By Christa Avampato | Monday, August 16, 2010
Originally published on August 16, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.
Will Meyerhofer's agent coined the title "the people's therapist" when Meyerhofer, a former biglaw lawyer, explained his sliding fee scale for his therapy practice. When his clients first visit him, he asks them to name the fee they can afford. He runs his practice from his living room with comfortable furniture and tasteful art adorning the walls. Simon, a wire-haired mini dachshund, playfully lounges nearby.
"The sliding scales causes my salary to behave like a roller coaster, but I believe in the ideal of 'to each according to his means, from each according to his ability,'" he tells me. "I always, always put a person in front of money. My mistake when I was a lawyer was that I was too focused on the money."
From Sullivan & Cromwell to Barnes & Noble
Two years into his law career at
Sullivan & Cromwell, Will received a performance review suggesting that he "do something else." Once he overcame the initial shock, he took a long look in the proverbial mirror and agreed. He just didn't know how to find that something else. He soon moved to Barnes & Noble's online division, and quickly established himself as a valuable part of their marketing department.
"A job is a role and an identity, not a task. Our work is an expression of who we are. I needed to figure out who I was and who I wasn't. I'm not a team player, I can't stand hierarchy, and I don't like details. I realized I could actually love the person I was, rather the person I was trying to be as an attorney."
After several years, he raised his hand to take a package when Barnes & Noble downsized and enrolled in Hunter College to obtain a Masters in Social Work. Right out of Hunter, he signed on at Saint Vincent's Hospital to run a free program to educate gay men about HIV prevention. He often saw patients for 11 hours a day. Despite once again working biglaw hours, he had a passion for his work.
A Private Practice and Writing Career Blooms
Will's private practice grew from his work at Saint Vincent's. The program at the hospital lasted for a set number of weeks, so his clients often asked if they could continue to see him for private sessions. Two and a half years after its commencement, Saint Vincent's dropped the program, leaving Will to focus on his private practice full time.
"Today my practice consists of lawyers and law students, gay men, and hipsters and artists in equal percentages. They're 18-80 years old from every ethnic background. This practice is really an honor for me. I learn so much from my patients."
With a book on its way to publication, a radio show, and a possible reality TV series in his near future, Will never finds himself idle. As his agent shopped his book to publishers, Will started a blog,
The People's Therapist. The blog caught the attention of
Above the Law, which
offered Will a column after an
initial interview resulted in more than 20,000 page views.
A Young Lawyer's Unbearable Debt
I asked Will about the problems his lawyer clients face. His eyes grow wide at the question.
"I know where a lot of these people have been. I know what it's like to be unhappy and to feel trapped. It's painful. And I tell them they have every right to feel exactly the way they feel. I was there, too. I get it."
The subject of today's price tag for a law degree touches a nerve in Will. It immediately riles him, and his passion for the subject comes through in his eyes, voice, and hand gestures. The subject occupies center stage in much of his writing.
"It's criminal what law schools are doing today. 25 year olds have been sold a dream that doesn't exist. They enter their careers saddled with as much as $250,000 of debt that crushes them financially, physically, and emotionally. To make the payments, they end up having to work at big firms that treat them horribly, and soon they are curled up in a corner bawling. Their first words to me are, 'How did I do this?' They feel trapped."
Will goes on to explain the crisis that he sees coming for the legal profession as more and more lawyers are pumped out into a market that has fewer and fewer spaces in large firms. I ask him about the responsibilities that schools should bear for these actions, if any.
"It costs next to nothing for a school to educate a law student: one professor lectures to a packed lecture hall. Law schools are cash cows for universities. It's no coincidence that the President of NYU used to be the President of NYU's law school. It's fraud. These law schools sell false dreams to impressionable, young, eager minds. The students want so much to please and the schools take advantage. And the worst part of it? Law graduates don't even know how to be lawyers. They've spent 3 years on theory, not on learning how to be lawyers. It's a travesty."
A Grope Towards Hope
Will has me agreeing that the situation seems hopeless. So how exactly does he help the hopeless achieve hope?
"For an hour a week, they can come into this room and say whatever they need to say to get this all out. I don't judge them. I don't tell them what to do. I don't tell them that they should feel lucky. I just try to help them to stop beating themselves. All I really want to do is help them steer the ship an inch in a better direction. We need each other to heal."
Closing Argument
Will walks me around his apartment before I leave. He has an extensive and eclectic art collection and an amazing view of New York Harbor. His collection of artifacts illustrates his wide-reaching travels and his love for cultures and histories not his own.
"I'm just a big pile of mush. I just want to help people be happy, you know what I mean? Life is a brief opportunity for joy."
I do. I get it. Will takes his role as a healer very seriously. He lives in a constant state of learning, growing, and evolving. He wants his clients to do the same.
