Law And More

From MyKayla Skinner to Johnny Carson - Lessons for Stuck Law Firm Chairpersons

Even before she won silver in gymnastics MyKayla Skinner had planned to retire from that niche. Like TV talk show host Johnny Carson she was going out before she had to. 

Carson's legacy remained golden. Skinner plans a fresh career path in journalism. 

There could be plenty of lessons from that for chairpersons of law firms. Some are old white men. Some are just stuck. And because they may have already peaked and essentially are just holding on, there have been unnecessary problems and missed opportunities. 

Take the haughty tone of their internal memoes which are leaked to media such as Abovethelaw.com.

That condescending approach to communications hasn't changed since Jeremy Blackman launched his blog in the early 21st century "Anonymous Lawyer" and published a novel by that title. His persona was that of a law firm partner.

One memorable post from "Anonymous Lawyer" was the announcement that between certain morning hours hot chocolate would be available in the law firm kitchen. The tone was as out-of-touch as what continues to be the usual in communications, both for outside counsel and for in-house. 

And what about a fall-off in firm financial performance? Thoughts immediately shift to David Boies at Boies Schiller. After a bad 2020, the firm has downsized its real estate footprint. Should the top layer of leadership there retire? Maybe they can pivot to positions in a legal institute or legal publishing corporatioins. 

Also, what about bad publicity? That could have been avoided for Paul Hastings not only recently but also back in 2008. The ham-handed way it handled the termination of associate Shinyung Oh got it a black eye in media such as The Wall Street Journal. That story hung on for years as journalists kept following up on what Oh had been doing. Recently I did just that - follow up. She is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist. 

In addition, there is the ranking situation. Stuck in its black box and with its Trump Administration baggage, Jones Day dropped in elite status on the Vault 100 5 points. That's from 16 to 21. 

Meanwhile, in contrast to Jones Day, Paul Weiss is in the top 10, according to Vault. In 2007, before social-justice activist and innovator Brad Karp became chairperson, it wasn't up there. Incidentally, Karp is over-60 and white. But the concept of "old" doesn't get applied to his persona or his policies. 

Yes, business is hot in large law firms. But when it cools shareholders in law firms could pile on stuck leadership and force them out. This is an era of upheaval. It really doesn't take much to whip up momentum. Recall how the Little Engine That Could - Engine No. 1 - landed board seats at Exxon. 

Sure, the stuck could get unstuck. However, the ethos of the successful player in the legal sector is not to show weakness. Therefore, the usual dynamic in that kind of configuration is for the chairpersons under attack to dig in their heels even more. That means they can't pull off an organizational pivot. It might require a new generation of leadership to disrupt BigLaw.

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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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Chris Christie and More - Maybe You Should Wait to Bet

On ABC's "This Week" former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took a position on COVID vaccination, reports The Hill.

He's not the only politico there, of course.

President Joe Biden has taken on Facebook about that.

Senator Amy Klobuchar has introduced a bill related to health-related misinformation in social media.

And, Facebook's head Mark Zuckerberg who, like all top business leaders, has to be a politico, also is in the vaccine messaging space. 

But, those other three are dealing from a position of strength. They have jobs and they have solid power bases.

Christie, in contrast, is wandering in the political wilderness. He bet on the wrong horse in aligning with the Trump Administration. Like so many depicted in Michael Wolff's "Landslide" he chased after being associated with power and came out of that essentially powerless. Rudy Giuliani is in the same pickle. The legacy of Alan Dershowicz? Sad.

Christie had lost his own power during BridgeGate. Although not convicted in that scandal about politically oriented blocked lanes on the George Washington bridge he couldn't shake the stink.

But he might have been able to engineer a comeback had he not tried so hard to loop into someone else's (that is, the Trump Administration's) power force field. After his political collapse, Andrew Cuomo had reestablished his power base. He didn't piggyback on others. 

Sure, Christie has been able to gain exposure as a political commentator. In that, though, he's no Tucker Carlson. 

The new book about the Nixon Administration - "King Richard" by Michael Dobbs - tells the same kind of tale of power games resulting in everything from the loss of human dignity to the loss of freedom (yes, they went to prison).

Not that this phenomenon only plays out in politics.

The Wall Street Journal chronicles graduates of elite advanced degree programs who bet big money and one or two years of their lives on what left them in deep debt and in low-paying jobs. There seems to be no way out. 

Media such as The Atlantic Magazine rode hard the Trump Administration story, without enough preparation for the next. Currently most of them are struggling. 

Overall, power institutions like Morgan Stanley and Paul Hastings bet that their power would remain intact. That resulted looping into the whole where-work-will-be-done in very wrong ways. 

