You can do anything (…but not everything )

Finding a balance between work, friends, family and self

2017 July

According to Albert Einstein, “life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving.” As busy litigators, (who also happen to be family members, friends, spouses, parents, colleagues, and just everyday people with passions outside the law), we often set unrealistic expectations for ourselves to be able to be everywhere and do everything, all at the same time. Sometimes that includes court appearances, dance recitals, work mixers, dentist appointments, depositions, sports meets, birthday parties and unexpected days home with a sick child or pet, ALL knocking on our door the same week.

We can easily get off-balance and discouraged with ourselves when we can’t fit it all in, and come to a stand-still where we throw our hands in the air and say, “how on earth will I find the time to do it ALL!?”

Balance, however, is not better time management – it is better boundary management; it’s not something you find, it’s something you create.  Balance means making CHOICES and embracing and enjoying those choices. It’s all about quality of life and finding a balance between work, friends, family and self that works for YOU. Be kind to yourself, trust in your decisions and remember, in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “each new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.”

“Happiness, not in another place but this place...not for another hour, but this hour.” – Walt Whitman

Upcoming summer events

Join us for one of the many amazing events OCTLA has planned throughout the summer months, including: July 21st – Dinner Program on Direct & Cross Examination at Tustin Ranch Golf Club; August 5th – Members Family Baseball Night at Angels Stadium; August 23rd – Judge’s Lunch & Learn Program at OC Superior Court; October 9th – Columbus Day Golf Tournament at El Niguel Country Club; and October 26th – Dinner Program on Reptile Closings at Tustin Ranch Golf Club. If you would like to join OCTLA and/or attend any of these programs, please contact Janet Thornton: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Trial watch calendar

OCTLA is now offering our members an unprecedented opportunity to gain insight and learn effective trial skills and techniques first hand from OCTLA’s experienced trial attorneys. Please let us add your upcoming Orange County trial(s) to the Trial Calendar so our members can watch and learn from you! Please email the expected trial start date, attorneys, Court, Judge, case type and case name to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Become a member of OCTLA to have access to this amazing member benefit!

Half off membership

Now through September 1, 2017 we are offering HALF OFF membership dues (for membership through December 31, 2017). That’s right, pay only half the cost of OCTLA membership for the remainder of 2017! If you would like to take advantage of the many valuable member benefits OCTLA has waiting for you, including our new Listserv, Trial Calendar, monthly networking and MCLE Dinner programs and a wide array of other member benefits, sign up today at OCTLA.org.

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” – Winston S. Churchill