Law And More

For the Principle of It - Winklevoss Twins

The abstract principle the Winklevoss Twins are willing to go to court for again doesn't pass the smell test.  Their one-time supporters in their beef that Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea for Facebook are drifting away.  After all, these old-establishment kids did pick up $60 million in the first lawsuit.  And, in this economy, so much shouting about principle has folks scratching their heads. There's more.  Society's understanding of the law has evolved to knowing that "justice" rarely serves principle.  Perhpas punching someone in the nose rather than resorting to filing a lawsuit proves the principle better.

Compensation: Maybe it really is irrelevant, mostly

Today in his column on Abovethelaw.com Mark Herrmann took the brave step of outing that compensation really is irrelevant, mostly.  Sure the student loans have to be paid off and the baby kept in Huggies.  But those financial demands usually can be met with the lion's share of positions available in law. Therefore, they are never any excuse to search for or to accept a job that you will hate.

Weekly, those employed, underemployed, unemployed, and never employed in the practice of law contact me The Coach.  Frequently, it's for that complimentary 15-minute consultation I offer.  Based on what they pick up during that, including the chemistry between us, they can decide if they want to book a session with the meter running [$100 an hour, available in half-hour increments.]  Over and over again, they state that they have to take a job, stay in a job, or look for a job because of financial obligations. 

Thanks to Herrmann's firm stance on this, I can now say that such talk is simply code for any or all of the following:

• I have no idea who I am and have no desire to find out.  Therefore, I will plop myself in any job and do a force-fit.  No surprise with that attitude, they don't get the job, get sidelined early in the game, or wind up a drunk or suicide.

 

• I don't like law, at least not enough to make the effort to find my place in it.  In essence, they are protecting their sunk costs in a legal education and a few years of practice.  Herrmann loves the law and it shows.  No newsflash, he has the Midas touch on all aspects of it.

 

• I need a career change, maybe to something like journalism or sales.  But, how can I leave the road more traveled?  That means I would have to think for myself.  Up to now, the path has been totally linear.

The odds are that it is one of these classic responses to being stuck that is killing the very ambition which got you into law school, through law school, passing the bar, getting a job, and bouncing back after losing a job.  A useful read might be the book THE ARC OF AMBITION by James Champy and Nitin Nohria.  I just wrapped up the interviews for a feature article I'm doing on ambition for AOL Jobs.  Herrmann is among those I buttonholed for their point of view.  When the piece is published in mid January I will provide the link on this blog. 

New York: Kaplan PMBR has opening for editorial director, JD required

In Greenwich Village, Kaplan PMBR has a full-time job opening for an editorial director for its print publications dealing with bar preparation.  JD is required. The job requires administrative and management skills in addition to editorial ones.

Here is the ad.  Keep checking until until Kaplan PMBR adds on the contact information, which the current posting lacks.

Beyond Lawyering: Attorney as Business Consultant

The best branding for a law firm, not matter it be large or small, is that it excels in b2b advice.  This isn't new.  For a few years now, leaders in law firms such as Jones Day's Mickey Pohl have been hammering that lawyers have to take into account the whole business picture and not approach a legal challenge in isolation.  Now, James Flanigan in THE NEW YORK TIMES is reinforcing that necessity.

Prospects and clients require lawyers to sketch out options and their possible impact on the business.  Those law firms and even solo lawyers who do this with the best outcomes are the ones who are receiving the referrals.  Those who don't are left behind underemployed in a 20th century world in which points of law, unrelated to actual business, ruled.

"Only one lawyer I know walked away from not making partner intact," Underemployed attorney

Does not making partner have to cause such suffering?

That's what I asked an underemployed attorney I have been interviewing for a feature article for a publication.  The suffering seems to be without a basis in reality.  After all, even during normal times for the legal sector, only a handful of associates make partner.  A few years ago, as the business of law was changing, THE ECONOMIST predicted that likely only one out of nine in law school would become a partner.  Now, that's probably lower.

The attorney I was speaking to had worked at large top Manhattan law firms before he washed out of the partner track.  Yes, he was shattered and still is, poring over what might have been "mistakes" made.  Of course he knows the odds are against reaching that goal.  He knew it then. 

