Law And More

Hiring Women of Color: "Ramdhanie v. Clifford Chance," "Nelson v. Jones Day"

Two high profile gender discrimination lawsuits against law firms could have the unintended consequence of setting back progress for women of color. Surely, prudent hiring committees at law firms will factor in the possibility of that kind of litigation if they welcomed another woman of color aboard.  Why take on that risk in an already volatile industry?

Both "Ramdhanie v. Clifford Chnace" and "Nelson v. Jones Day" have as plaintiffs black females.  Both have had bashlash against the contentions of the plaintiffs by those supposedly in the know.  However, both lawsuits exist and, given their "sexy" content, are receiving probably much more than their rightful share of media attention.  If I were a woman of color seeking a career in legal practice, be it an attorney or staff member, I would be plenty anxious.  

 

"The Good Wife"

Yet another darkness emerging from American values.  Tonight "Victoria's Secret" bumped "The Good Wife" out of its usual 10:00 P.M. Tuesday slot. 

Yet, Alicia's career is totally up in the air.  Diane is splitting off from the firm with family law practice head David and not taking Alicia.  Derek and Will are making nice with each other and readying a platform for a big move.  But will the two take Alicia to their Next?  After all, Will might feel relief at being able to get away from Alicia after their on and off again romance dating back to the Georgetown Law School days.  In the peer review, Derek informed Alicia that her colleagues saw her as aloof and not putting in enough hours.  Would he welcome that kind of profile into his new kind of firm?

We will have to wait until next Tuesday to find out if Alicia is saved.  If not, forget her career path in law.  She lacks the experience to get another law job at least on her own. If Peter doesn't win the election, he won't have the contacts to get her into another law slot.

 

Lawyers: Second Careers

Denial has shifted right into despair for too many JDs who never practiced as a lawyer as well as unemployed and underemployed attorneys.  Bottoming out is a good thing since you break open to possibility.  The timing is excellent to present to you very realistic second careers.

If you have already taken an inventory of your skills and experience you know that you can market your ability and track record for:

1. Test Taking
2. Applying to Educational Programs
3. Persuasion/Advocacy
4. Game Theory and Practice
5. Networking
6. Research
7. Writing
8. Oral Presentation
9. Strategic Thinking
10. Assessment of Risk-Taking, as when advising clients
11. Magical Thinking, as in overconfidence

Therefore, the following career paths are suitable to explore.  You do that by informational interviews with those already in them, studying the help wanted ads in the fields to discern requirements and pick up the language and concepts to insert in your new resumes, cover letters, and interviews, requesting to sit in and observe how the field operates, as in shadowing a sales representative or LSAT-preparation teacher, and researching the demand scenarios.

Here are some of those fields:

• Academics.  Clearly, you have this game down cold, ranging from how to excel in standardized tests to compose the personal essay on admissions forms. to mind-reading what professors want.  Despite the push back against over-education in America, the demand is growing for test preparation coaches, ghostwriters for personal essays, term papers, the master thesis, and dissertations, presentation coaches for admissions interviews, and tutoring for difficult courses. You can start out as a worker bee, then start your own shop.  This market is global, with increasing requests from China.

 

• Public Affairs.  That's an umbrella term which includes all branches of the influence industry.  Standard fields are public relations both in agency work and corporate communications departments, lobbying in-person from K Street or state capitols, lobbying behind the scenes as in reaching out to networks, trade association leadership, creating promotional materials in all media, fund-raising, and foundation work. 

 

• Communications.  This covers all media, both in journalistic and commercial settings.  Jobs for those with a legal background are regularly listed on JournalismJobs.com, Mediabistro.com, Craigslist.com, and CareerBuilder.com.  Freelance work is available through middlemen such as eLance.  You can also promote yourself.

 

• Sales. This is a binary situation.  Either you can sell or you can't.  Pick the right setting to sell in and you can earn plenty of money.  Then you can go on to sales management.  If you want you can develop an enterprise teaching ordinary people the fundamentals of selling.

 

• Career Transition Expert. Those of us who hit bottom in career one or two are naturals for advising others on the pitfalls to transition.  At the top of the list is magical thinking and you know plenty about that.  Also, you can teach the basics of game theory.  Most professionals don't bother with that and should.

 

• Evangelist.  The setting could be the pulpit, lecture circuit, political movement, or foundation.  If you are gifted in performance art, this may be your calling.  You could wind up joining the Roman Catholic priesthood, one industry in which there is a definite shortage of manpower.

