The Massachusetts Data Privacy Regime: An Overview

I think that I am writing this post both because there was some demand for a Powerpoint presentation I made yesterday, and because I just want to prove to people that I can draft short blog posts with very few links. Done and done.

At the first-ever Massachusetts Information Security Summit, held January 27, 2010, in Springfield, and sponsored, primarily, by LOMAP, the Massachusetts Bar Association and Catuogno Court Reporting, I delivered a presentation entitled "The Massachusetts Data Privacy Regime: An Overview".

There was some demand for the Powerpoint presentation from the crowd (no paper version was distributed), so I have made the presentation available, in both Powerpoint 2007 and 2003 versions, at this drop site. Good night and God bless.

Starting Your Practice on a Limited Budget: Hitting the Numbers

On January 21, Rodney Dowell, Alan Klevan, Gabriel Cheong and I appeared together at a CLE Brown Bag presentation at the Boston Bar Association, which CLE was, by sheer coincidence (I know), titled as above. In taking the easy way out, as moderator, I was able to watch, as Rodney and Alan and Gabriel delivered just really tremendous presentations covering practice start-up on a limited budget. The thesis of the CLE program was, as follows: Finances are the 800-pound gorilla in the room for any start-up business, including law offices. Everybody would love to hit the lottery numbers and have a near-infinite stockpile of money with which to open their law firms. However, while it might not be the ideal circumstance, the fact of the matter is that most law firm start-ups will commence on a very limited budget. Is there a way, then, to get the most out of a shoestring budget, in the establishment of a law practice? Can a successful law practice begin at pennies on the dollar? I think that the clear answer is yes. Necessity breeds invention, and it is impressive what inventive people can do with a little bit of money these days.

Our program proceeded along the following outline: Take three start-up budgets: $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000, and have at it: create your own law firm, from scratch. Gabriel took the $10,000 budget, and led off; Alan received a fake check for $5,000 and was off and running; Rodney got something of the shaft, and received the paltry sum of $1,000, with which to create his new, ground-up law firm. Gabriel’s $10,000 established the baseline, really a ceiling, in this case, and Alan, and then Rodney, trimmed from there, to get to the point of most value at the halfway, and 1/10th, points, of Gabriel’s establishment.

In addition to smartly-crafted powerpoint presentations, and well-received larger discussions, there were several valuable insights from the panel members that I’d like to take a moment to share:

At $10,000 (Gabriel Cheong): Use resources made available to you by way of your bar association memberships, including specific member benefits and lawyer referral services. (We’ve written on lawyer referral services at the blog before, here, in particular.) Create viable business cards, and don’t pay overmuch to get them printed--look for deals. (For business card suggestions, check our post on the topic.) Create a unique and interesting logo. (CrowdSpring and 99Designs are good options for doing so.) Access as many discounts as possible. (We’ve previously posted, at the LOMAP blog, on accessible discounts, here.) Don’t use your entire budget, just in case. Make sure you still have access to a rainy day fund, when the rainy day man becomes you.

At $5,000 (Alan Klevan): When you budget, figure out what you need to subsist first. Your health and welfare is always primary. Work backwards, from there. Set your budget and subtract for most important purchases first. Use practice management software. (We discussed practice management program options at the LOMAP blog, late last year, here.) If you purchase one share of IBM stock, you can get the employee discount for a super-fast, and generally super, Lenovo laptop. (Check Alan’s powerpoint for more information; more on materials access later.) Once you start practicing, don’t forget to prioritize work-life balance; and, take care of yourself.

At $1,000 (Rodney Dowell): Remember how important it is to market your firm, and to network. Check out the LOMAP blog. (Hey, You’re on it!) Check out Rodney’s UnBillable Hour podcast. When considering your technology platform, start with your existing computer: just make it better--by buying more RAM. Crucial.com can help you to analyze your laptop, and to determine how much more speed you need. AVG is a free option for anti-virus protection; and, you can upgrade the product, should you need more power, for escalating fees. Generally, on a short budget, do what you can to get by for now, and become more sophisticated as you need to, as you gain more clients. And, if you have the money, more than a grand, that is, by all means, buy what you need.

Lots of good points, to be sure. And you can find many of these points, and much more information, at the program materials website, which you can access here. As to the “much more information” promised, there you’ll find all the program materials, including powerpoints, speakers’ bios, LOMAP’s Start-Up Kit and selected posts from the LOMAP blog. You’ll be able to download and save documents from the site.