"So, big hugs! This has been so much fun! Let's be friends. Invite me to your parties," he says to me as he opens the door so I can take my leave.
And I know he means it. And when I promise him I will, I mean it, too. Nothing beats authenticity. Our world, inside and outside the big law firms, could use more of it. Will works every day to move us in that direction, one client at a time.
How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
By Marin Feldman | Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Originally published on August 11, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.
A few weeks ago, I helped you figure out when it's time to leave your large firm job behind. Whether you've decided to stay put or are feverishly working on your departure memo, you can't claim to have done time in Biglaw without completing certain rites of passage. At my undergrad alma mater, you couldn't graduate (with any dignity) without having both copulated in the library stacks and peed on a famous statue in the middle of campus. Given the humorlessness of the legal profession and the dismal job market, the BigLaw Bucket List below does not require you to defile a colleague in a supply closet or urinate on a Redweld … at least not at the same time. Before you earn your last inflated paycheck and kick the BigLaw Bucket, make sure you've earned your stripes. All 50 of them.
1. Bring a cocktail to every meeting.
2. Reference Rocky III repeatedly on a conference call, and say "I pity da fool" at least once.
3. Give an enormous box of your city's best donuts to the overnight word processing crew.
4. Sample all the cafeteria entrees at least once and fill out the feedback card.
5. Locate the mythical office shower and take one.
6. "Forget" to attach a document to buy yourself more time.
7. Tweet "In client meeting, LOL" from a client meeting.
8. Fart in a partner's chair.
9. Take your family on a tour of your office.
10. Seduce a paralegal.
11. Send a "high importance" email to a colleague asking if he or she wants to combine dinner orders.
12. Wear the same outfit every day until someone says something.
13. Steal someone's lunch from the communal fridge.
14. Give a good review to someone who means well but doesn't deserve it.
15. Pose for a photo with your deal toys.
16. Replace the water in the coffee machine with Gatorade.
17. Ask for a new computer before you give notice.
18. Take friends out for dinner and charge it to Business Development.
19. Conduct a messy break-up on speakerphone.
20. Perform a public records search on your supervising partner.
21. Sneak your dog into the office.
22. Buy and prominently use a "#1 Lawyer" mug.
23. Send a letter on firm letterhead to Steve Jobs about the iPhone 4.
24. Rap your voicemail greeting.
25. Request to connect with the managing partner on LinkedIn.
26. Invent a funeral and take a personal day.
27. Ask HR to have your firm photo retaken every year.
28. Send an email to your assistant thanking her or him for the hard work.
29. Take your firm's black car service to a White Castle.
30. Replace your "Ladies and Gentlemen" email salutation with "Listen Up People."
31. Read the Wall Street Journal cover to cover in the handicapped bathroom stall.
32. Switch your 401(k) contribution amount every term.
33. Organize an unnecessary teleconference.
34. Vomit at a firm social function.
35. Plant a receipt for condoms in a BNA Tax Portfolio.
36. Take out your own garbage at the end of the day.
37. List Seamless Web sushi delivery man as an emergency contact on your medical form.
38. Submit a scathing, unsolicited 360-review of a partner.
39. Keep your office door closed for the day while working in pajamas.
40. Send a scone via interoffice mail.
41. Describe a colleague to a partner as "definitely not partner track."
42. Affix "Born to Ride" bumper sticker to your firm-issued laptop.
43. Respond to a partner emailing you an assignment by stating, "Can't right now, at a club."
44. Practice a wind instrument in your office after hours.
45. Backtrack on an already-negotiated point by claiming Opposite Day.
46. Purchase telescope/binoculars for office.
47. Send office-wide "Does anybody know a good malpractice attorney (for a friend)?" email.
48. Prepare a tearjerker farewell speech.
49. Send in a juicy tip to Above the Law.
50. Become a BigLaw columnist for TechnoLawyer.
How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
By Marin Feldman | Monday, July 12, 2010
Originally published on July 12, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.
If you're a biglaw attorney, privately threatening to quit your job at least once a day is pretty much standard. And why wouldn't you? Who wants to deal with the long hours, demanding clients, and
office jerks? Fantasizing about leaving, formulating exit strategies, and implementing five-year plans are as endemic to biglaw as all-nighters and free meals. Of course, threatening to quit and quitting are quite different. How can you tell when it's really time to go? Whether your inner compass is broken or you already have one foot out the door, read on to learn about the four tell-tale signs that it's time to say sayonara to biglaw.
1. You No Longer Buy Into Work-Related Emergencies
Biglaw is as famous for its "work-related emergencies" as it is for its paychecks. There are 3 am due diligence emergencies, IPO pricing day emergencies, injunction emergencies, deadline emergencies, emergency memos, panicked phone calls, phantom emergencies, and thousands of other legal crises that are just as (if not more) serious than saving lives.
