Law And More

Law Firms following corporate model of downsizing: No more golden handcuffs

It's already happening: Talented lawyers get it that there's no job security and/or the reward of partnership for sticking with BigLaw.  They have nothing much to lose and plenty to gain, especially in work-life balance by being pioneers in developing alternative career paths.  In short, there are no more golden handcuffs to keep ambitious attorneys tethered to the old model. 

In corporate America we went through the same epiphany, only much earlier - in the 1980s.  As a result, many of us who were axed or saw it hovering over our heads experimented with new models for delivering services only large organizations used to. My hunch is that's how the Bloomberg Marketings, Googles, and the Typepads came to be. The result was innovation, usually at a lower price, with flexibility for the founders.

Dan Slater in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Law Blog discusses some of the new models sprouting up in law.  One is temp firm Axiom co-founded by Mark Harris who once was employed by Davis Polk. Axion recruits only the best but gives them flexibility.  The client gets, yup, state-of-the-art counsel, usually at significantly less a price than BigLaw. There will be plenty more other kinds of models being launched.

That's because the timing couldn't be better.  This downturn is sufficiently severe to make most of those using professional services firms think twice about the usual fee structure.  I know. 

The deeper this recession becomes, the more folks ring up my little shop.  They are aware of two things: Our reputation is good and our price is more than fair.  So, these non-early-adopter types are willing to try out a non-establishment vendor. Moreover, large professional services firms, with their monster fixed overhead expenses, can't discount enough to be in our pricing ballpark.

These legal hustlers might find a nice bit of business from General Counsels enraged at the continued escalation in the fees that BigLaw charges them.  I know. They tell me this all the time.  Their beef is not responsiveness of the law firms. It's the money.  A Dem Administration is bound to create much more legal work within corporations.  Axion et al. might knock on those doors.

Flatlined Attorneys - Become lobbyists against gov takeover of health care

"Flat" is the euphemism law firms are using to describe their projected revenues for 2008. That's what Jamie Heller tells us in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Law Blog. But as the economic downtown deepens and General Counsels snatch more routine legal work in-house, "flat" could become "plunging," and plenty more attorneys, both associates and partners, can be axed. 

Fortunately, there will be plenty of opportunity for front-line and back-room lobbyists to push back against the populist push for a government takeover of health care.  A May poll by Quinnipiac University found that 61 percent answered yes to: It was the government's responsibility to make sure that everyone in America has adequate health care.  But more indicative of the intensity of this threat is that the July/August edition of the conservative THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR has a 10-page article by Philip Klein warning readers to prepare to fight. 

An independent I dutifully buy and study THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR because of its bullet-proof intelligence about what will likely happen on the national scene.  When it ran a long piece attacking Elizabeth Edwards' book I knew that John Edwards would soon be declaring himself as a candidate and that conservatives saw him as someone to be concerned about.  

The Editor-in-Chief R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. and his well-connected network don't miss a trick.  Last edition contained a negative article on Michelle Obama and this edition on the candidate himself.  So, conservatives see the Michelle and Barack show as much too popular for their liking. In defense, and it is a defense, not on the offense, there is a praise piece this edition for John McCain. So, from this I read that the conservatives have written off the 2008 election as lost.

In addition, given the amount of page power THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR has invested in keep the U.S. health care system private, we can conclude there will be a dog fight over this if the new President is a Dem and the new Congress is heavily Dem.  That means unprecedented opportunity for lobbyists, public affairs strategists, and conservative think tanks.  In addition, being involved in this fight, unlike toiling like a slave in a law firm, could lead to a secure career in advocacy work, loyal clients, and some work-personal life balance.

Public Nuisance - This Dog Don't Hunt, Do Bankruptcy

With GM and possibly Chrysler teetering on bankruptcy, along with all the vendor bankruptcies that would trigger, that's the practice area lawyers might want to be in.  The public nuisance specialization, which many attorneys have probably over-invested in, seems to be a dog that don't hunt.  Just ask the folks at Motley Rice about that.

On the other hand, monster collapses of manufacturers, with their complex global supply chains, seem much more promising.  In PORTFOLIO Magazine, Merrill Lynch auto analyst John Murphy uses the phrase "if the market continues to deteriorate" in relation to GM, whose stock tumbled 13 percent yesterday.  And we all know that the market will continue to deteriorate. Oil will keep going up as the recession deepens.

Howard Rice's Late Start Date for 3 newbie associates

What does this mean?

San Francisco's Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin has requested three newbie associate hires to delay starting work at the firm for a year.  The firm claims this is not an expense issue.  It will be paying a stipend to the three and attempting to secure them a year's work in public interest legal services.  It contends the action is taken so that all junior associates at the firm have enough to do.  The amount of the stipend is not disclosed.

Petra Pasternak reports in THE RECORDER that other law firms have also delayed start dates until October.  Do these delays signal a softening in the demand for legal services as well as magical thinking that demand will pick up by a certain date?  If I were those on the delayed list, I would be worried, especially about paying off those student loans.  There is no guarantee that they will be employed at all or long enough at a high-paying law firm to eliminate that debt - or build a career in law.

