Law And More

Hughes Hubbard: BOTH revenue, profit surge

Models are on everyone's mind.  So, there will be plenty of watching Hughes Hubbard.  BOTH its revenue and its profit surged.

In THE AMERICAN LAWYER, Vivia Chen reports, "Hughes Hubbard posted a 10% increase in gross revenues (from $251.8 million in 2008 to $277 million in 2009).  Moreover, profits per equity partner rose 9.7% (from $1.34 million in 2008 to $1.47 million in 2009.) And revenue per lawyer also increased nicely by 5% (from $943,000 in 2008 to $990,000 last year.)"

The firm attributes its success partly to product liability assignments and its work on Lehman matters.  During a year that was tough for many other law firms, Hughes Hubbard hired 5% more attorneys and lost only one equity partner.

Scott Brown: Uniting the People in 2012

A package doesn't get better than this.  Conservative Scott Brown, who's youthful and attractive, supports abortion.  But not in a wild-eyed manner.  He believes that there should be concern about reducing the number of abortions.  This guy can make it all the way to the White House in 2012.  He made it to the U.S. Senate as an unknown.  Now we know him, or are getting to.

Andrew Young: Just a bit player, after all?

Last night, after the exposure Andrew Young received on "20/20" and "Nightline," the book "The Politician" was #11 on Amazon.com.  By early this evening it had gone down to #29.  Now it's at #37.  Does that mean that this caricature of a Uriah Heep type sycophant will turn out to be a bit player in the saga of Edwards vs. Edwards, after all.  His book, just like the nobody himself will be a fade in and fade out? 

No one likes a snitch. Such a presence makes all of us feel unsafe.  We all have our secrets.  Deep Throat was wise enough to keep his identify under wraps until near his death.

"Citizens United" may bring Sandra O'Connor big win

Ironically it's a U.S. Supreme Court decision Sandra O'Connor didn't participate in that might bring her a big win. 

The "Citizens United v. FEC" may bring home to the public how ugly and corrupt it is to elect judges, reports Tony Mauro in THE NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL.  O'Connor has been in the front lines of ending elections of judges, at all levels.  She wants them appointed.  A recent example of the ugliness was the brutal battle between a liberal and a conservative for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  Lead paint watchers recall that before the election of the liberal, that Court gave us "Thomas."

Since O'Connor's name is so closely associated with this crusade, reform could build a platform for her post-retirement brand.

Repackaging for non-legal careers: 4th in series STOP PLANNING

Suppose Bill Gates had stuck to the plan: Graduate Harvard.  By time he did, the opportunity to create Microsoft might have passed.  

Today, in a volatile or Black Swan economy, anyone who takes a plan too seriously is viewed as out-of-touch. Think one-time media tycoon Rupert Murdoch who won't veer from the path of print.  Think John and Elizabeth Edwards who were hell-bent on getting to the White House.

Those plans either don't work or blow up.  That's because, as financial-markets expert Nassim Taleb told us, unexpected developments can cause unexpected profound impacts. Those Black Swans, a term Taleb made mainstream, are occurring with greater frequently in an interconnected world driven by technology.  So, "Menschen tracht und Gott Lacht" or mankind plans, the gods laugh.

Sure, law students, associates and partners should consider strategies and tactics to progress on their career path.  Simultaneously, they should be totally open to other kinds of opportunities.  To be that kind of open might entail researching trends and then trying to connect the dots. 

Big legal player Robert Shapiro is on TV today, not on "Larry King," but in a commercial for the DIY web service LegalZoom, which he co-owns. The ad features a toffee entrepreneur who incorporated for $135.  The LegalZoom model is powerful enough that already it's attracting imitators. 

