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Post-BigLaw - Right Timing for Hanging Out a Shingle

"Younger lawyers are steering their careers around their personal values, with some finding solo practice a better fit. And the barriers to entry for solo practice are lower than ever." - Meredith Hobbs, Law.com, April 5, 2021.

Despite the bonus bonanzas, BigLaw is taking it on the chin as to the ordeal associates are enduring. Burnout has become an epidemic. And money isn't alleviating the suffering. Real change in the intensity of the tasks and the long hours doesn't seem to be in the cards. Orrick offers paid time to unplug. But soon enough when plugged back in the stress could become unbearable, again.

So, it's predictable that young lawyers have been experimenting with post-BigLaw options.

One whose timing is right in several ways is hanging out a shingle. 

There is that old adage: Learn on the company. Pragmatic career coaches advise most college students to first learn about business and their trade by going to work full-time in an organization. Only then should they pursue an entrepreneurial initiative. There are exceptions, of course. At the top of that list is app development.

Me? I had to learn on the company. For 10 years I labored in the vineyards of the Fortune 100. Then, when blessed with a layoff and a year's severance I launched my own communications boutique. Later I added career coaching.

The severance was needed. And that's what I warn members of Generation Z who contact me about being entrepreneurs or gig workers. A financial reserve is a must. Most businesses have their up and down cycles. In the latter, the bills still require payment. 

During working in BigLaw for a few years, lawyers should be socking away the funds to ride them over when business isn't brisk or just doesn't seem to be happening. 

One more thing. Frequently the key variable in succeeding as a solo is marketing. That's what I hammered when I addressed unemployed lawyers at the New York State Bar Association. And the marketing process, just like the fundraising one with politicians, is forever. There should be no let-up, even in peak periods. 

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

Legal Marketers - Pitching Those End of Life Services (estate planning, wills and more)

Lawyers who are providers of those end of life services know that's a tough sell. At least the intitial steps of getting beyond denial to get attention and motivate a response to the Call To Action. Yes, you want them to choose you to structure their estate, create their wills and more. 

As a marketing communications strategiest and content-creator, I am interested in how businesses as well as nonprofits get beyond the predictable denial and reluctance among the target markets.

Today, in snail mail arrived an oversized post card at my Sierra Vista, Arizona address. It was from the Neptune Society, a cremation service. The service is located locally. And somehow its targeting found me who is in the senior demographic.

The "ice-breaker" is a complimentary lunch. There are three possible dates.

That's a two-fold lure. One, so much of us want to get out of the house and be with others. And, two, free is always a grabber.

As college students learn in required exposition courses, hammer the details. Don't be general or generic. The pitch is detail-heavy. There is no vague or generic prose.

What we who will attend will learn about include:

The Benefits of Preplanning

Eco-friendly Choices

Affordable Options and Savings

Travel & Relocation Plan.

Of course, not all of us seniors are social. Therefore, the Neptune Society also provides one-on-one consultations and online seminar options.

You in legal marketing of end of life services could find it useful to attend one of the presentations. For more information and reservations call 520-775-0671. Another smart move is to provide a phone number, no email address. The target markets are phone folks.

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

Infrastructure - The BigLaw Edge (and What Donald Trump Now Lacks)

Many legal practices took hard blows after March 2020. That was when the pandemic became a reality globally, including throughout the U.S.

The exception had been a number of law firms in BigLaw. In fact, some had windfall profits. 

One factor underlying the success of those large elite law firms could be how they put together their infrastructure, keep reinforcing it and doing rapid course correction.

Political experts, reports Politico, attribute former U.S. President Donald Trump's current loss of direction and influence to a lack of infrastructure. He is unable to conjure up post-presidency the kind of force field which propelled his initial rise to political power.

That is nothing new in politics. The Frank Hague political machine in Hudson County, New Jersey had such a sustained hold on that region because of how well-organized it was. That was so much so that the mantra in Jersey City, which is part of the County, was: You can't fight city hall.

However, the infrastructure established by BigLaw is not a monolith.

A key part of Jones Day's is its black box culture.

Important at Sanford Heisler are its instinct for public relations and its high emotional intelligence.

Dentons is embedded with the political savvy of its leader Joe Andrew. 

Lawyers demand evidence.

Well, evidence of how much infrastructure can facilitiate had been the creation of COVID Relief Center. Chairman of Paul Weiss Brad Karp leveraged the law firm's social infrastructure to motivate lawyers from many law firms to pitch in on the public-service initiative. And, it went live quickly.

And, it probably has been Paul Weiss' overall infrastructure, ranging from financial resoures to branding, which empowered its track record in lateral hiring. Among the stars had been Karen Dunn. In general, a lateral strategy has been proving to be the most efficient MO for growth.

The lesson for law practices which continue to struggle during COVID is obvious: Pay attention to building, maintaining and scaling your infrastructure.

Outstanding performance in legal tasks per usually is only a defensive move. Hard work is overrated.