 

NY: Opening at ALM for Director of Legal Conferences, CLE Center

If while you were lawyering, you have also been a sort of special events person, this slot could be a possibility.  ALM in New York is conducting a search for a pro to oversee its special events such as legal conferences and the continuing legal education.

Here are more details and how to apply.

Mark Herrmann: Fallible First Person Narrator or Just Great Writer?

In his column "Inside Straight" for Abovethelaw.com, Mark Herrmann lays out the differences between working as a lawyer in a law firm and as an organization man in a corporate law department.  He has been in both roles, the former as partner at Jones Day, the latter as a bigfoot at Aon. Here is today's post.

What's riveting about his columns, at least to us former college English majors, is how he weaves each one together.  The question I have is if Herrmann is leveraging the rhetorical device of what's called the "falliable first person narrator." That's the presentation of the story which reveals more about the person telling it than that person is aware.  It pulls in readers because we bond with the creature's myopia - a trait we all share as we journey through our own lives, including what we do for a living. So much of what Herrmann says about life in corporate law seems to betray his own adjustment process as well as ambivalence. There are times when I wonder if he will return to a law firm.

Or, Herrmann may just be a great writer, that is, stylist.  He captures for us the drama of leaving one of the work settings for a very different one.  In fact he does that so well that he involves us in the shock and angst of change.  Any one who's been through a career transition can fully relate to all that.

Arlington, VA - Bureau of National Affairs want reporter for regulatory/legislative developments

This is a full-time opening at the Bureau of National Affairs in Arlington, Virginia.  Its mission is covering legal and regulatory matters.  If you have any communications background, you might have a shot at this career change.  If I weren't already set up with anchor clients I would apply myself.  Seems fascinating work with so many career options.

Here are details and how to apply.

 

IL, already $21K in hock, run like hell

A 1L at a decent law school asks Elie Mystal at Abovethelaw.com for input on whether to run like hell after the first semester, with only $21K in debt or stick for the whole enchilada.

There doesn't seem to be any ambiguity about the reasons for leaving asap.  The job market is lousy for newbie JDs.  It is bound to worsen for those low in the food chain since clients demand seasoned talent, for the work they are still farming out.  As we all know, in-house is holding onto more of the tasks for cost control reasons. 

As for any arguments not to leave, they all seem cooked up in a stew of magical thinking.  Sure some newbie JDs will have to get the jobs that will be out there and there is no reason to think one of them will not be this 1L.  However, that job better be a very well paid one since this IL will graduate with about $150K in debt.

Disclosure: I left Harvard Law first semester as 1L.  I got it right away that since I was about 40 years of age, I was starting out on that complex career path way too late.  No, I hadn't done my due diligence on how many years it requires to master law.

Boies Schiller: No Lawsuit by The Three Terminated Women

It's a sad day in defense legal practice when we don't have the makings of a juicy employment lawsuit a la Charney or Nelson.  So, it's with much regret that I inform you that the three terminated women at Boies Schiller are not going to sue their employer.  What a show that could have been. On Abovethelaw.com, David Lat reports that the three, in return for nice severance, signed a no-sue agreement.  Of course, in this down market for associate help, that was probably a necessary move. The three might have to see through career transition.

The speculation is that the three were essentially misfits at that particular firm and the loss in the Terra Firma trial gave the powers that be a reason to ditch them.  Nice clean kill, with severance. 

Meanwhile, Boies Schiller had a nice high-profile win for its client Oracle against SAP, represented by Jones Day.  That victory, heavily covered in the legal and business media, deflects attention from the personnel issue of three axed female associates.  On the other hand, Jones Day is still saddled with the Nelson lawsuit by a former African American female staffer. As I mentioned before, things haven't gone well for Jones Day since partner Joe Sims gushed how well positioned the firm was versus its competition.

"Dukes v Wal-Mart" - No US Supreme Court Decision on Certification Review Today

We were expecting a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court today on whether it would review the class action certification for "Dukes v Wal-Mart."  The defendant had requested it.

That isn't going to happen today.  Sources say the next possible date for that decision is December 6th.  I will keep you posted.

Meanwhile, if you want background information on that gender discrimination lawsuit or media updates, you can contact Pamela Avery at Turner Strategies, pam@turnerstrategies.com, 202-466-9633.

D.C. - Part-time PR Opening to support law firm's health care/life sciences practice

If you're already in D.C., you know that it didn't escape the recession.  There too lawyers have been cut.  If you're one of them and if you have some background in communications, you might want to check out this part-time opening.  The employer's identity is confidential.

The AmLaw 200 firm is searching for a public relations consultant to handle promotion of its health care/life sciences practice.

Here are the details and how to apply.