87 Gorgeous Engagement Rings Under $2,000

When dreaming of an engagement ring, it’s hard not to picture a, um, sizable diamond being placed upon your finger. Sure, not every bride-to-be is drawn to big, super-sparkly diamonds, but whether three or more carats is goals or you prefer a daintier approach to an engagement ring design, cost is always the ultimate factor when choosing your engagement ring. Not the most romantic part of your engagement story, but a practical aspect that most couples face. Luckily, the market is filled with gorgeous engagement rings that cost $2,000 or less whether you choose a smaller diamond, diamond slice, gemstone, antique ring, or cluster ring. Or, you can look to diamond alternatives like moissante, white sapphire, or even an ethical, lab-grown diamond (they’re a totally legit option) to save a little cash and go bigger with your stone.

An engagement ring under $2,000 hardly means you have to sacrifice. For the bride drawn to vintage and antique styles, Art Deco, Edwardian, and Victorian-style rings are a few popular styles that you can easily source for well under $2,000. Many of these styles incorporate stunning metal-work around a smaller stone or several small stones that create the illusion of a bigger ring. Plus, the intricate design of an antique ring is incredibly eye-catching whether done in white or yellow gold or a mix of metals.

For modern brides, unique cuts like trillion, shield, hexagon, and half-moon shapes make for a super stand-out ring from two-stone styles to unique settings like off-kilter, east-west, or floating designs. Even in a smaller carat weight, these contemporary cuts will feel utterly spectacular on a yellow, rose, or white gold band or a mixed-metal setting for a super-unique look.

Multi-stone engagement rings from three-stone styles to clusters create the illusion of a bigger ring for a lot less, too. But if size is super important (hey, we get it) a lab-created diamond or diamond alternative like white sapphire or moissantite is a perfect option that will keep your ring under $2,000 and still sparkle like the best of them—there are a ton of brands are creating spectacular style using this ethical practice.

No matter your style, we’re certain you’ll find an under-$2,000 engagement you love in our edit ahead. From traditional to fashion-forward, these styles are proof that your dream ring doesn’t have to cost you a fortune. Well under, in fact!

See more: 55 Opal Engagement Rings That Are Beyond Chic

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We Hope You’re Having a Holly Jolly Christmas Eve · Divorced Moms

I spent 11 Christmas Eves alone as a single mom. Well, not alone every year. But, I did the Lion’s share of the shopping and preparing and then setting up gifts from Santa…don’t you just hate “some assembly required?”

You’ve maxed out your credit cards, put up the tree, wrapped gifts and baked cookies, which, by the way, will settle nicely on your hips and thighs. And I promise that at midnight Christmas Eve you’ll remember something you need from the grocery store.

But it’s the most wonderful time of the year! Except for how it’s totally not when you’re a single mom on Christmas Eve. Whether you’re a Grinch or a Christmas-lover, some things about Christmas are really, really terrible, and all the Santa hats and candy cane ornaments in the world can’t cover that up.

With that in mind, we’ve put together this article in the hope that you’ll at least get a laugh or two while doing your Christmas Eve single mom duty.

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

1. Red, white, just keep my glass full…

 

2. We fill your pain…

 

3. Love? Don’t you need to be crazy…

 

4. Show those pearly whites…

 

5. I guess she stays after hours…

 

6. Naughty is always nice…

 

7. Single moms and poverty go together…

 

8. No explanation needed…

 

9. We’ll be avoiding you…

 

10. Someone keep her away from the plum pudding…

 

11. Oh sister, surely you kid…

 

12. Sakes alive girl, we are with you…

 

13. Good riddance…

 

May this Christmas end the present year on a cheerful note and make way for a fresh and bright New Year. Here’s wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! From the DivorcedMoms family to yours.

 

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2018: The year we looked to the future by John Bolch

This year I will keep my review of the year mercifully short. Not only will I limit it to one post, I am only going to mention my top five stories of the year, stories that will all make a difference to families and family justice in the future, one way or another. In fact, as I put this together I realised that I am not so much looking back, as looking forward. Accordingly, I decided that the best way to review 2018 was to peer into my trusty crystal ball to look at 2019…

Story 1: I see a future in which couples can divorce without animosity.

I will begin with the obvious one, and the one that I suspect most commentators would agree is the most significant family law story of the year: reform of the law on divorce.

The mists are clearing. I see a 69 year-old woman. She looks very sad and frustrated. She is desperate to rid herself of an unhappy marriage. However, she still has to wait another year before she can at last divorce her husband, on the basis that they have now been separated for five years. She had tried previously to divorce her husband on the basis of his ‘unreasonable behaviour’, but he defended her petition, and the law said she could not have her divorce, thereby trapping her in a loveless marriage.

The mists are returning. The woman fades, and then returns. This time she looks happy. The law has changed! She no longer has to blame her husband for the breakdown of the marriage! She just has to file a statement with the court saying that the marriage has broken down, and there is no longer any such thing as a defended divorce. She can finally get on with her life.

The woman’s name, of course, is Tini Owens.

Story 2: I see a future in which all are treated equally.

Civil partnership for opposite-sex couples.

Somewhere in the cloudy depths of my crystal ball I spy a young couple. They are a very principled couple. They want to enter into a legal relationship, but they consider the institution of marriage to be patriarchal and sexist. Ideally, they would like to enter into a civil partnership, but until now that option has only been open to same-sex couples.

But what is this I see? The couple are undergoing a ceremony at a Register Office. Surely, they have not disregarded their principles and decided to marry after all?

I listen to what the Registrar says. This is not a marriage, but a civil partnership! The happy couple beam at one another as the ceremony ends.

Their names, of course, are Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan.

Story 3: Do I see a new course being plotted?

A new President of the Family Division.

As I peer deeply into my crystal ball I see the fog clearing. I am at some sort of conference. The next speaker is being announced – it is the President of the Family Division!

But what is this? This is not the familiar face we know and love. This is a new face. It is, of course, the face of Sir Andrew McFarlane.

What will Sir Andrew say? Will he announce some new initiative to reform family justice? Will he plot a new course for those involved in the family justice system? Will he, indeed, be as ‘hands on’ as his predecessor? The audience eagerly await what he has to say.