The more critical factor is the infrastructure. That includes well-oiled machines for public relations, networking, access to insider insight, ability to bill at the high end, attracting talent, retaining talent and new business development.

Currently, the infrastructure at Boies Schiller seems to have crumbled.

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Legal Marketers: Public Relations & Its Risks (classic example of Harry and Meghan)

When the Puritans established Harvard in1636, higher education became the unofficial religion of America. 

That held for a long time.

Then evolved the tools of public relations. The new religion was the conviction that sophisticated forms of public relations could fix any reputational problem and launch any product, service, cause or career. No surprise, the field is growing faster than average.

Increasingly, help-wanted ads in the legal sector are for full-time or just-in-time public relations experts. Their function now includes marketing communications.

However, the results of public relations outreach can be negative.

The obvious case of that is the decline in popularity of Harry and Meghan. According to the YouGov poll, since the Oprah interview, the perception of Harry plummeted by 15 points. That was compared to a week before the interview. Almost half now have a negative take on him. As for Meghan, currently there is a 58% negative perception. 

Another classic case has been litigator David Boies. In his situation, others' public relations efforts have been used against him. In 2015, he was on the top of the public relations game. For instance, BloombergBusinessWeek published a major article on Boies. 

Then the tide turned. In 2017, Ronan Farrow published the reptuation-destroyer "Harvey Weinstein's Army of Spies" in The New Yorker. 

The most recent coverage such as by Law.com about Boies is the plunge of revenue and profits at the firm he co-founded Boies Schiller. That was attributed to the flight of partners. Of course, one business' bad publicity can be another's good publicity. A number of those partners found new homes in law firms such as Paul Weiss. That enhanced the brands of those hiring former Boies Schiller partners as laterals. 

Back before public relations became a must for most organizations and careerists, there were those who made it their business to steer clear of all that. Permanently. Or temporarily. Often they were and are the behind-the-scenes king-makers. Or, as with IBM for years after the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit in 1969, they kept their heads down until the crisis receded from the global collective memory bank. 

It seems unthinkable but it is reality: Public relations can be a risky tool. The usual peril is that when leverged in excess it invites push-back. That dynamic could have played a role in the fall of the House of Cuomo.

Actually as media outlets become more and more competition, a low profile might be wise. The higher one could invite journalists and bloggers to find an opening for an expose. New business can be developed and a career moved forward through word of mouth on specialized networks. Yes, the law firm does outstanding work. Yes, that associate or partner has the X win rate, as all insiders know,

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Bestseller Interrupted - Andrew Cuomo's "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic"

"The publisher of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s book on his leadership during the pandemic said it had stopped promoting the title because of an inquiry into the withholding of data on the deaths of nursing home residents." - David Goodman and Jesse McKinley, The New York Times, March 8, 2021.

That publisher is Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House.

The book is "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic." It was published in October 2020. And, it was positioned and packaged as Cuomo "in his own voice."

That voice no longer resonates as the sound of trusted leadership during upheaval - medical, economic, social and emotional. 

Crown has axed the plan for reprinting the book and issuing it in paperback.

It is unknown how much money Cuomo did earn from contracting to write the book. In addition to the money, though, he had the opportunity to do an apologia of his decision-making - some of it controversial even when his brand was riding high. 

But prior to the scandals sales began to decline because the pandemic fallout worsened in the state. As William Shakespeare hammered in his dramas: The crowd is fickle. Julius Caesar certainly experienced that. 

 Amazon has not yet registered the sales disaster. The book still ranks on Amazon at 14,522. Any author would kill for that kind of showing on Amazon. 

1,390 readers took the time to rate the book and comment on it. They gave it almost a "5" out of a possible "5." 

Given the art and science of reputation restoration in America, Cuomo can still land on his feet. Or if he is knocked off his feet, he can have a comeback. He had pulled one off in 2002. It was then that he said the wrong things and had to withdraw from the New York governor's race. 

Like his brand or actually a reminaged brand, his book can also be given a second chance. However, right now the situation can best be described as "Bestseller Interrupted."

Those observing this unraveling could take the zen stance: Clear thinking, don't know. 

Yes, place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Affordable rates. Please contact Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Shorter Lawyer Tenure - Will Model of Paul Weiss Become Standard?

In the labor market in general, the shelf life of the job or the gig assignment has become shorter. Iconic career guide/job search manual "What Color Is Your Parachute?" documents that.

Well, law firm Paul Weiss could be an example of that trend in the legal sector.

According to the Abovethelaw's Law Firm Transparency Directory, powered by Leopard Solutions, that law firm has the shortest attorney tenure. 

That play-out could become standard.

Work seems to be mutating into an in-and-out process, with relationships increasingly irrelevant.

In this article, I point out that those determined to get, hold and move on to better work have been pitching what results they can get done for those hiring. Hold the personality.

Of course, though, social skills remain critical. The lack of them did in the executives at Deloitte U.K. and KPMG U.K. 

