Law And More

Boies Schiller Transformation - In Speeded-Up Business Cycle, The Past Quickly Can Become Irrelevant

Partner defections?

Allegations of a too aggressive litigation style?

Media pile-on?

Questions about conflict of interest?

All that, darkness associated with Boies Schiller's past, could be becoming irrelevant to its branding - or, more accurately, its rebranding.

Given the accelerated pace of business, what counts is the now. Call it The Zen of Business. Now is the fundamental of the Zen philosophy. 

Stakeholders don't care about Microsoft's falling behind in the tech world. They focus on what Microsoft is about currently. The same applies to laggard IBM. Its recent split into two hasn't impressed myriad watchers of its stock. So, its now is not promising as transformation.

For distressed Boies Schiller it could be a very different story. A major move forward in its transformation has been the work of partner Sigrid McCawley. She represents alleged Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre. Last Thursday, McCawley's defense team achieved the release to the public of Ghislaine Maxwell's 2106 deposition.

As The Guardian reports:

"This document ... is among about a dozen long-awaited Maxwell files that have been unsealed, with the first filing involving Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre’s lawyer alleging the British socialite avoided a question 'about allegedly adult sexual activity related to Jeffrey Epstein.'" 

Therefore, it's no surprise that McCawley has been designated Litigator of the Year by American Lawyer. Law.com framed that recognition in this way:

'There aren’t too many 408-page transcripts of evasive deposition testimony that would warrant Litigator of the Week honors. Then again, there aren’t too many cases like the one lawyers for Boies Schiller Flexner have been handling for Virginia Roberts Giuffre for the past half-decade-plus."

Given how many unanswered questions are associated with Epstein, Maxwell and other big-name players such as Prince Andrew, this story is major. And, it's exactly the media platform Boies Schiller requires for a comeback. 

On other fronts, the law firm is also focusing on restructuring. As FN reports, that has included:

• Like many other elite law firms, becoming more cost-efficient through RIFs of staff
• Consolidating 13 locations into six or seven
• Promoting new talent, moving away from relying on the singular star founder David Boies
• Beefing up bankruptcy and restructuring practices, including lateral hires.

Partners and promising associates still with Boies Schiller could decide to stay put. Fresh talent can decide to interview with the firm. Client churn can be reduced. And prospects could be more receptive to a pitch.

Congratulations, Sigrid McCawley.

Meanwhile, Paul Weiss and its chairman Brad Karp have developed a branding aura during numerous lateral hires of Boies Schiller partners. 

Overall, the branding game has mutated into the challenge of sustaining the unique positioning and packaging. Differentiation is mandated reality. Elite law firms have developed the confidence to pull away from the herd. That has included decisions about:

• Fall bonuses (not being intimidated by high-profile bonus wars).
• Representing controversial clients, without an apologia.
• Layoffs of lawyers (despite political incorrectness of that tactic).
• Building or beefing up practices through aggressive lateral activity (which in itself has become a branding tactic).
• Expanding out of traditional boundaries of practicing law. (Multiple sources of income are losing its stigma.)
• Ignoring protestors (that is, blowing off establishment and tabloid media coverage)
• Marketing in new ways. Law firm CMOs can embrace Substack.

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Insight into Raw Rage, From Marlon Brando

The confluence of COVID-19 and a dicey economy is unleashing a tsunami of raw rage. That could reach from the client biting your head off to the murder down the block to parts of city going up in flames. 

But even in more tame times rage has cost society much. Also, individuals have lost their freedom. Jails and prison are packed with those who let their rage run its course.

In addition, my hunch is that frequently associates don't make it to partner in the highly political environment of the law firm because of rage under their internal floorboard.

Obviously, those anger management courses haven't been effective in reducing rage. 

However, help could be coming from a surprising source. That's Marlon Brandon. Last year, a new Brando biography- "The Contender" - was published by William J. Mann. 

The total dynamic of rage, from its source to simple ways to push it down (as Brando thought about it), is made so clear. No one needs to take Psychology 101 or tune into Dr. Phil. 

Here's what you will get from "The Contender":

• Rage can take shape because of an abusive childhood. The trauma of that may never go away. So much for the platitudes of healing. REPEAT: If you were an abused child, as Brando had been, you can be embedded with the kind of emotional setpoint that results in your throwing a punch after what others consider a minor assault on your dignity. 