Unfortunately, the fog returns as he begins to speak. We will just have to wait to hear what he says.

Story 4: I see a better way of dealing with financial disputes.

Financial remedy courts.

As I look into my crystal ball all is murky. I can barely make out what is taking place. It seems to be some sort of arcane ritual, with those present unsure what is going to happen to them.

Ah, then I realise what has happened. My crystal ball is stuck in the present, watching a financial remedies case being heard in a family court in 2018. I give the crystal a clean, and it moves forward a year.

That’s much better. The court is now run by specialists, who help most of the couples settle their cases by agreement. And those cases that don’t settle are decided in a far more predictable way, consistent with other such courts around the country.

Both lawyers and litigants in person have a better idea what to expect when they go to court to sort out financial remedy claims!

Story 5: I see a brave new paperless world.

Digital divorce.

The view in my crystal ball is hazy, but the haze is clearing. I see a lawyer sitting at her desk, her eyes fixed on the computer screen in front of her.

I can now make out the words on the screen. The lawyer is filing a divorce petition on behalf of her client.

I watch as she submits the petition. I look on jealously as it is accepted, remembering how long it used to take me to issue a divorce petition by post, and how the court would so often come up with some trivial reason to reject it, causing further delay.

The lawyer quickly turns to another client’s file on her computer (I can’t see any paper files anywhere). This time she is applying for a decree absolute. The application is gone in moments…

____________

OK, I realise that I may be somewhat optimistic as far as the timing of some of these changes goes. We may, of course, have to wait until beyond 2019 for no-fault divorce, civil partnerships for opposite-sex couples, country-wide financial remedy courts and a fully digitised divorce system. Still, at least we can dream…

 

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Top 5 Trivia Questions Of 2018 — See Also

The Youngest Person To Ever Graduate From An American Law School: He was a child prodigy who loved the law.

The Law School With The Highest Paid Recent Graduates: Want to make the big bucks? Try this law school.

Of Course This Firm Has Already Raised Associate Salaries: They had a great year, and they’re sharing that with their associates.

If You Work At This Biglaw Firm, Be Ready To Bill Your Butt Off: Not a lot of slackers at this firm…

The Most Indebted Law School Graduates With The Worst Job Prospects: This is scary.

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Religious Liberty Is Under Significant Threat This Term

I have written how the religious liberty doctrine is grossly unbalanced based on a distortion of Founding anti-establishment liberty. Unfortunately, it looks as though that unbalance is about to become far worse. On November 2^nd, the United States Supreme Court announced it will decide a case, in part, on whether the Establishment Clause bars state and local government from taxing citizens to maintain a 40-foot Christian cross WW1 memorial.

The reason the case is all but assured to end in finding that the state may indeed maintain a religious monument is most members of the Court have established viewpoints on the issue. Justice Brett Kavanaugh has praised previous dissents that denied a strict separation of church and state and argued “Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the state.” Justice Clarence Thomas does not even believe the Establishment Clause applies to the states. Justices Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer, and Chief Justice John Roberts have all previously agreed using taxpayer dollars to improve church property is permissible. Given the text and plain meaning of the Establishment Clause, the views of the majority of the Court are perplexing to say the least.

The Establishment Clause was founded upon the deep-rooted Constitutional principle of freedom of conscience. Regarding free conscience in the religious liberty context, James Madison stated citizens must be free “to render to the Creator such homage and such only as he believes is acceptable to him.” In other words, religious freedom is based on the premise that the individual alone holds the power to make up their own mind about what service to give to religion. No matter how well intentioned, the state is not to make the choice for anyone. Madison was also clear that civil society being separated entirely from religion did not infringe upon other rights stating: “We maintain therefore that in matters of Religion, no man’s right is abridged by the institution of Civil Society and that Religion is wholly exempt from its cognizance [emphasis mine].”

Accordingly, nothing regarding anti-establishment liberty prevents government actors from personally expressing references to a belief or trust in God. Free speech remains a part of the First Amendment as well, after all. Rather, what the Establishment Clause does require is a strict adherence to the principle that civil mechanisms do not encroach upon the free conscience of citizens by forcing them to pay for or share religious views. When state governments tax citizens to maintain religious symbols (regardless of whether any taxpayer objects), they violate free conscience by forcing citizens to pay for a religious message they might otherwise disagree with.

The majority of the Court understands this principle well and applies the First Amendment religious liberty prohibition against government coercion correctly in other contexts. In Janus v. AFSCME, the Court held the state of Illinois could not extract agency fees from nonconsenting public-sector employees. In issuing its opinion in Janus, the Court stated:

Whenever the Federal Government or a State prevents individuals from saying what they think on important matters or compels them to voice ideas with which they disagree, it undermines these ends. When speech is compelled, however, additional damage is done. In that situation, individuals are coerced into betraying their convictions. Forcing free and independent individuals to endorse ideas they find objectionable is always demeaning, and for this reason, one of our landmark free speech cases said that a law commanding “involuntary affirmation” of objected-to beliefs would require “even more immediate and urgent grounds” than a law demanding silence.

In fact, the famous phrase the Court relies on in the Janus case, “to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhor[s] is sinful and tyrannical,” comes from Thomas Jefferson’s preamble to the Virginia Statute for Religious Liberty. It is astounding to think the Court could utilize religious liberty protections against coercion to prevent a state from compelling public-sector union speech, yet find it completely acceptable for a state to extract money from citizens to compel large and expensive religious monuments. Such a result is to make a mockery of our Constitutional religious liberty principles and I hope the Court does not reach it.

An argument the majority of the Court appears likely take in upholding state-funded maintenance of a religious monument is state governments have a long tradition of established churches. Relying on these past practices to dilute plain meaning Establishment Clause intent however presents glaring problems. For one thing, the Establishment Clause was only incorporated to the states in the mid-20th century. It should go without saying that all state assessment frameworks that blurred the line between church and state prior to being under Establishment Clause scrutiny are irrelevant to current Establishment Clause doctrine.

