Law And More

Hughes Hubbard & Reed - Lessons for Other Law Firms

With a gentle tone (rare for that media outlet), Abovethelaw provides the statistical highlights of the downward trajectory of Hughes Hubbard & Reed.

Over the past five years or so, for example, PPP has nosedived from $2.145 million to $1.141 million. Lawyer headcount is down by 80.

Between the lines are key lessons for other law firms which don't want to get into the soup.

Among those lessons are:

Don't only pitch for the BigCase. Among its major clients had been Merck during the VIOXX litigation. Then, that run of litigation is over.

If the pipeline is empty of other BigCases, the firm could begin to wobble financially. If the stink of that is picked up, there will no new business. Partners will head out. Laterals can't be poached.

Lesson: Go after bread-and-butter business, even if it's relatively small and not high profile. Often those clients will bring in larger projects. 

Diversify practice areas. There seemed to be too much expectation of revenue from product liability. In contrast, Paul, Weiss have nurtured a long list of practices in both transactional and litigation.

Lesson: Everything changes. 

Have a sense of urgency. When there are even subtle signals of trouble, focus in. Then quickly execute the proposed incremental change or overhaul.

Management consultants Tom Peters and Robert Waterman Jr. hammered the need for rapid response in their iconic book "In Search of Excellence." In the early 1980s, the book became the bible for Corporate America. At the time it was facing, for the first time, formidable international competition. 

Lesson: Unlike what Mr. Rogers told you, you are not special. Neither is the firm you created. Anticipate trouble. 

The tragic flaws law firms develop (or are born with) mirror the demons within human beings. The latter experience a reversal of fortune for exactly the same reasons. Those range from only willing to play in the elite sandboxes to magical thinking that things will get better, on their own.

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)

Divorce Lawyers Should Assist Clients, Even Before Courts Return to Normal

Lockdowns

Layoffs/Furloughs

Stalled career paths

Chronic Financial Stress

Conflicts about how to educate the children

Old resentments rearing their heads.

All that has hardened into an ugly tipping point.

Couples are deciding to decouple. But, the courts are either not open or operating at a significantly reduced capacity. 

That shouldn't lull the parties into being stuck in their misery.

Right now, divorce lawyers can parachute in with advice on everything from how to co-live until other arrangement can be made to understanding options about key issues such as distribution of assets, alimony/child support and custody. 

In itself that can reduce tension on the homefront. Also, it could prevent domestic violence. The world is on edge. Even those in happy marriage feel they better be walking on eggshell.

Meanwhile those in a pickle about work should know there is affordable help Download ReimaginingYourCareerWithJaneGenova

A researcher can design a project measuring well-being in couples planning divorce who sought legal guidance early in the process versus those who just just sat there, inhaling their own bad air.

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Subtext of Bonus Wars: The Pickle Associates (and most millennials) Are In

As recently as the headlines in legal media last Friday, the bonus wars dominated. That's a long time in this era of a rapid news cycle for any story (beyond Trumpworld) to remain marketable to editors. 

So, obviously, there is a story embedded in that story.

The subtext, I have a hunch, is the pickle associates - and most millennials - are in. It's a painful state.

That includes, reports Business Insider, financial stress, burnout from too long hours, loneliness as human connection becomes elusive, and, yes, decline in health, both physical and mental. Overall, that demographic (ages 24 to 39) is aging faster than earlier generations had and are.

Also, suicide, direct and passive, is increasingly common. That drug overdose many would label a form of "passive suicide." The rooms of recovery are experiencing more and more of those. 

Ironically, the millennial plight had been captured in the book "Disrupted" by over-50 Dan Lyons.

Knocked out of the box from his media job (he suspects because of age) he grabbed a position in a startup.

There he observed the syndrome of "Burn and Turn." Enthusiastic millennials were hired in and worked to near death. Then, when they limped away on their own or were pushed out, they replaced by another batch to "Burn and Turn." There was no shortage of new recruits. Startups are the ultimate cool.

That pattern does mirror the Up or Out system of many law firms. Also, there is no shortage of new recruits. Who doesn't want the prestige of being an associate in a brandname law firm! 

Skilled capitalists (that's how they got to the top), the law-firm brass is usually not transparent about who will make it all the way to partner. Therefore, hopeful associates give their all.

Actually, in itself, that's not the end of the world - or necessarily of their physical health and health.

If only they entered that space with the right mindset ...