If you don't believe it, or otherwise no longer feel a sense of urgency about your work, it may be time to throw in the towel. Part of surviving biglaw is buying into the self-important culture. Once you stop believing, you're on your way out.
2. You're Trying to Get Them to Fire You
Biglaw attorneys may not get tattoos or odd piercings (visible ones at least), but if you secretly want to leave, you may find yourself testing the limits of acceptable office decorum in other ways. Maybe you wear money sign earrings to work (I did once) or browse the Web too often for too long. Perhaps you leave "Regards" off of your email signature or don't bother to proof the final version of the agreement.
These aren't just signs of laziness — you're also tempting fate. Take a cue from your passive-aggressive behavior and take a hike. Don't make them fire you. Quit while you're ahead (but wait for your year-end bonus if you think you'll receive one).
3. Your Sunday Night Blues Are Killer — Literally
Very few people in the world rip off the covers on Monday mornings, do a tap dance, and then head into work beaming. Everybody dreads their job a little bit ... especially on Sunday nights when another work week looms. But if you find yourself inconsolable at the prospect of going into the office the next morning, spend half of Sunday evening trolling eBay for guns, or find yourself seriously depressed on Friday night at the prospect of having only two weekend nights left, it may be time to leave biglaw.
4. Work Is Destroying Everything, Including You
Your significant other has left you and your kids hate you. You're on antidepressants, you don't have time for your hobbies, and
you've gotten fat. When biglaw has robbed you of all of your joy, it's time to quit.
Many lawyers are so wrapped up in the day-to-day of their jobs they don't realize how miserable they are. Take stock of your life. If work has left you with no room for family, friends, or meaningful extracurricular activities, it has taken over. You may think you need the biglaw paycheck to be happy, but no fancy toy or expensive vacation can make you less miserable (although science is getting close with plastic surgery). Trust me — you'll become much richer when you take a pay cut to get your life back.
How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
By Kimberlee Gunning | Monday, July 5, 2010
Originally published on June 28, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.
The Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 26(f) conference, which requires litigants in federal court to meet and confer regarding a discovery plan, has the potential to be enormously useful. Instead of making up discovery strategy as you go along — which never, ever happens, does it? — you have a duty under FRCP 26(f)(3) to discuss both the subject of discovery and how to conduct it.
Often ignored by the parties is the rule's requirement to discuss, and include in the written discovery plan submitted to the court, "any issues about disclosure or discovery of electronically stored information, including the form or forms in which it should be produced." Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f)(3)(C).
What often results is a generic stipulation in which the parties appear to agree on an eDiscovery protocol, but actually agree on nothing but their mutual desire to avoid any discussion of eDiscovery. Or worse, the resulting stipulation describes a protocol for discovery of electronic information that proves unworkable and frustrating.
The Court Will Hold You to Your eDiscovery Agreement, Even If You Shoot Yourself in the Foot
The emerging eDiscovery case law indicates that courts will likely enforce the terms of a stipulation, even if doing so would unduly burden or prejudice one party — even if the rules were amended since the parties entered into the agreement.
In
In re ATM Fee Antitrust Litig., 2007 WL 1827635 (N.D. Cal. June 25, 2007), for example, the parties agreed at the onset of litigation to produce electronic documents as searchable TIFF files. The plaintiff later moved to compel the defendants to comply with the then-newly-amended Rule 34, which requires electronically stored information to be produced in "a form or forms in which it is ordinarily maintained or in a reasonably useable form or forms." Notwithstanding the language of Rule 34, the federal district court declined to "abdicat[e]...the parties' agreement" regarding the form of production. Indeed, Rule 34 itself makes clear that the stated procedure for production of electronically stored information applies "[u]nless otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court[.]"
More recent opinions follow this trend of enforcing stipulated eDiscovery protocols. In
In re Fannie Mae Sec. Litig., 552 F.3d 814 (D.C. Cir. 2009), the D.C. Circuit affirmed the district court's order giving the defendants sole discretion to determine the search terms used to search a third party's off-site backup tapes for responsive documents. The third party, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight ("OFHEO") had been served with a third-party subpoena. After OFHEO's initial production, the defendants learned that OFHEO did not search its off-site backup tapes. OFHEO volunteered to do so, and entered into a stipulated order providing the defendants "will specify the search terms to be used."
OFHEO was not pleased when it learned defendants' search terms resulted in over 600,000 documents. Its efforts to comply with production of responsive documents ultimately resulted in the agency spending over 9 percent of its total budget on the project. In response to OFHEO's request for relief, the district court held OFHEO must produce all responsive documents, finding the stipulation's language was clear and provided defendants with sole discretion over search terms, and thus, over the scope of the production. Ouch.
