Edward T. Paulis III
VP & Assistant General Counsel
Zurich North America
Owings Mills, Maryland
6:00 am
I am woken by my kids. As my daughters play with our rescued black lab mix with white paws sleeping at the foot of the bed, my son pleads “I’m hungry.” I slip out of the bedroom quietly with the kids so as not to wake my wife, make breakfast, and check the weather and emails. The dog stays in bed.
6:30 am
My alarm goes off. Drat, I forgot to turn it off. Run upstairs and turn off the alarm. Hop in the shower and get ready for work.
7:10 am
Go downstairs and compliment my kids’ craft project from yesterday. Spend a few minutes with them putting together a Disney puzzle.
7:45 am
Walk the dog, check emails, and say goodbye to the wife and kids before leaving for work. School is out and traffic is light; I arrive early to work. Drink coffee and scan the day’s headlines.
9:00 am
First meeting of the day: I discuss a project update with internal stakeholders and develop an action plan for next steps. I wish had refilled my coffee mug before the call.
10:00 am
Show up two minutes late to team meeting (needed coffee) to review department updates, current work priorities, and roundtable issues. Meeting finishes early and I add action items from morning meetings to my to-do list for the day.
11:00 am
Return calls, including one from an employee who received a witness subpoena to testify in a lawsuit involving her former employer. Then call the former employer’s counsel and inquire about the nature of the suit and assistance to be provided to employee. Work my way through to-do list between calls.
12:30 pm
Review outside counsel case evaluation and recommendations on new lawsuit in preparation of meeting. Make a mental note to ask counsel not to write 18-page single spaced memorandums to me again.
1:00 pm
Call outside counsel and review case background, issues, and strategy. Evaluate opportunities for early case settlement, and discuss firm staffing and budget.
2:00 pm
Eat an apple, ham and cheddar cheese sandwich, and trail mix for lunch while attending an ACC Litigation Committee sponsored webcast at my desk. Good news, the program is eligible for CLE credit!
3:00 pm
Conference call with outside counsel and employee witnesses to discuss gathering of relevant documents for discovery response.
3:30 pm
Conference call with bankruptcy counsel and the business unit to discuss defense to preference action against the company, and settlement strategies.
4:00 pm
Received call that begins: “Do you have any experience with...?” My answer: “No, not yet.” Spend the next hour interviewing employees and researching the issues.
5:00 pm
Check emails and respond to any that cannot wait. Make a list of tasks I want to take care of this evening.
6:00 pm
Head home to spend some time with the kids before they begin their bedtime routine. I want to read, they want to wrestle. They win.
7:00 pm
Go with the kids upstairs and help through their bedtime routine. Once everyone is ready for bed, my favorite part of the evening begins — story time. First the kids read me their “just right” books. My turn next: one chapter on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and two chapters on the fairies of Pixie Hollow.
8:00 pm
Eat dinner, feed the dog, and check emails. Then take the dog on a one-mile walk through the neighborhood.
8:45 pm
Load the dishwasher and make lunch for tomorrow. Straighten up the chairs, sofa cushions, blankets, and clips in the living room where a “fort” was built earlier in the day.
9:10 pm
Log into office computer to answer emails and review documents. Work through remaining items on my daily to-do list.
10:30 pm
Settle back on the couch with my wife and wind down from the day.
11:15 pm
Walk the dog; head upstairs and hope the kids will sleep in until the alarm goes off.
