Law And More

Cadwalder Layoffs, Now Dechert - But There's a Dark Side to Personal Branding

A layoff, such as at Dechert today, is never just a reduction-in-force.  It is always a symbol and signal to the survivors in the industry.  The symbolism is all about red flags.  And the signal is all about taking care of Number-One.

The result is often an attempted flight to safety.  Since Tom Peters coined the term "Personal Branding," safety seems to default into creating one's strong professional identity.  Those who did that, such as Mark Penn guru of Hillary's ill-fated Presidential campaign, did get opportunities that might not come to those who travel their career without an clear high concept. 

However, as we're seeing now in the positioning of Penn as Chief Scapegoat for the Hillary downward trajectory, personal branding has its dark side.  Because of its power it has to be managed carefully.  Too much and a careerist like Penn has a bullseye on him.  Too little and there's frustration that the pro doesn't let us know enough about him.

The proven way to avoid the dark end of personal branding is to err on the side of moderating promoting the person.  The lion's share of outreach could better be applied to the issues and what can be learned from the success - or even the failure. 

That's exactly what the legal players in lead paint litigation, both defense and plaintiff, seem to be doing.  Unlike criminal attorney Alan Dershowitz they seem to shun the full glare of the spotlight and allow what the litigation represents in law and public policy take center stage.  Legal-watchers opine that Dershowitz's extreme high profile might have become somewhat of a liability.

The same strategy of serving as a platform for the legal issues involved is what the Rhode Island lead paint defendants' public affairs representative Gregg Perry seems to have adopted.  His firm Prism Public Affairs, with its headquarters in Washington D.C., has featured the legalities, not even winnings and victories.  Perry himself is a presence in this saga and a wonderful source of information and documents but deliberately stays off center stage.

Maintaining the focus on the work and success insights that can be shared prevents the brand identity from hardening into orthodoxy.  Neither the lead paint attorneys nor their firms want to be pigeon-holed into that litigation niche.  Think how Microsoft is trapped into shrink-wrapped software.   

Branding came to be because a smart Chief Executive Officer Neil McElroy at Procter & Gamble realized that a clear product identity for Camay soap would be a pull force both in the marketplace and within marketing at the company.  That was 1931.  That simplification, which guarantees the same product attributes or consumer experience all the time and allows integrated marketing, worked and works so well that most of us can't think outside the brand box.

The pitfall is that enough of us don't give adequate consideration to not getting stuck in that very box.  How to learn to manage personal branding?  Observe those who manipulate this tool vs. its manipulating them.  Examples?  Barack Obama, Paul Newman, Caroline Kennedy, Rupert Murdoch, and Scott Turow.

A basic oldie but goodie read on branding is the 2000 "Branding Leadership" by David A. Aaker and Erich Joachimsthaler.

Dechert Layoffs Rock Legal World - 2nd Shoe Drops after Cadwalader

For 2007, Dechert's gross revenue increased 14.7 percent. But when it announced those results the Philadelphia law firm characterized 2007 as "a difficult year for the industry."  Was that kind of announcement meant to prepare for today's stunner:  The layoff of 13 associates in finance and real estate. In addition, some attorneys at Dechert were shifted to other practices.

In the legal world, this is the so-called "second shoe" to drop.  The layoffs at Cadwalader can no longer be viewed as idiosyncratic.  What most associates and partners are increasingly wary about is that the current economic conditions can be and will be used as excuses for reductions-in-force - even when not financially needed.  RIFs can boost profit-for-partners.  It can also clear the decks of marginal players and the wooing of new talent can take place.

In addition to the high-profile layoffs of 35 attorneys at Cadwalader, there have also been RIFs at Thacher Proffitt [24], McKee Nelson [23], and Clifford Chance [6].

This raw belly of uncertainty in BigLaw might account for the relatively low page views for my post on associate churn.  It's one thing to plan your exit strategy from your job.  It's quite another to contemplate being pushed out before you're ready or your student loans are paid off.