One for AGs Cuomo, Brown: Why law, journalism schools allow students to purchase an education they won't be able to afford

In its article today about the unemployed and underemployed returning to their alma maters for career help, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL noted that law schools were among those not assisting much at all.  Yet, law is currently one of the most volatile fields.  After being a secure profession for about 15 years now there are non-performance-related layoffs as well as performance firings. 

The article by Joann Lublin quotes David Mezzapelle, founder of GoliathJobs.com, as listing law schools, along with journalism, medicine, and nursing ones, as "very, very weak in the area of alumni career services."  This was no newsflash for me. 

Frequently I get calls from newbie JDs and those all the way up to their third year as associates asking me about my career coaching services.  It all comes pouring out: This is not what I expected.  There are no jobs. I can't imagine working here for much longer.  And then when I ask about their law school's career services the answer is also the same: They don't want you to show up unless you're a star and therefore easily marketable.  If you keep coming back they won't welcome you with open arms.  What do they know? I can do better job-hunting via the Internet.

Could professionals schools in journalism and law, both fields with a glut of supply and shrinking demand, be the equivalant of those mortgage companies that sold people houses they couldn't really afford?  At least there's a market for alumni in medicine and nursing. 

Most of those entering journalism and law schools will be taking out loans, frequently big ones.  In journalism all entry level jobs pay peanuts.  How grads ever pay their loans on a regular basis is a puzzle. For newbie JDs, unless they attend a top school and graduate at the top of their classes they will be indeed fortunate to land a $40,000 job.  From that they are to pay off six-digit loans.

Should New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and CA AG Jerry Brown, both populist crusaders, be investigating why journalism and law schools allow students to purchase an education they will likely not be able to afford?  This is one state AG probe I champion and look forward to LEGAL NEWSLINE covering it in breathless detail. "Dean of CattleProd Law School Led Away in Cuffs for Consumer Fraud." 

American Association for Justice - 3 communications openings

From scouting the help-wanted, I've figured out where the law jobs are: Not in law firms.  In the broad field of communications, be it pure or faux journalism to public affairs, the demand is growing for those with a legal background.  Some actually require the JD.

Currently, the American Association of Justice [AAJ] has three communications openings:

• Legal Communications Writer, which you can access here
• Assistant Editor, here
• Legal Content Editor, here.

Reality 2008:  It's not the job, it's how we leverage the knowledge base, skills, and contacts we acquire during that experience on-a-job.  Newbie legal writers like Eric Tucker from AP and me The Blogger took that dry-as-watching-paint-dry experience of the Rhode Island Lead Paint Trial II and ramped it up into extreme opportunity.

Layoffs New Biz As Usual - Your New Game Plan & Not One of Us Is Special [any more]

Layoffs - as you see here and here - are the new biz as usual at law firms.  Now that these announcements of reductions in force [RIFs] are coming more frequently all law firms are now liberated to lay off, with less of a hit to the brand. Such RIFS boost Profit-Per-Partner and get rid of non-pets.

Given this, what's your new game plan? 

Well, start with assessing what your specialty is and at what firm. Timing is everything.  You have to pay attention to what exactly you're toiling at 16 hours a day and if the setting is financially solvent.  For information about all this you probably will have to develop stealth lines of intelligence.  It's usually those outside your practice area and firm who are most clued in. Think executive-search consultants, your firm's competitors, your law-school alumni group, and the legal and business media.  This is must-do networking.  Start the conversation casually and listen between the lines.

Next, figure out how the firm really operates.  This is doable by analyzing who gets better treatment than others, who gets promoted, who receives bonuses, and who is being humiliated. After you uncover this information and find that you don't like the way of this world, look elsewhere.  You're not going to change the firm. 

Decide why you're there.  Partner is no longer usually in the cards.  But other titles recognizing outstanding performance are emerging.  If you want to move up, then find mentors in the firm who instruct you on what you have to do and then do it.  If you want to pay off student loans and then take a lateral, then learn all you can and develop your own brand through publishing, public speaking, developing new business, and heading professional groups. If you want to become a star in a certain practice area and then move on, keep this very much under wraps.  No firm will allow itself to be used.  Moreover, the firm may treat you like a star and you might want to stay.

Bring in business.  You have to.  This blog and much of legal media are full of how-tos on hooking and reeling in big fish.

Don't seek emotional support or attempt to sort out at work.  That has become an inside job. If your significant other isn't good at this, then find a therapist, spiritual adviser or coach. Oprah is one of the few who have gotten rich by compulsively sharing.

Worry is simply thought processes getting stuck. Investigating options is wisdom. Being a permanent temp lawyer is catching on, for example.  Look into the temp agencies in major metro areas.  Another option is establish an all-women firm, with job-searching and without males watching you all the time and, as a result, your watching them watching you.  Or you can identify a niche firm and pull in your other sacked colleagues.  Rent just-in-time office space somewhere, anywhere.  That's what I did in pricey Westport, Connecticut.  Have you looked for a job in Central Europe?

