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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Harvard Law School - Transform "Career" Whatever to "Work"

On its website, Harvard Law School devotes a whole section to Careers.

Those in the trenches of this volatile economy roll our eyes.

After all, consulting firm Willis Towers Watson made it official: The old-line career path is mutating into a broad and nonlinear portfolio of work experiences. The new story we tell those hiring for jobs (what a quaint concept) and project assignments (more aligned with the times) is how those experiences make us the one to generate the results they need.

So, yes, rename the Career whatevers at Harvard and other law schools as simply "Work." Those searching for actual work or insight about how to transition could recognize the portfolio approach is more open than the careerist track for earning a good living.

Also, it could be fun for them to be creative about pulling together their myriad income-producing stints out there and packaging them as "Here's what I can do for you, Employer/Project Leader."

In itself that might reduce the mental illness and substance abuse which are at an-above-average rate in the legal sector. For example, when in one work slot, no one has to hang on for dear life to hold onto that source of income. The skills acquired can simply be tucked into the portfolio of experiences and resold somewhere else. 

For some, this is nothing new. The methodology was arrived at intuitively, to be able to make a living. An early example of that among the so-called best and brightest was the collapse of the academic market for doctorates in the humanities in the beginning of the 1970s.

The government had gotten it wrong. It predicted a surge in demand for college professors in that niche. It funded that projected need with the NDEA Title IV fellowship, providing a free ride for those willing to invest several years matriculating for the doctorate degree.

We wound up as a new tragic version of a Lost Generation. Those of us who were able to loop out of that disaster have done this: We keep repackaging those years "pursuing academic excellence" into what we could and actually are selling on the labor market. Yes, Project Manager, I have been trained in research. 

Currently, law firms, just like so many other businesses, are struggling to restructure. The "law firm" as we have known it might be a fading memory by 2025.

Harvard Law School can prepare its students and alumni for that now.

First steps:

Tear down all signage about "careers."

Talk straight about work: landing it, holding onto it and moving on to other kinds of work.

Provide free workshops on creative repackaging. In continually doing mine, I discovered I could leverage the record number of subscriptions I sold for the Newark Star Ledger as a fundraiser for Sacred Heart Parish School. I was 12. I was awarded a three-speed bike. 

Then, to siphon off angst, post the logo of those adorable seven little guys whose work is joy. No, work doesn't have to mean suffering.

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)

 

Dog Fight in Search - Heidrick & Struggles

"Like industries across the country, and the world, executive search was devastated by the initial impact of the COVID-19 crisis. But a newly-released Q2 report on the industry by recruitment software developer Thrive suggests that recovery may be closer than many people expect." - HuntScalonMedia, August 18, 2020.

Whether the search for professionals is going on for public corporations or for law firms, there's a dog fight to be assigned the search. Next, is the challenge of completing the search.  

Given the high uncertainty in the global economy, new kinds of skills are required for both parts of the recruiting process. One is extreme competence in Emotional Intelligence (EI). Before Dan Goleman brought that term mainstream, that used to be known as "soft skills." 

If the recovery can maintain traction (doubtful as COVID-19 circles back in Europe and the U.S.), the question is how will the major players in executive search such as Heidrick & Struggles do? Probably more to the point, which competitors can even hold their own if the recovery falls off the cliff?

Yes, hear the hungry dogs growling about this one.

Admittedly, I am operating on a very small sample: They were two experiences I had in one traumatic day with Heidrick & Struggles. One was with a global partner. The other was with a lawyer in the corporation's in-house legal department. Soft skills? Didn't bump into them any time that day. Here is my story.

Meanwhile, next week Heidrick & Struggles will do its earnings call. Last July, that didn't go so hot. 

Wall Street analysts expect a year-over-year decline in earnings because of reduced revenues. Bank of America has already reduced its stake in Heidrick & Struggles.

That Moment of Truth:

Question:

Would I recommend Heidrick & Struggles to my clients who are restructuring and searching for new kinds of skills? 

Answer: No. I remain undone by two encounters of the strangest kind with Heidrick & Struggles. Some stuff, it seems, you just can't shake.