Rules of the Road for eDiscovery Stipulations
So, what can you do when faced with the need to agree on eDiscovery protocol early in the litigation? Keep these three principles to keep in mind.
- Don't agree to limits on the production format for electronically stored information. Preserve your right to obtain copies of electronically stored information in its native format. You may end up deciding later that TIFF files are acceptable, but make that call later, after you've familiarized yourself with the issues in the case and the types of electronic information in the other parties' possession.
- Don't agree to let the other party dictate search terms. The better practice is to stipulate to a procedure in which the requesting party submits a list of search terms with its discovery requests. The producing party is then free to object, after which the parties can take any disputes to the court if necessary.
- Don't agree to limits on the sources of electronic information to be searched by the other parties. Opposing counsel's idea of which employees' hard drives and which backup tapes are likely to contain responsive information will likely differ from yours, especially after you learn about their information systems and key witnesses. In this vein, consider a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition about the opposing party's information systems and preservation procedures before propounding interrogatories and requests for production. For example, you may learn that Defendant uses XYZ software to track the customer complaints that are key to your case, enabling you to frame your discovery requests accordingly.
Absent fraud or duress or the other usual contract defenses, courts are reluctant to release parties from discovery stipulations. By following a few simple guidelines, you can prevent having to explain to your client that you cannot obtain key evidence for your case because you agreed that the opposing party did not have to provide it to you.
How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
By Marin Feldman | Monday, June 21, 2010
Originally published on June 21, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.
Staying fit and healthy is tough even if you have lots of free time and a stress-free lifestyle. Throw in a law firm's punishing hours, pressure-cooker culture, and unpredictable schedule and you have a recipe for … well, a big gut. When I started at my ex-firm, most of my fellow first-years were spry and trim. By the time I left two-and-a-half years later, many were bloated and doughy. I maintained my weight, but not because of luck or a "fast metabolism." I knew that entering a law firm meant signing up for a sedentary, stressful lifestyle, so I approached the situation with a plan of attack. Below I share some practical tips for fighting (and winning) the battle of the biglaw bulge.
1. BYO
Noontime CLEs mean sandwich and pasta stations. Practice group breakfast meetings bring baskets of baked goods. Law firms are notorious for their catered spreads. True, it's all free, but just because it's there doesn't mean you have to eat it.
Fend off temptation by bringing your own meal or snacks to catered firm gatherings. This way, you'll be less likely to nosh on those tantalizing cookies or overload your plate with catered fare. You may receive jibes from your coworkers (I certainly did), but you'll have the last laugh when they pack on the pounds while you remain at your fighting weight.
2. Commit to Working Out Three Days a Week
Magazines such as Cosmo and Men's Health routinely suggest that people who don't have time to workout before or after work fit in a quick workout during lunch. Hitting the gym during the middle of the day is usually not feasible for most biglaw attorneys.
Fortunately, it doesn't matter when you work out … as long as you commit to doing it three days a week come hell or high water. Personally, I often worked out twice on the weekends and squeezed one workout in during the week after work. Sticking with this routine will keep your metabolism up and help maintain muscle tone.
3. Control Late Night Binging
Nutrition gurus always warn us not to eat late at night, but working — and eating — after hours is a reality for biglaw attorneys. While you may be forced to chow down at 10 pm, you need not spend (and eat) your entire dinner stipend just because you can. I've seen plenty of colleagues pile their cafeteria trays high with more sodas than they could possibly drink in one evening or order repulsive quantities of sushi just to wring the most money from clients.
Unfortunately, nightly $30 binges hurt your waistline more than they hurt the client's wallet. A good rule of thumb is to order for dinner only what you'd eat if you were paying for it out of pocket. You'll eat less and refrain from buying impulse items like Nutra-Grain bars at the cafeteria register or scallion pancakes on Seamless Web.
4. Counter Your Stress
Lawyers sweat the small stuff — good for your clients and your career, but not for your body. High blood levels of cortical, the hormone you produce when you're under stress, slows down your metabolism. Of course, telling lawyers to magically stop agonizing over typos is useless since they're paid to do so.
But an important part of keeping your weight in check lies in counterbalancing biglaw stress with relaxing activities that give your body a rest from the days' constant adrenaline rushes. That may mean forcing yourself to take a vacation every six months, drinking a beer or two (light, of course) in front of your TV, setting aside time each night to read for pleasure, or committing to bi-monthly massages. Whatever works for you.
5. Don't Blame the Dry Cleaner
When you put on a few pounds, you probably reach for your "fat pants." Though the urge to buy larger clothing or blame the dry cleaner for shrinking your clothes may make you feel better, larger clothing is a gateway to complacency and further weight gain. If you feel comfortable in your upsized wardrobe, you're also more likely to overindulge because there's room to spare in your clothing.
