Legaleaglemhm Blog – The Future

29th January 2012

5 Weeks ago at the age of 44 I underwent open heart Cardiac Bypass surgery having three grafts (triple bypass)and I am very happy to report that I am gradually getting better. The recovery from the operation has been slow but I am making really good progress.

Here is a short clip which explains what happens in a Cardiac Bypass operation .Click here.

My chest and leg wounds are healing really well and I am no longer on pain killers but I will of course be on medication for life.

My heart condition is a hereditary one which doctors say has caused a blockage inside my main artery and this means that I will have to be very careful with diet and exercise for the rest of my life.

I have also agreed to be part of a clinical trial which means I will be monitored more over the next 5 years to see how the grafts hold up in my heart.

This week I started Cardiac re-habilitation which is a 12 week program of exercise and consultations with a dietician and physiotherapist to help me build my strength again.

My spirits are high and the general pain from the op has started to reduce and I can honestly say that life is starting to get back to normal.

I cannot lift anything heavy and I still need to have a nap in the afternoon but gradually I expect to resume my normal life bit by bit every day.

I am amazed at the skill of the doctors and health professional who looked after me and I now feel like I can start to rebuild my life with my girls.

It may take me an extra year to complete my Post graduate LLM but hey, who’s counting.

Every day I become more focussed on my future and life with my family and my life in Law. It is exciting.

Thank you for following my progress.

Legaleaglemhm

Legaleaglemhm’s Blog – My recovery 1 month:There’s no such thing as a ‘Good Dead Lawyer’

24th January 2012.

It’s now a month since I underwent major heart surgery to deal with a life threatening blockage inside my heart. I thought you needed stamina to study Law for 7 years. Gosh, how surprised I have been over this last 4 weeks at how much strength one needs recover from a triple heart Bypass.

I am 44 years of age and relatively young to have a Bypass so I thought that the recovery would be a ‘walk in the park‘ but It has been a slow process and one which has tested my skills of determination and perseverance to the limits.

In the last 4 weeks I have felt a whole range of emotions from despair, isolation,pain,helplessness to that yippee feeling of being alive that I like so much. I just wish I could stay in that mode every moment.

I can now walk for up to 40 minutes and more a day. My wounds on my chest and leg are healing well and my collapsed lung Is inflating itself slowly.

I have settled into a slower pace than before and I am now accepting the fact that I will not be back to Law until after the summer. I no longer need painkillers during the day and I am only taking them when I retire for the night.

Today I have had my first check up by the doctors who are happy with my progress. My blood pressure is good 110/74 and I am up and about every day now taking my lil eagle to school and collecting her.

Tomorrow I start a programme of cardiac rehabilitation which aims to build my physical strength over the next 10 weeks.

Knowing that I have the next few months off to recover gives me some breathing space to make some time for me and my girls.

This has been a horrible experience but the joy comes from knowing that I was one of the lucky ones as they found the blockage inside my heart , many people are not aware and are walking around with it.

Thank you for reading my blog and following my progress. Perhaps you can do something for me , well actually it’s for yourself really. Stop and take a deep breath. Learn to relax more, spend time with your children and love ones. incorporate relaxation into your day and tackle stress, it’s not good for you.
Eat healthy, exercise more and try to lower your collesteral. Stop smoking and drink moderately.

If you are experiencing chest pains , even if you think it’s just a twinge see your doctor or go to A&E.

Know that there no such thing as a ‘good dead lawyer’, or what ever you may do for a job. Family is everything and life is precious.

watch this space for I will recover and I will be back.

Michelle

legaleaglemhm

20 days After a coronary triple Bypass Legaleaglemhm – The recovery

Hi Folks

Well its now 20 days since I had open heart surgery and a coronary triple bypass. The initial shock of the operation was horrific to be honest. I felt like I had been run over or at least sawed in two ( which of course I have been ) but you just can’t keep a good legal eagle down.