Now, if you were unable to make the presentation, but wish you could have . . . you’re not necessarily out of luck. The BBA did record our presentation, and you can purchase the video through BBA CLE.

I’ll know that you’ve watched to the end of the video if you can tell me the precise point at which I broke down, and ate a couple of Fig Newtons (because I missed my morning snack, and was so damn hungry).

. . .

Liner Notes

When I write these “Liner Notes” sections, in order to keep myself sane, I usually focus on what music I have been listening to for the week, or whatever else pattternless drippings I can dredge up from my iTunes playlists. However, I should mention, now, that I also have a pretty decent stockpile of access points for material online, in my Favorites tab, on Firefox.

I’m something of a connisseur of the obscure, which you may have noticed . . . or which you may not have noticed . . . In my quest to know and understand more deeply, and to remember things that others have already deemed unimportant enough for their attention, I have a list of “Music” favorite on my browser, that I check back to from time to time. It’s sort of a potpourri of all things wack in popular music. I have informational pages, YouTube videos, videos on other platforms, lyrics, etc. Just a hodgepodge of downright dirty funk. I’ve got rarer versions of songs, and cool live versions of songs, and lots of them.

Since Martin Luther King, Jr. Day has just passed, and in the spirit of brotherhood, I would like to share some of those songs with you. Let’s start with the rarities.

(Funny story about Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I was in Charlotte for the holiday, and I was walking around town. And, I saw a couple of road signs. One said E. Martin Luther King Blvd. and the other said W. Martin Luther King Blvd. And, I said to myself: “Self, Would those streets be named after Martin Luther King’s less famous cousins, Wilbur Martin Luther King and Ervin Martin Luther King?” Perhaps. But, the more like story is that the E and W stood for East and West, respectively.)

“Longer Boats (Alternate Lyrics)” by Cat Stevens

“But I Might Die Tonight (Deep End Version)” by Cat Stevens

“Yer Blues” by The Dirty Mac

“Trouble” by Eddie Vedder (Cat Stevens cover)

“Millworker” by Eddie Vedder (James Taylor cover)

“One Week” by the Barenaked Ladies (a pseudo-bluegrass version)

“Sweetest Girl (Acoustic)” by Wyclef Jean, Niia and Jerry Wonda

“Woodstock (Acoustic)” by James Taylor (Joni Mitchell cover)

“Old Blue” by James Taylor (at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival)

“A Summer Wind, A Cotton Dress” by Richard Shindell

“Tea for the Tillerman” by Chris Martin featuring Ricky Gervais (Cat Stevens cover)

“Call Me the Breeze” by J.J. Cale featuring Eric Clapton (at the Crossroads Guitar Festival)

“Lots of Leavin’ Left To Do” by Dierks Bentley featuring The Del McCoury Band (rehearsing for DelFest)

“Should’ve Said No” by Taylor Swift featuring the Jonas Brothers

“Billie Jean” by Coldplay (Michael Jackson cover)

“Dark Horse (Demo)” by George Harrison

. . .

Trivia Question: What was the first album that featured printed song lyrics on the album jacket?

Trivia Answer: Next Week.

Guest Post: The Solo and Small Firm Advantage: Eight Rules for Web 2.0 Success

We are fortunate to welcome back Stephen E. Seckler, principal of Seckler Legal Consulting, for the second edition of his “The Solo and Small Firm Advantage” guest blog post series. Stephen is an attorney coach with twenty years of experience in consulting with lawyers. (Stephen’s full profile is available at his website.) Stephen’s own Counsel to Counsel blog has twice been named to the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 List. In this edition of “The Solo and Small Firm Advantage”, Stephen relays eight rules for web 2.0 success.

. . .

Rule #1: Have Consistent Profiles

Your profiles on your law firm web site, your blog, LinkedIn, Twitter and any other social media should consistently reflect the niche you are trying to market. You should also take the time to update your profiles frequently, particularly as you develop new expertise.

Rule #2: Experiment and Observe First

These media have their own cultural norms. Start by looking at what others are doing. Read other blogs. Look at other people’s profiles. Post comments on other people’s blogs. See how other people answer questions in LinkedIn Groups. Read people’s tweets. When you do start to participate, look for ways to be helpful.