For another, it is absolutely clear that Madison — the leading Founder in regard to religious liberty and the lead representative in Congress in passing the First Amendment — would have viewed this case as a violation. As I wrote before, Madison stanchly opposed and defeated on free conscience grounds a religious-neutral, non-preferential assessment bill that gave citizens complete autonomy to direct funds however they wanted, including for religious purposes. It defies all common sense to say that while Madison opposed an assessment framework that offered individual citizens complete autonomy to service religion or not, he would have been fine with the assessment at issue here which offers citizens no choice on whether to fund a religious monument.

But perhaps most importantly, to allow the government to compel citizens for the payment of religious monuments, even based on tradition, but to deny public union extractions would amount to an egregious viewpoint discrimination. Yet that is exactly what the Court appears willing to decide. I hope for the sake of religious liberty I am wrong.

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Tyler Broker is the Free Expression and Privacy Fellow at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. His work has been published in the Gonzaga Law Review and the Albany Law Review. Feel free to email him or follow him on Twitter to discuss his column.

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6 Traits a Divorced Woman Looks For In a Man When She Is Ready To Love Again · Divorced Moms

 

Divorce sucks. That’s the simplest phrase for it. People get divorced for many reasons including finances, a lack of communication, a lack of passion and compassion, infidelity and overall dissatisfaction. While it can be assumed that no one enters into a marriage with the intention of getting divorced, life happens and sometimes the only remedy is to part ways.

When it comes to dating or being in a relationship with a woman who has been divorced for any amount of time, there is a possibility that she may still be hanging on to a few lingering feeling from her past love. It’s normal and it is a part of being human.

As a man who wants to show her that you are interested, when she opens up to you, be ready to listen more than you speak and don’t put up your defenses. Everybody wants and needs to feel the excitement of dating, being in a new relationship and forgetting about painful pasts.

If you meet a woman who has experienced divorce, here are 6 traits a divorced woman looks for in a man.

1. A man who isn’t afraid to have hard conversations.

There is no way to really get to know someone without talking with them. Women love to talk. Not just about how their day went or other mundane topics. Women like to be able to bear our souls without fear of judgment. And guess what? She is looking for a man who isn’t afraid to hit the ball back to her by asking questions that tap into real feelings and emotions.

If you’re considering dating and entertaining a relationship with a woman who had been divorced, don’t shut down she asks you questions about the future or about your past. If you too have experienced being divorced, use it as an avenue to find more common ground.

2. A man who knows what he wants.

No one likes someone who is lukewarm. Dating is all about options but when it comes to dating a woman who has been divorced, you have to be clear about your intentions. If you are looking to have fun and see multiple people, tell her. If you are open to being in an exclusive dating situation, tell her. More often than not, she doesn’t want to get married again tomorrow.

She just wants clear direction about how and where she should focus her energy especially is she has children or a busy schedule. Divorced women tend to know a little bit more of what they want in a man so they need a man who is sure of what he is looking for in a woman.

3. A man who is open to change.

Men are creatures of habit. Women know this. But it’s refreshing when a man gets bit by the adventure bug and wants to try something different. If your ideal date is dinner and a movie and hers is indoor rock-climbing and a sip and paint, be open to trying something new. Women are prone to put themselves in situations where they can get to know you better. You can’t talk during a movie but you sure can get a lot of laughs and good conversation over a glass of wine and a relaxing environment.

Being open to change doesn’t mean change with the wind. It just means that you can be open to changing your style of doing things to show that you care about someone other than yourself sometimes.

4. A man who is sure of himself.

Women love a confident man but there is a fine line between confident and cocky. A divorced woman may feel that she lacks in this area because for some, they think that being divorced is like wearing a D that resembles the scarlet letter. Women can sense a man that has an authentic picture of himself and his life.

When you paint the picture that she can relate to, you’ll have a better chance of getting her to be confident in herself as well.

5. A man who allows himself to be vulnerable.

Love is all about vulnerability. Vulnerability is all about giving someone the ammunition they need to possibly destroy you, but hoping that they will not. Women aren’t the only emotional beings and as a man, it is okay to show that side of you. Talk about your fears, your past, your desires, wants and needs.

Yes, women do love manly-men but they also want a man who can cater to their emotional needs. Don’t wait until you decide you want to be committed to be open. Vulnerability starts from day one.

6. A man who doesn’t remind her of her past love.

A divorced woman typically is more open and honest about her past. She will tell you what worked and what did not work. She will tell you what she loved about being married and she will tell you about what she hated. Pay attention to what she says. Always be yourself and allow her to see the real you. Because people are people, there are some characteristics we all share.

Ask her questions about her past and talk with through things that she may not understand. Some things are men habits. Some things are people habits. If she still has negative feelings towards her past, it doesn’t mean she isn’t ready to move forward. It could mean that this is your opportunity to help her see her past in a different light.

Men deserve love. Women deserve love. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Divorce is a life event, not a life sentence. When you meet a woman who has been through a divorce, if you’re interested in her, use her past to learn about her and how you can love her best.

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Was Husband in Contempt for Not Achieving the Impossible? | FamilyLLB

Was Husband in Contempt for Not Achieving the Impossible?

The facts in Malboeuf v. Hanna raised an interesting issue:   Should a spouse be held in contempt for failing to satisfy a court Order that was impossible to comply with in the first place?

At an earlier hearing to address issues arising from their separation, the court ordered the husband to designate the wife as the irrevocable beneficiary of his life insurance policy.  Under the wording of the Order he was required within 30 days to “make arrangements to change the existing beneficiary designations to ‘irrevocable’ beneficiary designations ‘in trust for the children’ (if allowed by the insurer).  The goal was to secure the husband’s child support obligations towards their children by making the wife the trustee of the funds.

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The problem was that the insurer, RBC Insurance, did not allow such irrevocable designations on its policies.

This prompted the wife to claim that the husband was accordingly in breach of the strict wording of the Order, and should be found in contempt of court. At the least, he should have circumvented the obstacle raised by RBC’s policy by taking reasonable, good faith steps to try to achieve that required outcome through other means.  For example, he could have obtained a further Order requiring RBC to make the designation irrevocable, or could have purchased a new policy that did allow such designations to be made.

The husband countered that he had satisfied the technical wording of the Order by making the request to RBC; from there, it was out of his hands.  The “irrevocable” designation would be in place but for the fact that RBC did not allow it.

