Law And More

Pragmatism New Meme: Ditch the dreamin'

A guy who washed out as an eight-year associate talks about relocating from Pennsylvania to New York to get a better shot at assignments in the legal market.  He's been out of the loop for 14 months.  A former partner at a law/lobbying hybrid discusses building a mass-tort practice.  Right now that's bringing in about $20,000.  Our eyes glaze over. One woman actually steps back from the conversation.  The new meme is pragmatism.  Dreamin' scares us.

Two recessions in the first decade of the 21st century changed most of us.  Our capacity for tolerating dream talk is at an all-time low.  We have witnessed what happens to professionals who are knocked out of the box who don't have a solid grasp of economic realities.  Where they wind up is broken.  One former practicing lawyer joked, "I could wind up in a room in a boarding house."  No one chuckled.  It cut too close to the bone. 

Bikram Choudhury: Soon enough there will be more lawsuits against preachers of enlightenment

Gurus will always be with us.  

That's because there will always be needy people who are seduced by a closed system of absolutes which provides all the answers.  No need to think.  Just stay within the system.  

The January issue of VANITY FAIR describes how "hot yoga" guru Bikram Choudbury acquired quite a following.  Along with that was great wealth.  Now he is being sued by a number of female disciples for alleged sexual assault.  Here is a long excerpt from that article by Benjamin Wallace (sub. req. for the rest).

I have a hunch that there will be more lawsuits against those who supposedly carry the doctrine of enlightenment.  A former Roman Catholic (including a heavy dose of dogmatism at Seton Hill University, Central Pennsylvania) I'm a sucker for truth-carriers.  About 20 months ago I was big-eyed for the schools of Buddhism taught at two centers in New Haven, Connecticut.  Of course, as with all religions and philosophies there were useful takeaways.  Those included the techniques of mindfulness or meditation.  

However, that acquisition came at the cost of what I perceived as verbal abuse.  Under the guise of enlightenment members were soundly chastised in public.  I was one of them.  No slouch when it comes to pushing back, I contacted the equivalent of the Vatican in Buddhism.  I stated my beefs.  And that was that.  

Why haven't I sued? Too much work for too little harm.  Unlike myriad other members who have been seeking enlightenment for years, including in paying for retreats that extend months and years, I got out relatively fast.   The benefit of having been a devout Catholic  is that we develop a sensitive nose for closed systems that have no way out.  

However, I anticipate there will be those with more of an investment in enlightenment who experience old-line rage.  If enough join together there could be a juicy mass tort.  That could deflect negative attention from the Catholic Church.

Mandela and Tambo: Lawyers as folk heroes

Nelson Mandela's funeral is supposed to be as big as that of war hero Winston Churchill.  During the memorial it might be mentioned that he started out as a lawyer. That's not unusual for change agents who became folk heroes.  Those include Abraham Lincoln to Mahatama Gandhi. 

AM LAW DAILY chronicles how,  as a lawyer in South Africa, Mandela noticed that people of color were being charged higher fees than white clients.  The firm he set up with a partner Mandela and Tambo represented reform.  Of course the establishment didn't like that.  The lawyers were harassed.  Eventually their office was burned down.  Here is that account from AM LAW DAILY. 

The legal system of any nation incorporates the norms.  Lawyers can't miss noticing that, especially when those values are rancid.  Despite the lousy conventional job market, getting a law degree might represent a useful first step for the next Mandelas around the world. 

Stanley Stallworth: Say it isn't so (that BigLaw attorney could be this stupid)

Encouraged by his mother to go to the police, a male teenager in the Chicago area claimed that he had been drugged and sexually assaulted.  The miscreants allegedly were Stanley Stallworth, a partner in the real estate practice of Sidley Austin, and Therrie Miller, his male nephew.  Bail for each has been set at $150,00. Here are the details in the story BUSINESS INSIDER picked up from the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. 

The story sounds fishy, at least if you consider that a main character is supposedly an intelligent man who knows a lot about the law.  According to the victim, the nephew and he met in a barbershop.  He was lured to the uncle's residence.  There a drink was "forced" on him.  The two times he came to, after being supposedly drugged, he was aware of being raped by each of them.  When the ordeal was over, Miller allegedly drove him home.  There he relayed this experience to Mama Bear.  The rest is now criminal history.

Why would a brandname lawyer risk his career by becoming part of this seeming B-grade horror film?  And  had he really committed the act, why would he let the victim live?

Does Stallworth have enemies who want his good name tarnished?  Or is this a man who has lost his normal reason?

Robert L. White, et al. - Burden of proof on age discrimination lower in NJ

Because so many variables are involved in assessing work performance, proving that age discrimination was even a factor, never mind the factor in a termination has been difficult.  

As Michael Winerip reports in THE NEW YORK TIMES, the 2009 U.S. Supreme Court ruling mandates that age bias be proved to be the primary reason for a layoff.  However, in some states such as New Jersey, the burden of proof is lower.  Plaintiffs only have to demonstrate that age bias was one factor.  

In the NYT article, Winerip chronicles the lawsuit of Robert L. White, former director of career services at Rutgers University.  Several other terminated aging employees have joined the suit.  Here is that story.