Instead of accommodating the weight gain, I recommend wearing your too-tight, extremely uncomfortable clothing as a reminder to eat healthy and hit the gym. You're less likely to grab that second lemon square if you feel like your belt is strangling you.
How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
By Marin Feldman | Monday, June 14, 2010
Originally published on June 14, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.
Let's face it: jerks are everywhere. But the jerks who ruin your morning coffee with their no-foam attitude or cut you off during your commute do not hold a candle to the jerks you work with every day at your large law firm. So shut the door on your sneering secretary, close your Facebook app, and read this scintillating edition of
BigLaw to discover the five jerks you meet behind firm doors. If you haven't met them all yet, consider yourself lucky.
1. The One-Upper Junior Associate
The One-Upper typically barges into your office uninvited, stack of papers in hand just to let you know that the really important meeting between him and the CEO of the firm's largest client went "really well."
He routinely fake complains about how the managing partner is always pestering him to do "annoying" things like argue motions in court as a first year or attend sporting events as his personal guest. If you filed three motions today, rest assured the One-Upper filed seven and closed a deal and hit the gym and it's only 3 pm. And if you billed twelve hours today, you're getting out early because the One-Upper billed 40 and that wasn't even including this morning.
Dead Giveaways: deal-toy littered office, 12+ page absence memos on "active matters," eats lunch with partners in the cafeteria, sets Outlook timer to send email in the wee hours.
Kryptonite: Personal bankruptcy, layoffs, or being staffed on a matter with another One-Upper.
2. The Entrapper Mid-Level
The Entrapper attempts to raise her own profile at work by contriving situations to make it look like you're slacking off. For example, she'll stop by your office at 9 pm, see that you've stepped out for dinner, and then race back to her office to email the partner with a CC to you stating that since you left for the evening, all further requests should be directed to her.
Sending items through the inter-office mail to slow you down is one of her classic moves, as is sticking Post-Its on your monitor after hours with urgent instructions. She also loves to check in on the status of assignments and update your lack of progress directly to the partner.
Dead Giveaways: Leaves "where are you?" voicemails, reeks of take-out, lives in an apartment within walking distance of the office, checks BlackBerry during meetings with you.
Kryptonite: Self-implosion or destruction of her home life.
3. The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing Senior Associate
The WISC seems like the nicest person in the world ... until he blindsides you with scathing, sneak attack reviews. Suddenly, all those deadlines that he told you were flexible were hard, your memo that he took credit for and forwarded to the client lacked "critical thinking," and those heartfelt conversations you and the he had were "unprofessional intrusions" into his personal life.
After a cooling off period following the review he distances himself from you as you digest the betrayal. Then he'll act like nothing happened.
Dead Giveaways: BCCs, uses personal information against you, pastes strategically damning parts of email into reviews, suspiciously pleasant demeanor.
Kryptonite: The WISC usually cultivates close relationships with one or two partners, and then uses this trust to lend credibility to his reviews. As such, you can destroy a WISC only if the sponsoring partners lateral or the WISC otherwise loses his protected status.
4. The Passive-Aggressive Partner
If you've ever worked for a partner who fails to respond to multiple email messages at critical times, you've worked for a classic Passive-Aggressive.
A typical PA assigns vague research at 6 pm on Fridays before three day weekends and send team-wide emails about how "we" need to remember to proof our briefs rather than having a private, in-person confrontation with the associate who screwed up. He asks questions to which he knows the answers and frequently engages in staring contests.
Dead Giveaways: Assigns make work with phantom deadlines, tells associates they'll have to "play it by ear" when it comes to their vacation requests, resents associates who do not attend his CLE presentations.
Kryptonite: Mandatory retirement.
5. The Indignant Admin
The Indignant Admin believes she was born to do great things ... and entering your timesheets is not one of them. IAs routinely screw up assignments, play Free Cell, and offer unwelcome strategic input on a case.
She is fanatical about her desk property, typically mounting signs that say, "This Purell Is Not Free! Buy Your Own!" and sending floor-wide threatening email messages in red Courier New demanding that whoever took her scissors return them immediately. Associates assigned to IAs who also work for partners can expect to have all their requests ignored.
Dead Giveaways: Inability to perform any task without errors, listens to the radio, commuting delays, takes full number of sick days, complains about your holiday gift.
Kryptonite: A bad review by a partner. A new word processor or other technology.
How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
By Liz Kurtz | Monday, June 7, 2010
Originally published on June 7, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.