The court reviewed the law on civil contempt of court, noting that to prove the husband’s contempt the wife had to show all three of the following:

1)  that there was a clear and unequivocal Order stating what the husband should/should not do,

2) the husband actually knew the terms of the Order, and

3) he intentionally failed to do what was ordered of him.

The court added that even with all three elements established, it still had the power to override a contempt finding if it felt the husband had acted in good faith to take reasonable steps to try to comply.

In this scenario, the court concluded that the husband was not in breach. First of all, the Order did not clearly and unequivocally require him to irrevocably designate the wife, but rather contained built-in wording that contemplated a potential hurdle (i.e. “if allowed by the insurer”).  That alone absolved the husband from being held in contempt.

Nor was there anything in the wording of the Order that clearly and unequivocally required him to take other steps, such as getting a new policy or getting a court to force RBC to bend its policy.  Without such added obligations being clearly placed upon him, the husband could not be found in contempt in this situation.

For the full text of the decision, see:

Malboeuf v. Hanna, 2018

At Russell Alexander, Family Lawyers our focus is exclusively family law, offering pre-separation legal advice and assisting clients with family related issues including: custody and access, separation agreements, child and spousal support, division of family property, paternity disputes, and enforcement of court orders.  For more information, visit us at RussellAlexander.com

 

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The Costanza Method | Above the Law

Of all the characters on Seinfeld, George was my favorite. His laziness and his creativity; his self-loathing and his overconfidence. He was a hilarious juxtaposition of human traits whose behavior sometimes bordered on diagnosable mental disorder.

George had a lot of jobs on the show. He was a real estate agent, a parking attendant, a salesman, and an assistant within the New York Yankees organization, among others. (He was also unemployed quite a bit as well. See The Summer of George.)

While George always exhibited traits of inherent laziness, I think his particular brand of laziness-fueled creativity reached its apex while he was with the New York Yankees organization.

It was with the Yankees that George deployed his “always look annoyed” strategy (here’s the clip of him explaining it in his own words). George’s theory was that if he always looked annoyed when someone spoke to him at work and if he always appeared to be in the middle of something important, people would assume he was busy and wouldn’t bother him or give him something else to work on. I call this The Costanza Method.

(George also left his car in the parking lot overnight so that his boss would think he was the first one there in the morning and the last one to leave. He also built a secret hidden sleeping alcove under his desk in office for naps while with the Yankees.)

Using The Costanza Method, George would skate by on the bare minimums and would then have free time to spend at work doing crossword puzzles, etc.

Could that work in real life? Could an employee coast along on cruise control doing minimal actual work and while appearing to be super busy? I think so for certain jobs. But what about for lawyers?

I think not.

Here’s an analogy. In math classes in school, I was usually the one that needed all the class time we were allotted to complete the work. There wasn’t time for fooling around or being creatively lazy. Some of my peers, however, could fly through the exact same work in half the time and would then spend a big chunk of class time goofing off.

Work’s the same way in my experience. Some people can do some full-time jobs in less than 40 hours per week. Some people excel at certain things and they can fly through their work and then have extra time left over during their work day.

A lot of jobs require employees to be responsible for a finite number of tasks or issues, and once an assignment or task is done, it’s done. There’s no more digging needed and there are no clear incentives for going above and beyond. If the employee is of above-average competence and finishes the assigned tasks before more come down the pipeline, he or she can employ The Costanza Method. Look busy. Act annoyed. People will probably assume the employee is a hard worker and really applying him- or herself. That person may even rise in the organization.

But I think it’s different for lawyering.

In my experience, lawyer success is tied very closely to the amount of time spent on a given project. Think about any brief you’ve ever written. There’s always more editing that can be done, more sources that can be cited, more arguments and theories that can be addressed and made. The facts of every case can be developed deeper, your deposition outline made tighter, your oral arguments refined and organized better.

I truly believe that in our profession, hard work is the great leveler. No matter how inherently smart one is or how refined one’s educational pedigree may be, if a lawyer doesn’t put in the hours on his or her cases they simply will not achieve the best results possible. There’s no way around it. And when someone who isn’t putting in the time comes up against someone who is, it is abundantly clear to all involved.

Using The Constanza Method and faking a good work ethic won’t get you very far as a lawyer, no matter where you work. Our job is one of details and minutia. A lawyer can’t absorb these things by osmosis. Doing the bare minimums will thus affect outcomes (for our careers and our clients). No matter how carefully one may try to hide it, managers and clients will eventually realize what’s going on.

(I think it’s important to say here that the law of diminishing returns applies to what we do. At a certain threshold additional time spent will only marginally increase the results. Finding that tipping point and effectively managing one’s workload are critical parts of lawyer well-being.)

I’m pretty sure George Costanza would’ve been a terrible lawyer. I think he would’ve been long on talk and short on results. But it would’ve made for some great TV.

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Evan Gibbs is an attorney at Troutman Sanders, where he primarily litigates employment cases and handles traditional labor matters. Connect with him on LinkedIn here, or e-mail him here. (The views expressed in this column are his own.)

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Rajamukhi & Zaira: All about royalty & elegance – Blog

Apple’s Jony Ive Crafts Lab-Grown Diamond Ring Worth up to $250,000 USD for Charity

Apple design chief Jony Ive along with fellow designer Marc Newson have created a diamond ring for their (RED) auction, to raise money to fight AIDS.

According to Sotheby’s : Sir Jony Ive, Apple’s Chief Design Officer, and renowned industrial designer Marc Newson – having curated the (RED) auction five years ago – have, this year, designed a unique ring, made exclusively for (RED) by Diamond Foundry. Consistent with their mutual obsession with transforming raw material into objects of value, Ive & Newson’s design is singular, clear and un-compromised by the traditional metal settings and bands that have previously been required to create ‘diamond rings’. Theirs will be created by removing material rather than adding – an ambition made possible by the extraordinary scale of the stone which will enable the ring to be completely made of this material.

Ye-Hui Goldenson, spokesperson for Diamond Foundry mentioned that the ring will be custom made to fit the size of the winner’s finger.

This ring will be cut from a diamond block, and will be “faceted with several thousand facets, some of which are as small as several thousand micrometers.” The inner ring will be cylindrically cut, with a micrometer thick water jet and laser beam. The finished product will see a ring “between 2000-3000 facets which has never been seen before in a single piece.”