This category of lawsuit is hardly about rights.  It is all about the economic reality that once the aging lose their good jobs, the odds are against them for finding a comparable one.  That represents not just a loss of income.  Until they reach the age at which they are eligible for Medicare, they also will have to cough up the cost of health insurance.  White is also burdened with providing health insurance for the whole family.  Monthly he shells out $2,400. Clearly that can deplete a nest egg. 

Given the huge number of Baby Boomers - about 76 million - a plaintiff win or significant settlement will have big implications.  Those of us in full time jobs will be encouraged to take legal action if we suspect discrimination.  Employers, even at the stage of recruiting, will be more cautious.  Too many help wanted actually use the word "young."  What disrespect for the contribution aging workers, with all their experience, can provide.

Lawyers Who Can Write in Plain English: Contract/telecommuting writing opportunity

You have to know the legal stuff you're writing about.  A firm in New York which creates custom content to lawyers and other kinds of professional services pros has openings for "lawyer writers."  You have to put concepts in language a layperson could understand. For a 30 to 40 page manuscript you get paid $1250.  Bonuses and accreditation also possible.

Check it out here. 

Wiley Rein, Washington D.C. - Opening for seasoned biz development analyst

This position demands experience in everything from researching the market to creating persuasive pitches to prospects.  A lawyer skilled in the marketing side of law would be ideal.  Here are the details and how to apply.

Magic Circle Partners Bill $1375.56 Hourly: Nice compensation if you can pull it off

One can respond to England's Magic Circle lawyers' good fortune with despair or hope.  The partners, reports THE LAWYER, are pulling in about $1375.56 per hour.  That represents a significant number of pounds in England.  Here is the coverage in THE LAWYER. 

Those choosing hope can play with the idea about how to get themselves situated to earn a lot more than they are now.  So much of earning power is associated with branding or the aura one puts together.  Sure, the talent has to be there.  And there has to be some kind of track record.  But in every profession some simply make it to the top rungs of earning power. 

Unemployed, Underemployed, Unhappy Lawyers/Law Students: Sunk costs mean shit

Troubles talk is over.  

The focus is all back to how to make money, hopefully with less effort than we put in during the past several years.  U.S. Q3 GDP was over 3%.  The November jobs report showed 203,000 of those wonderful things created. Unemployment is down to 7%.  Here is the coverage of happier times by THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.  This is exactly the right time to make your moves.

So how do you begin to do that?  You cut the troubles talk, a natural default in lawyers.  Once you do that, everything else falls into place.  That includes:

Debt is a mindset.  Ditch it. Student loans, mortgage, kids' private school bill for next year, credit card balances.  When you stop thinking about those numbers you can get cagey about what moves to make to get out of what you're in and into something that makes money without killing you.

Sunk costs mean shit. Forget them. You're not the only one who invested heavily in preparing for law school, going to law school, and putting up with crap in a law job.  Everyone has sunk costs that didn't pay off or not as much as had been expected.  What day goes by in which we didn't sink some costs in making inroads with a so-called influencer, a potential lover, or improving a tennis game and there was no progress?  The reality is that there are plenty of sunk costs which represent a total waste. So?  Forget that metric.  It keeps you stuck.

The lawyer persona - ha-ha-ha.  It's common sense.  Lawyers are hated.  That's mostly because of how they present themselves.  So. if you're going after employment or starting a business outside the legal sector you are not going to comport yourself as a lawyer.   To make that shift, study successful professionals in fields you would like to enter.  Imitate them in talk, walk, facial gestures, body language and dress.  Soon you will have a whole new identity.  I promise you.  The new self will attract people who can help you.

Starting somewhere, anywhere.  Everybody had to start somewhere.  Few start at the top.  One month I was making $10 an hour in a call center.  The next month I was making $15 an hour editing stuff.  The third month I was making $5,000 for writing two speeches.  The fourth month I was making $13,000 ghostwriting a short book.  Had I not started somewhere, anywhere, I wouldn't have gotten back into the money.  Action - not thinking - helps us sort out things. 

Self-forgiveness. It's the reverse side of narcissism to view our screw-ups as huge.  Instead of staring at the pile of failures and missed opportunities, just tell yourself you are sorry for not protecting that self better. 

The holiday season gives you a stay of execution.  Not much will be moving.  Meanwhile you make that internal shift from holding on to a fantasy of what your career should have been to opportunities in the present.

 

Legal Sector Loses 1,100 Jobs in November 2013

The economy grew more than 3% last quarter but the legal sector isn't coming back.  According to the U.S. Labor Bureau, 1,100 jobs were lost in November.  That is the second month of contraction.

Unlike Corporate America in the late 1970s when it was disrupted by global competition, the U.S. legal sector isn't taking decisive action to the paradigm shifts in demand, client push-back against pricing, and the impact of technology on how services are delivered.  At GE Jack Welch and at Chrysler Lee Iacocca became heroes because they reconfigured how work was done.  Both slashed full-time jobs and brought in contract workers.  Both experimented with adding or deleting businesses in order to increase profits.  And both laughed off criticism from established forces who decried their deep-sixing the entrenched social contract between owners and workers.

Most law firms are merely tinkering with their models.  Also they are playing with fire in considering mergers, most of which have been destructive in the legal sector. High-paid entry level associates who know little continue to be hired.  All the firms are chasing the same sort of business, making it a zero sum game.  And partners make too much and have too much power.