 

• Own the rage. Through years and years of therapy and meditation Brand accepted that there was that force within him that it was his responsibility to control it.

 

• It's possible to create a DIY in your head to prevent the rage from rushing up to the surface - and getting you in trouble. As Mann notes, Brando was admired but not widely liked or loved. The tactic to manage the rage is analogous to what some anger-management courses teach: Find the midpoint in that powerful feeling. That is between being a doormat and exploding. Place the emotion at that safe midpoint. Then, stop. Think.  

If you are part of the post-book generation, however, the 624 pages could be too formidable to even order from Amazon or check out from the public library (they are open again).

That's the rub in this amazing resource for rage management. The author is a professor. Likely he leveraged researching and publishing this tome as a needed credential for his academic career. No surprise, although it's well-done and an engrossing read, it only ranks in the 200,000s on Amazon. It should rank higher.

Those with no intention of plowing through "The Contender" can grab onto this takeaway: Admit your childhood was that bad. Recognize when rage is building up. Push it down. Hold that position.

According to Mann, Brando finally did achieve peace of mind. That's what he chased. Not fame. Not even to create great art through his acting. 

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Lateral Market - Don't Dare Go Near It W/O (big) Book of Business

Smirk Smirk Smirk.

"Firms have taken less of a chance on hiring partners with smaller books of business or so-called service partners. Recruiters have noticed a slowdown with one-off partner moves. Instead, firms are looking for proven winners amid a recession." - Christine Simmons, Law.com, October 22, 2020.

The platitude in professional services such as law is that the number-one asset is the talent. However, with so many new variables impacting the sector, that talent is only of value if it has already achieved considerable success. Talent per se? That's something Mr. Rogers would sing about. 

So, for potential? Forget it. There is no shortage of raw young talent clamoring to be admitted to the Up or Out system of The Law Firm. Most of them will never make that shift from promise to productivity (3,000+ hours, hauling in new business).

Yet, naively, disgruntled associates and magical-thinking law students leverage the talent argument. They frame their beef about no fall bonuses or a law firm's controversial client on the contention that such decision-making is driving away talent.

For a entry level salary of near $200k, there will always be a glut of talent applying. If, once inside, it can't exceed what's expected it can no longer take refuge in the identity of "potential." 

This isn't unique to the law firm ethos. In those other professional services, ranging from public relations to marketing, what's becoming a standard question to applicants for both jobs and gig assignments is: What business are you bringing in? The hiring process will yield a better outcome for those who have a uncle who needs promotional services.

What I tell those I coach: A brandname now is the price of entry. Focus on developing and enhancing yours through multi-dimensional achievements and self-promotion.

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)

 

Trendsetter San Francisco Passes Caren Act - Expect More of These

"The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to approve the Caution Against Racially and Exploitative Non-Emergencies (CAREN) Act – a new hate crime law that makes it illegal for someone to call the police based on a racially-biased and false complaint ..." - Jerry Lambe, Law & Crime, October 21, 2020. 

As this press release from the Board explains, there is a two-fold mission of the Act. One is to expand the definition of the protective classes. And, the other is to prevent calls to 911 to report alleged misconduct by those being harassed by "Karens," although they are doing nothing against the law or even offensive.

"Karen" is the moniker for middle aged white women who contact law enforcement about people of color. They target both men and women, in all settings. Be that a park in Manhattan or a swimming pool at a chain hotel. 

Despite the severe punishment the original Karen - Amy Cooper - has received, the contacts to law enforcement have continued unabated. 

Given that California is a trendsetter for legalities, the Caren Act is bound to catch fire across the U.S.

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BigLaw - Differentiation, At Last

"While law firms have been criticized for often demonstrating a 'follow the leader' mentality, the recent divergence on layoffs, associate bonuses and lateral hiring suggest the legal industry may finally be breaking away from its herd mentality." - Patrick Smith, Law.com, October 19, 2020.

For years consultants to the legal sector have been hammering the need for large law firms to differentiate.

In other sectors, that had been for decades a fundamental of marketing. The classic book on that - "Blue Ocean Strategy" by W. Chan Kim and Renee Muaborgne - argues that creating a unique presence allows for premium pricing. It also prevents winding up competing through discounting. 

