after lawmakers approved them as part of the state budget.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams joined Hochul in Manhattan’s Inwood section to discuss public safety gains included in the state’s 2024 budget.
Hochul said her budget would make New York “safer, more affordable and more livable.”
The $229 billion state budget approved this week includes a “cap and invest” plan to cut carbon emissions that Hochul’s administration has admitted will fuel future spikes in energy costs.
The $229 billion budget was ultimately a mixed result for the state’s agriculture sector.
Hochul attended a New York State Democratic Party fundraiser at Yankee Stadium Tuesday night while lawmakers were still in Albany debating and voting on the overdue $229 billion state budget that was approved with her emergency waiver.
New York lawmakers will make another attempt to expand New York’s wrongful death law to make it easier to recover claims and damages when a loved one dies, introducing a pared down version of the proposal vetoed earlier this year by Hochul.
A voluntary program of publicly financed campaigns will be funded as part of the state budget agreement finalized this week after lawmakers initially considered delaying its implementation.
The quasi-government New York Power Authority, or NYPA, will likely play a greater role in the state’s push for green energy following a measure in the 2023-24 state budget being finalized this week.
State Sen. James Skoufis recently introduced a bill which if signed into law would make recess mandatory for all elementary school kids.
Lawmakers have approved a state budget proposal from Skoufis that places a state-appointed monitor at the Orange County IDA that will oversee many of the agency’s decisions, most notably approvals for development projects and tax breaks.
Multiple women who accused Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment or other misconduct are being subpoenaed to testify in a lawsuit filed by a State Police investigator who alleges he harassed her when she was working on his security detail.
Cuomo’s lawyers sent subpoenas to Lindsey Boylan, Brittany Commisso, Virginia Limmiatis, Ana Liss and Alyssa McGrath, according to lawyers involved in the case.
Biden is planning to nominate former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), who led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2022, as his ambassador to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.
NYPD officers working extra hours are more likely to suffer on-the-job injuries or be accused of misconduct, says a city government report issued amid debate between the City Council and Mayor Adams over the department’s ballooning overtime costs.
Critics of Adams have blamed him for the $36 million in cuts the city’s public libraries are facing, but some are also starting to point their fingers at those who directly oversee the libraries and say they should take pay cuts.
New York City this week received its first known chartered buses bearing migrants sent here by Texas officials in months, and more are expected as local and national officials brace for a predicted surge in migrant border crossings.
The city Department of Buildings has issued vacate orders on three additional garages Wednesday as part of a targeted enforcement sweep since a Manhattan parking garage partially collapsed last month, killing one person.
The city medical examiner has determined the cause of death for the Black man who died after being placed in a chokehold on a subway train earlier this week, ruling it a homicide.
The death of a Black man who appeared to be suffering from mental illness on an F train on Monday is stirring outrage after a white man who had placed him in a chokehold wasn’t charged by the NYPD.
Adams has slammed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as ‘irresponsible’ for her comments on the death of homeless man Jordan Neely.
The killing, on an F train in Manhattan, has led to investigations by both the police and prosecutors, a spokesman for Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg said. As of yesterday afternoon, nobody had been arrested.
Embattled left wing Harlem Councilwoman Kristin Richardson Jordan has missed 46 percent of her council committee and caucus meetings since last year, records show.
The halting effort to transform struggling New York City hotels into much-needed affordable housing appears to be moving forward, at long last: An airport hotel in Queens is set to be turned into a housing development with more than 300 units.
Kellogg’s Diner — the neon-lit, sticker-covered blue eatery that greets straphangers as they exit the Metropolitan Avenue/Lorimer Street L and G trains in Brooklyn — is up for bankruptcy sale and seeking a new landlord with $2.5 million to spare.
As Broadway’s rebound from the pandemic shutdown picks up pace, Tony nominators showered much-sought attention on a wide variety of shows, from razzle-dazzle spectacles to quirky adventurous fare.
This season’s Broadway revival of “Dancin’,” a revue celebrating the choreography of Bob Fosse, will end its short run on Sunday, May 14, the show’s producers announced on Tuesday evening, just hours after receiving zero Tony nominations.
A Saratoga Springs City Council meeting meant to extend an olive branch to the Black community with an apology and a plan to enact restorative justice practices ended in chaos with dozens of Black Lives Matter activists chanting over council members.