Rule #3: Quality is Important, But So Is Frequency

If you decide to write a blog, don’t feel like you are writing a law review article with every post. This can be hard for lawyers. The point is to be present over and over again, not to be ultra profound every time you write something. Don’t let great be the enemy of good. And don’t do a blog unless you plan to post regularly (at least 2x’s per week)--though you can share the authoring responsibilities with someone else to make that easier. When you post updates on LinkedIn, do a mix of professional and personal and make sure to promote others by recommending articles, congratulating individuals, etc.

Rule #4: Use Common Sense

Don’t divulge client confidences, don’t create an attorney/client relationship inadvertently, don’t say anything you wouldn’t want to say in an open bar association meeting.

Rule #5: Focus on Relationship Quality

You are much better off having good relationships with 50 solid referral sources than superficial relationships with thousands of fellow tweeters. While social media lends itself to connecting with more people than you might connect with in “real life”, the focus should not be on winning the “connections arms race".

Rule #6: Turn Virtual Relationships into Real Ones

Virtual communication is a way to extend the conversation with existing contacts and to initiate relationships with new contacts. But, those new contacts are unlikely to become real relationships unless you make the effort to connect in real life (by phone or in person.)

Rule#7: Don’t Sell

Social media is not a place to sell yourself or your services (at least not directly). You wouldn’t go up to a stranger at a cocktail party and immediately ask them to hire you to prepare their will. This is true in spades on social media. Look for ways to be helpful, try to link to other people’s content and find ways to get a dialogue going. Don’t advertise your $50 book or $100 webinar. That approach will backfire.

Rule #8: Recycle

In some ways, you can think of social media as a whole new series of broadcast channels. Since you never know who is tuning in to which channel, make sure to broadcast your message on multiple channels. Publish an article in a trade publication. Circulate a link to the reprint by e-mail to your contacts. Put a post about the article on your blog--with a link. Post an update about the article on LinkedIn with a link to the article (do the same on Twitter).

We Are Reconciled: IOLTA acCounts

Last week, I wrote about the importance of maintaining client contact and of maintaining order surrounding client files, and your docket. As I said then, and as remains true now, this is a topic of primary concern for our clients. Another common issue that we encounter (and it’s at least in the top three of queries) respects IOLTA accounting, generally. Very generally. In fact, the question we most often receive with respect to IOLTA accounting is “What is IOLTA accounting (all about)”?

Of course, this seems like a rather simple question, one that every attorney should know, right? Why can’t these folks recite to me what an IOLTA account is and means, by rote, off the tops of their heads, especially after having studied for the MPRE, any number of years ago? Well, consideration of the sources for our clients explains away the why behind our question about the question. Most of our clients come straight out of law school to start their own firm. Most of the rest of our clients are leaving a small firm, or large firm, to start their own law firms. The former never really learned about IOLTA accounting in law school (despite the best intentions of the faceless panel that produces the MPRE examination); the latter never really needed to know anything about IOLTA accounting, because another department within the firm took care of all of that.

The most immediate need, then, for our clients, is the provision of general information about IOLTA accounting, plus an array of resources to access, for more information. Since we get questions respecting IOLTA accounting so often, we have developed a templated email response for those queries; but, we have not made the information included in that email generally available, online; that is the purpose of this blog post, to change that, to make that information more generally available.

The "IOLTA" acronym of which we speak stands for “Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts”. The very basic nature of an IOLTA account is that it is, in essence, an escrow account, for the deposit of unearned client funds, interest accruing to charity, ultimately. That’s fairly well-known, if not often well-articulated. Then there’s “three-way reconciliation”, which concept (ultimately merely a regular check on the balance of your accounts) causes much consternation. So, What is three-way reconciliation? Well, it “requires lawyers to keep records of reconciliation (balancing) of the client ledgers, bank charges ledger, check register and bank statements. The ‘three-way’ reconciliation requires the lawyer to add all of the individual client ledgers and the ledger for bank charges and compare the total of the ledgers to the balance in the check register. Both amounts should be the same. If they are not, the basic records (the bank statements, the client ledgers, the bank charges ledger and the check register) need to be checked for mistakes and corrected. When both amounts are the same the lawyer goes on to reconcile this amount against the bank statement in the usual manner that any checkbook would be balanced”. Just came up with that off the top of my head. What? No, not really. I can’t keep it straight enough to explain three-way reconciliation the same way twice. But, that’s why we have the internet for: so we don’t have to memorize anything ever again--so we don’t have to think, even. The above statement is taken from Dan Crane’s excellent 2003 article on IOLTA accounting “Records for Other People’s Money”. (I really should bring that description around with me on a note card.)