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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)

 

No, Youth Doesn't Have to Go to Law School Or Invest in the M.B.A. - The 5 Fundamentals

 "Economists say the longer that young people are forced to delay their careers, the worse their prospects will be in the future to hold a job, accumulate wealth, or even get married or start a family." - Bloomberg, October 23, 2020.

Last month, the jobless rate for youth had been the highest for any age group: 12.5%. Back in April, that was how the labor market played out for them. Their unemployment rate had been 26%.

The tragedy of this is multi-dimensional. 

Research proves that if this generation continues to be stalled in landing That First Real Job they will never catch up to where other generations had been at their age and then leveraged that for "getting ahead."

Youth's mindset could be defeatist. Not everyone has been blessed by the universe with the gift of extreme resilience. 

Also, too many could cave to seeking a supposed safe harbor in advanced education. Already statistics show, for example, that enrollments have been on an upward trajectory for M.B.A. programs and law school. However there is no guarantee that by time they complete those degrees the labor market will absorb them. Meanwhile, they could be accumulating six-figure student loan debt. 

Barred access to what could be thought of as "grown-up jobs," they can't build a golden-plated network with successful people. The contacts from their school years could be in the same underemployment and unemployment wasteland that they are.

Yes, America certainly seems like a nation which eats its young. By time the Ok, Boomers got knocked out of the job box, they had assets like their houses, retirement accounts and savings. In addition, Social Security is still around and still hasn't been cut. Medicare makes it possible for them to have healthcare without paying hundreds of thousands annually.

But, for young people who are willing to search for work differently than has been the usual, the present and future can be bright. 

Here are The 5 Fundamentals I recommend to young men and women I coach:

• Stop focusing on a career path. Instead, as Willis Tower Watson hammers, shift from that old-fashioned notion to creating a portfolio of skills. Carry that around and you will always land work. Diversify the skills from mundane (like security guard) to sophisticated (like SEO expert). Need more training for additional skills? Rather than going for another expensive degree, consider low-cost certification or what the community college has to offer.

 

• Hedge for all kinds of economies by developing multiple sources of income. Even if you land a great full-time day job in a large public relations agency or brandname marketing firm, don't let go of other ways to regularly bring in a buck.

 

• Get over class consciousness. That rigid line between blue collar and white collar is blurring. For example, truck-driving, both local and long distance, can provide good income and upward mobility. The training could run, at the top, around $7k. Usually it's lower. There are arrangements for free licensing for those willing to work for that company for two years.

 

• Hang around with people with hope. We human beings influence each other, cell by cell. That's been documented by scientists who researched mirror neurons. Yes, despair is contagious. As mom and your high school guidance counsel warned, you are the people you associate with.

 

• Look for how to earn a buck today. The future is now. That plan in your head about The Ideal Career is merely an abstraction. You can't eat it. Instead, others will continue to have you for supper.

One more thing: It really is true: Adversity can be the most solid platform for building professional success. Use that pain to provide unique push to make it big.

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)

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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Young Associates in BigLaw - No Consistency in How They're Faring During COVID-19

What has it been like being a young associate during COVID-19?

The Law.com LegalSpeak podcast provides insight into that experience. The host is Law.com's Patrick Smith. The guest is Stephanie Biderman, a managing director at search firm Major Lindsey & Africa.

Essentially, there has been no consistency in what associates had gone through. There are too many variables.

The ideal situation for an associate is to be seasoned, in a practice in demand such as bankruptcy and not have children at home to assist with their online learning.

Among their advantages are:

• They know what they are doing. Many first and second year associates are missing out on training and development because firms are preoccupied with coping with the pandemic. Also, formal training is difficult to administer remotely.

 

• There's plenty of work in their practice area. In litigation, for instance, they probably wouldn't have access to billing enough hours.

 

• Work/life balance is not so brutal for non-parents.

 

• Partners find it easier to assign tasks to mid-level associates. It's time-consuming to have to explain the work to more junior lawyers. Then, continually they will have to monitor and correct what's being produced. The interesting thing here is that because of this shift partners are being perceived as poaching assignments from associates. Often, it's simply more efficient for partners just to do the work itself to "outsource" it to a senior lawyer.