Nothing is certain, of course. But some guesses about where to invest a career, an education or a brand are wiser than others. 

Guidance on this may come from a source which seems strange to the ambitious. That source is American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron.  Her message is so gentle. Specifically she recommends:

"It all comes through learning to pause for a moment, learning not to just impulsively do the same thing again and again. It's a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately filling up the space." 

Reflection: Will Christie, youth considering advanced degrees, media, Morgan Stanley and Paul Hastings continue their frantic pace to losing so much? 

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Insider - Stuck? (running the same supposed expose for the 2nd time sure looks, sounds like, and reads like stuck)

Here it is: the very long feature by Insider writer Casey Sullivan on an elite law firm associated with Wall Street (yeah, such a tired formula).

This time it has been published on July 24, 2021. And this time is the second time Insider has put out there this exact same article.

The first time had been June 30th. It was and is again one of those typical hit pieces about Wall Street. There is the usual play-out: Wall Street is bad. Those outing the bad are saints. Does the record sound stuck? The article, both the first time around and this second time, reads stuck. The supposed bad guys are portrayed as cartoon villians. 

Well, essentially the story is about investment firm Apollo, its former head Leon Black, its law firm Paul Weiss and the chairman of that law firm Brad Karp. Rounded up for quotes and reflections are the usual suspects: discontended lawyers once associated with Paul Weiss. 

The first time around when the expose was published I did put out there a blog post. It analyzed the management of the Apollo account through the lens of how any sensible business manages a large account. That is, with extreme attention.

Since then, as I re-read the article, I have given this more thought.

Like, isn't it too cute that the Insider article - both times it has been published - makes an analogy between the concern Paul Weiss had about maintaining the account and the angst at Sterling Cooper Advertising agency in "Mad Men" about the Lucky Strike account.

You bet any business that's smart is hypervigilant about holding on and hopefully growing that kind of large account.

Currently I have an account in the trades industry which I compulsively focus on. It's big. And I would do backflips to keep it. If I lose it, the way Sterling Cooper eventually did lose the Lucky Strike account, that would be quite a serious reversal of financial fortune. Also, a blow to branding and self-confidence. No business wants to lose an account. 

So, what's the deal with hitting Paul Weiss in general and its chairperson Brad Karp again? Even the first time? That's the business of business.

BTW, that reference to the client and law firm meeting in the Hamptons? What the hell was that about? I had taken the ferry from Connecticut many times to meet with my own list of clients in their Hamptons getaways. Shoot me, too? 

As for the reality that Insider published this article a second time: Has Insider run out of provocative ideas for articles? In a state of extreme stuckness it went after the easy target of a prestigious law firm servicing Wall Street. Not once. But twice. How did the proposal for this ever get approved by an editor? Yeah, like I will pitch to that same editor the cliche how Roman Catholic grade-school education did X and Y to the fragile psyches of baby boomers. 

In addition, since the article is classified as "Premium Content," is that a sign that Insider needs at this time the extra revenue coming from "Premium?" Media is a tough business in general. It's also had gotten a lot tougher after the Trump phenomenon ended. Even The Atlantic is struggling. 

It's not unthinable that Insider will run this story a third time and maybe a fourth and fifth. Stuck generates more stuck. That's the way it is. 

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The Great Quit - Unbundling Money and Power (Like Jamie Dimon Is Stuck)

"For decades, large swaths of low wage service work have proved difficult to unionize because of fissured workplaces and aggressive union-busting by employers. Now these workers, many of them women of color—have taken the next best option, protesting through mass resignation." Lauren Karori Gurley, Vice, July 23, 2021.

Soon enough it won't be a story when the whole workforce walks off the job. And that isn't a strike. It's a quit. Like, we're not coming back. 

Currently it is the story, though, at Burger King, Chipotle, and Dollar General. A more sophisticated version of that is happening on Wall Street. Young analysts have been exiting for more humane work cultures. And, just the threat of walking out in BigLaw by junior lawyers has been shaping back to office policies (at least before the Delta variant). 

Meanwhile, freelance players have re-learned that they can make a good buck in the underground economy. No, they don't have to pitch over and over for assignments in the above-ground economy. So, obviously, if the balance of power between business and workers doesn't shift, the government is going to lose on plenty of tax money. 

Nothing is static. This use of quitting to send a message will evolve into legislation and litigation. Employment law practices will continue to blossom. 

And, all of us who exchange our labor for money will be making an existential assessment about what "work" means. That is part of how the Future of Work is playing out. 

