Law And More

Not the Millennial Way and Other Matters of Culture, Legalities and Innovation - From Jones Day to Wall Street to BigTech

"Financial transparency is an extension of the way young adults conduct the rest of their lives, including their openness on social media." - Svati Kirsten Narula, The Wall Street Journal, May 3, 2021.

Another generational shift: Millennials regularly share information about their salary and other money issues. The implications are huge for old-line organizations like Jones Day which make it a matter of culture to keep compensation secret. In the war for talent, the Jones Days could find themselves quite unattractive to youth.

This goes beyond the numbers in the paycheck, of course. Cultural matters are huge. McKinsey & Co. found that culture directly impacts financial performance, creates differentiation (think brand), and accelerates the ability to adapt to change. 

And, increasingly, the members of the workforce are shaping the culture. That could mean, for example, remote is here to stay. The Conference Board survey found that 55% of Millennials are reluctant to return to the office. 

But it isn't only the Jones Days which have plenty of rethinking to do about the soft stuff - that is, values which create the human touchpoints (as well as the contractual policies) for a business.

Employee activism has become the norm in BigTech such as Apple and Amazon.

Media centers are making a list and checking it twice about what cultures are naughty and which are nice. Then they zero in with punitive coverage. Post the Trump phenomenon, that's the new clickbait. 

And, consumers expect the brands they're associated to walk the line in social justice.

The transformations which will be in play increasingly will involve law firm ESG (Environmental Social Governance) practices. They have to.

That's because the shift to a culture co-created by myriad constituencies is complex and characterized by plenty of passion. It can't avoid hovering near the third rail of legalities. Consumer activist Ralph Nader taught Everyman and Everywoman to go to court. Business should expect plenty of legal action.

Law firms had to anticipate this. And, in April 2020, law firm Paul Weiss, chaired by Brad Karp, did just that. It launched a comprehensive ESG practice which covers it all - soft and hard. 

Here's the short version:

"Paul, Weiss’s Sustainability and Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Advisory Practice helps clients develop integrated ESG strategies that safeguard corporate reputation, mitigate risk and leverage opportunity."

The edge that law firm has in this - both in branding and operationally - is that it also has been an early adopter in inventing new approaches to addressing social justice issues. Classic now is that COVID Resource Center it engineered through a collaborative effort with thousands of lawyers from other firms. Of course, that's been a life-saver, literally, during this Delta variant. 

Not hyperbolic: Only that kind of innovation in resetting cultures could prevent the diaspora of talent.

Meanwhile, Wall Street is already losing a generation of workers.

Top-down tech corporations like Apple could also find themselves in that pickle.

Jones Day? Time will tell.

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Epiphany Quitting - The Long Game

What is being labeled "epiphany quitting" is not a new phenonmenon.

What is new, as BusinessInsider describes it, is that it seems to be a collective trend in the labor force as a result of the national trauma of COVID.

Forever, though, on an individual basis, those who needed to earn a living often had that "moment of clarity" in which they decided that they no longer wanted to do and/or could do the work they had been.

A former lawyer I recently had coached had been hospitalized with clincal depression. Her epiphany was that she had to find another less-stressful way to earn a living. Note that in that, as in collective epiphany moments during COVID, there has to be a long game. The people still have to bring in income. You just don't have an epiphany and ride into the sunset from the reality of the need to support yourself and perhaps your family.

It can be an enormous relief to opt out of line of work that might not have been a fit for a long time. Yes, life is short. And even with high compensation, money isn't everything.

However, then comes the challenge of searching for what would be a better fit. That could take several tries. Call it the Career version of Goldilocks. 

This lawyer had experimented with photography. But the field was too competitive for her.

Then she piloted operating a car-detailing service. It's catching on. There is plenty of contract help in this southwestern part of the U.S.

Simultaneously she is exploring how her love for horses could lead to earning a good living.

The solution might be aggregating several income streams. That has become a growing way of financial security: Balance unemployment and underemployment risk with multiple earning platforms.