The bonus wars in BigLaw are an example of its breaking away from the traditional formula of how elite law firms should look, talk, walk and create human resources policies. 

In addition, some risked taking heat in the court of public opinion and laid off lawyers.

Others took another kind of risk: laying off staff.

Some might have annoyed clients and prospects by not laying off at all.

There also had been wild poaching of laterals. That, interestingly, was and is in itself a mode of differentiation.

An example is Paul Weiss, guided by chairperson Brad Karp. It established for itself an identity as a shrewd deal-maker. Among the competitors it siphoned talent from had been Boies Schiller.

Yes, Boies Schiller is a weakened player, However, a number of media outlets positioned and packaged the serial raids as a sort of battle of the titans. Conflict gets attention. In the case of these lateral moves, it got the right kind, at least for Paul Weiss and its leadership. 

Yes, there has been an Ah-Ha Moment. in BigLaw. The reality is sinking in, finally, that elite law is not immune from the current marketing reality that there is no space for generalists. That has long been the must in other sectors. Refusing to become a niche player doomed one to generic status. The game mutates into price wars. Exhaustion follows. And it shows.

Recently, I reimagined my two boutiques - one in communications, the other in career coaching - for a narrowly defined niche. That is The Future of Work. Business surged. So did interest in my branding. Download ReimaginingYourCareerWithJaneGenova.

Within that space there is a subcategory in pivots for aging professions. The mission is to mentor them on landing, holding and moving on to better work, no matter their age. Here is the free book on that.

Because of my new clear brand identity, it's easier to get articles published in third party media. Last week Odywerpr.com posted my analysis of the need for multiple sources of income. Some might recall that millennial lawyer Kevin Ha who has 13 side hustles, in addition to his full-time day job.

Why did it take me so long to pivot to differentiation? 

Answer: The same reason BigLaw dragged its feet on this one. It seems counterintuitive. After all, businesses had been socialized to go for all the action, not just a piece of it. 

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Ok, Boomer Partners, Leverage Nostalgia to Develop New Business

The past is a known - unlike these very uncertain current times. 

Also, the mind tends to sort through that memory bank and select out happy moments. An example might be trying out Coca-Cola's new product introduction - Tab. It might have been with young friends.

No surprise, across Americana, there is mourning for the disappearance of Tab from our lives. BusinessInsider reports that announcement from Coca-Cola triggered widespread nostalgia.

That collective feeling reflects the nation's current return to heavy-duty nostalgia. 

Yes, the market for reaching back to what seemed a golden age (or at least lots better than 2020) is a growth one. 

Businesses which can embed them in their product/service offerings can thrive. 

Entrepreneurs can create whole new lines based on the nostalgia meme. 

Marketers and public relations representatives can leverage nostalgia into the messaging for clients. The iconic way that had been done was in the Kodak Carousel campaign developed by Don Draper on "Mad Men."

Individuals can also cash in. This is ideal for law firm partners searching for fresh ways to get the attention of prospects for new business.

Think about it. A platform for networking can be to create and strengthen bonds through shared memories. That can be done easily through commenting on LinkedIn Updates and Twitter.

Ok, Baby Boomers from the unique late 1960s and early 70s would probably welcome circling back to that period of extreme optimism. Also, reaching back into history has become effective in your podcasts, blogs, YouTubes and speeches. Right now there is rebellion against the assumption that the past is passed. Law partners can become downright philosophical. Likely, many of you had been English majors (there was such an entity back then).

Trends come and they go. The nostalgia one is, of course, a use it or lose it. In the present it's a power tool for partners in their law firms and in their personal branding. 

The Future of Work. 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)

Coming Wave of Corporate Acquisitions - Good News for Lawyers, Economy and Very Bad News for Workers

Capitalism is opportunistic.

So, it should be expected that strong businesses during the COVID-19 economy will parachute in to acquire weakened ones. Goldman Sacks Group, reports Bloomberg, predicts a surge of M&A. Many of those will be jumbo mergers. 

That's good news for law firms with transactional practices in M&A. During the worst of COVID-19, that work has fallen off to the extent that lateral hiring for the niche plunged. Now, there are signs it's picking up.