During a threatened or ongoing RIF, here are some useful tips:

• Don't show fear. That could give the powers-that-be you might have something to be afraid about.
• Maintain a low profile.
• Keep out of the internal grapevine.  To get news and information, reach externally to your allies out there.
• Develop a plan of action for the worst-case scenario.
• Position this threat as an opportunity.  After all, you are being forced to look up from your work and at the big picture of your career.
• Yes, it could be useful to read some books about professional coping in tough times.  In addition, most career coaches provide free confidential initial consultations.  The quality of coaching ranges from brilliant to con.  Get names from your network.

Reflection: It was the fact that I went in the first round of layoffs at Kraft that forced me to get it that I was not an organization person, not The Professional Woman, but an entrepreneur.

Scruggs' AL Contempt Case Dismissed

Today, Federal Judge C. Roger Vinson dismissed criminal contempt charges against Dickie Scruggs.

In LEGAL NEWSLINE, John O'Brien reports that Judge Vinson "cited a lack of jurisdiction over Scruggs in dismissing the charge."  That charge was that Scruggs had allegedly violated a court order about the return of confidential Hurricane Katrina-related documents to State Farm Insurance.

Associate Churn - What Does Gen Y Want?

At the three to four year point, BigLaw is losing up to 50 percent of its associates. Such jaw-dropping churn has been detailed in "After the JD," a study of 4000 in the class of 2000, conducted by the American Bar Foundation, Harvard Law School and some other concerned institutions. 

In reporting on this trend in CORPORATE COUNSEL, Ben W. Heineman Jr. and David B. Wilkins list some of the obvious reasons for bailing out. None of them are new: Too much work, uninteresting/grunt work, little professional development, no initial transparency about expectations during hiring, the dim prospects for making partner, choice made available after law school loans are paid off, dual-career marriages with the spouse needing to relocate, and cold, uncaring work environment.

The expatriots from BigLaw are fleeing to smaller firms, more competitive firms nearby, firms in other cities, and non-law firm jobs in government, teaching and in-house corporate.  Among those expats are those such as Mike Nilan who started up 55-lawyer firm Halleland Lewis Nilan & Johnson.  When I spoke to Nilan about growing larger and expanding to the coasts, he softly said how much he loved the "shop" as it was - in Minnesota. Here's my post on that shop's atypical law firm culture.

The suggestions in this three-page article on how to fix this are also obvious.  They bring the workplace back to how it was when I started my first "serious" and high-paying job at Chevron. 

At Chevron, each newbie's work load was monitored, for both quantity and enough developmental opportunities. That entailed more work for higher-ups as well as risk. Those for whom we were doing advanced work were warned that we were novices but, not to worry, we were closely supervised. Human resources and one's manager went out of their way to accommodate personal problems like a dual-career marriage or a dying parent. If we became unhappy in Pittsburgh, the powers-that-be kept their eyes open for openings in Houston or Denver.  Without having to sue, we were able to change intolerable or abusive situations.  And, it really was possible to have trusted friends at work. Networks were forever.

It seems that Gen Y wants just that - the whole package of growing at work and enjoying being there.  There is also the external pressure here of realizing not to count on any reward for gritting one's teeth and being the good soldier.  Not only do fewer associates make partner.  Partners are also being crushed by the new realities of BigLaw and no longer are out the door for dinner with the family they re-discovered.  My Baby Boomer Gen tended to put on blinders and lower immediate expectations because lucrative upward mobility was usually in the cards. 

Can BigLaw learn to create a workplace of caring about junior employees? Some of that is already happening.  At Jones Day, at least in the Pittsburgh product-liability group, there seem to be the bonds of family.  My hunch is those grew and strengthened during the lead-paint siege over a decade.  Other parts of BigLaw are foolish not to harness this power when up against a formidable/relentless adversary.