Producing the rough was definitely not easy according to a statement released by Diamond Foundry. “It required coaxing the first 10 atoms of a layer into believing that a certain rare metal is a diamond, these atoms would assemble into real diamond and allow the creation of diamond blocks of previously unprecedented size,” it said.

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Master Your Bar Prep Time Management

The 10ish weeks you spend preparing for the bar exam will go by faster than you can ever imagine. Once bar prep gets started, you won’t have the time to figure out how to best manage it. That is precisely why you need to plan now for how to best utilize your time. Use these tips to get you started.

Limit passive learning

There is only a finite amount of time to study for the bar exam. Every minute you waste on an activity that doesn’t actually help you pass the bar exam is a minute you can’t get back. That is why it is so important to limit the amount of time you spend on passive learning tasks, such as watching videos or reading outlines. Do not pause, slow down, or rewatch videos unless it is absolutely necessary to do so.

Engaging in too much passive studying is the number one reason students fail the bar exam. This is what I like to call the “too much time reading and watching and not enough time doing” problem. Bar review companies are great at assigning a bunch of videos to watch and giving you extremely long outlines to read. While these are valuable resources that can and should be utilized, they are not everything. Be careful to not let these activities eat up too much of your precious bar review time. Just implementing this one tip will go such a long way.

Protect your time

You can plan all day every day, but the thing that really makes time management work is actually executing the plan. In order to become a productivity machine, you must take two important steps to minimize distractions. The first is to set up boundaries with the people in your life. Let them know that you will be studying for the bar exam and that it is your number one priority for the next few months. Then, make sure you enforce those boundaries when they are tested. Because they will be tested.

The second is to set up boundaries for yourself. That means getting off the internet, turning off Netflix, and stepping away from your texts.  Let’s face it, social media is the enemy of time management. I consider myself to be pretty good with managing my time. But, every so often, I find myself saying, “let me just check Facebook real fast,” and four hours later, I don’t even know what year it is.

However, technology is a double-edged sword, as there are also many apps available that can actually help keep you focused. For example, there are apps that completely block the internet from your phone or computer, block all social media, or allow you to set time limits on how long you can use certain apps or websites per day. Do some research to find the one that will best work with your phone, computer, and social media “needs.”

Avoid burnout

Mental and emotional burnout is a very real concern during bar prep. If you do not engage in proper self-care, you will eventually become so overwhelmed and exhausted that studying becomes ineffective. The best way to avoid burnout is to build free time into your schedule and to take regular breaks. Please note that this paragraph is not meant to give you permission to not work hard during bar prep. You’ve absolutely got to work hard and push yourself in order to pass the bar exam. Rather, this is a warning to know your limits, when to push them, and when to respect them in order to ensure that you cross the finish line victorious.

Set up an accountability system

The easiest person in the world to disappoint is yourself. So, if you are the only person who knows about your time management plan, you are far less likely to stick to it. I highly recommend sharing your goals and plan to reach them with an accountability partner. Ideally, the person you choose will be someone whose opinions and advice you respect as well as someone who will give you open and honest feedback if you are not working to your potential. You don’t want someone who will completely tear you down if you come up short, but you also don’t want someone who will accept all of your excuses and dismiss your lack of effort.

The most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to bar exam time management is that time moves quickly. Make sure that you don’t get hung up on tasks that don’t serve your bar exam goals and to keep your eye on the prize.

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Kerriann Stout is a millennial law school professor and founder of Vinco (a bar exam coaching company) who is generationally trapped between her students and colleagues. Kerriann has helped hundreds of students survive law school and the bar exam with less stress and more confidence. She lives, works, and writes in the northeast. You can reach her by email at info@vincoprep.com.

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Graff Unveils 60 Diamonds Cut from the Incredible 1,109-Carat Lesedi La Rona

The 1109 carat diamond was acquired with an intention to be cut into smaller diamonds – now, the first lot of 60 diamonds were unveiled in the form of alluring pieces of jewellery.

Cutting the largest, rarest and most expensive diamond was no easy feat – it took experienced and the most knowledgeable gemologists and diamond cutters to produce the first 60 stones. These diamonds have been used in extraordinary pieces of jewellery.

Each of the 60 diamonds is D-Colour with exceptional clarity and has a laser inscription of both Graff and  Lesedi la Rona so that the buyer knows how exclusive and rare each stone is. The diamonds were used in solitaire rings, pendants and earrings.

Following the 3106 carat Cullian diamond, Lesedi la Rona is the second largest rough diamond in the history from Lucara Karowe mine.  

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Thanksgiving Without The Kids? A Few Tips To Keep Your From Going Crazy · Divorced Moms

You may not have your kids this Thanksgiving but you can be thankful you’re not sitting across the table from a turkey!

 

Holidays after divorce can be hard but they don’t have to be doom and gloom!

Thanksgiving is the big holiday of thanks, though, so it can be hard to be thankful when one of the things you’re most thankful for, your children, are away from you during the Thanksgiving holiday.

But before you decide to cry into your turkey and pumpkin pie, here are a six ways to keep yourself from going crazy with sadness this Thanksgiving alone.

Thanksgiving Without The Kids? 6 Tips To Keep Your From Going Crazy

Join Friends

Hopefully, you’re not completely alone on Thanksgiving without your kids but if you are and have no family you’d like to celebrate with, call on your friends.

This can be awkward; who wants to ask to crash in on another family’s holiday table? Not many, but being alone on Thanksgiving is a heartbreak that no one should experience. Your friends won’t mind you asking to join them but WILL mind if you don’t ask and end up in a depressive stupor all weekend long.

If you’ll be with family for the meal but find going home to your quiet house discomforting, hit up your friends who will be desperate for a break from their families perhaps, and ask them to meet for drinks at the local bar or stop by their home for dessert. If you choose the latter option, bring wine. Everyone loves the “bringer of wine.”

This Shall Pass

This is simply a day. Not a lifetime.

It’s hard to remember that when you are sitting down at a table with family and feeling the big absence of your children, but it’s JUST a day. And remember that even though your children are not there, you can be thankful for having them and thankful that their other parent cares enough about them to want them for a holiday.

