I
recently
finished
the
show
“Severance”
on
Apple
TV,
and
the
program
was
absolutely
amazing!
I
can’t
remember
a
more
original
science
fiction
show
in
recent
years,
and
the
program
tackles
work-life
balance,
which
has
become
more
important
than
ever
in
the
work-from-home
environment.
Essentially,
the
show
involves
workers
who
undergo
the
severance
procedure,
which
ensures
that
their
work
self
does
not
know
anything
about
that
person’s
personal
life.
In
addition,
once
a
person
leaves
their
workplace,
they
do
not
remember
anything
about
what
went
on
at
work.
Although
the
show
is
somewhat
dystopian,
it
seems
as
if
the
severance
procedure
would
be
great
for
many
law
firms.
I
was
recently
speaking
with
a
bunch
of
lawyers
about
whether
they
would
sign
up
for
severance
if
they
could,
and
many
believed
that,
if
given
the
option,
they
would
like
to
separate
work
memories
from
personal
ones
like
on
the
show.
One
huge
problem
with
law
firms
is
that
people
often
need
to
take
work
home
with
them.
Partners
often
want
associates
to
respond
to
matters
at
all
times
of
the
day
or
night
and
when
the
office
is
closed.
In
the
vast
majority
of
instances,
matters
can
wait
until
work
time.
Law
firms
are
notorious
for
establishing
artificial
deadlines,
and
exigent
matters
that
require
immediate
attention
are
rare
within
the
legal
profession.
Establishing
a
severance
would
ensure
that
bosses
could
not
unduly
impede
on
the
personal
time
of
their
workers
unless
there
is
an
“overtime
contingency”
as
fans
of
the
show
already
know.
Moreover,
it
is
easy
for
attorneys
to
take
the
stress
of
their
jobs
home
with
them.
Most
people
within
the
legal
profession
will
readily
agree
that
the
legal
industry
is
extremely
stressful.
Not
only
do
lawyers
need
to
deal
with
office
politics
and
the
other
stressors
that
impact
all
kinds
of
office
workers,
but
they
need
to
deal
with
the
confrontation
that
is
omnipresent
in
legal
matters.
I
for
one
definitely
take
stress
home
with
me,
and
stressful
times
at
work
can
impact
my
sleep,
my
exercise
routines,
and
other
parts
of
my
personal
life.
Folks
who
undergo
the
fictional
severance
procedure
would
be
incapable
of
taking
stress
home
with
them
when
they
leave
the
office
each
day.
Indeed,
those
workers
would
not
be
able
to
even
remember
the
matters
at
work
which
made
them
stressed
out
to
begin
with.
I
am
willing
to
bet
many
lawyers
would
add
years
to
their
lives
and
have
less
gray
hair
if
they
were
unable
to
remember
the
matters
that
caused
them
stress
in
the
workplace.
One
of
the
reasons
why
severance
is
billed
as
important
in
the
show
is
because
it
helps
ensure
confidentiality
of
matters
worked
on
at
an
office.
If
people
could
not
remember
what
they
did
in
a
workplace,
they
would
be
unable
to
blab
about
it
after
they
returned
home.
Although
the
legal
profession
has
ethical
restrictions
on
what
people
can
say
about
their
work,
lawyers
talk
all
the
time
about
their
work,
sometimes
in
inappropriate
ways.
Something
akin
to
the
severance
procedure
would
help
lawyers
keep
secrets
better
which
might
improve
client
relations
and
the
sanctity
of
client
confidences.
Of
course,
there
are
also
plenty
of
reasons
why
severance
might
not
be
helpful
in
the
legal
industry.
For
one,
attorneys
often
need
to
have
a
personal
as
well
as
a
work
relationship
with
clients.
Many
people
forge
deep
connections
with
clients,
either
because
clients
are
already
friends
with
the
attorney
or
the
lawyer’s
relative,
or
because
the
lawyer
and
client
have
worked
together
for
years.
It
would
be
impossible
for
lawyers
to
have
the
same
amount
of
connection
with
clients
if
they
could
not
discuss
work
matters
with
clients
in
a
more
casual
setting,
which
happens
often
in
the
legal
profession.
Moreover,
much
of
a
lawyer’s
job
takes
place
outside
of
an
office.
Lawyers
usually
need
to
hit
the
road
in
order
to
attend
court
hearings,
depositions,
site
inspections,
and
all
manner
of
proceedings
related
to
the
matters
upon
which
they
work.
In
the
show,
severance
was
only
possible
spatially
in
an
office,
so
the
procedure
as
described
in
the
show
would
not
be
practical
for
many
lawyers.
Moreover,
lawyers
rely
on
prior
lived
experiences
much
more
than
other
office
workers,
including
the
worker
in
the
show.
Lawyers
need
to
have
ready
recall
of
prior
situations
with
clients
over
the
years
in
order
to
know
what
to
do
in
any
given
situation.
In
the
show,
people
subject
to
the
severance
procedure
are
unable
to
recall
any
personal
details
about
themselves,
which
would
prove
an
impediment
in
the
legal
industry.
All
told,
many
within
the
legal
industry
would
likely
want
a
technology
that
can
separate
their
work
memories
from
their
personal
life
in
order
to
promote
work-life
balance.
However,
this
would
probably
difficult
to
implement
in
practice
because
lawyers
rely
on
the
aggregate
of
their
lived
experiences
to
perform
solid
work
for
clients.
Jordan
Rothman
is
a
partner
of
The
Rothman
Law
Firm,
a
full-service
New
York
and
New
Jersey
law
firm.
He
is
also
the
founder
of
Student
Debt
Diaries,
a
website
discussing
how
he
paid
off
his
student
loans.
You
can
reach
Jordan
through
email
at
jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.