Also gaining with be the economy. The reconfigured entities will be more solid businesses. Their earnings stories could send the stock market into unthinkable highs.

But the losers, as happens in most of M&As, will be large pockets of the workforce. M&As create "redundancies."

The newly created business may not need two communications or investor relations departments. There will be an increased need for coaching about career transitions Download ReimaginingYourCareerWithJaneGenova. Those most vulnerable are the aging. Here, a free read, is my book on landing, holding and moving on to better work, no matter one's age Download Outwitting ageism. 

For those who can't find their way in the mutating labor market, policy makers will have to focus seriously on versions of Universal Basic Income. Recently, in Canada, the Leaf pilot program testing out UBI for the newly homeless was very successful.

Right now the high jobless figures aren't having a negative effect on the stock market. Therefore those with power could blow off the unemployment from the M&A since their investment portfolio is doing just fine. 

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Who Is That Masked Man? - 5 Lessons on How to Navigate the Highly Political World of a Law Firm

Smoothly, Chris Christie is leveraging his 7 days in ICU as the platform for exiting Trumpworld.

The face mask has been politized. Christie confesses to the world his grave error in not wearing a mask when prepping Donald Trump for the debate. In the Trump Administration, the mask, of course, is a symbol of oppression. That is despite the high probability that it's absence inflicted COVID-19 on both the U.S. President's wife and son. 

The dots aren't hard to connect on this one.

Christie in not alone in distancing himself from what was once quite the power circle.

The headline of Catie Edmonson's article in The New York Times reads:

"Fearing a 'Blood Bath,' Republican Senators Begin to Edge Away from Trump."

The current phenomenon of flight from the divine right of kings presents useful lessons for everyone in law firms, ranging from equity partners (who are getting demoted) to staff (who are experiencing a Stalin-like purge). There are 5.

The large law firm, as is obvious, is a highly political institution. Usually to survive and scale it's necessary to be a political animal. That term, though, has become uncool. The new language for that includes "soft skills." "emotional intelligence" and "personal branding." Instead of focusing on raw power, the positioning and packaging objective is for "presence."

Yes, language is everything. In the high profile gender bias lawsuit "Tolton, etc. versus Jones Day," the defendant's big cheese in the D.C. office - Steve Brogan - is cast as the villain having total control of compensation and promotion. In that situation "power" has a very bad connotation.

As I see it, here is what is being confirmed in the Christie Masked stance. All 5 lessons are must-knows for to navigating law-firm life:

• Never be direct. Lawyers should know that. But amid all the pressures of that workplace, players might just let it a out. If there is a witness or witnesses, they can be sued. The media will run with it. Associates will notify Abovethelaw. Gay lawyer Aaron Charney nailed 'em for that kind of talk.

 

• Loyalty has to be managed with great care. It can be an asset. It can be a liability. Ditching those losing power can wind up ending one's own career. A dying animal can turn vicious. 

 

• Always nurture new sources of power. Everything changes.

 

• Build networks outside the organization. That blogger can deliver a hit on an enemy. The most effective attacks come from third parties. 

 

• Do favors. In a sense, they are kinds of Trojan Horses. They impose obligation on the receivers of the gift. You then can proceed from a position of some strength in the relationship.

It could just be that the law firm, as with Washington D.C., is more about power than wealth per se. (Agreed, wealth is a source of power.) Not that it's unique in that. Academia also operates on power. So, do most religious organizations. 

Those who cannot or will not embrace that as a given should search for other types of games. Self-employment, for instance, can be significantly less political than chasing tenure in a university or trying to build a congregation.

The best game plan, though, could be establishing multiple sources of income. Here is how that can go. Prediction: Multiple sources of income will become a necessary hedge in The Future of Work.

Full Disclosure: I came of age amid the last vestiges of the Frank Hague political machine. There was no margin for interactional error. None. Be perceived as not loyal and you had to move out of Hudson County, New Jersey. 

The Future of Work. 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)

 

Caroline Rose Giuliani (Yes, Rudy's Daughter) Recommends You Vote for Biden/Harris

In Vanity Fair, we have Caroline all-grown-up.

She has found her own voice and recommends that you vote.

When you do so, cast it for the Biden/Harris ticket.