Here's a negative example.  The Rhode Island lead paint litigation defense team might have figured they had victory in the bag.  They didn't put on their case.  Then the jury instructions seemed to box in the jurors to convict three of the four.  That Black Swan pushed them, many legal experts observe, to pull out all stops. They didn't miss a trick in filing motions.  Finally the RI Supreme Court acquitted them Download Statev.LeadIndustriesAssoc.,Inc.  A bit delayed, but that victory made them rock stars

The traditional plan to be hired by a top law firm and hold on there, perhaps even long enough and well enough to make partner, has become too narrow.  And not just because of the marketplace.  The players also change.  Jones Day partner Mark Herrmann, specializing in medical devices, left that life for handling insurance in-house at Aon.  

Continuum: DIY to High-End Legal Services

The monolith law practice used to be is fracturing into niches.

At one end, as predicted by IT expert Richard Susskind, is the enterprise which fosters DIY.  An example of that is LegalZoom, co-created by Robert Shapiro of OJ criminal trial fame.  Today on TV was a compelling commercial.  A female entrepreneur took a family recipe for toffee and created a thriving business.  She incorporated it for $135, using LegalZoom. Readers tell me that there are already variations on the LegalZoom model out there.  What's LegalZoom's edge is its budget for mainstreaming advertising.

At the other end is the traditional high-end legal services whose clients are dealing with high stakes.  They include everything involving Intellectual Property, ranging from entertainment to the design of chips.  Those lines of business remain busy and lucrative.  Those firms with strong brandnames are still being sought out versus their aggressively going after new business.

Law students have to look ahead at the kinds of opportunities shaping up.  There will be fewer and fewer "pure" law jobs.  Most will require specialized knowledge such as of entertainment, skills such as Information Technology, and business as in the fundamentals usually taught in Executive MBA programs.  Graduating from top law school in the top 10% might be enough to land the first job but not enough to hold onto it.  Careers have evolved into entities we produce ourselves. They will no longer be sitting on a shelf for us to consume.

Patrick Kennedy aka Prince Hal ahead in fundraising and more

The Prince Hal persona is common in all professions. 

On "Desperate Housewives," Carlos goes from a shady screwup to a buttoned-down advertising executive. 

We all know about George W. Bush's journey from Frat Boy. 

And now we have Patrick Kennedy who had his youthful struggles with substance abuse and allegedly anger.  Now, he's a totally astute pol.  Of course the camera panned him making nice with President Obama at the State of the Union.  And now, THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL reports he is way ahead of his opponent in fundraising.  Kennedy is the incumbent as U.S. Representative from Rhode Island and is campaigning to keep his job.  There had been noise from  former Providence, RI major Buddy Cianci, a convicted felon, that he was looking into the legal possibilities of running against Kennedy.

No Walk of Shame: Stiffing mortgage company

So much of the middle-class ethos had been built on respectability.  Violate that code and we were destined to feel shame and be shamed.  That seems to be going the way of health benefits.  In the NEW YORK POST, Janet Speer reports she hasn't paid her house mortgage since September 2008. She doesn't feel suicidal.  Mostly what she feels is her own sense of loss at losing a home she loved.  She could care less about "the right thing to do."

Speer is not alone.  There is a movement now, encouraged by some economists and lawyers, to consider leaving a house whose mortgage is under water.  The trick is to do that strategically.  Before the walk of no shame, make all the big purchases such as a car which demand an excellent credit rating.  Keep up on other bills and on time.  Usually a credit rating will bounce back to normal in three years.

Norton Rose Model: Saved 100 Jobs

Models are our obsession.  Here's one to save jobs.  Law Shucks reports that Norton Rose went to a four-day work week.  That saved 100 jobs.  It went back to the five-day work week months before it had anticipated.

Paul Weiss Now a Model

This is an era when professional-services firms, especially law, are looking at their models and comparing them to more successful ones.  Paul Weiss has turned up among the latter.  Although its gross revenue dropped by 3.8%, reports Vivia Chen in THE AMERICAN LAWYER, its profits per equity partner went up to $2.69 million, from $2.69 million the year before.

Among what the firm seems to have going for it are conservative growth practices and the right clients such as the largest financial institutions like Citigroup. The firm had increased lawyer head count from 647 to 653.