The one person who was able to walk about from that usual trauma intact, he told me, had been a woman who didn't take the game all that seriously.  So she didn't self-destruct.  Shrewdly, she leveraged her legal background into a new career path as a journalist about the business of law.

So, what can the profession do to prepare new entrants to see the game for what it is, get what they can out of it especially in terms of skills that are marketable in other lines of work, and be grateful they got as far as they did?

My recommendation is to be honest about the difficulty of succeeding.  In a sense, the hopes of practicing law have become analogous to the hopes of being paid to act, do stand-up comedy, or write serious nonfiction or fiction.  Nothing wrong in trying.  But since failure seems in the cards for most, frame all that as a youthful experiment. Eventually, it's a great story to tell our children.

Nicholas Marsh Suicide: Untested Ambition

In the January 3rd edition of THE NEW YORKER, Jeffrey Toobin tells the story [Abstract Only] of the ambition and suicide of Nicholas Marsh. 

Like many driven attorneys, Marsh was so successful and then, untested, found himself in a scandal.  Had the tests come early in his rise to influence and power as a member of the federal government's Public Integrity Section, Marsh might not have gotten into the pickle in the first place.  That mess was the pursuit of the late U.S. Senator from Alaska Ted Stevens. Toobin describes it as "a profoundly unjust use of government power against an individual - a case flawed in both conception and execution."

Marsh's rise, fall, and suicide is a morality tale of ambition which must be tamed.  No young attorney should have had the responsibility and authority Marsh enjoyed.  Obviously, he couldn't handle it.  The group assigned to investigate the prosecution of Stevens tentatively concluded, reports Toobin, "that Marsh and others committed professional misconduct." 

Toobin speculates that most lawyers and probably including Marsh can make it back from such a scandal.  Had Marsh been more professionally mature he might have realized that and held on.

D.C. - VisaPro Law Firm Has Opening for Content Writer

If you're already in Washington D.C. and unemployed, underemployed or unhappy, here's a ticket out.  VisaPro law firm, with obvious practices in immigration, needs a full-time content writer. In the ad it indicates that telecommuting is possible.   Here's the job description and how to apply.

Class Warfare Ended in Great Britain w/o Courts or Parliament

This shows that human beings, without the courts or Parliament, can make a difference.  Class warfare has ended in Great Britain.  William and his bride to be Kate just said no to having servants. That means they will be just like Everyman and Everywoman. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and various tort reform organizations are likely to honor the two for resolving conflict on their own.

Whose Law? Banned Alcohol Mainstream in Pakistan

Whose law is it when no one complies?  In Pakistan alcohol is banned.  Yet, drinking in is so mainstream that the country struggles with the problem drinker.  On the books is the punishment of 80 lashes for ingesting alcohol but that hasn't been applied since the 1980s.

Newbie MBAs Pulling Down Half-Million Compensation

So, I, 2, and 3 Ls, you are committed to pursuing academic excellence in your various law schools.  Meanwhile, newbie MBAs, reports FORTUNE, are pulling down a half-million in first-year compensation.  That includes base salary of about $300,000, signing bonus, guaranteed year-end bonus, and reimbursement of relocation expenses and tuition.

That's at the upper end of the placement picture.  Those are the rock stars going to private equity firms, hedge funds, investment banks, and consulting.  And most of those newbies have graduated from brandname business schools such as Wharton, Stanford, Chicago, Columbia, and Northwestern.

However, a bit down the food chain, the more plain-vanilla newbie MBA isn't doing too shabby either. The median starting salary for them is about $110,000.  That trumps the no-salary newbie JDs are being offered to "intern" at public interest organizations and the fellowship stipends of about $35,000 elite law schools such as Harvard created last year for the Class of 2010. 

Reflection: Address your question to Elie Mystal at Abovethelaw.com if you should protect your sunk cost in law school and finish the degree, expand your program to include a joint MBA degree, or flag down a taxi in New Haven or Cambridge, return to your childhood bedroom, and begin preparing for the GMAT. Regarding the latter, always remember you're a crackerjack taker of standardized tests.