Associates could come out ahead of what seems like a brutal game by positioning and packaging it as damn-good experience they can leverage. Meanwhile. they are probably enjoying very good compensation. If they can last long enough they can pay off student loans. 

But, come on. The prevailing mindset, thanks maybe to Mr. Rogers, is usually that they will become partners.

However, there's much more contributing to the mess that associates and other millennials are in than simply career fantasies.

Among the drivers are debt along with inflation in fixed expenses such as housing and groceries, escalating employment insecurity in most sectors, great expectations (followed by dashed hopes) about relationships, and stress-induced negative impacts on all the healthcare numbers which signal premature aging. About the latter - as any Baby Boomer like myself will tell you: Worrying about your health can throw shade on your entire existence. 

Since associates lug around some or most of that, it's no surprise that those who didn't receive the off-season COVID Appreciation bonus would become the loudest voice in the legal sector about suffering. The tone was and is downright Dickensian.

One solution, of course, is career coaching. During that, two things can happen. One is the ability to make choices about how to earn a good living. The other is how to up the odds about being successful in that choice. Download ReimaginingYourPersonalBrandwithJaneGenova

The more general one, though, is what just about every gen does as part of "growing up." That's realistically sizing up what is and then struggling to make the best of it. The rub is this: Giving up assumptions or hand-me-downs from parents or high school guidance counselors about how the world is supposed to work.

Those who manage that brutal rite of passage can not only make it professionally. There can be inner peace. Bill Gates shook off the mythology of the higher education system.

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Drudge Report Poll on Who Won the Vice President Debate

Part of the Drudge Report's signature became polling after a presidential/vicepresidential debate.

The question was and is: Who won?

Here is the link to the poll for tonight's debate.

It's 11:31 P.M. (ET). So far, 124,903 votes have come in. 70% assessed that Mike Pence had won. Then, that left 30% to designate Kamala Harris as the winner.

Keep in mind that the Drudge Report essentially is a conservative site. Some might remember that this early adopter of digital broke the story about The Intern, that is the relationship between U.S. President at the time Bill Clinton and his intern Monica Lewinsky. That gave conservatives a platform to showcase their family values versus the lustful ones of Democratic U.S. President.

That was then.

Since Donald Trump's behavior became aberrant, founder Matt Drudge has been moving more to the center. That attracted more moderate readers.

Eventually, Drudge and Donald Trump had a falling-out. Trump is no longer a Drudge Report cheerleader. He directed his loyalists to shift to The Revolver News. 

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Kamala Harris and Other Female JDs - The Challenge of Personal Branding

During the Vice Presidential debate, Kamala Harris seemed to smile too much.

Smiling more than is necessary in a social context can be interpreted as a too-eager-to-please gesture.

Yes, in social situations the expectation is to frontload with a smile. Then ... 

Some professional women I coach admit that they have to learn to control that smiling impulse. That was the way they had been socialized. They want to establish a personal brand that creates more of a strong, confident presence. 

Others admit they have to smile a bit more, softening their all-business persona. That's the standard pivot for these COVID-19 times. Soft skills are mandated. Lack of them can be unforgiveable in some professional interactions during the current unprecedented crisis.

Such a struggle with the presentation of self by female JDs, both those no longer practicing law and those in employed in law firms, usually still exists.  Even with the acquisition of title, power and wealth, it can't be ignored. To do that sets the woman up for how she will be ambushed. Every professional has periods of vulnerability. She can anticipate that enemies will target her persona. Remember Hillary Clinton's ordeals. 

Given the importance of personal branding, more and more new JDs are warned not to apply to workplace X or Y unless they "fit." The term "fit" is shorthand for all the terminology associated with how professionals position and package themselves.

Sure, if they are nimble in personal branding they can "fit" in a range of cultures. If not, they are restricted to narrow options where they can apply, be hired and thrive.

Okay, the work world is changing. We read about all that. But it isn't changing quickly enough for those not tuned into the right personal branding for the right setting to "be themselves." As every effective salesperson knows, it's imperative to "mirror" the prospect - everything from dress to rhetorical patterns. In professional life, the "prospect" is whoever does the hiring and promoting.

Little of this is new. Way back in the 1970s, the career guide "What Color Is Your Parachute?" hammered that who gets the job are those best at the presenting themselves in all aspects of the search process. No, it's not necessarily the most qualified. The book is still in print, updated annually.

What is new is that there is less margin of error for all professionals, but especially for female lawyers, to bungle their personal branding. Competition for opportunity has become so intense. 

