Take a look at our October newsletter!
For The Ambitious Advocate BRIEF RECESS
OCTOBER 2025
FROM THE LAW OFFICES OF J. PRICE MCNAMARA
Buzzing With Purpose LESSONS FROM THE HIVE
and it’s seasonal at best. When nectar’s flowing, it’s all hands on deck. When the flow slows, efficiency rules.
gave us “the cat’s pajamas” and “the snake’s hips.” There’s even a Prohibition-era gin, lemon, and honey cocktail called a Bee’s Knees because honey turns rough gin into something smooth and cheerful. So, when someone says your argument was the bee’s knees, they mean it was top-shelf. A hive thrives on cooperation, clear roles, and shared purpose, just like us. I’m grateful for your friendship, our bar community, and the trust you place in our little firm when a client runs into a knotty ERISA-governed long-term disability benefits problem. Like the bees, we’re all in this together, doing what we’re built to
A few other fun bits we’ve learned:
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A healthy queen can lay a couple of thousand eggs a day in peak season. Talk about productivity goals. Workers will visit thousands of flowers to fill a single jar; every drop is a tiny KPI proving effort. Bees keep their house cleaner than most of us keep our trucks. If something’s off in the hive, they fix it fast.
Fall always feels like a good time to check in, reflect on routines, and reconnect with the rhythms that help keep us grounded. At our place, that often means heading out to the farm. And this time, we brought our suits and smokers for something a little different. This month’s photos are from my family suiting up to harvest honey from our beehive out in the boonies of Greensburg, Louisiana. If you’ve never heard a frame hum in your hands, you need to. We lifted the supers, brushed the ladies gently back home, and spun liquid gold into jars. Pure satisfaction. It’s messy, sticky, and requires patience, but there’s something incredibly grounding about working with your hands that way. A hive is like a little, well-run law firm: Everybody has a role, and the deadlines are non-negotiable. The queen is the mission statement. Her one job is laying eggs to sustain the hive. The workers, all females, run everything else, from foraging and nursing the young to building wax, guarding the door, and even air- conditioning the place by fanning their wings. The drones (the boys) have one purpose in life,
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do and bringing something meaningful back to the hive.
A final fun fact: “the bee’s knees” doesn’t mean tiny or delicate. It’s old 1920s American slang for “the best of the best,” the same era that
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2,000 YEARS OF HALL From Samhain Most of us today think of Halloween as candy, costumes, and those giant plastic skeletons that somehow manage to stay upright all month. But this strange little holiday has deeper roots, and they’re a lot older — and maybe a bit darker — than you might expect. It all goes back over 2,000 years to an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced “SOW-in”). That night marked the end of harvest and the beginning of winter, a season the Celts linked with death and mystery. They believed the line between the living and the dead blurred and that spirits could cross over. So people lit fires and wore animal skins to keep those spirits away. It was part celebration, part warning. As Christianity spread, church leaders worked to replace old Pagan rituals, such as Samhain. They declared November 1 as All Saints’ Day and called the night before it All Hallows’ Eve. Over time, that name shrank to Halloween. But the older traditions stuck around, just in new disguises.
No one likes going to the doctor, but for one Florida feline, a routine visit to the vet turned into a daring escape. Just after being neutered at SPCA Florida, George the cat put his kitty GPS to the test when he broke out of his cage, trying to make his way home. As if his daring getaway wasn’t impressive enough, the tabby scampered across 3 miles full of obstacles to return to his owners’ doorstep. On the day of the incident, George managed to pop his cage open and scurry out in a matter of seconds. Still loopy from anesthesia, the housecat evaded clinic staff, scaling up fencing before disappearing. Employees did everything they could to stop the escape artist, lifting each other over fences, but George was too quick and determined to catch. Owner Bob Beasock was heartbroken by the news and searched for his little buddy alongside clinic staff for nearly a week. Just when it looked like they might never find his furry companion, Bob found him at home, curled up in his favorite armchair in the carport. “There was George, stretched out in his chair in our carport, looking like he had just returned from a grand adventure," Bob told reporters. "He was a bit thinner, clearly hungry, but otherwise no worse for the wear." Though George was unscathed, his journey home was no walk in the park. He had to trek through multiple subdivisions, maneuver around a couple of lakes, and cross five or six roads to reach his destination. Cats are skilled navigators who use a combination of scent, visual markers, and even geomagnetism to find their way around. But George’s journey wasn’t all prompted by a deep instinct or fear of the vet; he just wanted to get back to his owner. Though they express it more subtly than dogs, research has found that cats love their humans and form a deep attachment with their owners. MISSION IM-PAW-SIBLE Florida Cat’s Epic Getaway From the Vet
Does your office turn away calls about “long-term disability insurance” claim denials because you don’t handle administrative appeals or “ERISA litigation” in federal court? We want to hear from you! We happily share fees on referred ERISA long-term disability, life insurance, and accidental death insurance denial cases. Send us an email at BriefRecess@jpricemcnamara.com or call (225) 201-8311 to start the referral process! WE VALUE YOUR REFERRALS!
Bob was relieved to find George safe and sound, but said he would have done it just a little differently if he ever found himself fleeing his doctor's appointment.
ERISA is all we do!
“If I had been stuck there, I would've called an Uber. But George didn't have that option."