A second recommendation: Can the BigFoots in BigLaw re-learn to love themselves, their clients and the intellectual challenge that drew them to law?  If they create those places in the heart once more, just about everything else might fall into place. It always did back in the early 1980s.

The Experience Economy, Trials & If RI Lead Paint Jury Visited 74 Hamilton, Providence

The so-called Experience Economy or life as a stage permeated the Rhode Island Lead Paint Public Nuisance Trial II - but not enough. 

Yes, defense attorney Don Scott of Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott did his show-and-tell on behalf of client NL Industries with the Home Depot sander.  His point, and we all got it, was that the supposed monumental and expensive job of removing lead paint could be done with a $70 off-the-shelf tool from Home Depot.

And magician with timing defense lawyer Mickey Pohl of Jones Day led us through a verbal strip-tease on behalf of his client Sherwin-Williams. When he was finished the scholarly professor had no objectivity.

There was also the intense note-taking by jurors. Jurors became so attached to those notepads that they were crushed, they told me when I interviewed them, the Court wouldn't let them keep them.

However, since 1999, when that book "The Experience Economy: Work is Theatre & Every Business [Profession] a Stage" came out, the concept of experience has morphed from showmanship to interaction.  The formerly passive audience who was dazzled watching the Starbucks barista custom-making their java has demanded and gotten roles.  Sephora cosmetics, which charges premium prices, is configured for consumers to play with different looks. They are the ones on stage.

So, the RI plaintiff, that is, the state of RI, could have missed out on a superb interactive opportunity.  They could have loaded the six jurors and the alternatives on a yellow school bus and brought them to 74 Hamilton Street in Providence or one of the other properties listed on the Department of Health Website as containing lead-paint hazards.  Those jurors would have gotten to see and touch the lead paint on the walls, window sills, and doors.  No more dramatic way to create and embed a visual and tactile memory. 

Some states are getting this.  For example, they are now allowing jurors to actually ask questions of witnesses.  In the Phil Spector trial, the jurors did visit the crime scene, but that's in Hollywood, of course.  And a growing number of judges, just like RI Superior Judge Michael Silverstein, are encouraging jurors to take notes.

If there is a RI Lead Paint Public Nuisance Trial III, here are my recommendations for more effective - that is, capable of broadcasting a point - staging include these:

• A jury trip to the lead-hazard properties

• A junket to Boston to visit with Dr. Michael Shannon's lead-poisoned children and witness his new experimental treatment

• A jury trip to a big-box as well as a discount [Dollar] store with all its hazardous merchandise for children, ranging from toys to jewel

• Just like Steve Farese constructed for the court the tableau of the wig and platform shoes which his client Mary Winkler was forced to don during sex, build a tower of household products which are not only dangerous but possibly lethal to children.  Pass around all the products among the jurors

   

• And, a demonstration by Don Scott, in his Mr. Workman clothes, on the hazardous process of removing lead paint from a surface.  On the surface will be a non-leaded paint with the texture of lead.

Doing is believing.  One time I won an assignment over BigPR firms by putting a magic marker in the prospect's hand, escorting him to the whiteboard, and having him list his challenges and opportunities.  When he sat down, I listed in a different color magic marker the exit strategies for the problems and the harness ones for the opportunities.  That day, we both sang for our supper.  The prospect loved that experience.

By the way, what's Dann up to? - OH Lead-Paint Watcher Wonders

All lead-paint watchers' eyes aren't on Rhode Island.  A resident who lives outside Cleveland, Ohio contacted me about why is Marc Dann not moving forward with his public nuisance lawsuit against the 10 former lead-paint companies.  "What's he waiting on," asks this man who also owns some Sherwin-Williams' stock.

Recently I checked in with my OH sources and they say all have been quiet on the lead paint  litigation front.  Could it be that the governor Ted Strickland is operating behind the scenes to make the litigation somehow go away? 

