Law And More

COVID-19 Creates Unique Opportunities for Branding Fixes: Philip Morris International

Maker of Marlboro - Philip Morris International - is doing right by its workforce.

MarketWatch reports that it's not only not laying off any worker.

In addition, there will be no "haircuts" on salary. That's even for employees operating remotely who can't perform all the usual job functions there will be no reductions in pay. For workers who are taking on the risk of doing their jobs in-person there will be awards.

Since Philip Morris International is in the tobacco sector it's a target for all sorts of public-interest attacks and for controversies. From a pragmatic public relations point of view, this is a brilliant workforce policy, orchestrated just right, and at exactly the right time.

The old-fashioned response to that would be to belt out "For he's a jolly good fellow."

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Landlord Nation - Post-COVID-19 New World Order Can End Housing Insecurity

"Eventually the rent will be due …" - Mary Cunningham, Fellow at Urban Institute, April 7, 2020. Here is her study.

According to Cunningham's research, about 11 million low-income people in the U.S. won't be able to pay their rent on a sustained basis. As a progressive think tank, the Urban Institute advocates policies addressing what now goes by the label "housing insecurity." If no policy action is taken, homelessness can surge.

The unemployment triggered by COVID-19 has worsened housing insecurity. But the situation has been around ever since the cost of renting kept going up, often more quickly than wages in a geographic area. 

For instance, a study by Clever found that 1960, rental expense rose 72% or 2.7 times faster than household income. 

Even anecdotal evidence shows that America seems to have become Landlord Nation. Since fewer people can afford to own their homes, there are more renters. That has transformed the overall shelter situation into a landlord market. In many states there is no cap on the percentage that monthly rent can be boosted at lease-renewal time. In too many rental complexes, the sheriff arrives and he/she doesn't ring twice. The eviction notice is posted. 

From the get-go with the industrious Puritans, America has been about success. Because of Landlord nation, that concept is being retrofitted to denote the simple ability to pay the rent. That's unambiguous. Rent can be paid on time or not paid. 

When there is no need for special negotiations with the property manager, those people are often perceived as solid citizens. When there have to be frequent pleas for extensions and a history of late payments, those leasing can find themselves being informally classified as "trouble." If they are eventually evicted there can be a sigh of relief in the complex.  Those "troublemakers" are gone.

A positive side effect and part of the new order of COVID-19 could be a surge of initiatives for affordable housing - or making what is already in the housing stock more affordable. 

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Bryan Cave Has New Wrinkles in Cost-Cutting

Bryan Cave is approaching cost-cutting in the legal sector with a variety of initiatives.

As AbovetheLaw reports, for salary compensations it instituted a 15% reduction only for those making $40k or more. That will kick off in May and last for 15 weeks.

The interesting wrinkle is that those who are especially busy with work will receive a bonus.

There are also options to take sabbaticals or a part-time schedule. With sabbaticals, those participating in that option will receive 30% of their usual compensation. With the part-time arrangement that will have to be for six months. The compensation, of course, will also be decreased proportionally.

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Shook Hardy & Bacon Positions Steep Compensation Cuts as "Prudent Anticipatory Measures"

Yet another law has announced deep reductions in compensation and framed them in positive terms. 

For Shook Hardy & Bacon, the initiatives are positioned and packaged as "prudent anticipatory measures."

Abovethelaw reports these steps taken by Shook:

For this week's draw, equity partners will have a 90% reduction. After that the cut will be 75%.

Income partners will have a 50% cut. Later that could be modified.

Associates will have a 25% reduction.

Professional staff will have  20% decrease.

Staff whose functions are attached to certain locations will be put on temporary furlough.

Those at Shook who are "overextended" financially could find themselves in personal financial distress. 

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Orrick Delays First-Year Associate Start Date Until 2021

This is a first in this ongoing story of cost-cutting in the legal sector during the COVID-19 crisis.

As Law.com reports, Orrick has delayed the start date of first-year associates until 2021. That decision, of course, brings back memories of those harsh measures during 2008 -2009. During that time there were even cancelled job offers.

In addition, Orrick also announced these other cost-cutting tactics:

Graduated salary cuts for associates and staff. Those range from 1% to 15%. Those will be in effect until the end of the year.

Reduction of some staff hours.

Deep compensation cuts for partners, of counsel, and executive staff. 

The associate summer program will be shortened to 5 weeks and will be conducted virtually.

Like so many other law firms, Orrick positions and packages these measures as just-in-case. It does not indicate any current financial distress.

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Cahill Suspends Summer Associate Program, But Picks Up Tab, Will Offer Jobs

Cahill Gordon has become the hero of the JD Class of 2021.

Yes, as Law.com reports, it has suspended its summer associate program because of the uncertainties associated with the coronavirus. At the top of the list is how long shelter-in-place will hang on.

But Cahill is paying each of the 30 participates the weekly salary of $3,600. Also, it will offer them a job when they graduate in 2021.

They will still gain experience through pro bono assignments by Cahill Gordon. If the shelter-in-place mandates are lifted, then the summers will have a shot at in-person projects.

The 30 who had been selected as summers are indeed fortunate.