Takeaway: Epiphany quitting in only a step on the continuum of having to earn a living. The euphoria can be short-lived in the long game. The struggle to find a better fit can be traumatic. 

Small changes can trigger big success in your career and your business communications. Also guidance for pre-retirement. Swing by for a complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

 

Boies Schiller - Partner Ian Dumain Exits

"Boies Schiller Flexner New York partner Ian Dumain has left to join Cyrulnik Fattaruso, a New York-based litigation boutique founded in March by former Roche Freedman attorneys Jason Cyrulnik and Paul Fattaruso, following a falling-out between Cyrulnik and his former firm." - Dylan Jackson, Law.com, April 13, 2021.

This represents yet another partner defection from the distressed litigation firm Boies Schiller. 

At Cyrulnik Fattaruso, Dumain will be a partner and a general counsel. 

The legal media outlets will run with this story. Boies Schiller is a target.

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Meghan Markle, 1 - Associated Newspapers Limited 0 (at least for now)

"Meghan Markle wins privacy case against Mail on Sunday and MailOnline over letter to father WITHOUT a trial. Publisher considers appeal" - Vivek Chaudhary, Daily Mail, February 11, 2021.

In summary judgment it had been ruled that there was a misuse of private information and infringement of copyright. The next step in this will happen on March 2nd. That is, unless Associated Newspapers Limited, parent of Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, appeal the decision. 

What is scheduled for March 2nd include assessment of damages, costs and issues which need to be hammered out at a trial. 

This development should throw a blast of frigid air throughout the tabloid industry. 

Earlier, Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox Corp for alleged false information that claimed it participated in a conspiracy to claim that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. In response, it's expected that Fox will tone down its on-air tone and content. Meanwhile Fox Corp filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

The Future is already underway. Ghostwriting/Marketing Communications and coaching on those issues. Sliding scale fees. Complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Lateral Link's Abby Gordon - 10 Tips for Your Cover Letter

Your cover letter is your introduction to those with the power to hire you. That first impression is what's documented to be sticky. That is, there is no shaking it off.

If the cover letter is done less than brilliantly, there might be no second step. That is, the screeners won't move on to your resume.

Given the extreme importance of the cover letter, it's a public service that Abby Gordon provides a fresh mindset for how to approach your cover letter. That is, this Senior Director at Lateral Link essentially presents the cover letter as your first round in the interview process. Here you can read her article on Abovethelaw.

So, yes, you must bring - in addition to communicating the value you can create for those hiring - both your humanity and your unique personality. No, the letter shouldn't come across to the reader as if you had been following a formula or a rigid how-to in a career guide. 

Gordon wraps up her article with the reminder: Proofread. Usually you will proofread the first draft. Then, as you produce several tries at the effective cover letter, you may feel too exhausted to do yet another check for typos, grammatical errors and awkward sentence structure. That' could be fatal to your search for work. Employers frequently perceive the lack of proofreading as disrespect.

To Gordon's list I add: End with a Call to Action. That's the core of a sales pitch. And all of professional life, I hammer to my coaching and communications clients, is a sales call. 

The Call to Action could constitute an expectation of an interview. The model for that could be: Let's please discuss in detail your vision for the firm's new family law practice and how I can help achieve that.

The Future is already underway. Ghostwriting/Marketing Communications and coaching on those issues. Sliding scale fees. Complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

It's Happening All the Time: Retired, Can't Make Ends Meet, Have to Return to Work, Clueless How

The new pattern among retirees is this:

You exhale. Great to be finished with all that goes along with earning a living. Even if you loved playing in legal sandboxes, the pressure got to be too over the top. 

Adjusting to a daily life without work can be challenging. But you did it. You even forced yourself to develop hobbies and enjoy them.

Life is good, until you find it harder and harder to make ends meets.

Then you're not making ends meet.

There's the Ah-Ha Moment. You have to return to work. However, you are clueless how to go about it.

One such retiree tells that story to MarketWatch.

In my coaching I am hearing about it more and more frequently.

The Federal Reserve confirms that one-third of retirees bounce back into working. Either that's as an employee or as self-employed. The major reasons are both financial necessity and boredom. 