I came home on christmas eve and we had a family christmas with my parents and little girls but looking back it was pretty much a blur. I was taking a lot of medication for the pain and moving was difficult. My chest wound runs from my neck down to nearly the middle of my tummy and although the stiches are disolving underneath there is metal wires holding my chest together. My movements feel very artifical as I try to move about.

sleeping is difficult as I needed to sleep up right on at least 7 pillows and the first week I dozed for only 10 – 20 minutes at a time.

This week has been so much better. I managed to lose a few pillows and can just about turn on my side now so I am getting a bit more sleep.

When I first came out of hospital on christmas eve I couldnt bend down, dress myself or get into the bath without help from my mum. ( its been many years since ive needed my mum to get me dressed tee hee)

Over the course of the last week I have built up my activities to walking 20 minutes a day. It is easy walking and afterwards I always feel exhausted but I feel like I am making great progress.

I can now dress myself and get in and out of the bath myself.

The down side is that my hair is falling out in clumps at the back. My GP tells me that it is due to the stress of both the illness ( my heart not working properly ) and the trauma of the operation. Luckily the bald patch is at the back of my head and my longer hair covers it for now.

My apetite is coming back an I am enjoying the taste of food again.

I have had lots of visitors and have ventured out for short distances which have lifted my spirits.

All in all my scars are healing on my chest and my legs but I still have a collapsed lung which I am told should re-inflate over time.

I have only needed to take pain killers at dinner time and just before I retire for the night now .

My body is still quite bloated and I am on water tablets to get rid of the fluid and to be honest I dont really look my best but my spirits and determination are high.

I am very excited at recovering well and I am planning lots of activities for my girls and I this summer.
All is good.
Tonight I painted a small acrylic canvas and enjoyed it very much.

Law seems like a million miles away at the moment as my priority is getting fit and well.

Thank you for following my progress I will keep you updated.

legaleaglemhm
Michelle L Hynes

Staring ‘Death ‘in the face – My story by legaleaglemhm

Hi Folks

Well you may have noticed that i have been a bit quiet lately on twitter and facebook and blogging.
This post tells you what happened.

Back in the summer of 2010 I was fully engaged in my ‘life in Law’ working at a criminal Law firm, starting my traineeship with my full legal career ahead of me.

But something was not right. I felt ill. So tired and with chest pains.

Taking sometime out and deciding that Intellectual Property law was where my interests are i decided to leave the criminal defence firm and go back to glasgow Univeristy to embark on a post graduate LL.M in Intellectual property law and the digital economy.It is a fabulous course and will give me a specialism.

All was going well with a few commercial firms making me offers of training contracts when my LL.M is over. But my health just didnt imporove.

I thought it was because I was in my 40′s and acted like i was in my 20′s. Chest pain dogged my summer and i was admitted 3 times to Glasgow’s western infirmary with posssible Heart attacks.

Each time the medical team thought that the pain was due to angina ( chest pain) and advised me to keep my stress to a minimum. A diffiuclt task when you are as busy as me raising two girls and being obsessed with law.
On the 23rd of novemebr i was sent to the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank for a procedure called an angiogram. Basicall they put a camer into the artery inside your arm and feed a camera into my heart to have a look and see what is going on.

I really thought they would tell me that all was well and I was just ‘getting old’.

Nothing prepared me for that day.

The medical team told me I had a life threatening Blockage inside my main artery inside my heart.If they did nothing I would die.
Every moment was precious.

When I came outside of the hospital I cried.

The only option for me was to have open heart surgery , the blockage was too big and in too serious a position for a stent.

I was sent home and told to do ‘nothing’ – no exercise , no stress and to call 999 at any sign of chest pain.

It was just coming up to christmas and i was terrified.

On the 6th of December the chest pains started. I thought I would die.

An ambulance was called and I was taken to the western where i would stay until the heart surgery.

In hospital my heart rate fell to 36 beat per minute and my blood pressure fell very low. I was very ill.

All the time I was terrified that i would not make it to christmas or see my girls grow up.

My family all came in to the western daily and just before christmas we had a wee christmas party in my hospital room.