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Reflections on Whistleblowing as Linda Tripp Reportedly Is on Deathbed

Whistleblowing is not necessarily an act of supreme courage, driven by a sense of what's right. 

It could represent strategic grenade-throwing as had been the case with conservative Linda Tripp. Now that she is reportedly on the death bed, overdue is a comprehensive review of all whistleblowing. 

To begin with, it shouldn't be positioned and packaged as an instinctive noble act, analogous to jumping in the path of a train to rescue a child who had fallen onto the tracks.

Instead, it's represents a complex decision with both anticipated and unexpected consequences. 

Some "of a certain age" will recall Sharron Watkins who was the internal whistleblower at Enron. She informed the head Ken Lay of the strange accounting. Along the way to being saluted as a hero she had to contract legal help, was isolated, had her job responsibilities reduced, and later hit walls in being hired for work post-Enron.

Had she known the full extent of the consequences she might have done what most did back then and still do: Keep quiet and look for another job. Since then, of course, laws have been passed to protect and even reward whistleblowers. That kicked off with Sarbanes-Oxley.

More recently has been the whistleblowing by Susan Fowler. It focused on alleged sexual misconduct and other inappropriate workplace behavior at her former employer Uber. She did that in a now-famous blog post. It's contended that the outing of what was allegedly going down at Uber brought down its head Travis Kalanick. 

Like myriad whistleblowers, Fowler has been saluted.

But, interestingly her book Whistleblower, published February 18, 2020, has not caught fire. On Amazon, at least today at 3:40 P.M. ET it ranks 41,839 in terms of hard copies and 60,413 in terms of Kindle. It only has 53 reader reviews. Essentially it is a memoir.

In contrast, Demi Moore's memoir "Inside Out," although published way back on September 24, 2019, ranks on Amazon at 1,751. It has 2401 reader reviews. 

Some things just don't hang right about whistleblowing. In reading Fowler's book I wondered if she had been naïve in what she expected in the workplace, how she handled it, and her decision to later blow the whistle after she had secured other employment.

Meanwhile, although it isn't fashionable to speak ill of the dead, when Tripp dies, many probably will. That trend started in 2018 when the family of Kathleen Dehmlow published a negative paid obituary. 

UPDATE:

Linda Tripp died today. The New York Post provides details.

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Lateral Market - Wrong Hiring Could Sink Leadership's Credibility During COVID-19

What's obvious is that in many law firms partners are suffering.

There have been delays and cuts on draw.

Also, as is well known, there are myriad tactics to force partners out.

In turn, those partners know that there is a currently a target on their back if they are not pulling in the billable hours and new business.

So, in general, the law firm environment is not welcoming to the risk of hiring a high-priced lateral.

Often the expectation on the brandname's part is for a guaranteed lucrative compensation for a number of years. Few law firms can afford to take on that kind of financial commitment in The Time of Coronavirus.

Yes, as Roy Strom points out in Bloomberg, there have been some high-profile lateral hires. The one which has received the most attention has been Wilkie Farr & Gallagher hiring former Jenner & Block chairman Craig Martin (along with five partners). That was to establish a Chicago office. 

Aside from that, most lateral hiring presents a risk for both the financials of a the law firm and the branding/careers of the leadership. If the ROI for the hire doesn't pan out, the trouble so many law firms are encountering right now can be worsened exponentially. 

Another obstacle is that the hiring process has to be virtual. Nuances of chemistry might not be able to be picked up. So those in charge of hiring are, in essence, flying blind on the social fundamentals of the deal. In-person, it would be immediately obvious through vibrations if X or Y could fit with the culture and work effectively with others in that practice.

The deals which had been started before the world economic slowdown, then COVID-19 have closed or will be closing. But not many new ones have been put in play.

One elephant in the room about the lateral market is what David Lat will encounter when fully recovered from his near-death experience with COVID-15.

That has been a major media event, even being featured on "Nightline." Several months ago, Lat took the leap from his career in media to joining Lateral Link as a recruiter and managing director of its New York office. 

Before that, Lat's brand had been that he had founded the out-of-the-box legal news site Abovethelaw.com. Its edge was its sources. Junior lawyers and law students continually sent along anonymous tips. Therefore the site could break news. Within that niche, Lat became a star.

That was then.

One wonders how he can develop a brand in lateral recruiting when:

1) The publicity for his battle with COVID-19 hammers his media background, that is, as founder of ATL. A hardened brand identity can interfere with the launch of a new one. Incidentally, multiple branding identities have presented problems for those with side hustles. Here is my article published on what I labeled "mutt branding."

2) He is missing out on the dynamics of the changing legal market because, as "Nightline" communicated, his road to recovery is slow. Chronicling his saga in the media may or may not be a plus. Future prospects and others in the loop may or may not perceive this development as what they want to be associated with. 

3) On a dime, the lateral market has changed. When Lat parachuted in, it was strong. Now it isn't. And now is what brings in the income to pay the bills.

Meanwhile, right now covering the legal sector is a boom business for both journalists and bloggers. There is so much material that it is difficult to choose what to include in the day's wrap-up. One especially useful source has been Pin Hawk Law Firm Marketing Brief. It is published by Joseph Lamport. 

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