There is no one "best way" to circle back to working.

Here are the seven recommendations I make to those I coach who are over-50. Some were blessed and did a FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early). Others didn't have the financial resources to stop working until they were in their late 60s. Others sat on the beach and really didn't enjoy it because they had been forced out of their career before they were ready to pack it in. Eventually, all found themselves short on money.

The Seven:

• Stop the "too much money" from going out. That's immediate. There are many small expenses you delete from your life. They range from purchasing the brand instead of the generic to subscribing to this and that. The bigger items include struggling to maintain a house. If the real estate market is up in your neighborhood, sell the house. Then, relocate to where you can cut big chunks out of your budget. When I packed it in the New York Metro area for southwestern Arizona in 2014, I reduced my fixed expenses by 50%. My two boutiques generated increased revenues because, no longer so worried about money, I could sell in a more relaxed manner. 

 

• Get a job or gig assignment. Anything. You need to be re-socialized on how to go to work. That's a must-do before you go after a job or gig assignment that is a good fit for you. Right off the bat, employers can pick up on someone who's been without work for too long. Here is a free read on re-entry Download Outwitting ageism. 

 

• Research on the internet the new templates for resumes and cover letters in your particular field. Like everything else the models for those change.

 

• Study help-wanted ads on job boards for two things. One, to discern what skills and experience those hiring need. And, two, notice the language they use to describe what they're searching for. Language also keeps changing. Use outdated language and you will tag yourself as "old." 

 

• Role play how to interview. Essentially you will do that in real time. That's why you should grab as many interviews as you can. You must get back up to speed on how you present yourself. Ask a trusted friend who hasn't left the workforce to help you continue to fine-tune everything from facial expressions to body language to the actual sale pitches.

 

• Get it that you don't have the luxury to become discouraged. If nothing is happening "reverse engineer" every aspect of what your thinking and doing in your search for work. Experiment with modifying each one of those. The weak link, for example, could be the kinds of work you are going after. Those doors may be closed to you. 

 

• Look at a job or assignment you hate as not your "last job." Rather, it's the bridge to a better job or assignment. The new game is not linear. That's exactly what Willis Towers Watson posits about the future of work. And that future is already underway. 

If you need a professional nudge to return to work, I'm here for you. Contact me for a complimentary consultation. If you sense a bit of coaching can help, there are sliding scale fees. I'm Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com. 

 

Displaced Staff in Legal Sector - Picking Up a Certification Can Be the Way to Land on Your Feet

The human tragedy in the legal sector is the elimination of staff jobs. WFH has accelerated the inevitable: hollowing out the administrative functions. For a while it had been obvious that robotic automation would hit those niches hard. Well, now it has.

It's not likely that former staff will find the same kinds of jobs or the same kind of compensation.

So, like so many others knocked out of their job box, you displaced staff have to think differently about earning a good living.

That line of thought should include the certification route. 

Having a certificate in a certain field used to be an edge. That tended to reassure employers that this person could do the job, such as be proficient in PPC (Pay Per Click). 

Now, with high uncertainty facing all businesses, those doing the hiring for jobs and even gig assignments toss applications with no certifications of the skills needed. Nonono, they don't want to hear that you pick up software quickly or that you can leverage your overall knowledge of legalities to the real estate business.

You might have already noticed that more help-wanted ads and application forms are asking about or requiring certifications. 

Increasingly certifications are becoming the price of entry. 

Suppose a side hustle for you has been landscaping. All your neighbors have used your services. You were even interviewed on a podcast about landscaping. So, you feel confident about replying to a help-wanted for someone to manage the landscaping for the hospital. Well, expect to be asked about your certification. Here U.S. News & World Report covers some popular certifications, including landscaping.

The silver lining in certifications should be obvious. Those of you who are determined to remain employable don't have to hunker down and do four years of college or circle back to academia for a pricey advanced degree. 

Where training is available is just about everywhere. That ranges from the brick and motor community college or trade school, often with online options, to stand-alone online instruction and testing. 