Of course, corporations will stumble. That's where law firms ESG practices loop in. They provide both preventive guidance and fix-it operations for business when power is being redistributed.

JPMorgan Chase head Jamie Dimon can have all the money in the world. But that no longer ensures that he will control the levers of power. Already, he is being mocked for pontificating where work has to be done. And, Generation Z preferences about the values of the workplace are making Dimon look, well, old-line. 

Yes, Dimon has just re-opped with JPMorgan Chase. And, yes, that institution will probably still make lots of money. But there has been an unbundling of money and power.

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How Much Power Does Eric Grossman Have? That is, Is It Enough for Him to Shake Off Assessment of His Communications as "Arrogant" and "Tone-deaf?"

Eric Grossman is the chief legal officer at Morgan Stanley. 

Before the shift of power in law firms toward junior associates that might have meant he had all the power in determining the terms and conditions of how Morgan Stanley would work with law firms.

But there has been a power pivot. Major, Lindsey & Africa's global practice leader of law firm practice Jeffrey Lowe documents that such a transformation has taken place.

Therefore, does it throw shade on Grossman that his communication about lawyers being in the office full-time has been labeled "arrogant" and "tone-deaf," as reported by Law.com.

Will law firms push back with their own terms and conditions for working with Morgan Stanley?

After all, Wall Street is experiencing a flight of young talent. They are not seduced by the compensation and perks thrown at them.

Law firms associates and maybe even those higher up the food chain can refuse to buckle to what Grossman is all about. What he's all about could be classified as an anachronism in global business. Those already making a stink are U.K. and European finance partners. 

Or, unlike how Paul Hastings was viciously attacked for its arrogance and tone-deafness, can Grossman shake it off? Will the chairpersons, partners and associates cave to that version of the divine right of kings? The new moniker for that sort of thing could be "The Trumpism Long Tail."

Not unthinkable (but not highly probable): It might be that COVID changed professionals' heads too much for the Grossman type to hold on to power. Could he be on the way out like the bullying executives at Deloitte U.K. and KPMG U.K. ?

So, all eyes will be on law firms historically in the Morgan Stanley loop.

They range from Paul Weiss chaired by Brad Karp to Greenberg Traurig headed by Richard Rosenbaum.

What decisions will they make associated with future assignments from Morgan Stanley? Equally interesting: What will be the tone of the communication they issue about their policies about where work will be done and more.

Karp and Rosenbaum could be on the front lines of innovating how business plays out in law firms in 2021 and beyond.

In 2020, Karp's firm won the NYLJ Award for pushing the envelope in the business of law. That envelope will probably experience a lot more pushing.  

 

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Holy Communion as Starter Sacrament in Roman Catholicism - The Bishops and Joe Biden

White dress.

White veil.

White knee socks.

White shoes.

White purse.

White prayer book.

White rosary beads.

White candle.

That was me on my First Communion Day. 

To the present time, I have never felt so important.

That's likely exactly what the one-time brilliant-in-marketing Roman Catholic Church intended in configuring the First Communion ritual. It is a starter sacrament whose aura becomes embedded in both the individual and collective memory bank. My family was beside themselves watching me walk in measured steps up to the altar. 

So, it's no surprise that currently the power structure of Roman Catholicism in the U.S. has zeroed in on communion as the symbol of the need to buy into its whole orthodoxy of beliefs and practices. As is well known, the bishops have been busy bees putting together a manifesto about this sacrament. It seems intended as a stern warning to all who approach its dogma menu on an a carte basis. Among them is U.S. President Joe Biden.

Those close to his administration, such as Brad Karp of Paul Weiss, might advise Biden to, well, smirk. 

Strategically, this busy-bee activity on the part of American Roman Catholicism seems like a very dumb move at the wrong time. And those bishops used to be such smart players.

 Pew documents that of all religions in the U.S. Roman Catholicism has lost the most members. Since the Boston Globe outed clergy sexual abuse of young boys beginning in 2002, there have been a loss of market share, bankruptcies and the shuttering of parish schools. 

Those of us supporting the Biden Administration policies such as pro-abortion could protest in front of our local diocese  headquarters in simulations of our attire for our First Communion.

A budding fashionista can loop into a big brandname by designing the females' Communion Dresses so that they won't be confused with wedding dresses. Much fun to be had. Plus interesting to time travel back to an era when Roman Catholicsm could cast such a spell on our immigrant families in the 1950s. 

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Greenberg Traurig's Black Box Version of Jones Day's Black Box

The world knows well that Jones Day has a black-box culture.

It also knows that's the long game.

