Week in Review: Banditry, Funerals, and a New Solo

Expect the Best, Plan for the Worst

Well, in two separate incidents on Wednesday and Wednesday night, Ben Carter Law had a laptop (mine) and TV (ours) stolen from our storefront. Huge bummer. But: we were able to erase the data on the computer remotely and restore from a recent backup when I got another computer on Thursday. I'm telling you this so that you can plan ahead so that a lost or stolen computer doesn't derail your practice. If you are in the Apple ecosystem, make sure your devices are signed up for the "Find My iPhone" service. This allowed me to lock and erase the stolen computer within minutes of its theft. It also allowed me to trace its location to one of two houses not far from our office. Second—and I can't stress this enough: keep recent backups in separate physical locations. I also use BackBlaze to backup to the cloud. An off-site backup and cloud backup: this is the "belt-and-suspenders" approach to backup that your data deserves. 

With a recent backup and cloud storage of our files, I lost no data and almost no momentum in what could otherwise have been a crushing loss. 

Needless to say, we're getting some extra security for the office. 

We actually have good information on who stole the computer. When things go missing around this time of year, I always point the finger first at these two. 

So, while I'm hopeful that we might recover the computer at some point, the TV is like dropping your keys into a river of molten lava. Man, it's gone. 

The courage to fix the things we can

The husband of one of my favorite clients of all time passed away this week. She texted to tell me the funeral arrangements, so I went. At the funeral, both she and her son expressed profound gratitude for our help in negotiating the the mortgage company an alternative to foreclosure. They explained that our help allowed their dad and husband to spend his final months in the comfort of his home and with the knowledge that the home was secure from the threat of foreclosure. 

At my firm, we are confronted daily with a lot of injustices and requests for help from a lot of people. This funeral was a much-needed flotation device in a swirling flood and was a reminder to me that it is not our job to fix every problem. It is only our job to fix the problems we can. Everything else is up to that higher power.

Peter Brackney goes solo

I was happy to learn this week that Peter Brackney has set up his own practice in Lexington. Peter is a great guy to follow on Twitter and will be working in the areas of consumer bankruptcy, business law, and estate planning. 

Do as Greg Belzley does

My friend and an attorney I admire a lot, Greg Belzley, was quoted in the Herald-Leader this week in a story about the state's failure to supervise the medical providers with which it contracts to provide care to Kentucky's prisoners. The situation is appalling and Greg is one of the leading advocates—inside and outside the courtroom—to change the callous, uncaring, inhumane treatment these human beings receive. 

Greg is a shining example of the good work a person of conscience can do when armed with a law license. We should all take a note.