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LOWEEN TRADITIONS n to Skittles The version of Halloween we’re all familiar with didn’t arrive until the 1800s, when Irish and Scottish immigrants brought their customs to America. Stories of mischievous spirits came with them, along with small pranks and carved turnips meant to ward off evil. (Yes, turnips; pumpkins came later.) By the early 20th century, Halloween was becoming more of a neighborhood event. Parades and harvest parties replaced superstitions. Trick-or-treating really took off in the 1950s, helped along by candy companies that were more than happy to get involved. Even now, some of those early ideas linger in the modern Halloween tradition. Whether you’re lighting up a jack-o’-lantern or telling ghost stories by the fire, you’re still part of something old. Halloween has shifted over the years, but at its heart, the holiday is about crossing boundaries between seasons, between fear and fun, and maybe even between worlds.
I’ve been playing around with ChatGPT lately and have found it can save a tremendous amount of time on many office-related tasks. No, I don’t try to write briefs with it, and I am no expert at using it. But I read a great article recently that helped give me a helicopter view of what’s happening out there with AI. One thing I hadn’t fully appreciated is how much of the hype around this technology is due to clever marketing. Tech companies are masters at creating buzz, and big announcements about the latest AI developments are hard to miss these days. But those “breakthrough” announcements are typically not based on peer-reviewed studies. They're just press releases, and the latest so-called breakthroughs are often more limited than the headlines suggest. PUTTING AI IN PERSPECTIVE Between the Hype and the Help
It’s also worth knowing the difference between automation and AI. Some tools and systems in use today are dressed up in “AI” branding, but they use nothing more than the computer-executed automation that has been
around for decades. ChatGPT is a different animal, though. Instead of running on pre-set rules, it uses natural language processing to generate coherent text. But it’s still not actually intelligent, and it’s certainly not magic. The tech simply strings words together based on patterns it has seen before. That means it can be unreliable at times.
Maple Bourbon Smash Cocktail Inspired by InspiredByCharm.com
Ingredients Spiced Maple Simple Syrup • 1/2 cup water • 1/2 cup maple syrup • 2–3 cinnamon sticks • 1–2 star anise • 1-inch piece fresh ginger • Maple Bourbon Smash • 1 orange wheel • 1 sprig fresh rosemary, plus extra for serving • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice • 2 tbsp fresh orange juice • 2 tbsp spiced maple simple syrup • 2 oz bourbon • 5 drops orange bitters • Ginger beer or soda water
Directions 1. In a medium saucepan over
medium-high heat, add simple syrup ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium- low and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, strain out spices, and let cool (this makes enough for multiple cocktails; store in the fridge).
Still, I think there’s some value in using it. The tech can be great for
2. In a cocktail shaker, add
brainstorming and generating ideas, but its outputs should only be viewed as a starting point. AI tools like ChatGPT
orange wheel, rosemary, lemon juice, and orange juice. Using a muddler or spoon, muddle together and add 2 tbsp of the spiced simple syrup. Pour in bourbon and orange bitters, and shake well to combine.
are just that — tools. And like any tool, they’re only as good as the person using it. Our job as users is to fact-check, edit, expand, and shape the raw outputs AI gives us into something better. So, if AI fits into your day-to-day work, I say use it. You may be able to save time and even gain some perspective you hadn’t considered before, but don’t let the bots run the show. Take some time to learn more about how these systems work, and experiment with what they can and cannot do. And try not to get too caught up in the hype.
3. In a glass, add ice and strain bourbon mixture over ice, topping with
ginger beer or soda water. Garnish with rosemary.
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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
ERISA INSURANCE J. PRICE MCNAMARA Claim Attorney
10455 Jefferson Hwy. Suite 130 Baton Rouge, LA 70809 (225) 201-8311 WinMyBenefits.com
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
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Fall Reflections and Beekeeping Lessons
A Daring Kitty GPS Test
The Story Behind Halloween
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A Real-World Take on AI
Maple Bourbon Smash Cocktail
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Wicked Wanderlust
in the area’s devilish fun this year, visit the Salem Witch Board Museum — which boasts the world’s most extensive Ouija board collection — and the Salem Witch Museum. Bourbon Bone-Chillers If you want to add Southern charm to your Halloween chills, a trip to New Orleans, Louisiana, is in order. From above-ground cemeteries and ghost tours to ghoulishly adorned shops in the French Quarter (including the must-visit Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo on Bourbon Street) and an annual Halloween parade, The Big Easy will surely put you in touch with your spooky side. Detour to Dracula’s Den From the classic 1922 film “Nosferatu” to the Francis Ford Coppola- directed cinematic masterpiece “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” that premiered 70 years later, our cultural interest in vampires has spanned decades — and, in the case of Transylvania, Romania, centuries. Anyone with a passport and a desire to catch a glimpse at the real-world aesthetic that helped define the image of Dracula and other distinctive undead characters should visit Bran Castle, an amazing monument of Gothic architecture and the long-rumored residence of infamous 15th century-era prince and mass murderer Vlad the Impaler — widely believed to be the real-life inspiration behind the Dracula character. While many of the legends associated with Transylvania may be more fiction than fact, the locale remains the go-to spot for anyone with an affinity for apparitions.
Haunted Horizons A HALLOWEEN TRAVEL TRIO
If your idea of fun seasonal travel is touring a spooky castle in October rather than hitting a sandy beach in July, here are three vacation ideas that will take your Halloween fun to spine-tingling new heights this year! Where Witches Wander When it comes to Halloween-themed adventures, no other place on the East Coast offers more macabre merriment than Salem, Massachusetts. Known for its infamous witch trials of the late 1690s, the city transforms its dark past into a destination that balances historical facts with tongue- in-cheek kitsch. The weeks leading up to Oct. 31 are filled with more magic shows, tours, special events, and Halloween-themed shopping opportunities than you can shake a broom at. If you decide to partake
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