And this underscores my point. There are plenty of IOLTA resources out there. It’s a matter of accessing those resources. The best thing that you can do with respect to IOLTA accounting is to access the available information, and to learn as much as you can. Then, create a system for managing your IOLTA accounting, and follow, in addition to the ethical rules, your own, internal rules, which should include regular three-way reconciliation. If you went to law school because you hated math, like me, hire an accountant to help you; just make certain that you understand the process yourself, and that you oversee everything your accountant does, to vet his process for errors. The best time to learn and to create your system is when you are establishing your law firm. If that is the position you find yourself in, create your processes now, before you get busy; otherwise, you’ll never get to it, and your ad hoc establishment will be bound to have holes. We’ll proceed here as follows: first, we’ll talk about available resources; second, we’ll discuss, in a limited way, the establishment of process.

As with any ethical questions for Massachusetts attorneys, your number one stopping point is the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct. Rule 1.15 covers trust accounting, including IOLTA accounting, specifically, in section (g). While it may seem obvious, even to non-attorneys, that the first place to look should be the rules of professional conduct, we still receive questions that are explicitly answered in the rules; so, it is clear that not everyone is taking a first glance. As a supplement to the rules, review, additionally, the articles that the Board of Bar Overseers makes available at its articles archive website. If you sort those articles by category, you’ll find no less than six pieces addressing trust accounting. Another primary source for information is the Massachusetts Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts website. From the homepage, you can find out more about the Massachusetts IOLTA program, contact the IOLTA Committee, see where the interest earned goes and find the list of approved IOLTA depositories. If you click on the “For Attorneys” tab, you can review a comprehensive FAQ section; from this tab, you can also access the prevailing version of the IOLTA Guidelines, as well as the useful long-form booklet, "Managing Clients’ Funds and Avoiding Ethical Problems”, which document includes samples of ledgers and template forms. We also make IOLTA resources available through our LOMAP Lending Library; four titles, in particular: “The ABA Guide to Lawyer Trust Accounts” (ABA, 1996), “Client Trust Accounts” (MCLE, 2007), “Managing Client Trust Accounts: Rules, Regulations and Common Sense” (Washington State Bar Association, 2003) and “Maintaining a Trust Account Using Quickbooks” (Computer Technology Services, Inc., 2004). In addition to the books available through our lending library, we also make available to interested parties two standalone documents: LOMAP Director Rodney Dowell’s “Three-Way Reconciliation of IOLTA Accounts in Quickbooks 2007 Simple Start Edition” and James Bolan’s “Uh Oh!! IOLTA Accounts and Escrow Accounts”. Both of those documents may be accessed at this website. Finally, there is an excellent program regularly put on by the MCLE, entitled, “How to Make Money and Stay Out of Trouble”, which is a must-attend event for attorneys seeking to tighten the screws on their trust accounting, or to institute appropriate trust accounting protocols. Check the MCLE website, or contact the good folks over there, for upcoming dates and times.

Much of the issue of the set-up and maintenance of IOLTA and trust accounts is addressed in the material resources relayed above, most especially those from the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee. Keep in mind, though, that, in 2010, you can do much more electronic recordkeeping and record generation than you could even five years ago; and, this general progression has come to include within its reach an applied ease to trust accounting. Account maintenance and records reporting can be accomplished through general accounting programs fitted to an attorney’s purposes, or through accounting software built for attorneys. References above have been made to resources available for the conversion of Quickbooks, a general accounting software program, to an IOLTA accounting system, on a level. Law practice management software systems, built for attorneys (options we have addressed previously at the LOMAP blog, here) generally have more readily accessible (i.e.--requiring of less fine-tuning, working around and out) trust accounting programs, which are built into their general financial management tools, with financial management platforms being add-ons, at additional cost, to the base package for these sorts of holistic practice caretaking systems. Of course, there are standalone, attorney-centric accounting programs as well, if you don’t have, don’t want, or don’t want to convert to, a full-fledged practice management program; some of those options are outlined within our posting covering practice management system choices, as well. In the modern world, much of your IOLTA account management and recordkeeping will be done electronically. Determine what you are required to do by the rules, and create an electronic system that works for you, using some of the tools outlined herein, or some others, that you may find more valuable.