There are so many children missing a parent who is now absent due to divorce or other reasons. Try to find peace in knowing your children are very loved.

Enjoy the Junk

If you can’t be bothered by the first two suggestions, dive in for a “junk” day.

Junk TV, junk movies, trashy magazines, and lots of sweets. Your waistline won’t expand in a day and your diet can wait until tomorrow.  If you’re alone, grab as much wine and turkey as possible (if you don’t have turkey, grill up a burger. Don’t worry—the pilgrims won’t roll in their graves) and invest in a day of Hulu, Netflix, and binge-watching television.

No matter what your flavor, NFL or the Real Housewives, indulge your bad feelings with some feel-good laziness, and an American pastime!

Go for Something Wild

If family is absent and friends are too far, why not take the holiday and weekend to go on a weekend getaway? Vegas anyone? Perhaps this night or weekend is the time you go for the fling with that younger man. And hey what happens during Thanksgiving weekend, stays there.

If you don’t have the budget for extravagant weekend trips as many divorced Moms don’t, why not rent a hotel room for one night and relax with a bubble bath and champagne, or that wine and TV combo I suggested earlier.

Maybe this is the day you take a road trip for the weekend. Maybe you go explore a local attraction you’ve never been to before. Whatever you decide, do something you’ve wanted to do for a long time, as long as it’s legal and affordable

Namaste

If you find yourself completely distraught, perhaps it’s time to do some yoga or get yourself a pre-holiday massage to try and loosen up. Take a walk for some fresh brisk fall air. Take a morning jog. Do some downward dog. Read a book. Paint a picture. Enjoy some video games. Call a friend.

Use any and all tools that you used to get through the divorce. For some people, it’s retreating from others. For others, it’s connecting with a friend. And still, for others, it’s getting outside and moving. Whatever it takes to keep you from starting the holiday season in a deep funk, do it!

Acceptance

Lastly, accepting how you feel and acknowledging those feelings are key to a happy holiday season after divorce. Remember to not compare yourself to other people. The holiday “festivities” you see on others’ social media pages aren’t necessarily as happy and bright as they look.

To further illustrate that life is not over now that you’re divorced and sharing your kids during the holidays, remember what it was like to be unhappily married and sharing holidays together.

Wasn’t it fun arguing with your ex during the holidays? Didn’t you love seeing your nasty in-laws that made your life hell? Didn’t you enjoy feeling incredibly alone while coupled and married with little to be thankful for?

No, no, and no!

You may feel sad over not being with your children but you can also be thankful that you have a new life, a fresh start, and the opportunity to love again and show your kids proof of a healthy relationship

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Happy Veterans Day — See Also

LAW PROFESSOR WHO USED THE N-WORD IN CLASS ALLEGEDLY USED IN OFFICE HOURS: Does this guy have to lynch a brother to get fired?

OPEN LETTER TO JUSTICE GINSBURG’S CLERKS: Y’all have one job and you’re slipping.

WIDOW BLAMES HUSBAND’S SUICIDE ON BIGLAW CULTURE: This story is just hard to read.

CNN MIGHT SUE TRUMP: Weird to see a media organization actually standing up for the First Amendment.

MICHELLE OBAMA IS EVERYTHING: I’ma buy her book.

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Expert witnesses and radical changes: The President speaks

On Friday the new President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane gave a speech to the Annual Bond Solon Expert Witness Conference (Bond Solon are a provider of legal training). Naturally, the speech was aimed at the audience of expert witnesses, but there were certainly a few things in it of note to those with a more general interest in the family justice system.

The speech began with a discussion of the role of experts in cases relating to children. Much of what Sir Andrew said here was concerned more with public law cases (i.e. care proceedings), rather than private law cases, but it was still interesting to consider precisely why experts are so often required in children cases – remember, Cafcass officers and social workers are also professional experts upon matters relating to children. In addition, as Sir Andrew said, most child protection cases and many of the more intractable private disputes between parents will also require the introduction of evidence from an independent expert.

So it is vitally important that the courts have the benefit of expert evidence, to give them the best chance of reaching the right decision – a decision that can of course have life-changing consequences for the child involved. It is therefore extremely worrying that Sir Andrew says that since acquiring the presidency he has been struck by accounts from courts all over the country as to the great difficulty that now exists in finding experts who are prepared to take on instruction in a family case. He says that he is going to investigate the reasons for this, but he mentions two obvious ones. Firstly, most experts are paid out of public funds, and as a result the rates payable to them have eroded in recent years. Secondly, many experts are put off by bad experiences in cases where they have given evidence, with hearings not taking place when planned, and the experts wasting their valuable time waiting around at court (I know the feeling!). I’m not sure that Sir Andrew will be able to do about the former issue but, as we will see, the latter issue may be eased in the near future.

Moving on, in the next part of the speech Sir Andrew made some interesting personal observations upon the business of being an expert witness, and what the judiciary expect of expert witnesses. He pointed out, for example, a well-known phenomenon in judicial circles:

“…that some lawyers, who had hitherto been entirely amiable and mild-mannered individuals, subtly develop, immediately following their appointment to the Bench, a wholly unattractive arrogance and belief in their own self-importance. These individuals are said to have caught a disease which we call “judgitis”!”

I suspect that many lawyers will have come across this, although I will certainly not name names! The point that Sir Andrew was making is that it is also possible for “seasoned expert witnesses who have become so used to giving evidence and to having their opinions accepted in the higher courts that they have become extravagant to a degree that has moved them well away from the sound scientific basis that had hitherto underpinned their valuable opinions.”

Sir Andrew then changed tack entirely, and devoted the last part of his speech to what he called the “radical changes in the courts and tribunals”, in other words, the current court modernisation programme. As he explained, two of the core changes, which he indicated were likely to come in over the next 18 months to two years, could have some revolutionary effects for expert witnesses.

The first change is the move (at last) to paperless court proceedings. As Sir Andrew said:

“As we approach the 3rd decade of the 21st century it is something of a ‘no-brainer’ to suggest that the courts and tribunals should now abandon our reliance on each party and the judge working from ring binders, often many ring binders, of paper.”