My previous column,
Large Firms Are From Mars, Female Lawyers Are From Venus, discussed several recently-released studies that highlighted the perceived gender inequities of life in the large firm world — with respect to origination credit, compensation, rainmaking, and general workplace parity. BigLaw readers shared some interesting thoughts on the topic, which I've collected here.
The results of these studies came as no surprise to many female large firm lawyers, some of whom acknowledged the difficulty of balancing work and motherhood, and, on a more basic level, the unique challenge that law firm life presents for women.
However, some readers scoffed at the notion of law firm discontent as a gender-specific phenomenon. "In point of fact," posited one, "all but a handful of male partners at large law firms would have the same complaints. In every large firm, there are a few significant rainmakers who carry more clout than other parties and thus influence the inner circle of managers who make compensation decisions. Partners outside that inner circle — whether male or female — often feel they have not gotten a fair shake in compensation decisions but are discouraged from appealing those decisions either because of intimidation or recognition of the sheer futility of an appeal."
Another reader pointed out that men and women may differ fundamentally with respect to what makes them feel engaged, appreciated, and successful — even when the ultimate reward is the same. Compensation and origination credit are examples of this circuit split between the sexes: a system of shared origination credit, notes one reader, encourages collaboration and may result in a more equitable distribution of the compensation pie.
But, she reported, the women at her firm seemed much more willing to share credit and compensation in ways that "made the pie bigger for everyone." The men at the firm, however, were "more territorial," and tended to focus more on "making their slice of the pie bigger." Asked what, if anything, might make female partners happier and more successful in the law firm environment, she responded with a chuckle. "I think you'd have to redefine 'happiness' or redefine 'success,'" she said. "Either way, something has to give."
One respondent, who weighed in on why women-dominated firms are not more prevalent, suggested that "it's probably not a question of 'if,' just 'when.'" Despite the sense (and the research-based indicia) that women have not managed to gain equal footing at law firms, she noted, "we're a lot farther along then we were twenty years ago."
"I think we need to be patient," she continued. "Many of the younger women in practice now didn't experience the absolute barriers to entry that their predecessors encountered. For better or worse, we grew up in an environment in which we could expect the same access to professional opportunities that our male peers were afforded. Trying to make those opportunities work for us is the next challenge, and it may take another generation for that to happen. There are still too many older men in the partnership ranks who simply don't appreciate the challenges presented by working motherhood."
Several women pointed out that, as a general matter, women tend to take a larger role in childcare and handling parenting duties. "The expectations of many of the men I work with simply don't factor that in," said one. "I'm expected to be a full-time lawyer, and it doesn't occur to them that I'm also a full-time mother."
As a result, noted another reader, "we — as women — may have to spend a few more years gaining confidence about our ability to practice alongside male lawyers as equals. Hopefully, at some point, women will ask themselves why they feel the need to achieve in that environment. Why not be a superstar in the context of a firm where work truly is flexible enough to accommodate your needs as a mother? I can't help but think that, sooner or later, women will conclude that sometimes it takes a village to raise a child because Mommy has to make her hours for the month, but also has to pick her kid up from daycare. I suspect that if I worked in a female-dominated firm, the other villagers would help me figure out how to make it work."
How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
By Christa Avampato | Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Originally published on May 24, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.
Today I wield a wider brush … I'm swooping it through the sensuous goo of Cadmium Yellow, Alizarin Crimson or Ultramarine Blue to create the biggest, brightest, funniest, fiercest damn dragon that I can … you have a masterpiece inside you, too, you know. One unlike any that has ever been created, or ever will be … no one else can paint it. Only you. — Gordon MacKenzie,
Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace.
Your alarm clock goes off and you groan. I know.
Most Americans feel the same way. Too many of my mornings started that way during this recession.
Large firm culture is tough to survive, especially in a down economy. I've heard every "chin up" phrase in the book: "Be grateful you have a job," "Hang in there," "Of course you hate your job — that's why it's called a job." These lousy aphorisms typically come from people who hate their own jobs and have no idea how to address their predicament. Please ignore them.
Even in a law firm filled with stressed out people, poor morale, and the looming threat of layoffs, you can survive and keep your sanity intact. Give these ideas a try and let me know if they help you see a a brighter future beyond the gloomy horizon. They worked for me.
1. Earn Some Beer Money, Maybe Even Vacation Money
Say goodbye to income from a single source and hello to the reality of the new economy. In February, I started a yoga teacher training class. I just graduated and am now using this experience to begin my own business. For the past two years, I've worked on my freelance writing projects, which have paid off in spades with job offers, paid writing gigs, and loads of contacts. Think about what you enjoy doing, and then find a way to use it to make a little extra on the side, and more importantly, expand your social network.