Download ReimaginingYourPersonalBrandwithJaneGenova Make an appointment for complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

September Jobs Report - Legal Services Unemployment More than Halved (but not why you think)

Is legal services the latest industry to implode - and alert professionals are going elsewhere?

That possibility is what Bloomberg Law discusses.

In September, the unemployment rate of those players had been halved from August - 4.1 to 2.0. But that really isn't good news. Neither are the 4,000 new jobs created last month.

What that number shift in unemployment represents, hammers Bloomberg Law, is the flight out of that labor niche. 

The reduced unemployment means either of two things.

One, those professionals have found jobs beyond the boundaries of legal-related opportunities.

Or, they have dropped out of the workforce, at least for now.

There is no indication that the "expats" from legal services include the best and the brightest. All you can conclude is this: There is significant attrition in that career path. 

It could be that the aura that surrounded legal services since "Perry Mason" and "LA Law" has dimmed in real life. Sure, in pop culture and the media, that category is still hot.

Reruns of "Law & Order" dominate. "Court TV" is addictive.

And, every bias lawsuit gets plenty of attention in general media, no just legal. Probably folks on Main Street are quite aware of "Tolton, et al. v. Jones Day." And the law firm representing the plaintiff - Sanford Heisler - is known among Everyman and Everywoman as the go-to firm if you sense you are getting a raw deal in the workplace. 

But what is coming out is how stressful and increasingly insecure are positions in legal services. Most recently, even court reporting has been targeted by tech developers. The shadow hovering over that career path dates back to 2016. Perhaps guidance counselors shouldn't recommend training in court reporting for graduates of high school and college. 

It used to be that those with jobs in legal services, be they legal secretaries or law firm partners, were revered in the community.

Obviously, they had very good jobs.

Did important work.

Were set until they were ready to pack it in and relocate to Arizona or South Carolina.

Now, instead of getting ready to start working in the morning, they could be clicking on virtual outplacement, such as provided by RiseSmart.

Part of that career transition is repositioning and repackaging their personal brand. Those partners forced out likely will have to present themselves very differently when they move on to oversee government subsidized housing or review contracts for an entertainment corporation.

In addition, if those in the legal services sandbox intend to keep playing there most will have to ditch the traditional legal services persona. In particular the non-engaging austere tone will have to go. In these unprecedented times in the history of the human race, we must connect. 

More investors get that. The conventional legal-services tone and content clash directly, for example, with the ethos of ESG investing. That is, The Triple Bottom Line or including people in what operating business is all about. Investors has already plowed $12 trillion in that.

Here I describe my encounters of a disconcerting kind with (of all niches) search firm Heidrick & Struggles. Those experiences had been with both its legal department and a partner in search.

Meanwhile, though, in what might be a shrinking industry, ESG is a growth practice for law firms such as Paul, Weiss.

Yes, it's in the self-interest of those who intend to remain in legal services to stop talking like lawyers.  Find that hard to do?  Here, a free read, is my book on exiting your comfort zone. 

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

Jamarion Lawhorn, 12, Tried as Adult in Michigan

What does it mean to be an "adult?'

Legally, of course, that has serious implications. In Michigan, reports USA Today, 12-year-old Jamarion Lawhorn will be tried as an adult in the stabbing death of 9-year-old Michael Verkerke. That means the case loops out of the juvenile justice system.

In other contexts, the perception that you should be treated as an "adult" also has serious implications.

As a career coach, I have fingered the refusal to grow up - that is, arrested development - as a major factor in a professional life that gets stuck. 

Intelligence, it's widely recognized, has less to do with success than emotional intelligence (EI). And EI comes with maturation. 

The classic client who comes to a career coach such as myself are the professionals who notice that their colleagues are passing them by. Most often what is keeping them stuck in-place is a schoolgirlish or schoolboyish take on how the workplace operates. For instance, they too often go for the principle, instead of understanding when to hold and when to fold.

The fix?

A quick tutorial on how the world really works. They can buy in or not. 

Incidentally, more coaching is becoming direct. Not harsh, but focused on raw realities. 

The answers about your professional life are inside you. You will learn through coaching how to open yourself up to them. And unleash opportunity. Soon enough you will be your own coach. Affordable rates (sliding scale). Make an appointment for complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com) Download UnleashingPossibilitywithJaneGenovaCareerCoaching

To Stay, Delay, or Go - The Complex Science and Art of Quitting Whatever (career, job, relationship, addiction, nation)

The brandname partners struggle with the decision to stay with the devil they know or do a lateral, seeing a bigger playing field ahead.

