Gift Ideas for the Lawyer(s) in Your Life – 2024
The holiday gift buying season is upon us! If you are shopping for deals or just making sure there is plenty of time for shipping, don’t forget that Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or CyberMonday start this week. Whether you are buying office gifts, or for the person who has everything, there are a lot of ways to save, give back, get creative and get this checked off your “to do” list!
Curated Techie Gifts
There are usually many gift lists for lawyers, including those from unexpected places like Cosmopolitan. Here is a short list of items picked by the Center for Practice Management:
Peeps Glasses Cleaner: For those who wear glasses (even just readers), you know that they get smudged fast and microfiber cloths just smear oil and dirt around and sprays are not terribly useful on the go. The Peeps portable carbon cleaner has a brush end to get off any loose debris and a carbon cleaning pad that cleans both sides of the lens at the same time.
ScreenKlean: No glasses, no problems? How about device screens? You probably have a smartphone. And a laptop. And a tablet. This carbon-based cleaning device cleans them all and comes with a travel case.
ChargeHub React: A seven in one car charger that lets you keep your smartphone charged and includes an emergency multitool that includes a seatbelt cutter, window breaker, LED flashlight, strobing SOS beacon, and a long-range safety siren.
Snap-N-Charge: a tiny 3 in 1 universal cordless portable charger. Just plug it directly into a device port to add up to 10 hours to your smartphone life.
Anything Speaker: with bone conduction technology, this tiny USB speaker lets you turn practically any object into a booming high quality speaker. Small enough to fit in your go bag and if the audio in a conference room, hotel, or client office is terrible or non-existent just add this tiny speaker and change the dynamic.
Diversion Book Safe: A copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland may stand out a little in a lawyer’s bookcase, but visitors may just assume you are well-read and a little nostalgic. This magical book is actually a safe lock book. Good for keys, thumb drives, or other small items you may want to hide but not forget where you hid them. There are other book titles to choose from as well.
Smiirl Social Media Counter: If a firm or lawyer is trying to boost their social media presence this social media counter shows increases in followers in real time.
OlumiRing: Ever wonder how some people look great on video conferences? It is all about lighting. This portable ring light attaches to any device to keep you in the best light for a professional appearance.
Skylight Calendar: This may be a gift to the boss or for the team. The Skylight Calendar is a touchscreen interactive digital calendar that syncs with individual calendars so everyone can see at a glance who is where and doing what and who may be able to take on an assignment or two.
Games
Games are a gift inside a gift. Create togetherness, indulge in a little playful competition, and learn a few things along the way.
One example of game that brings togetherness is the Hygge Game. Start a conversation with 330 “smile-inducing” questions like “What’s the most annoying sound?” or “What would be the title of your biography or autobiography?”. It can be played in person or online.
There is an interesting Kickstarter for a game called First Monday in October for the lawyers or want to be lawyers in your life. Each player represents a long-standing institution or school of thought attempting to gain renown by shaping the composition of the high court, taking sides in landmark cases throughout the history of the United States, and determining the governing laws of the land. If the game gets funded it will not ship until Summer of 2025, but you do get a Writ of Habeas Ludum as a receipt. You could give the 2019 book The Chief Justices with the writ to help with the prep work.
Give Back
For lawyers who are looking to give back, look no further than the North Carolina Bar Foundation. Giving Tuesday is December 3rd, and NCBF is supporting NC Disaster Legal Services this year. In addition to donations made in honor of someone, lawyers can give back to the community in several ways. One way is the Lawyers for Literacy program. Lawyer volunteers read to/with elementary school children, sharing books featuring stories about US history or civics. The Lawyers for Literacy program gifts the read-along books to the classrooms and children. For many of them, the gift books are the first they’ve ever owned themselves. Another opportunity to give back is the Wills for Heroes program, where lawyer volunteers produce free wills and power of attorney documents for NC first responders. First responders receive the gift of fully executed peace-of-mind documents for their families. NCBF supports many more public service and pro bono opportunities, to give back to the community and meet like-minded lawyers.
DIY (Do It Yourself)
Are you crafty? Handy? Like to bake? If you have some time and are low on funds, or you just want to add an individualized touch to your gift giving, there are so many things you can do. Offer to help fix something, knit a hat, shred some documents, re-arrange the storage closet. The gift of time and talent has more meaning than things, which so many people have in abundance.
Like to bake? Few people will turn down holiday treats. With a few ingredients and time, you can bake up a batch of Aggression Cookies (fun to make with kids, they are better than a stress ball, and yield a whopping 15 dozen) or the refined but easy Chocolate Bark with Pistachios & Dried Cherries. Head to a dollar store and get some gift bags, pack up the sleigh, and deliver smiles all over!
One nifty idea that is just a little crafty is upcycling with candle making kits. Heirloom teacups, empty candle jars, any other objects can be made into candles instead of filling the landfills. Kits from companies like Siblings will send you everything you need to make luxurious scented candles at home.
Get Local!
North Carolina is brimming with local artisans, creative foodstuffs, and a thriving community of artists and makers. Many of the local farmers markets host craft fairs and feature local artisans in addition to local meats and produce this time of year. Enjoy the fresh air, reduce your carbon footprint, don’t stress the shipping, and pick unique gifts for those on your list. No time to get out? Companies like Made in NC, LLC , Made in North Carolina gifts, North Carolina Gourmet Food Gifts Boxes and more can help put together a gift box for you.
In addition to food, arts, and crafts, North Carolina is home to many amazing writers. Here are 12 recent books by NC authors, curated by the general manager at Page 158 Books in Wake Forest. This list includes everything from several genres of fiction (horror, short stories, novels, non-fiction books about local music, poetry, and memoirs. Don’t forget to support your local bookstores too!
Seek out a charity that sell gifts for a cause. For instance, at Extraordinary Gifts in Chapel Hill, a neurodiverse workforce handcrafts beautiful 100% soy wax candles and natural soaps. Extraordinary Gifts is an Extraordinary Venture, a non-profit dedicated to creating meaningful employment opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities like autism. They also partner with other local inclusive employers for supplies and design services as much as possible to amplify the impact of each purchase throughout the community.
Conclusion
Whatever you are giving this Holiday Season do not forget to give yourself and your family some time. Do what you can to arrange your schedule to rest, rejuvenate, and enjoy. Treat yourself to a spa day or just shut your door and binge on a good book or your favorite series. Turn off your phone and computer. Your mental health is also a gift!