In addition to the above, I will leave you with a few simple tips that will end up saving you much trouble in the long run: (1) deposit a nominal amount of your own money into your IOLTA account in order to cover unexpected bank charges; (2) use distinctly different colored checks for your operating account and for your IOLTA account, in order to help you to differentiate between the two; and (3) although the rules require bimonthly reconciliations, you should reconcile your accounts every month--consider that the longer you wait between reconciliations, the larger space of time and the more information you are left to comb through, should an error be detected.

Now, let’s all get out there and organize our IOLTA accounting. Remember, there’s no “I” in IOLTA . . . Oh, wait . . . that’s the wrong speech . . .

. . .

Liner Notes

Last week, I promised the “best of short songs”, as my companion to last week’s the “best of long songs”. I am nothing if not a man of my word: I keep my promises, well, eventually.

As Harry Chapin sayeth “Why is there nothing now to do but die?” Oh, yikes. Sorry. That’s not quite right at all, is it? That’s just depressing. Okay, I suppose that I have no segue now. Damn.

Let’s just get on with it, with songs like these:

“Parachutes” by Coldplay

“Mom and Dad’s Waltz” by Jim Croce (a Lefty Frizzell original)

“I Need a Truck” by Warren Zevon

“Just Before the News” by Loggins & Messina

“Tea for the Tillerman” by Cat Stevens (absolutely the best short song of all time, hands down)

“Saturday Night and Sunday Morning” by Phil Collins

“Fastest Rhyme” by Young MC

“Jaded” by Green Day

And, now--a drumroll, please:

“Master of the Short Song”, Bronze Medal:

Neil Percival Young

Exemplars: “Till the Morning Comes”, “Cripple Creek Ferry”, “The Needle and the Damage Done”

“Masters of the Short Song”, Silver Medal:

The Beatles

Exemplars: “Mean Mr. Mustard”, “Her Majesty”, “Maggie Mae”, 1/4 of “The Lovely Linda”

“Master of the Short Song”, Gold Medal

James Taylor

Bear witness to his Exemplar-y Conduct: Most of the Short Form Album, “One Man Dog” (also known as “the greatest album ever”), including “Little David”, “Jig”, “Chili Dog” and “Dance”; “Soldiers”; “Money/Hangnail”; “Oh Baby, Don’t You Loose Your Lip On Me”; “Jelly Man Kelly”; “Traffic Jam”; and, “Slap Leather”.

. . .

And that, my friends, concludes the long and the short of it.

Never Again Unrequited: Resolve to Maintain Client Contact

Now, raise your right hand, and swear.

Resolved: That the Attorney Reading This Blog Post Should Significantly Reform His/Her Procedures for Maintaining Client Contact.

I’m sorry. You’ve already sworn. No backsies.

I mean, anyway, it’s the New Year. (Ding Dong! Ding Dong!!) You probably have a bundle of resolutions that you are carrying around in your little resolutions basket with the plaid cover-over. What’s another one? You’re unlikely to attach yourself to a more important resolution than this one. And, you’ll have to save the airing of any grievances against me, for tricking you into best practices, for next Festivus anyway.

(For my New Year’s Resolution, I’m returning to the gym after a two week absence (I know, real original) that involved an attempt to eat as many calories as William “The Refrigerator” Perry would have eaten this Christmas season. Here’s my most recent Facebook profile picture. But, don’t worry over me. I’ll work myself back into shape a little bit each week, and a little bit more each week, as the 2010 throngs at the gym die back down. And, in all honesty, if you haven’t gotten to the gym for a while, or if you’ve stopped working out altogether, you should get back to it. You’ll be surprised what it does for your mental well-being. I thought this was a funny title for an article--but, a good point is made there about incidental exercise, which you can add to your life, and which I am a “large” believer in . . . no pun intended, of course.)

. . .