An important thing Biden has going for him is that, she contends, he isn't a "yes" man.

Like that other Caroline from JFK's Camelot, this Caroline from Rudy Giuliani's rollercoaster career, we have been following her forever.

That included her teenage escapade of doing some five-finger shopping at Sephora. For that she got off with community service. But we could probably forgive that wrist slap - sort of. She was assigned to clearing up trash. The moniker I gave her was Smelly Caroline (in contrast to Sweet Caroline from the Kennedy dynasty.)

Unlike the other Caroline, we never did envy this one. Who would want to play under Rudy's desk? Sure, the guy did redeem himself holding together New York City after 9-11. But his tragic flaw - we still need to define it exactly - blew that up soon enough. Then, there was the desperate attempt to hold onto the limelight through onboarding the Trump Administration train. Also, there was the habit of ugly divorces, including that of Caroline's mother Donna Hanover.

In one more way Caroline mirrors the JFK's daughter. She recognizes her privileged background and how that imposes the burden of making the world better. Perhaps that's why she penned her opinion-editorial in Vanity Fair. Also, she has to get it that this credential will enhance her resume.

Caroline makes clear that unlike her father, she chose a career in the arts. In that she follows in the footsteps of mom - journalist, television/radio personality and actress. In the latter, her most famous (that is, controversial) role was doing "The Vagina Monologues."

Just about any female of Italian-American descent will salute Caroline from breaking away from a system of the divine right of the king. When I brought the man I was to marry home that was it. He saw what I had tried not to see. There was no resolution but to end the engagement. 

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The Civil War in BigLaw - Dead Wringer for Global Generational Tensions

Media outfits, ranging from establishment Bloomberg Law to advocacy-oriented Abovethelaw, have picked up on the new conflict in BigLaw.

It's showcased in the sustained coverage of which law firms are awarding COVID-19 Appreciation Bonuses and which aren't. 

There is also the questioning of why and how BigLaw firms are representing controversial clients. Out the window is the fundamental that the accused deserve a defense. 

Essentially, it's a civil war.

On one side are the partners.

They control wealth and power - as well as the careers of non-partners. In addition, they could be pulling down annually five-million-plus dollars. That's more than the total compensation for the global general counsel at McDonald's in 2019.

On the other side are the associates and law students who represent cultural change.

Their position of strength (whether they admit it or not) is that within the large law firm they have, relatively speaking, little to lose. The odds are against making partner. Maybe they don't even want that anymore. They could be just playing the game for the experience. Also, their current compensation or what their future compensation as an associate is, compared with partners, peanuts.

Incidentally, the saga of Aaron Charney proved that lawyers can burn bridges and not only land on their feet. They can come out ahead financially. After settling with his former BigLaw employer for alleged sex-orientation bias, Charney could afford a condo in Manhattan. That's in addition to another plum job in BigLaw. 

Meanwhile, in the push-back process associates and law students are learning marketable skills. Those include organizing, looping in allies, assessing and implementing messaging tools and creating brandnames for themselves. About the latter, presence is almost everything in professional life.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama put together a personal brand as a community organizer.

Those kinds of abilities open the door to career paths in politics, leadership in nonprofits, the C-suite in non-traditional corporations and maverick law firms.

That squaring-off between partners and associates mirrors the global upheaval among generations. On an individual level climate change activist Greta Thunberg represents that. Between nations that played out when youth in Hong Kong opposed being controlled by the old guard in China. 

Not that such a conflict is new. There is a vivid visual memory of high noon in 1989 in China's Tiannanmen Square. Years earlier, there was the counterculture movement, symbolized by the British Invasion, that is, the Beatles. In America, that cultural disruption affected institutions ranging from the nuclear family to the academic-industrial complex. 

So?

It makes sense that the career-guidance departments in the T-14 law schools should develop a non-credit seminar titled "Reimagining the Law Firm."

At Harvard Law School, Assistant Dean for Career Services - Mark Webber - might consider piloting such an initiative.

The business reality is this: The law firm will mutate. It's in the self-interest of future lawyers to be thought leaders and/or actual foot soldiers in this civil war. During wars, names are made. Career mobility is extraordinary. To leverage that platitude: A war is a terrible thing to waste. 

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