On the 20th of December i was transferred to the Golden jubilee once of the Uk’s specialist Heart and Lung centres.
The night before my surgery the surgeon explained that I would need not a single bypass but a triple bypass as the blockage was covering three of my heart arteries. When my family left that night and I was alone I cried.

I had been told that they would saw through my breast bone with a saw and remove my heart placing me on a heart and lung machine. They would take artery grafts from inside my leg and breats and attach them to my heart bypassing the blockage. The operation would last for about 5 hours. I was warned that when i woke up I would feel like I had been hit by a bus.

On the morning of the surgery I was given a pre-med and taken to theatre. I was terrified.

I awoke in Intensive care around midnight that night.

It turned out that the medical team had operated and stiched my chest back up but I had had a major bleed and had to go back to surgery a second time and be re opened and the bleeding stopped.

My family were out of their minds with worry. they expected me to be in surgery for 5 hours but inside received a call which would leave them pacing up and down for anoth 4 hours.

In intensive care as I awoke I begged a nurse to bring me her mobile phone and to dial my dad’s number. In a grogy voice barely conscious i whispered ” I made it” to my dad and them my head fell to the side and the pain kicked in.

I was wired up to machines attached to my neck, chest, wrists with two huge drains coming out of the centre of my chest.I still had a breathing tube down my throat.

Taken to the high dependancy Unit I was carefully lifted from a trolley to a bed and the pain was terrible. I couldn’t move or breathe.

Gradually over the course of the next few days all the tubes came out and I strated to feel a bit better. My left lung had collapsed and i had to be put on a respirator to try to inflate it. The one thing that kept me going was the possibilty of getting out of hospital in time for christmas with my little girls.

I did everything I was told and despite the pain in my chest , my rib cage has been wired back up with metal and i have a huge scar that runs from my neck down to the base of my ribs and a 10 inch scar on my leg on Christmas eve I came home to my girls.

It has been a very quiet christmas but I am alive.

The recovery will take 8-12 weeks and I am determioned to make a full recovery.

Law is still one of my passions but It will take a back seat for awhile whilst I turn all of my efforts at getting well and enjoying every moment with my family.

This has been the best new year ever because I now have a working heart. I will have to be under the care of a specialist cardiologist for life and always on medication but its a small price to pay for my life.

Happy new year everyone – enjoy EVERY MOMENT like me.

legaleaglemhm

Michelle.L.Hynes LLB(hons) DipLP

Legaleaglemhm TOP TIPS for Law EXAM revision

1 DO NOT Panic – remember that if you have been working steadily all year the information IS IN THERE. It’s all about recall. If you haven’t been working all year then – PANIC – revision is exactly what it says it is revising what you already know.
2. Past papers are your friend. You can usually download them so get yourself a few years of past papers and have a look at the types of questions and themes that are likely to come up. Again – don’t panic just work your way through the past papers and you will be surprised at how much you already know.
3. Draw a plan of your subject – I prefer to mind map mine but you can also just make topic headings. What works for me is a big sheet of wall paper turned over and rolled out and I work on the back of it. The past papers would have helped you to identify some themes so start to draw out your areas of knowledge. You will soon find that you actually know MORE than you thought you did.
4. Remember – You are human not a computer. We humans need breaks, water and proper conditions to study in. the next three tips are essential.
5. DRINK WATER – it’s good for your brain and for revising.
6. ONLY revise for 20 minutes at a time. After 20 minutes STOP. Walk away , make a coffee or just take a break for 5 minutes ( BE STRICT with this one) then return and review everything you have looked at in the previous 20 minutes .This practice really worked for me through out all of my undergraduate years and my post-graduate and I have never failed an exam.
7. Structure your day for revision – it is a waste of time and effort revising when you are tired you will not retain that information. I used set times and breaks and topics.
8. Try mind maps for case notes – draw pictures and use abbreviations to help you remember citations.
9. Remembering the ratio and the legal test is more important than the case citation if you know the legal principles you are one step ahead already.
10. NEVER study on the day of your exam – If you really don’t know your subject by now then focus on what you DO know. It is too late to cram. I found that I was much better prepared on the day of the exam if I was not stressed instead I have always chosen to do something relaxing before my exams.