Strickland and OH are high profile in Campaign08. A win for Hillary on March 4th in the Buckeye State could restore hope to her run and maybe attract fresh funding. Also Strickland has positioned himself as the Economic Development Czar.  He has signed an order cutting red tape so it's easier, faster and less expensive for companies, especially small ones, to do business in OH.  He has also sent the legislature a stimulus package that could create 80,000 new jobs.

There had been a rumor that when Dann announced his lead paint public nuisance lawsuit that the whole thing was a surprise to Strickland.  When I visited the state last November, everyone recounted that tale to me.  However, as we all know, numbers of believers don't make an urban legend true.

Intelligence from OH welcome.  Please contact Mgenova981@aol.com.

"I wasn't crazy about being attorney general anyway," Jim Hood, MISS AG

Even those powerful state attorneys general often aren't crazy about their jobs.  Mississippi AG Jim Hood said he much preferred his old job of being a district attorney than his current gig. He added, reports John O'Brien of LEGAL NEWSLINE, that in the last election he didn't need to tap the deep pockets of Dickie Scruggs to run and win his second term as AG.

Well, voters in MISS right now aren't too crazy about Hood either.  Although he received the most votes of any statewide official in the November election, since the Scruggs' bribery indictment there have been calls for his resignation. Hood maintains he had no unethical or illegal relationship or transactions with Scruggs.

Scruggs also claims he is innocent of all the accusations made in the courts of law and public opinion about him.

Rhode Island Supreme What?

"To be honest, I have forgotten when the Rhode Island Supreme Whatever hearings are and when a ruling might come," a shareholder in one of the RI Lead Paint Defendants' companies tells me. 

I had asked what this investor was feeling about the May 15th oral arguments by those defendants and the plaintiff.  Apparently, not much. 

After several yawns, this shareholder did add, though, "I guess I should be hoping that as a result of this 2 millionth court proceeding on lead paint in 10 years that maybe my stock will go up.  My retirement fund could use the bump."

Readers - do you have any strong or not so strong feelings about May 15th?  Please leave a comment or contact Mgenova981@aol.com.

Trent Lott's new firm represents AT&T in FISA Fight

Trent Lott says his new firm Breaux Lott Leadership Group [BLLG]  provides strategic counseling to businesses which need to learn how Inside-the-Beltway works.  Others contend BLLG sure looks, smells and walks like a lobbying shop.  Whatever. 

Jack O'Dwyer reports on the public-relations website ODWYERPR.COM [paid subscription] that AT&T is among BLLG's charter clients.  O'Dwyer states, "The telecom giant has given BLLG the mission to back the controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA]." 

FISA allows U.S. government to eavesdrop on "foreigners" without needing a warrant.  The issue involved is that the controversial act expired last week but the House is withholding approval.  House Dems are against giving telecoms like AT&T immunity from lawsuits.  And we can bet if the Dems get back in the White House those lawsuits could be a major challenge for the telecoms.

AT&T's public relations firm of record is Fleishman-Hillard.

Pellicano - No Plea Bargains

Switching from the South and All the King's Men to the Left Coast, that other sensational trial - Pellicano - remains a go.  There will be no plea deals for Mark Arneson, the former police sergeant, and Ray Turner, the former telephone employee.  Those negotiations broke down.  The two were hoping to plead guilty solely to charges which do not include RICO violations.

What all this means is that they will be in court as witnesses in the Pellicano trial, which like all Left Coast courthouse theatre, promises to be totally riveting.  Big names like Michael Ovitz are on the prosecutor's list of possible witnesses.  This will make the Phil Spector show seem tame.

It's alleged that Arneson supplied Private Investigator to the stars and power-brokers with info obtained illegally from police databases. Turner allegedly was the pointperson for executing illegal wiretaps.

Observation: Pellicano will have the stars. Scruggs, if a trial does happen, will have the layers of intrigue.