2. Talk to Entrepreneurs and Read About Them
Entrepreneurs are the economy's fountain of youth. They face tough odds, and their businesses go through more ups and downs than large firms yet they keep looking up. A wise yoga teacher once told me, "I'd rather do my own work poorly than do someone else's work well." Every other entrepreneur I've ever met feels that way too. Their energy will get you thinking in new ways about your own role in the world. They'll inspire to take your future into your own hands.
3. Ask for Work You Want
If there's a matter that interests you at your firm, ask to work on it. The worst your assigning partner will say is "no." So what? If you're going to be "stuck" at your job for a while, at least learn what you want to learn. Your firm uses you to get its work done, so why not use it to get the experience you want? Turnabout is fair play.
4. Volunteer and Get Your Firm to Help You
Through work, I got involved with pro-bono projects that enable me put my business skills to work for nonprofits that want to change the world. I teach several classes through Junior Achievement of New York, and took the United Way's nonprofit board training, all sponsored by my employer. My company matches my charitable contribution up to $8,000 a year and I've leveraged this benefit for the good of the organizations I support. The psychic benefits from volunteering help me keep stress at bay.
5. Have a Creative Outlet
No matter how bad work gets, I come home and write every day. My blog is for me, no permission required. It's one area of my life that no one else has a say in, and having a creative vehicle that's solely my own is a gratifying, empowering experience. My writing has made me a seriously happy, confident person. Change your mind, and you change everything.
Conclusion
In short, the world can't afford to have us frustrated and lost and discouraged. It needs us, the very best of us, everyday. Stop wishing for the economy to get better, for your boss to fully appreciate your contributions, or for the government to deliver a bailout that answers your needs. You are the person you've been waiting for to lead yourself out of these dark days and into a better world. Each day is not just an opportunity — it's your responsibility as a well-educated, passionate, creative person to give the best you've got, regardless of circumstances. Be fierce — better days won't just magically appear. You have to build them yourself. A masterpiece is a terrible thing to waste.
How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
By Marin Feldman | Monday, May 24, 2010
Originally published on May 17, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.
Two weeks ago, I received my New York State attorney registration form in the mail. It asks me to certify by June 16th that I've taken the mandatory number of Continuing Legal Education credits in the past two years and solicits my "biennial registration fee" of $350. Of course, those of you toiling away in large law firms can earn all your credits at your firm and even have your firm pick up your registration fee — but that doesn't mean your CLE experience couldn't stand some improvement.
MCLE: GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS
Requiring lawyers to continue learning is a great idea in theory. But in practice, the mandatory CLE (MCLE) system fails miserably at this mission. MCLE amounts to little more than an expensive hassle (time-wise if not monetarily) in which the educational value gets lost in the mix. New York State may ask me to register my license to practice, but I would rather register my protest … against the current MCLE system.
If you're like most other Biglaw attorneys, you probably choose the CLE classes you attend based on the type and number of CLE credits offered, not the relevance to your practice area. For example, if you're short ethics credits as your certification date approaches, you'll likely attend a class on mediation ethics issues even if you're a tax attorney. The class may be interesting, but it arguably won't help your tax practice.
Even worse, let's say you skipped all your in-house CLE lectures and now have to cram by attending a three-day seminar in some hotel ballroom. Look to your left and look to your right — you'll no doubt see fellow lawyers focusing more on their BlackBerrys than the lectures.
MCLE creates a perverse incentive system.
And it's also tantamount to a regressive tax as those lawyers least able to afford CLE have to pay the most. In New York, CLE providers must offer fee waivers or fee reductions to attorneys who earn less than $50,000 per year, but that's small comfort for those who don't qualify.
THREE SUGGESTED CHANGES
Encouraging attorneys to hone their legal skills and knowledge is a worthy goal. Thus, rather than eliminate MCLE we should instead try to change it from within the system and without so that it actually achieves its purported goal.
1. Practice Area Emphasis
States could require attorneys to obtain CLE credits in their area of practice on a rolling basis. Restricting how lawyers can earn their credits would be more of a hassle than the current MCLE system, but states could reduce the number of credits required.
2. Level the Learning Field
States could also increase their registration fees, but set aside most of the funds in private accounts for each lawyer to use on MCLE courses. Large firms that offer in-house CLE would not be eligible to receive any funds. Thus, the haves and have nots in the legal profession would effectively pay about the same for MCLE.
3. Post Mortems
Not every change has to come from the outside. Taking a page from hospitals, large firms that offer their own in-house CLE could use these programs to conduct post mortems on the firm's recently concluded casework. For example, lecturers could share best practice and mistakes, which vendor they chose for an eDiscovery job, an interesting court opinion that helped win an oral argument, etc. These post mortems would have the added benefit of giving junior associates public speaking experience.
How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
By Liz Kurtz | Monday, May 10, 2010
Originally published on May 3, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.