 

• Because of accumulating a high number of billable hours, the time is right to shop around for a better deal as a lateral.

Meanwhile, associates not in that kind of catbird seat are in angst about their job security. They are not piling up enough billable hours, for example. So, they are asking Biderman about how typical is the pickle they are in. 

It isn't much comfort that in this crisis, unlike the 2008 -2009 one, lawyers haven't been laid off on a massive basis. Those I speak with who aren't ideally positioned expect the shoe to drop if there is a repeat of the severe economic downturn which occurred last spring. Download ReimaginingYourCareerWithJaneGenova.

In their heads, The Future of Work is now. And their now isn't pretty. 

Depending on who's doing the counting, America is enduring the second or third rounds of COVID-19. The impacts could hit the legal sector hard - in fact, harder than what went down in the spring.

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Kroger Pharma - Unacceptable

Since early June 2020 Enalpril Maleate 2.5 MG has been keeping my best (four-legged) friend LOV alive. He has congestive heart failure. According to information lifted from the Internet, maintained on that med, he has 4 to 14 months of life left. 

Already he had moved into the 5th month. So, given that he could die at any time, I refill the med when the bottle is almost empty. After all, my health insurance doesn't cover it. So, why pay if it will be tossed? 

Late last week I called into Kroger Pharmacy for that refill. The transaction was all processed by automation. The machine told me the prescription would be ready for pickup on Saturday, after 2 P.M. 

I swung by Kroger today - Sunday - for that pick-up.

At the window there was stalling. Several times I had to repeat the information. (Maybe this grocery chain should train staff in listening skills). Then, the bombshell. "They" were out of the med. I went bug-eyed. "But this is for my dog's heart."

The "they" said they would reorder it.

"The dog needs that pill!"

It was left to me to ask when would it come in.

I was informed tomorrow. Believe me, I am not banking on it.

My extreme concern is two-fold:

• Why did "they" not keep in stock a med for the heart?
• Why did "they" not inform me that it was out-of-stock. If they had, I could have called around to other pharmacies where it might have been in stock.

I ask not only animal-rights front lines to investigate Kroger Pharma.

Also, those providing Medicare Supplemental Insurance, such as AARP, should also revisit having Kroger Pharma on its list of approved providers. Had it not been I would never have had my four-footed son's prescription filled there. It seemed more convenient to have all my prescriptions taken care in one place. 

Kroger Pharma and Kroger Grocery - a pox on both your houses. Recently, the grocery wing ran out of those cards necessary to present for the in-store discounts. I had to beg others waiting to be checked-out if I could use their card. Those savings are significant.

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

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)

Law Firms' Real Estate Development Practices - Hopes Dim on Pace of Recovery

"Signs of stress in New York City’s commercial properties are fueling investor bets that trouble in the nation’s largest real-estate market could spread pain nationwide ... The uncertainty around how a recovery will play out, especially in big cities, has led some investors to bet on further declines." - The Wall Street Journal, October 18, 2020.

Magical thinking about a recovery any time soon has ended. However, no one in the know is expecting a collapse. The thinking is that the commercial real estate in Manhattan bounced back after 9/11. And, the residential real estate crash had, as usual, been followed by a boom in some locations.

The unraveling of the commercial real estate market reinforces the diversification warning for law firms. 

Best practices in this volatile era mandates not putting all or too many eggs in one basket. Go to the websites of law firms which are scaling, even in the pandemic. For example, on Paul. Weiss' the list of practices, transactional and for litigation is long. 

The trick, though, is to create and manage the diversification right. Iconic old-line corporations in soda pop and cereals kept stumbling in that. Consumer preferences had changed. Yet, the approach to moving into new market niches had mostly been done with a mindset associated with products that had become anachronisms. 

An example of a business that can pivot is Apple. Its ethos is that the future is now. 

One that hadn't been able to get unstuck from legacy product lines is IBM. Some analysts, reports The Wall Street Journal, are not bullish that the ship can turn around even though IBM has split in two. The past is in one box. The cloud business in another. Again, the how and execution of a strategic shift are everything. 

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