Some provide training that is free. However, there probably will be a fee to take the exam. 

Those that are self-study versus involving actual classroom instruction are less expensive. 

In-person training plus the exam in a niche in IT can cost between $5,000 and $11,000. The IT field has its own specialized publication - Certification Magazine.

Those I coach ask me: Is it possible to get in the door without certification?

Sure, I answer. Try it. Then, if no response to your applications or you never receive a job offer, then research certification programs for your line of work - or a field you want to enter.

In your research, demand documentation of the program's track record in jobs and rate of compensation. 

Ask for names of former students you can informally interview.

Also, contact the Better Business Bureau and other sources of information about complaints. 

When certified, position and package it as an asset in your cover letters, resumes and interviews. 

The Future of Work is now. Ghostwriting on those issues and coaching for job search, transition, personal branding, re-entry after recovery and reputation restoration. Sliding scale fees. Complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Of Course, Lawyers/Staff Need Multiple Sources of Income - 5 Rules of the Game

In 2019, lawyer Kevin Ha made the news.

The coverage was in financial media - MarketWatch. Among the players in the money crowd there was a fascination with a lawyer who was employed full-time (his wife also worked) and who had 13 side hustles.

There was more in the Ha story. The gigs were, well, without status. They ranged from returning scooters to food delivery.

That was then.

Because of the actual employment carnage and the sustained uncertainty triggered by COVID-19, the Ha model of multiple sources of income is no longer news. It's an option lawyers and staff better take seriously.

No, you are not too busy to think of earning money beyond your day job. Recently, Bryan Cave laid off about 118 lawyers and staff. As the gallows humor goes: A crisis like the pandemic is a terrible ting to waste. I will be exploited by employers, across all sectors, to not only conduct RIFs. Also they will restructure to eliminate those positions forever.

The "barrier to entry" when it comes to establishing multiple sources of income is this: The brands have to managed so as not to put at risk your primary source of income. Sure, Ha could do offbeat hustles. But most lawyers and staff would lose credibility and damage their resume by too far a stretch from their core personal branding. 

In addition, in this unforgiving work environment lawyers and staff have to all-there for their jobs. Therefore, the how they earn funds on the side can't drain them. 

Here are the 5 fundamental rules of the multiple income game:

• Look for easy fits. That strategy will require less energy and time. For example, the lawyer can tutor LSAT test preparation part-time. On October 8th, there was a help-wanted on Craigslist for such service in Manhattan and online. The compensation is $180 an hour. Unless you excel in logistics, no, you don't want to loop into a manufacturing project with a global supply chain.

 

• Just as with introducing foods to a baby, take on new opportunities slowly. Monitor how much those take away from your day job. If it isn't a strain, then add on more of those kinds. For example, through Airbnb, you lease out a room in your primary residence. You seem to be skillful in screening potential renters. No trouble. So, you add on doing Airbnb for your getaway. Soon enough you purchase residential property to extend this tactic.

 

• Be circumspect. Given that the legal sector tends to a tradition-bound industry, incoming-producing side pursuits could be used against you. A middle manager in an equally conservative industry, whom I coached, learned that the hard way. He had been too open about operating a franchise. His objective in coaching was to restore his personal brand Download ReimaginingYourPersonalBrandwithJaneGenova

 

• Overall, keep the brands separate. The exception is when there is a natural fit. For example, lawyers teach business-law courses in an MBA program. Otherwise, create different resumes, cover letters and personas for each line of work you do. Here is my article on what I call "mutt branding."

 

• Approach all this as playing in a variety of spaces, one or more of which might turn out to be your day job or self-employment. When doing a side hustle, some discover their passion. They seek a full-time position in that or launch a business. During The Great Recession, when I was operating this blog (since it's syndicated it brings in income), there were requests for career coaching. First that was a side business. Now it's a core competence. Simultaneously, I also continue in content-creation, especially for businesses aligned with the career industry.

Takeaway: "They" can take away your job. But not your ability to make a very good living, through multiple sources. A free read is my book on parachuting out of your comfort zones. Behavior-change organization Dale Carnegie Systems had posted it on its website.

