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FASTCASE - FREE LEGAL RESEARCH
It’s been a few weeks since schools, gyms, restaurants, and other business were mandated to close over COVID-19 concerns. While it is incredibly important to focus on your physical health during these unprecedented times, it is also just as important to focus on your mental health.
Here are some tips to get you through the social-distancing blues: 1. Limit media – of all types. The news and other forms of social media tend to follow the path of Chicken Little and imply the sky is falling. While the information they present is informative, it is important not to get bogged down into all the, at times, depressing information. Filter the media you intake to maintain a balanced perspective. 2. Focus on family time (including the family pets). Let’s face it – most of the time we are at work and/or out of the house. Embrace this as an opportunity to spend more time with our families. Revisit familiar traditions and start new ones. 3. Stay active. You don’t need a gym to keep moving! The internet is filled with free workouts, yoga routines, and other ways to stay active while indoors. With summer weather around the corner, take this time to go for a walk outside (dogs make walks all the better!). Staying active in ways that you can will stave off that cabin fever. 4. Schedule virtual get-togethers. Had plans with your friends Thursday night? Make it a virtual gathering! Get comfy with your favorite snacks and connect everyone together on Skype or FaceTime. Reach out to those you know who may be feeling particularly lonely or isolated. 5. Keep to your routine. If you are working from home or on a flexible work schedule, try to keep things as normal as possible. For those of us working from home, you’re literally never leaving the office. Don’t fall into a habit of working around the clock because you are more accessible. Be self-aware about what rhythms are and are not working for you. Take the time for you and your family, get the down time when you need it, and set boundary expectations. Recognize our work colleagues also may be adapting their own work schedules to juggle competing demands and priorities. Be patient and gracious with them. 6. Relax. When you are back to the regular, hectic grind of clients, courts, and deadlines, I guarantee you are going to miss the days when you were forced to attend a teleconference or video conference in your slippers. If you are fortunate enough to be able to work from home – revel in it! Take the opportunity to take a break when you can. With all the stress in the world, piled on to the typical stress in our days, finding time to relax is more important than ever.
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During these times, I like to reflect on the wisdom of Aaron Rodgers when he addressed panicked fans at the start of a dismal 2015 season – "Five letters here just for everybody out there in Packer-land: R-E-L-A-X...Relax. We're going to be OK." Mental Wellbeing Amid COVID-19
By Joanna L. Garcia Esq. WilmerHale
DAILY COURT REPORTER
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Get to Know Newly Appointed Judge Mary E. Montgomery
What advice does Judge Montgomery have for attorneys considering running for a judgeship?
Judge Montgomery believes that running for a judicial position is a deeply personal decision. If that is a decision that you have come to make, then you need to make sure that you are on stable footing in your legal career. Furthermore, you need to thoroughly research the judgeship for which you want to run. Is it municipal court? County Court? Common Pleas Court? Court of Appeals? Will your race take you to only certain jurisdictions within Montgomery County, involve the entirety of Montgomery County, or in the case of the Court of Appeals, involve six Counties? Is it an open seat or will you be running against an incumbent? Are you actively engaged in your community and do you have sufficient contacts throughout the Community? Running a campaign is a full time job and this may be in addition to your regular “day” job as an attorney. Judge Montgomery went on to state that you will additionally need the support of your family during this time and it is important that you keep the lines of communication open.
What is the biggest difference Judge Montgomery has found between practicing law and being a judge?
Judge Montgomery expressed that the biggest difference is going from advocating for your client to becoming a neutral party. As a judge, your mindset must shift from zealously arguing your point to fairly and impartially listening to both sides and then rendering a decision such that everyone feels as if due consideration was given to their arguments.
What does Judge Montgomery enjoy most about her job?
Judge Montgomery expressed that she enjoys interacting with people, e.g., the attorneys, jurors, citizens and the defendants she sees in her courtroom every week.
How would Judge Montgomery describe her courtroom style?
Judge Montgomery stated that while she is maintaining control of her courtroom, she wants attorneys to be able to freely try their cases. She does, however, expect attorneys to be prepared (know their case and know the law) and be punctual.
What is the best advice that Judge Montgomery can give to attorneys trying a case before her?
Judge Montgomery expressed that the best advice that she can give attorneys appearing before her is: 1) be prepared; 2) know your case; and 3) know the law. Judge Montgomery expressed that if you are prepared for your case, everything else will follow. What first drew Judge Montgomery to the legal field?
Judge Montgomery stated that she does not remember a time when she did not want to be a lawyer. She expressed that she can remember reading To Kill A Mockingbird as a child and being inspired by the story.
What has drawn Judge Montgomery to Dayton?
Judge Montgomery expressed that Dayton is the place that she calls home, despite not being raised her because she has lived in Dayton longer than any other city. Judge Montgomery stated that she moved around quite a bit as a child and then came to Dayton for law school. While at law school, she met her future husband, who is a Dayton native. After law school, she chose to stay in Dayton and went on to marry her husband. In her opinion, Dayton is a great place to live because not only are the commutes short but the people are warm and welcoming and there is a real sense of community.
What activities does Judge Montgomery enjoy engaging in when she does have free time?
In her free time Judge Montgomery enjoys reading, gardening, spending time with her children, going on walks and attending her children’s sporting events and cheering them on. Judge Montgomery also says she dabbles in photographing, but is an amateur at best!
What is something you want people to know about you?
Judge Montgomery says she loves to cook and has a library of cookbooks that she is working her way through. In another life, she says she would have gone to culinary school and jokingly says, “Maybe in my second career!”