However, overall, I have found in my career coaching that establishing too high a profile can be a liability. Businesses want the task done, thank you very much. And, that's that. Go off and find other work. In a sense, members of the global workforce have all become a 21st-century version of the "migrant worker."

Yes, place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Affordable rates. Please contact Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Legal Media/Marketers - Less Opinion, More Data

Has the op-ed (opinion-editorial) peaked and is in a downward trajectory? If it is, that decline could be accelerated by The New York Times columnist David Brooks' fall from grace. 

In the business world, the op-ed as a public relations tool caught fire when Herb Schmertz leveraged it on behalf of his employer Mobil. That began as paid content (now called "sponsored content") in top-tier media. It was especially useful in the late 1970s when the oil industry was under attack for supposed windfall profits and allegedly withholding oil from the American people.

Over the years, as we in ghostwriting know well, the demand for op-eds by brandname thought leaders surged. We researched and produced the content. The media specialists landed the placements in The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

The technology of blogging opened that up to everyone who had a point of view.

Of course, glut took over. Not only has content peaked. So has the opinion piece.

If those in legal media and legal marketing will check their page views they are likely to find this pattern: Decline in interest in opinion. Increase in interest in data. 

That could be part of the reason for the influence of Bloomberg Law and Law.com. Both legal media outlets are full of facts. Of course, there will be in the article some speculation about the implications of those facts. But mostly, it's a return to the old Joe Friday mantra of "Just the facts ..." 

The same trend seems to be overtaking the advice industry. Less opinion, more data. Don't posit that my son will never be able to make partner at a large law firm. Instead, provide me with comprehensive data about that in general and then some about where it's more likely (e.g. at Weil).

Essentially, there is shift out of 21st-century romanticism (the first time around was with Lord Byron) to what the realities are, at the time. Emotional intelligence is important. After all the bullying executives at Deloitte and KPMG had to step back. But the cult of personality is petering out. It's dawning: Big personalities, ranging from Donald Trump to Andrew Cuomo, can mean Big trouble.

In coaching I lay out the facts to clients that those hiring are focused on what the applicant for work can get done for them. Not their engaging personality. And, since in most fields the shelf life of jobs and projects is shorter and shorter, relationships matter less and less. That's documented by "What Color Is Your Parachute?"

Yes, place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Affordable rates. Please contact Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Stuck - That Had Been Fate of Most Seasoned Lawyers in 2020, Found Leopard Solutions 2020 Report

The usual had been to put in your time as an associate in BigLaw, make your mistakes and learn what you can. Then, you could get serious about your career path. That is, you did a lateral.

That was then.

Now, reports Abovethelaw, lawyers are having a more difficult time changing firms. According to Leopard Solutions 2020 Report, there had been a 61% in the decline of laterals being hired by law firms, as compared to 2019. Only 28% of the law firms had done lateral hiring.

Yes, the majority of lawyers are stuck in-place.

The implications are major.

For example, the JD Class of 2021 better select the offer of a firm they might have to stay with.

Senior associates better get the hang of developing businesss. Those of the kinds of laterals law firms chase. Yes, they are willing to pay top dollar for seasoned lawyers with a book of business. In addition, those lawyers could become more marketable in the lateral niche by performing brilliantly in high-profile litigation and transactions. Brandnames sell. 

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

The All-Important Ranking Game - What Law Schools Can Learn From Northeastern

The ranking game in higher education is a primary factor in determing branding, quality of applications, fundraising, prestige of faculty, research grants, alunni support, career paths of new graduates and, of course, tution revenue. Also, obviously, it can result in the loss of jobs by the leadership. That is, if the ranking is disappointing. 

Law schools are brutally aware of the consequences of a low ranking.

They might learn plenty from the approach Northeastern University applied singlemindedly and over the long term to catapult it into the top 100 of undergraduate institutions. Boston Magazine describes in detail how former NU President Richard Freeland designed and implemented that initiative. 

The first step was to focus on one ranking system, not try to improve status in all of them. Freeland chose U.S. News & World Report. 

Next, the focus was on "cracking the cold." That was to analyze what U.S. News & World Report accually factored into assessing the rankings. Not all variables are equal, of course.

Freeland then made it the university's business to improve performance in those categories. It was the approach of extreme focus on a small number of what influenced those doing the measuring. In fact, the university adopted its mantra as "Smaller but Better."

This mode of operation mirrors that of many successful startups. Founders ignore expert advice and the usual must-dos, zeroing in on what will both yield the eventual service or product and attract funding. The heck with everything else. 

NU accomplished what Freeland set out to do. It broke into the 100. Its ranking became 98.

Law schools, where the leadership is willing to be one-dimensional in its goal, can also pull that off. There's no telling what they achieve in a ranking-change.

That goes back to the fundamental that focus is everything. Dan Goleman, famous for bringing mainstream how critical Emotional Intelligence is, published a book on that. It's "Focus," which you can order here from Amazon. 

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