What can we learn from watching "Roadhouse"?

I'm not sure why it took this long, but I finally saw "Roadhouse" for the first time the other day. While it may not match "Point Break", it comes awfully close, with emphasis on the word awful. What a classic! Beyond the entertainment value, I learned some valuable things that should help in the practice of law:

1) "Nobody wins a fight." Well said. You can fight to the death, but it will cost you money, time and stress, so reaching a settlement is preferable. Even so, Patrick Swayze still had to do a lot of roundhouse kickin' before he made his peace with the bad guys, and you may have to as well.

2) "It gets worse before it gets better." Even if this isn't really true, it sure feels that way. Taking your case to court and confronting the bad guys in your life will usually unleash their fury. They may not bring their kung fu grip, pipe bombs, tire irons or semiautomatic machine guns to the fight, but they can still inflict pain and it's best to expect it and be prepared.

3) "Pain don't hurt." This one I'm still trying to understand. He was the philosphy Ph.D., though, while I only took a few units, so I'll let you know when I reach enlightenment. His practice of carrying his medical records with him, though, makes a lot of sense, and I'd suggest carrying an advance health care directive and HIPAA authorization as well. In our advanced technological age, a wallet card allowing medical providers access to this information would suffice.

He doesn't mention his trust and powers of attorney in the movie, but if your profession is cleaning up dive bars and bringing justice to evil land barons, keeping your estate plan up to date is highly recommended.

Help! My grandma's marrying her prison boyfriend!

Here's my favorite article of the day, from Slate magazine--it's not too far from the kind of calls I get every day: "Grandma's Prison Pal."