One-third of female partners regularly bullied by colleagues? An absence of women in the top money-making ranks at nearly 75% of top firms? Take a moment to consider the significance of these findings, which paint a grim picture of the position currently occupied by women in large law firms. Is it really possible that despite the likes of Hillary Clinton and Sonia Sotomayor, women remain unable to gain a significant foothold in the nation's most lucrative firms? That's what an increasing body of evidence suggests.
Unveailed last week at the ABA's Summit for Women In-House Counsel, the "Survey of Women Partners on Law Firm Compensation" paints a disheartening picture of the obstacles faced by women in the legal profession. Of the nearly 700 participating large firm female partners, "fifty-five percent of respondents said they were they were occasionally or frequently denied their 'fair share' of origination credit;" two-thirds "said they were uncomfortable with appealing their compensation decisions, and 30 percent said they were subjected to intimidation, threats and bullying when they did express disagreement,"
according to the Legal Intelligencer.
Similarly,
another report, released in mid-April by the Project for Attorney Retention, shows that fourteen top law firms failed to promote any women to their partnership ranks in 2009. And an
October 2009 study by the National Association for Women Lawyers showed that nearly half of major US law firms had no women among their top rainmakers. The same study revealed that another third of top firms had only one top female rainmaker, while 72 per cent of firms said that none of their top five rainmakers were women.
You Can't Bring Home the Bacon and Fry It Up in a Pan
The revelations contained in these studies come as no surprise to many women. For example, says Allison (a senior associate at a large firm in Manhattan), "work-life balance" remains an elusive pursuit for female Biglaw lawyers, and "work" is often the part of the equation that suffers. "I've worked my butt off for my entire career, and now I'm close to partnership" she laments. "But when I went back to the firm after my son was born, I felt like I wasn't doing a good job at anything. I wasn't there for my son the way I wanted to be, and motherhood invariably — and reasonably — encroached on my work life."
The "solution," she thought, was to take advantage of her firm's part-time program, which seemed tailor-made for a new mother. "It was," she declares, "no solution at all. I billed just as many hours, and was just as available to my colleagues and clients, as I had been before. The only difference was that I was paid less." The partners at Allison's firm seemed oblivious to her part-time status, and when, on occasion, she reminded them, "they were generally peevish at the notion that an associate might not be available 24/7." Going part-time, said Allison, felt like a career move that pushed her further away from the goals she had worked so hard to achieve. "During that time," she says, "the last thing on my mind was 'rainmaking.' I don't care what anyone says: you can't do it all."
Is the situation any better for women who are not mothers? "Hardly!" laughs Dana, a mid-level associate at another large firm. "I still have family obligations, even if they don't revolve around a husband or children," she explains. "And I still have personal needs. But if you're not married with children, any time you spend away from the office is viewed with real disdain." Moreover, she says, "do I feel intimidated by male partners who yell and have tantrums? Yes. Do I work with any female partners who act that way? No. Everyone has a story about the bitchy, Devil-Wears-Prada partner who makes other women miserable. But I've found that male colleagues are much more likely to be abrasive and volatile, especially to younger women who work as their subordinates."
Allison and Dana are just two of the many women who find the large law firm environment inhospitable — and their concerns with work-life balance are not the only reasons for their discontent. In addition to juggling full lives along with even fuller workloads, they say that they struggle with male colleagues who do not view them as intellectual peers, subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) sexual harassment, and social opportunities that remain gender segregated. "What inevitably happens," says Dana, "is that my male colleagues are out golfing or going to sporting events with the other 'boys' from the office, and I just can't compete on that level. Those are bonding opportunities that have very real professional consequences."
No Men Allowed?
Why aren't there more firms that are run by women? "Obviously," says Erica (an associate at a top firm in Philadelphia), a firm can't refuse to hire men. But I dream of going to a boutique firm that is managed by women." And, she explains, "it's not all about work-life balance or motherhood, though those are important considerations. It's about the ways in which men and women work differently. Women solve problems differently; they collaborate in different ways. They tend to be a little more supportive and a little less critical in evaluations, and focus more on growth and improvement than on aggressive, bottom-line judgments."
A female partner at a large New York firm who asked not to be named, agreed. "These are, of course, generalizations," she said, "but honestly: I think that women thrive in female-only environments. There is a greater tendency to focus on collaboration, nurturing relationships, and balancing demands holistically. That's not to say that there isn't competition and cattiness, but I've seen all-female teams turn out truly pristine work product without the anxiety and drama produced when male partners work with female associates."
Why hasn't a stronger "female boutique movement" emerged — women abandoning the world of Biglaw to create kinder, gentler (but still formidable) law firms. What do you think? We hope to gather your thoughts, and report on the crowd's wisdom about this complex topic. Contact me and tell me what you think.
How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