Quite. The introduction of digital bundles will coincide with all of the court processes, from making an application, to filing a statement and issuing an order, being conducted online. As Sir Andrew explained:

“For the expert the receipt of all the documents in the case in a WinZip file, rather than by DHL, and the ability to carry all of this material on a laptop, would seem to be a very clear advantage.”

Indeed. Although I’m not even sure that WinZip should be required these days, with the transmission of large digital files being so much easier than previously.

The second change is “the development of ‘virtual hearings’ where none of the participants is in the same location as any other and all connect with the judge over the internet. This, Sir Andrew pointed out, could save experts much time waiting at court, and therefore make giving expert evidence a much more attractive proposition.

Sir Andrew indicated that he was looking forward to these changes, and said of them:

“If they result in a court and tribunal system that is fit for purpose and compatible with almost all other aspects of the modern world then that success will be welcome and will do much to remove that which causes frustration and delay in our current system.”

I’m sure we would all agree with that.

You can read the full speech here.

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Where Do Pre-Nups Fit In? · Divorced Moms

 

Congratulations! You have found love again after your peaceful (or not-so-peaceful) divorce from your first spouse. You have decided that you want to live together and blend your lives, just like in your first marriage when you were fairly young. What do you need to know about baby boomers marrying again?

You (and your fiancé) believe marriage is an institution that will support your high level of commitment to each other.  You want to do more than just date, or live together without being married.  You see your relationship as permanent and wish it to be life-long and supportive throughout old age.

You believe you learned some lessons from your first marriage – both in terms of your choice of a spouse and how you can create a peaceful marriage.  You are better prepared to support a marriage through its ups and downs and handle the inevitable conflict that goes along with marriage.

However, there’s a little fly in the ointment.  Both you and Mr. Right #2 have children from your previous marriages. They are in high school, college, or are in the process of launching their young adult careers. You both also have assets accumulated during your first marriages – you each have a home, retirement accounts, and other assets. You’re not particularly rich, but you do wonder, what happens if you divorce again. You also may be wondering how to leave a legacy to your children if your marriage stays together, but you die before Husband #2.

Baby Boomers Marrying Again: Here’s Where Pre-Nups Fit In

Most people would like to leave a financial legacy to their children when they die. And many of our grown (and semi-grown) children need some financial help from us while we’re living, both in securing their education and helping them embark on their adult lives. Our parents helped us, and we want to help our children. It’s a natural inclination, and an embodiment of parental love, which is fierce and protective.

But you also have another intention that you want to fulfill – providing security for your new Baby Boomer spouse. You love that person, too, and with love comes a sense of protectiveness.

You are remarrying in your 50s, 60s or even 70s. One of the aims of a “gray” marriage is to support each other as you grow older, enjoy retirement together, and care for each other as you age. This is part of a long-term marriage. Your allegiance and commitment to your new spouse must be very strong in order for a second marriage to succeed. And that includes, in most cases, a financial commitment to your new spouse.

A challenge faced in Baby Boomer second marriages is how to balance the competing interests of our new spouse and our children. We want to support the well-being of our new spouse (who we love), and also to help our children by giving them a financial “leg up” during our lifetime and after our death.

What happens if I die without a prenup?

Most states have laws that protect the interest of a surviving spouse to inherit from his or her deceased spouse. If someone dies without a will (this is called “intestacy”), depending on the state and the family composition, a surviving spouse could obtain from 30% to 100% of the deceased spouse’s probate assets.  Non-probate property (such as life insurance and retirement accounts) is distributed in accordance with the account owner’s beneficiary designations.

You can enter into a discussion with your fiancé before the marriage as to what your estate plans would be after each of your deaths. Will your assets be split between your surviving spouse and children? Will the surviving spouse hold some of your property for future distribution to your children?

In all states, a spouse has the right “to elect against the will.”  That means, that if that spouse has been disinherited or receives an unreasonably small legacy, that spouse may apply for a statutory share of the deceased spouse’s estate.  Depending on the state, this provides a widow or widower somewhere between the income generated from 30% of the estate and 50% of the entire estate outright.

An estate plan that provides a surviving spouse at least what this spousal election against the will or intestacy would provide (if that’s consistent with a spouse’s estate distribution intentions) would be a good way to divide an estate between a person’s (second) spouse and his or her children from a first marriage.

However, sometimes the surviving spouse will need to be supported during his or her lifetime before assets are distributed to the children of the first spouse to die. This can be done by estate planning that includes QTIP trusts, credit shelter trusts, and lifetime interests in real estate. All these possibilities need to be thought out carefully, with the guidance of an estate planning attorney.

The downside of relying on premarital (or post marital) discussions and decisions is that people can change their minds any time before their death. Also, sometimes flexibility is important in estate planning. Things can and should change as events unfold.  But people can change their estate plans and beneficiary designations right up until the time they die. Sometimes this can result in a very undesirable surprise.

Then there’s the issue of divorce.

If the second Baby Boomer marriage ends in divorce, there is a full panoply of laws dealing with property division and spousal support.  These laws have developed over many years. Their intent is to provide an equitable result based on the facts and circumstances of that particular marriage.

But some Baby Boomers have felt burned by their first divorces, especially if they had the bad luck of having a highly litigated divorce.  (There are many better ways to get divorced!)

Where do Prenups fit in?

Prenups can provide certainty on these three issues: what happens if one of the spouses dies during the Baby Boomer marriage, what happens if there is a divorce, and if there is a divorce, how do you avoid litigation?  Prenups can also provide ground rules as to how the couple will spend money and support each other financially during the marriage.

In a prenup, children of the first marriage can be protected, while balancing the financial needs of the new spouse. Divorce terms that seem fair and equitable can be included, and even some flexibility can be built in if things change in the future.

If there is a divorce, the method used in the divorce can be specified. It can be an alternative dispute resolution process such as mediation, collaborative law, or arbitration.

Prenups can also set the terms of how the new couple will financially assist their children from their previous marriages. Will there be lifetime gifts made equally to all of them? What if one child needs more help than the other children? What funds should this assistance come out of – previous premarital assets or assets and income earned and accumulated during the marriage?

Prenuptial agreements are not always the magic bullet they are touted to be. Because they are done right before the marriage, they often cause painful conflict between people who love each other at the very time feelings are the most tender. They pit people in opposition with each other, and often under the guidance of attorneys, the result ends up being extremely unsupportive of the financial needs of one of the new spouses, to the stark advantage of the other.