GOOD LUCK to all LAW STUDENTS – YOU CAN DO IT

legaleaglemhm

Diary of a Trainee solicitor MONTH 1 – Clients are No 1 Priority

Diary of a Trainee solicitor
MONTH 1 – So what IS IT REALLY LIKE

10 May 2011

Imagine this :

A very plush office and a lovely smiling secretary typing furiously. Client’s neatly waiting in a waiting room with nice coffee and magazine to flick through. My desk, free from paper with a lovely paper weight, a bonsai tree and pictures of my lil eagles.
Case law neatly filed in my swing files in my desk just ready for me to refer to. The computer system pristine and holding all clients files ready and waiting for easy access.

Arriving at the office met with a list of calls to make and files to review the day starts at 9am and ends at 5pm sharp and I leave smiling and cheerful.

Years of legal study just bursting to spring into action.

W R O N G

LAW is NOT like this.

(Warning : If you are a law student with this idealistic view of life in practice then STOP READING NOW sign into s1 jobs and find yourself a different career)

So what IS IT REALLY LIKE ?

Glasgow, the Wonderful green city that it is, is apparently the ‘Murder Capital of Europe’ and in Glasgow the life of a criminal defence lawyer is one which is often overlooked , played down and seen by many (lawyers included) as being a somewhat second class legal career choice. As part of my preparations for life at ‘The Bar’ it is however MY CHOICE of career path to prepare me for what, I imagine to be a very challenging and rewarding career.

Priority No 1 – The client.

Now despite what people think not all clients wear suits or can even write their name. They don’t always arrive in your office smiling and ready to tell you of their difficulties, instead some are somewhat detained ‘in a place that they cannot leave to come to your office’. The client is entitled to the ‘best ‘ legal advice and assistance and criminal lawyers need to possess some extra skills that you don’t learn at University.

Skills of listening, understanding and compassion, even when the facts or circumstances of the case do not always sit comfortably with your own ideas of the world.

Life experience is a skill which gives new criminal lawyers a more human approach to dealing with clients.

In my first month at my new firm I have experienced life at the ‘coal face’ of Law.

Here are some examples of what I have been up to.
( I shall make no reference to particulars of ANY of my cases as client confidentiality is at the forefront of my ethical practice )

1. Viper Identification Parades – I attended at a police station for the process of conducting an identification parade. This is an electronic virtual ID parade in which a victim of crime views pictures on a screen and under controlled environment selects if possible an image that they can identify as the person accused of a particular crime. Having studied these on the Diploma in Legal practice it was good to see how they are carried out in real life and nothing written on paper actually prepares you for being up close with the victim and watching the reactions as they look at the screen.
2. Prison Visits – Attending at a maximum security prison was a good experience as It was the first time I had been inside a prison. At the front desk we were asked to remove any metal and leave our personal possessions in a locker. Looking around and seeing the many security cameras and detectors It had a clinical feel yet when we passed through to the area to meet with our client then what struck me was the colourful murals on the walls and vending machines for visitors.
3. Precognitions –taking statements from witnesses. Meeting with clients and taking statements is an important part of understanding your case. This month I have been familiarizing myself with all of my new workload which includes many cases and part of that job entails taking statements from both Crown witnesses and defence witnesses. It can be interesting and it can be upsetting , if the facts of the case are of a distressing nature. The key for me it to focus on gathering as much information as I can which may form an important part of evidence for counsel.
4. Court – Glasgow Sheriff court is the busiest Court in Europe and houses 22 courts with ……… cases heard on a daily basis. As I wandered round the court looking for the Bar Common room I found myself in a very busy court with several court room and with court business ranging from Custody court, Deferred sentences, First Diets, Intermediate Diets, preliminary pleas and Trials.
5. Case preparation – My job involves preparing cases from summary cases heard in the lower courts to solemn cases heard in the higher courts.
6. Clients – The best part of my job involves meeting with clients who are in some cases facing very difficult times ahead, they can be upset, worried and need first class advice. This, as a new trainee is my most challenging part of my job as I am very aware that dealing with real client’s lives requires me to focus more than ever on EVERYTHING I have learned at Law School.