In our work at LOMAP, we generally consult with attorneys who seek us out of their own volition. However, what is likely lesser known about our service is that we are referred cases from the Board of Bar Overseers/Office of Bar Counsel, as well. I do believe that it is productive to make mention of a common theme of those cases, in order to educate the state’s attorneys generally.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most consistent theme that we see from these BBO diverted cases is a lack of client contact/client case management. (And, our experience is buttressed by the BBO/OBC’s own, as expressed through two pieces (available at the BBO/OBC online articles archive--a great resource in itself), which cover, generally, ACAP (the Attorney and Consumer Assistance Program); the specific articles referenced are available here and here.) The facts are often similar: An attorney stops calling a client, and doesn’t return the client’s phone calls. The attorney loses touch with the case, and doesn’t calendar for important deadlines. An important deadline is missed, and this results in a detrimental effect upon the client. The client calls the BBO/OBC and complains, and thus begins that agency’s involvement.

This makes sense. Angering your clients, or ignoring them, or hindering the process of their case in significant some way, will make them call the BBO/OBC, eventually. Although there are other ways that BBO/OBC involvement is initiated, this is by far the most common.

The story clings to the common thread from there. The BBO/OBC calls. They want to see your IOLTA reconciliations. They want to know about your practice generally. Now, a mini-Pandora’s Box has been opened, and you have become the Law Office of Pandora & Pandora, LLC, and it’s on. And, chances are, if you have been careless with your client and case management, it is a theme of your practice, and you have been careless elsewhere; where else will be discovered by the BBO/OBC.

While it is not some cure-all, magic-elixir, if you maintain consistent client contact and pay attention to your client’s case management, you are far less likely to get that call from the BBO/OBC, and, more importantly, you are far more likely to adopt careful measures, as habits, throughout the rest of your office practice. Make it your New Year’s Resolution to get back in touch with your clients with whom you have been out of touch. Take a moment to touch base. Take a look at the statuses of their cases.

Here are some things you can do to get your house in order:

Calendar all the knowable deadlines for a case, including statutes of limitations, when you open a file. Schedule new deadlines and events when they arise. Set alarms in advance, so you’re reminded to begin drafting something, so you’re reminded to finish and submit something, so you’re reminded when court dates are and of when you should call your clients to prep them for court dates. Create a master list of open matters, including statuses for all and each.

At your initial client meeting, establish communication guidelines, and ask your clients how they wish to be contacted. Return all client calls within twenty four hours, even if just to say that you’re working on it, and will get back to them. Send a follow-up letter or email when new decisions are reached within phone conversations. Follow-up with your clients at least every six weeks, even when their cases are inactive. Send a letter at the conclusion of each matter, indicating that representation is complete, and thanking the client for the opportunity to serve their legal needs. Ask your clients for feedback as their matters move along. Ask for referrals.

In 2010, make it a point to engage your clients further, and more deeply. They’ll be better clients. You’ll be a better lawyer. And, the BBO/OBC can stay in touch with someone else.

. . .

Liner Notes

Although an ironic time, perhaps, to trot this out, this being, perhaps, my shortest blog post ever, as I do generally write long, long, long ones, today, I’d like to share with you some of my favorite long songs.

As Jethro Tull (and I still really have no idea whether Jethro Tull is one dude, or several dudes, or whether Jethro Tull is even his/their real name) sayeth: “Life’s a Long Song”, (which is actually a short song, but . . . ).

A long song like:

“Foreigner Suite” by Cat Stevens

and

“The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” by Traffic

“Season of the Witch” by Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills (Better than the Donovan original, to my mind. By the way, I would have linked out to Donovan's Wikipedia page, but the photo used is so hideous, it literally made me gasp. It makes him look like the kid from Mask.)

“Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” by Elton John

“Domino (Part I: In the Glow of the Night; Part II: The Last Domino)” by Genesis

“Closer to Home/I’m Your Captain” by Grand Funk Railroad

“Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits (One of the best videos ever. And, who’s that on backing vocals? Why, it’s Sting. Sting, you cagey Brit you! Cheers.)

“L.A. Woman” by The Doors

“Visions of Johanna” by Bob Dylan

“Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” by Billy Joel

“Jessica” by The Allman Brothers Band (I love this song so much, I married her!)

“Champagne Supernova” by Oasis

“Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” by Crosby, Stills & Nash

“When the Levee Breaks” by Led Zeppelin

“Warehouse” by Dave Matthews Band

“Canadian Railroad Trilogy” by Gordon Lightfoot

You knew I’d have a lot of these, right. They’re long songs, it’s a long list. (And, no, I could not find the full versions of all these songs on YouTube.)

Alright, I’m off to the gym.

Next week: “Best of Short Songs”.