That’s because many attorneys view prenups solely as “asset protection” contract, without thinking about the health of the marriage or the well-being of a less-moneyed Baby Boomer spouse. Remember, showing caring and compassion to each other (even if you are negotiating a prenuptial agreement) bodes well for the health and survival of your new marriage. In fact, caring and compassion for the other is at the core of a successful marriage.

Prenups are generally enforceable, so the terms you have chosen will not be changeable unless you mutually agree on the changes. In this way, people entering into them can have peace of mind as to what will happen during their lives and after their death. But the downside is situations may change, and one of the spouses may be unwilling to change the terms of the prenup when the other spouse feels it’s appropriate to do so.

Remember to play fair.

If you’ve decided to negotiate a prenup, remember to play fair. Show your love of the person you are marrying by providing in the prenup for a soft landing in case your marriage ends in divorce. And as hard as it is (and despite a possible bad experience from your first divorce), remember that divorce laws can be good guidance when formulating terms in a prenup to address a split-up in a fair and compassionate way.

So, congratulations on your Baby Boomer second marriage.  You have some choices to make –including whether or not to have a prenup.  Also, you may want to have some serious discussions about the terms of your marriage and how you will handle your estates if one of you dies at a time when your marriage is intact. Be sure to get the guidance and information you need to understand the issues involved and how to address them. This will help make things clearer between you and will serve to make your marriage stronger when you tie the knot again.

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Game Of Memes? HBO, Trump, And Trademark Parody

It seems that everything President Trump comments on receives a good deal of scrutiny, but when it comes to his Twitter account, the dialogue can be scathing.  Recently, President Trump decided to tweet about the upcoming re-imposition of sanctions against Iran as a result of his decision to withdraw from a 2015 accord negotiated by the Obama administration.  In tweeting about this point, President Trump decided to do his own take on a meme from HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones.”  More specifically, he modified the often-quoted line from the series (now a registered trademark of HBO), “Winter is Coming,” by tweeting “Sanctions are Coming” using a similar font over a picture of himself giving a stern look that, in my humble opinion, attempts to channel the Dothragi. Soon thereafter HBO took to the social media platform objecting to his purported “trademark misuse.”  Apart from the turn of phrase (more on that below), the real issue seems to be his attempt at parody, and there is more to it than you may think.

President Trump’s tweets seem to get under a lot of people’s skin (yes, that is an understatement), and HBO is no exception when it comes to its hit series. HBO’s first response was in a statement to CNN, saying, “We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes.” HBO soon responded on Twitter with a far more tongue-in-cheek response: “How do you say trademark misuse in Dothraki?”  Kudos to HBO for the witty comeback, but “trademark misuse” is a stretch, to say the least.

The doctrine of trademark misuse is simply rarely applied as a matter of trademark law, garnering little traction in modern courts. More importantly, trademark misuse is really a theoretical defense to an action brought by a trademark owner — it is a defense premised upon the trademark owner’s use of its own trademark in violation of the law.  Ultimately, this has been couched in trademark cases under the defense of “unclean hands,” such as where the party seeking the relief from the court has engaged in fraud, deceit, unconscionability, or bad faith related to the matter at issue to the detriment of the other party.  HBO obviously can’t claim trademark misuse against itself, so it seems better to say that the network takes offense to President Trump’s attempt at parody of its registered trademarks.

Trademark parody is a defense to trademark infringement, premised upon the fact that parodies can serve as legitimate First Amendment expression, but is a tricky area because the courts have handled this defense in different ways. Some courts have applied the standard “likelihood of confusion” analysis while incorporating the First Amendment as a factor, others applying balancing the First Amendment expression against the likelihood of confusion, with some courts simply favoring First Amendment expression over any likelihood of confusion.  Even though there is no single test that is favored, whether such use is commercial does appear to matter.

In the present case, it is painfully clear that no one would confuse the “Sanctions are Coming” meme with the Game of Thrones “Winter is Coming” trademark.  The font may be the same, but the content of the photo being of the president (rather than that of the Game of Thrones character originally associated with the phrase, Ned Stark) is different and leaves little room for confusion with the series. Further, the fact that the president’s tweet is not tied to a commercial product further supports the defense of parody.

A point worth mentioning, however, is that those engaging in trademark parody really need to get it right.  The  “Winter is Coming” motto of the House of Stark is not a happy one — it is an ominous phrase that engenders “warning and constant vigilance,” and may also interpreted as an intimidation to those enemies of the House of Stark.  It appears that in the president’s turn of phrase he was trying to channel that tone within his own meme (and given his expression in the photo, he appears to be doing a good job of it).  The point here, however, is that engaging in parody requires deft use of humor and satire, using enough of the original to allude to it, but not so much as to create any likelihood of confusion.  Minds may differ on whether he did that in his meme, but you get the point.

Let’s not lose our heads like Ned Stark here — reasonable minds can (and do) disagree on the president’s “Sanctions are Coming” meme, but it’s not “trademark misuse.” From a parody perspective, the president may be resting on some reasonable ground, but remember that parody is merely a defense to a trademark infringement or trademark dilution action.  There are a number of colorable grounds upon which HBO could take exception to the president’s meme.  The bigger question is whether escalating the matter beyond Twitter to the courts draws more attention to the president’s meme, thereby exacerbating an already touchy issue.  From my perspective, HBO’s witty yet legally inarticulate response was a step in the right direction, and should be left there. There is another quote from Game of Thrones that would be wise to heed here: “Some old wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word.”   In the present case, it may be best to just let this Twitter spat pass.

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Tom Kulik is an Intellectual Property & Information Technology Partner at the Dallas-based law firm of Scheef & Stone, LLP. In private practice for over 20 years, Tom is a sought-after technology lawyer who uses his industry experience as a former computer systems engineer to creatively counsel and help his clients navigate the complexities of law and technology in their business. News outlets reach out to Tom for his insight, and he has been quoted by national media organizations. Get in touch with Tom on Twitter (@LegalIntangibls) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/technologylawyer), or contact him directly at tom.kulik@solidcounsel.com.

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