Already, the ILs sense that law school was the wrong choice. Why not just parachute out and learn business as a manager trainee in a grocery chain? But all that sunk cost, including studying for the LSAT and moving to Los Angeles.

The marriage isn't working. But it's not that bad. The pragmatic thing would be to keep patching it up for five more years. 

Decisions about what's called "quitting" involve ponderous principles of science and social intelligence.

Those ordeals date back to biblical times. Eve encountered the option of sticking with authority or pursuing opportunity.

Since then, researchers have been busy bees mapping out what mechanisms in the brain and in socialization that shape the decision-making process associated with whether to stay or go. There is also the delay option.

An old book (at least in digital time), "Mastering The Art Of Qutting: Why It Matters In Life, Love, and Work" had been published on that. The year was 2014. The economy was bouncing back after The Great Recession. Professionals were ready to job hop again or risk launching a business. 

The authors Peg Streep and Alan Bernstein compile what was the latest thinking on the matter at that time. The read is useful.

What still seems relevant is the finding that most human beings find exiting whatever difficult or impossible. In itself that accounts for why it is too easy to get stuck and/or to handle poorly the actual exits.

Those, however, who master the art of quitting tend to achieve sustained success and inner peace.

Most professionals contact me for a complimentary coaching consultation because they find their job or whole career path a bad fit but can't let go the bird in the hand. Essentially they value what is but are obsessed with what could be.

"Mastering the Art of Quitting" outlines the ways human beings bungle quitting. Here are five of them.

• Lifetime shutdown. The going gets tough. The professionals never acquire skills to navigate the unexpected. The sandbox they are doomed to play in is very small. Not only do they exit everything prematurely. They stop looking for new situations to enter.
• The Noble Gesture. They can only come to pull the plug by positioning and package their decision as a ethical imperative. Most folks see through that. The career runway is shortened. 
• The preserving of the status-quo. They don't have the courage to leave, despite all the conflicts. But by threatening to leave they can extract some concessions in order to be able to stay. Those in the loop will tire of this and likely push them out.
• Still there, but disengaged. No way can they endure the stress of change. So, they stick around but aren't really there. Many firings happen as a result. In executive circles, those are classified as "brownouts," that is, the professionals lose the fire in the belly. Of course, that's noticed. 
• The Drama. They stay in beyond the point of endurance. Then blow. The exit is full of grand theatre, including emails distributed throughout the law firm. Media outlets eat that up. But after that, those indulging themselves that way frequently are finished in that line of work.

The preferred way of quitting? Exiting the whatever calmly and without aggressiveness, then never looking back. The Next may or may not pan out. But that's irrelevant. What was relevant is that a situation which was no longer satisfying has been left in the past.

The major obstacle in moving from where you are to where you assess you want to be is the pile-on of advice from The Watchers.

Most are committed to the status quo. They will tell the partner who wants to start her own IP boutique to see a shrink.

The others project their own level of discomfort onto you and champion you flee the situation. Here, free to read, is a book on comfort zones.

Because of those busy-bodies, it's wise, when considering quitting, to play your cards close to your vest. Sort out with one or two trusted human beings. 

The answers about your professional life are inside you. You will learn through coaching how to open yourself up to them. And get unstuck. Soon enough you will be your own coach. Affordable rates (sliding scale). Make an appointment for complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com) Download UnleashingPossibilitywithJaneGenovaCareerCoaching

That Holy Sh*t Moment: Mark Read (unkowingly) Just Invited Plaintiff Lawyers to Descend on WPP

It got out: The glam world of advertising is riddled with ageism. 

LinkedIn reports that Mark Read, chief executive officer of giant ad firm WPP, noted that the average age of the employees was "less than 30." 

Read was crowing. This was intended to be a big + for WPP. Ah! So much youth at WPP!

Since ageism is heavily embedded in the American brand of capitalism, Read probably didn't realize what he was saying. 

Of course, that comment has triggered outrage. Read apologized. 

But, as they say in legal circles, the egg had been cracked. The bell had been rung. Plaintiff attorneys specializing in employment law have plenty of trolling to do. They can begin that search for alleged victims of age bias at WPP by keying in the right parameters on LinkedIn. But maybe they won't even have to do that. Those perceiving themselves treated illegally by WPP because of age could come to them. Sanford Heisler, the powerhouse in that category of law, could be receiving plenty of phone calls. Sure, anticipate class actions. 