This first month has been enormously challenging and has at times taken me outside of my comfort zone leaving me with questions such as ‘ Can I do this?’ ‘Am I good ENOUGH’? ‘Did LAW school prepare me for REAL Law?

It has made me question at times why I ever studied Law at all .

Arriving at my office early and finishing at 7.30 -8pm every night , leaving with many questions floating around my head and feeling that I am a bit out of my depth made me wonder IF IS THIS NORMAL for a newbie lawyer to feel like this?

What makes it all worth-while however is talking to other lawyers about their early days as a trainee and finding comfort that IT IS NORMAL , it is part of the learning curve.

The senior partner Ian Sievwright has given me something more valuable in this first month than any academic study – his time, and experience and of course a very patient manner with his new rookie lawyer.

My office is NOT plush. My desk is not clutter free with a bonsai plant and pictures of my lil eagles, I do not leave the office at 5pm smiling and trouble-free. My clients are NOT ON TWITTER and are not likely to be and I have learned that my dictation skills leave a lot to be desired but the one thing that hasn’t changed and is not likely to change is my PASSION for justice. My desire to give each and every one of my clients 100% of my attention , respect and knowledge and that I will fight for their right to access to a solicitor and access to a fair trial each and every day even when it seems like a goal that is unachievable. My clients will always be my No 1 Priority.

Sometimes in life the ‘easy route’ is not the ‘right route’.

Thank you for following my journey through LAW.

Comments are very welcome

Graham Walker Criminal Defence Solicitors is at 1584 Maryhill Road, Glasgow 0141 946 0111.

Michelle L. Hynes LL.B (Hons) DipLP (pending)

Legaleaglemhm in the Time Travel Edition of the UKBlawg Roundup #6

The Timeblawg UK Blawg Roundup #6

Travelling back and forwards in Time Brian Inkster presented this UK Blawg Round up and hey guess what ? I was delighted to mentioned in it not once, but twice.

“No fear I reckon of another soon to be Trainee Solicitor in Scotland not posting frequently about her journey. Yes… I am of course referring to Michelle Hynes, who will be better known to many of you Twegals (Legals who Tweet – with apologies to those who prefer to be known simply as Twitterers) as @legaleagleMHM. Michelle has been blogging about her journey through the Diploma in Legal Practice at the University of Glasgow. As her Tutor in BEFPA (Business, Ethics, Finance and Practice Awareness) I have featured in those posts from time to time. Michelle’s posts are frequent and astute. A recent post is Lawyers TOP TIPS on video blogging : Guest On-line video guy @Kevoneil. Michelle interviews (on video of course) Kev O’Neil from Moviecom.TV about the future of video blogging for lawyers. Expect to see video blogs from Michelle and other lawyers (me included) using the Moviecom.TV platform in the very near future.”

and later in the round up of Scotland’s 11 bloggers to watch in 2011 by Ian Nisbet of Govan Law Centre.

Looking at Blogging in the legal profession Brian presented a great over view of current legal blogs and outlined some of blogs we should all have a look at.

Have a read at the FULL TIME TRAVEL edition of The full Uk Blawg Roundup #6 here.

Well done to Brain Inkster and thanks for my mentions.
Michelle Hynes
legaleaglemhm

How to BECOME a Solicitor in Scotland by Legaleaglemhm

How To…..Become A Solicitor In Scotland.
Many people from different backgrounds read my blog and follow me on twitter. Time and Time again I am asked questions such as ‘How do you become a solicitor’ so I decided to compile a quick guide for you .

