About MONDAY MORNING LAWYER DOT C
WHAT WE'RE ABOUT
Why are we here?
Welcome to Monday Morning Lawyer. . .Legal Knowledge for Physicians®. This site exists to provide a forum where physicians can learn a little about the law and our legal system. Our goal is to educate, edify and, perhaps even entertain.
Before attending law school, I felt like I had a pretty damn good non-lawyer’s understanding of these concepts. And I did. It turns out, though, that there’s an enormous gap between non-lawyer’s understanding and the actual law. And, as most every doctor knows, the medical education programming we undergo provides little educational content to assist us in learning more about the law and our legal system. And yet, our increasingly complex world requires physicians to know and appreciate so much more about these issues than ever before. So I aim to close that gap with the content I provide here.
What’s in a name?
Trying to name a site like this can be tricky. Monday Morning Lawyer communicates two concepts:
First, when looking back at things that have already happened, what can we learn? What did I do right? What mistakes got made and who made them? How can we (or I) do things differently next time to achieve a better outcome. As in, Monday morning quarterbacking.
More importantly, though, is that Monday signals the start of a new week — a turning of the page. And so, I aim to help visitors to this site put a fresh spin on their world as it relates to the law and legal issues.
In keeping with my theme, I’ll try and drop some new content each Monday. I reserve the right to in-fill between Mondays if some interruption worthy event occurs that can’t wait.
My background is no secret; I am a physician who, after a great career, decided to pursue my “second act” and started law school in 2020. All that time we physicians spend in medical training hasn’t left much leftover for many of us to tackle learning about the law and legal concepts that impact our lives. Both professionally and personally. So, while much of what I write about may start from issues that arise in the world of doctors, I hope non-physicians will find much they can learn from this site too.
I’d love to hear from you. Thoughts about everything from the content to my writing style to how you like my website. I’d particularly love any suggestions for topics you’d like to learn about. I ask only that readers be courteous, even when being critical.
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Now for the best part: the disclaimer. This site's purpose is to provide general legal education. I am not providing any legal advice or creating an attorney-client relationship with readers. If you need legal advice or legal representation, please see contact your lawyer for assistance.
MD to JD: MML's Evolutionary Adventure
Meet Steve Hendler, J.D., M.D., Your MONDAY MORNING LAWYER
About Me
Steve is a physician who practiced physical medicine and rehabilitation until he exited clinical care midway through law school. Although he completed law school later in life, attending law school was always part of the plan. Here’s how he described his journey in his law school application (edited for clarity):
“And so, I went to college, fully expecting that I would work
my way through to a bachelor’s degree as a prelude to attending
law school and becoming an attorney. If my parents were
children of the depression, my brothers and I were most
definitely children of the sixties and seventies. It was through
the eyes of an idealistic teenager that I watched lawyers
untangle the constitutional crisis of Watergate, advance a
burgeoning civil rights movement, and protect personal
freedoms. And, yes, I’d watched perhaps one too many
episodes of Perry Mason. These role models, real and fictional,
along with my ongoing interests in Social Studies, Politics,
Logic, and Debate seemed to be the perfect mix leading to my
interest in law.
All would have gone according to plan had it not been for those pesky ‘distribution requirements’ in college. Having managed to escape biology in high school, I quickly learned that skipping it was a non-starter if I planned to graduate. And how lucky I was to have such a roadblock, because the subject matter I dreaded quickly became my intellectual infatuation- an attachment so gripping that it led to a four decade adventure in medicine. .
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Throughout all this, I’ve never strayed from my interest in the law. I find myself intrigued by the same ‘big’ questions I considered 40 years ago, but just as intrigued as to how our legal system works. Despite the longstanding and ongoing interest, the logistics and timing never seemed quite right to go to Law School. Until now. My professional and
personal lives are both in a place where I’m confident I can become an engaged and effective lawyer.”
Steve is passionate about teaching and has extensive experience in medical education including having run a residency training program and taught medical students, insurance professionals, allied health
professionals and, yes, even a few attorneys. In addition to building and managing his private practice and several other businesses, Steve has consulted with hospitals, insurance companies, lawyers and other small businesses and start-ups during his career. Steve’s particular practice interests include physician contracts and business transactions, estate planning and asset protection and intergenerational transfer of wealth.
Steve lives in the Kansas City area with his wife and Oreo, their ‘aggressively affectionate’ lab-something rescue pup.
Steve Hendler, J.D.
What we do
We educate, edify and, occasionally, entertain. Our goal is to open the world of law so that physicians (and, yes, others) can better understand how the law and our legal system function and impact their lives.
We have entered into a partnership with the Kansas City Southwest Clinical Society so that we can provide Category 1 CME credits. Contact us for more information about CME credits.