Hopes of prying open that black box and taking a peek inside were dashed when "Tolton, et al. v. Jones Day" went kaput.

What the world probably doesn't know, reports Abovethelaw, is that law firm Greenberg Traurig also has its own black-box version of the Jones Day black box. That makes the secrecy phenomenon all the more dark because essentially it remains under the media radar. At least until now. 

Specifically, the GT MO is to operate on a stealth basis with each individual office and and with each individual lawyer. The transactions are conducted by phone. Nothing in writing. Yeah, leave it to the lawyers.

The latest stealth caper has been to raise all associate compensation to market rate in the New York City office. But not in other offices. In those outliers each lawyer is being individually evaluated. The leaks indicate that with the exception of over-the-top performance no boosts in compensation are happening. 

Is the takeaway: Work in the New York office or is it to start shopping your resume to other law firms? 

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The Amy Chua/Jed Rubenfeld Show - Is It a Greek Tragedy of Ethnic Self-Hate?

The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Bloomberg Law and Abovethelaw are among the media centers covering the fall of Yale Law Professors Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld. Those features include myriad theories why the two have gone from being gods and influencers at that small but prestigious law school to players in a kind of Greek tragedy.

One can almost hear the Greek Chorus chant: Beware Amy, Beware Jed. 

Those theories of The Fall range from hubris to being victims of others' jealousy to simple ineptness in public relations. The latter is a must-have skill in this media era.

But what might have been in plain sight and not picked up is this: Are the two classic examples of ethnic self-hate? There may or may not be such an entity. However, the late literary giant Philip Roth gained fame and wealth depicting that phenomenon in novels such as "Portnoy's Complaint."

As the new biography of him - Philip Roth - captures, that writer grew up lower middle-class in a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey. My background in nearby Jersey City, NJ was similar.

Many of those in Newark and in Jersey City lived in the shadow of Manhattan. That was where the Don Drapers of "Mad Men" conjured out the magic that shaped America. It was likely impossible for us not to feel less-than. With rebuff after rebuff directed at ethnics that could harden into self-hate. 

Self-hate can take the form of bravado, arrogance, aggressiveness, compulsive striving, extreme risk-taking, criminal activity and more.  

Could any of this notion of ethnic self-hate be applied to Chua and Rubenfeld? 

Those of us who grew up in neighborhoods where that was the dominant ethos might be able to make a strong case that the two seem dead ringers for the folks we knew who self-destructed so well. They were the beautiful cheerleader who got pregnant senior year and couldn't go to Jersey City State College and the manager of a Firestone store who embezzled. That type of darkness was everywhere.

Those who didn't grow up in that kind of environment should read Roth's biography and the several of his novels. Access to higher education, social standing, financial security - none of that necessarily sucks out the self-loathing. It's a kind of stuckness.

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Innovation (especially Wilson Sonsini's) Is Sexy - ESG Is Extreme Frustration

Today, I posted on Wilson Sonsini's Neuron innovation. That's one big step in its mission to disrupt the legal startup space. Immediately, heavy traffic. 

A few hours before I had posted on ESG, specifically Harvard Business School Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter's contention that employees should be among the central deciders. Traffic has been holiday-light.

As we say in communications: Innovation is sexy.

Innovation is the future, not being stuck in sad reflections about COVID and lessons learned.

Innovation is essential to figuring out the horses we should be betting on in our careers.

Innovation is even exciting in an old-fashioned gee-whiz way (we can still be awed).

In contrast, ESG has taken on too many moving parts. OMG. 

So many stakeholders have rushed onto the playing field. The Wall Street Journal details all that recent activity. BTW, the folks at the WSJ are calling that "Stakeholder Capitalism." 

Even thinking about Stakeholder Capitalism is frustrating. 

Recently, my posts about law firm ESG practices, such as Paul Weiss' engineerd by Brad Karp, only get sustained heavy traffic if I position and package them as innovation. Here is an example. Posted on June 18th, it still is clickbait.  You bet, put "Innovation" in the headline. And, the first paragraph.

Also, ESG is playing out as disenchanting as the late 1960s counterculture had been. So much liberation had been promised. Instead we found ourselves bullied by smelly long-haired guys seemingly eager for, well, you know ...

ESG seems to have mutated into an arena of competing interests, with sharp elbows and visions of class actions. 

That is reality. The implications, at least to pragmatists, are obvious. Those looking for attention - journalists, bloggers, law-firm public relations/marketing staff and more - should angle their material to fit perfectly in the innovation box. That might be, yes, ESG or antitrust or a win for the firm. For SEO purposes the term "innovation" has to be frontloaded. 

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