Me no stoopid

If you get the Manuals in your Email, you already know this new item, so you can save yourself the read. But, for everyone else, there are some big changes in store for me. 

I recently learned that I was awarded a scholarship to attend law school here in San Diego–it’s a full ride for all three years, books included even–a very big deal (we’re talking about $100K value). I have been thinking about going to law school for years, especially as I encounter so many legal issues in working with my clients. I have wanted to be able to help in ways I can’t, at least not without a JD and passing the bar, so I decided to take the LSAT and see what happens. Apparently, as the t-shirts say, I don’t suck. 🙂

So, starting in late August, and for the following 8 months or so, I will be significantly scaling back the Burns Auto Parts business because I will need to devote the first academic year to my studies. To keep the scholarship, I have to, of course, keep my grades up–it is an academic scholarship, after all. The first year is considered critical and, as a full-time law student, I will simply not have the time to devote to the business. Besides, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of anal-retentive and so will want to do my very best.

After that first academic year, I am hoping to be able to return to a more normal work schedule as many of the students do work in their second and third years. This is my plan.

This is a big shake up, no doubt, but I want to be clear about what it does and doesn’t mean:
· No, I am not closing my doors or giving up consulting–not at all! It is my intention to study intellectual property law so that I can better serve the creative community. You guys/women have lots of legal issues and I want to be able to better help you with them, in addition to the services I have traditionally offered.

· Yes, I will still work with clients, even in the first year. However, I will have fewer available slots in my schedule once classes start, especially for large projects, so if you contact me I may have to say “no” or schedule you further into the future than I do now. I just won’t be able to devote the hours every day to clients as I do now.

· Yes, I will still be blogging, podcasting, and sending Manuals. However, I am considering adding sponsorship/advertising to some of these items to help make up for some of the income I will lose during this first school year. I’m still on the fence about that. I definitely want to avoid having to charge you, my readers/listeners, for any of these items. I also do not want to turn things into a cheesy ad fest. Perhaps a “donation” system, kind of like Radiohead’s recent album “pay what you want, or nothing” idea. This is clearly still being worked out. Suggestions are welcome.

· I will still speak at groups as I can; however, I won’t be doing any speaking until after the first academic year is completed, in late April 2009, and then only between then and the Fall term. Travel during classes is pretty much impossible, but I love talking to groups and will continue doing this when/however possible.

So no, you’re not getting rid of me, though you might not see me around on the web quite as much. 🙂

I am quite excited about this opportunity and am thrilled about the scholarship. I am very happy that the school I will be attending has a very innovative attitude about law studies including a collaborative open-door relationship between the faculty and students as well as encouraging personal achievement for the students without having ugly aggressive competition–just as I have always preached for photographers. They even have a special concentration in “creative problem solving” which means encouraging ways to avoid having to resort to the courts for conflict resolution (not quite “creative” in the same way we usually use the term, of course, but still a worthy area to explore).

I hope you all will understand and be a bit patient as I fill my brain with more information. I will be there for you all as much as I possibly can during school and look forward to being able to help you even more in the future. 

Finally, as I said to some friends of mine, I promise that my becoming a lawyer will not result in my wearing frumpy suits (ew!) or suing everyone. 🙂