The assumption that any one of us is special was a strange mass delusion which seemed to thrive in the boom 1990s in the U.S.  Economic Reality: None of us is that special that we will not experience severe turbulence during our careers.  I am on my fifth one.  The last three were roller-coasters.

Here are two e-books I published which might be helpful.  You can access them free Download CUsersjasneDocumentsjg.pdf Download savingsoulsonparkavenuekstreet.pdf.

Wellville - More important destination than success

To my surprise, the post "Since you're not going to make partner ..." stirred up a hornet's nest.  And the focus was my advice to sleep less.  In comments, emails and phone calls, attorneys and law students censured me.  I was being a heretic to the holy doctrines of Wellville.  Not enough sleep was going to shorten my life.

Before Wellville or an extreme long life became a destination, so many of us would abuse our health on the way to success.  In fact, in professional services, including my field of public relations, it was expected that we newbies would literally be willing to kill ourselves in order to win one for the Gipper.  Who that Gipper, I finally figured out, was the firm's owners who were pulling in big bucks while we skipped breakfast and lunch in order to make it on our peanuts of a salary.

Now, it's all about Wellville.  And fine and dandy for those who expect to have opportunity delivered at their office, clearly marked "For Your Success," one sunny morning after a good night's rest.  It might happen.  I recall interviewing at the public relations firm several TV personalities' offspring for jobs they would get. A few of those knew that and didn't even show up in person for the interview. 

But the rest of us who have had to treat any development as possible opportunity tend to forfeit sleep.  And our instincts on this have usually turned out to be, well, on the money.  I did an emergency job coming to my inbox at midnight EST from California.  That lead to my first big legal account for digital writing and editing.  A newbie nonprofit executive director had a speech to deliver to her board.  The night before she realized her draft was a disaster.  She found my name on the web.  Now she's a client. 

Sure, I might lose 10 years or more from my alloted life span.  In the current edition of tabloid GLOBE, the esteemed inventor of the patented Death Calculator David Demko has calculated that hyper-ambitious Wild Bill Clinton has given up about 10 years because of his tendency to do all-nighters and live sleep-deprived.  Maybe seemingly tormented souls like Clinton and myself actually welcome fewer years on planet earth in exchange for plenty of action.

When You Gotta Make It Rain

In MARKETING THE LAW FIRM NEWSLETTER, Christy Burke has brought it out of the closet that outstanding work is no longer enough.  To keep a job or have a shot at partner, bringing in new business is a have-to.  The marketplace for legal services has become both highly competitive and volatile.  Everyone, even a seemingly unconnected associate, is a rainmaker.

Some of the best marketing tips Burke points out includes being smooth such as not asking for the business on the first encounter but eventually, yes, do ask for the business.  Another recommendation is not necessarily mirroring the way the higher-ups turn prospects into clients. They might join clubs and associations and not consider publishing articles or starting a blog.  For an associate who has a knack for getting attention through print that might be exactly the way to proceed.

What I would add to Burke's recommendations is the breakthrough results which can come from non-homogeneous networking.  A few years ago University of Chicago professor Ronald Burke confirmed the 1970s research by Mark Granovetter documenting that weak ties or contacts outside our traditional networks can open up fresh opportunity. 

In developing new business we might let people know about what we do and how we do it who don't seem likely candidates for corporate legal services.  Typical is Joe the guy in the deli who makes the sandwiches.  A regular is likely to complain about an escalating legal situation at the office.  The advantage of the Joe kind of contact is that they don't pigeon-hole us the way our traditional networks do.  For instance, mostly all my professional colleagues view me as a writer and not more.  Therefore, referrals for media pitching assignments don't come my way from them.  They do, though, come from my medical doctor, the security guard in my development, and an old college roommate who think outside the usual boundaries in public relations.

In addition, within homogeneous networks, opportunity is often seen as a zero-sum game. Giving a referral to X is not giving one to Y.  Outside all that, there is looser give-and-take and other kinds of loyalties or the lack of them.

FDR was "lightweight" attorney

Franklin F. Roosevelt was pretty much a lightweight in the legal profession and just about everything else he touched.  Then he bumped into politics.  In the new book "Franklin & Lucy," Joseph E. Persico describes that encounter:

"He [Roosevelt] leaped into the fray as a man who had suddenly discovered his reason for being." This over-refined rich boy "crisscrossed the district ... gripping the calloused hands of astonished dairy farmers."

No kidding. Yeah, here is one more vivid example of finding our passion or allowing it to find us.  Then it seems to teach us, effortlessly, everything we need to know. In law school, FDR had flunked two courses.  But, typically, there was no epiphany: Oh, how I hate this. He couldn't allow that.  After all, he had to become The Lawyer.

"Franklin & Lucy" provides lots of insight about careers that give us life and those that kill.