1.LL.B or LL.B with Honours –First off you will need a Bachelor of Law (or if you intend to practice at the Bar as an Advocate) you will need to do Honours too. The LL.B can be studied either full-time over 3 years or 2 years on the fast track ( note on the fast track you only do the compulsory subjects required by The Law Society and everyone does this in years 1and 2 ) The fast track does not have all the third year subjects. Many people also chose to study the 3 year LL.B part time too .It takes longer but many people find that it allows them to work and fund the degree.
2.Diploma In Legal Practice – New PEAT 1 – after 4 years of study you are required to undertake a further post-graduate year of study. This aims to give you professional skills that you can use in practice. This year the new PEAT 1 system replaces the Diploma in legal practice.
3.The Traineeship – PEAT2 Ok so you have done your degree and completed your diploma now its time to start professional traineeship with a firm of solicitors. In your first year as a trainee you will not have a practising certificate yet as you can only apply for it after the first year and If you work in a criminal firm the end of the first year will be when you get your gown and start to appear in the lower courts.
4.NQ – At the end of the 2 years and having successfully completed your training with your firm you will be admitted as a solicitor and begin to practice as a NQ(newly qualified) solicitor.

If you chose to study for 4 years LL.B (Hons) it can feel like a long time and adding on the Diploma and traineeship can take a total of 7 years but in my opinion it gives you a broader knowledge of different areas of law and this can ultimately help you when you practice.

There may be alternative routes to practice
for
guidance http://www.lawscot.org.uk/becomingasolicitor/students/studying-the-llb
THINKING ABOUT IT?
If you don’t have the qualifications to get into University to study for the LL.B YET then many Universities In Scotland offer an Access to University course which can get you the entry requirements. These are usually part-time and I studied the Access course at University of Glasgow. Here is a link http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/adulteducation/

At present I have been awarded LL.B (Hons) from University Of Glasgow 2009 and Completed the DipLP (exams pending) and I am about to commence my training with Graham Walker Criminal Defence Lawyers in Glasgow.

If you are considering embarking on a career in Law or even JUST THINKING ABOUT it please feel free to get in touch.

Follow me on twitter @legaleaglemhm

Twitter Lawyers – #ff List of 750 to follow

750 Lawyers to follow on Twitter

I stumbled upon a great blog tonight and one I would like to share with you. It’s a blog by http://www.jdsupra.com/
and it boasts a list of 750 lawyers .

Worth having a look at if you like connecting with lawyers from around the world.

://scoop.jdsupra.com/2008/09/articles/law-firm-marketing/145-lawyers-and-legal-professionals-to-follow-on-twitter/

Legaleaglemhm

Twitter – Death of the Handshake by Legaleaglemhm

Twitter – That old devil that it is

Some refer to twitter as a ‘waste of time’ and some cannot see what anyone would possibly use it for.

People use twitter for many different reasons including chatting, following great links and doing business.

One might ask how can you do business using 140 characters?

Let me tell you how twitter is becoming like the ‘virtual hand shake’

In life-before twitter I attended many events both business and social where the first time I met someone – I smiled (an incredible smile) reached out my hand and gripped firmly.Yes, I do have a firm handshake.
This ‘reaching out’ made a ‘connection’ a primitive way of saying ‘hello’ ‘how do you do’ it was an expression that I wanted to talk , engage and perhaps even do business or become friends.

The explosion of ‘twitter’ means that connections are more often made now from one keyboard to another or one application to another. Is the handshake DEAD?

Does twitter ‘kill the handshake?’

No , twitter lets me have thousands of hands whooooopeeee.

I can reach out and connect with MORE and MORE people who I want to engage with when I want to engage with them.

And remember I can now exchange a ‘virtual handshake’ with people around the world.

Next time you reach out your hand to shake the hand of another human being , think on……….the virtual handshake saves time and money(no flight costs to travel to meet them) (No germs, erm I do know some people who are a bit OCD when it comes to shaking hands) and (convenience you can meet many people right from where you are now)

Whether you’re looking to grow your network, learn, make referrals or even just chat the Twitter handshake is there at the tip of your fingers)

Very pleased to meet you
*virtual handshake and a smile from partick*

Legaleaglemhm