Scottrade My Way To Riches

Well, I finally did today what I have been thinking about for a long time. I opened an account with Scottrade online today with the hopes that I too can cash in on the amount of money being made in the markets. Every day I read the financial news and see how much cash is [...]

Ten Days as a Father

My daughter is now ten days old. Yet, it feels as if she has been here longer, perhaps because she must be watched by one of us almost every minute of the day. She is healthy and is doing well. I expected her to be able to do more, but then I realize that she [...]

She’s Here!

After forty weeks of preparation, excitement and nervousness (at least for me), I am happy to announce that my beautiful baby girl is here. She was born on Friday May 18, 2007 at 6:55 pm. The labor was long (and as we were told many times, “they don’t call it labor for nothing”) and did not look [...]

Nichibei Exchange

Since I left Japan almost seven years ago I have been fortunate to live in areas where there are large amounts of Japanese. Last September I discovered a group in New York that has been meeting for over twenty years now. The group, called The Nichibei Exchange (Japan-U.S. Exchange), meets about once a month (or [...]

A New York Point of View

It’s interesting living in New York. Like so many other large cities, a large number of people that you meet here are not originally from here, like myself. Yet, once someone has lived here even a short while (including, unbelievably, summer interns), they believe they’re a New Yorker. And that’s just it. Once they start [...]

Golfing With Daddy

On Saturday I had some spare time and I sat down to do what ten years ago would have been absurd to me. I watched golf on television. And I enjoyed it. While I would like to become a better golfer, the reality is that the sport is expensive and can be very time consuming. I [...]

Mother’s Day, Again

Mother’s Day has not been the same for me the past thirteen years. Ever since my mother passed away in 1994, I have had no mother to celebrate on the second Sunday of May each year. I have had a stepmom, but it is not quite the same. The Mother’s Day cards I have sent [...]

The Unconference

A common societal misconception is that doctors and lawyers are rich. Some are, it’s true. But the vast majority of doctors and lawyers in the U.S. get by in life and are able to provide decently for their family. The salaries may be respectable, but most of the lawyers and doctors I know are far [...]

3:00 PM Sugar Rush

Apparently one year ago today a group of lawyers that previously worked in the practice group of my law firm announced that they were leaving and heading to another firm. Oddly enough, today, in somewhat of a commemoration (or maybe celebration) of the one-year anniversary since their departure, my firm decided to have ice cream sundaes [...]

Brotherly Love

I worry about my brother sometimes, but only because I know how tough of place the world can be. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an intelligent, happy, good-with-people person who will do well in life, and I’m happy for him that he’ll be getting married in August. For the most part there is nothing to [...]

Getting Through Residency Was Not That Bad

My wife and I hit a milestone this morning. And no, I am not talking about the birth of our first child, who should be here any day now. I am talking about my wife making it through her last twenty-eight-hour shift as a pediatric resident. I confess that before we were married I had my [...]

Homeward Bound

There is usually only one good thing about working late: the car ride home. Most days I leave the office around 7:00 pm and take the subway up to GCT to catch the commuter train home. On a good day, it’s a one-hour trip from the time I leave my office to when I walk [...]

What is Your Identity?

Our own personal identity varies widely, even among people with whom we think we have a lot in common with. I was reminded yesterday of an exercise a college professor of mine did in a class on Globalization and Nationalism. He listed several roles on the board in the front of the class and asked us [...]

Am I Really Worth $230 An Hour?

A recent study conducted by a law school ethics professor reported that most lawyers “pad” or increase the time they bill their client (click here for article). Padding, as the practice is known, can involve either doing unnecessary or trivial work and charging the client for it or it can involve bumping up the actual amount of time that they [...]

Accidents Happen

Accidents can happen to anyone. This hit home for me this past weekend because my father and stepmother were involved in a serious solo car accident that could have easily taken their lives. From how the accident was explained to me, the car hit two guardrails on opposite sides of the highway going 75 MPH, knocking [...]