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Law Firm Staff Members Have to Reimagine How to Earn a Good Living - Baker Botts Laying Off 50 Staff

Baker Botts, like many law firms, is restructuring how it operates. Because of automation and what lawyers learned they could do working remotely, staff is less needed.

It's no surprise that Baker Botts made the decision, reports AbovetheLaw, to lay off 50 staff members in Office Services and  Secretarial Services.

October 15th will be the last day on the job.

Given that staff positions are being targeted for elimination throughout large law firms around the world, those who lose their jobs are unlikely to find comparable ones in the legal sector. Those who aren't laid off, probably should accept they are on short time.

A similar pattern of phasing out staff functions occurred in Corporate America when the word processor had been invented at Wang Laboratories. The bean counters kept spotting more and more opportunities for cost-efficiency.

Staff members who didn't embrace the reality that they would be forced out suffered mightily - emotionally, socially, spiritually and financially. They weren't up to the tough task of transition.

By that last day of work, the 50 at Baker Botts can speedcycle through all the phases of this loss. Those range from traditional grief to optimism about the future. 

That process requires this: shaking off what has been the routine. Here, a free read, is my book on finding the exit ramp out of your comfort zones. 

Meanwhile, track and list everything you do from the minute you start work to when you go off duty. Then break that into skills such as "customer service," "high proficiency in such and such software packages," project management," "negotiation," "training," "conflict resolution," "compliance," and so on.

Then, key in on a search engine "Craigslist - sites." Scroll to down your state. Then, click on each and every category be it "business" or "nonprofit." Open each help-wanted ads. Where are there possible matches between your skills and what it takes to get the job done? Don't back off from a force-fit. You can grow into the job.

For each kind of work opportunity create a pattern resume and cover letter. Customize to apply. Role play the best persona for that job. When I shifted from academia to corporate, you bet I had to develop a new personal brand. Then when I hung out a shingle, again there had to be another personal brand.

And, approach this transition recognizing this is your next job, not your last. It's merely a platform from which to reimagine your career. 

The work world has become unforgiving. You may be among those who have to reimagine your career. Affordable coaching.  Make an appointment for complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Law Firms with Tourist Practices - Probably 2 to 3 Years for Sector to Recover Fully

"With the virus still a significant risk, a feeling likely reinforced by President Trump’s diagnosis, it’s possible many tourist-dependent cities will see a second wave of economic damage this year, brought by the new rounds of job losses." Bloomberg BusinessWeek, October 7, 2020.

The tipping point in pessimism about the tourism sector has been Disney's 28,000 RIF. Along with that, of course, have been the massive layoffs conducted by tourism players ranging from casinos to transportation. 

There has been a confluence of 3 factors:

• Limits on the number of customers allowed into a tourist setting. Yes, social distancing.
• The public's fear of traveling by plane. There is a distrust of safety and health procedures for the close quarters of airplane interiors.
• Travel bans. They have halted the lucrative business of those from other nations touring the U.S.

At Moody's, economist Mark Zandi projects it will require 2 to 3 years for what is included under the umbrella of "tourism" to recover, fully. 

That means law firms with practices in that sector are being hit hard - with no light at the end of the tunnel. Optimism seems downright inappropriate.

Recently, a colleague in career coaching bluntly told students in hospitality degree programs to start redirecting their careers.

I call that "taking a skills/experience audit." Lawyers who depended on that sector might also have to engage in such a pivot.

The next step is this: After identifying what can be put out there to sell in the labor market, then do comprehensive research of what those specific jobs and gig assignments could be. An analysis of all the possible categories can be conducted on job-search platform Craigslist. Just key in "Craigslist - sites." See where there is a match. 

Then, create resumes and cover letters (yes, multiple) to apply for those opportunities. Custom-make each of those for each specific job or assignment. 

Role play the appropriate persona for the varieties of organizational cultures.

Soon, you will be doing your Next.

The work world has become unforgiving. You may be among those who have to reimagine your career. Affordable coaching.  Make an appointment for complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)