The Read blooper made public that those over-30 were not welcome in the ad world, not in 2020. Come to think of it, Don Draper from "Mad Men," set in the 1960s, would probably have been pushed out because of his age. Draper made his creative mark in advertising in a pre-digital era.

Here's where things stand on September 2, 2020: Finally, the bias against aging workers is getting attention. Previously, it had been the one aspect of the campaigns for diversity that had little traction.

In fact, as MarketWatch hammered, COVID-19 has given employers "permission" to escalate forcing out older members of the workforce. 

However, even before the pandemic, ProPublica documented that more than half of employees over-50 would be leaving their job involuntarily. And of those fortunate enough to land new jobs only one out of 10 would earn comparable compensation.

The push-back unleashed by Read's disclosure will start the same kinds of movements against age bias as has caught fire for discrimination against race, gender and sexual orientation. 

Meanwhile, though, the aging men and women have to pay their bills, right. You need work. Right now.

Here, free to download, is my bible on how you can earn a living, no matter your age. Actually, there is still runway for upper mobility. The American Dream is not over. 

And, here is another free read on how to get out of your own way. So many of the over-50 I had coached had held themselves hostage to the past. Instead of searching for opportunities in the now they were struggling to replicate former success. I have labeled that syndrome Stuck More Stuck Most Stuck. 

I end each coaching session with a call to action. 

For those of you who have lost out on a promotion, plum assignment, being hired or holding onto a job because of ageism, figure out one thing you can do to neutralize that factor.

Suggestions:

• Go over your resume and lop off the work experience before the last 10 years. Not only does that baggage make you appear old. You come across as too-experienced. In the fast time of the digital era skills atrophy in a few years.

 

• Donate your television set to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. You can get needed news on the internet and sitting there watching the television siphons away time for exercise, reconfiguring job search materials, meditation, gig assignments and just being out there listening to what people are saying. For the aging, that box is not the one we should be playing around.

 

• Role play a job interview with a trusted friend. Practice, just as salespeople do, how to gain control of it without seeming to get control of it. The game is about getting across the message to those hiring: Here's what I can do for you. And I can do it better, faster and more affordably than anyone else. 

 

• Learn something new. It doesn't have to be work-related. You will have that Ah-Ha sensation that, yesyesyes, you are still an open system.

One more thing. Know that you're not alone in being thrown off balance by aging. 

Everyone over-50 who has come to me for coaching admits how difficult the transition has been. 

One made this analogy: "I thought it was the end of the world to go from college to the adult responsibility to having to support myself. But when I hit my mid 50s and I started being treated differently at work that was a harder situation to figure out and navigate." But figure out and navigate it she did.

Now, heck, she might decide to go to court. 

The answers about your professional life are inside you. You will learn through coaching how to open yourself up to them. And get unstuck. Soon enough you will be your own coach. Affordable rates (sliding scale). Make an appointment for complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com) Download PleaseMeetYourCareerCoachJaneGenova

 

Moving into Challenging 2nd Half of 2020, Baker McKenzie Lays Off 6%

No one can predict where the austerity train is next headed or what happens to the law firm manpower when it roars into the station. 

That's the new reality law-firm employees, including the lawyers, have to absorb. This is no time to exahale and assume the worst is over. 

Sure, some law firms have partially restored pay cuts and bonuses. Start dates for the Associate Class of 2020 have been deferred until 2021 but so far there have been few rescinded offers.

However, simultaneously there are media reports of actual layoffs. Those are eliminating lawyer jobs. Hugh Simons who predicted this seems on the money - that is, the beginning of the end of a regular pay check for myriad associates and nonequity partners. 

For example, Bloomberg Law informs us that Baker McKenzie has cut the jobs of 6% of its workforce. Yes, that reduction in force includes lawyers. Demand for lawyers in its key markets is down. Like so many law firms, it anticipates a challenging second half of 2020. Translate "challenging" as "uncertain."

Recall the 2008 - 2009 manpower catastrophe for already-employed lawyers and new JDs struggling to find their first full-time position practicing law. Like then, the marketplace is glutted. What law firms are looking for in recruiting are laterals with a book of business and the track record to attract even more business. Poaching is rampant. For instance, Paul, Weiss has been onboarding a steady flow of partners from distressed law firm Boies Schiller. 

What should lawyers, both associates and partners, who lose their jobs do?

At the top of the list is learn from the experiences of displaced lawyers during The Great Recession. Those who came to me for coaching had remained hunting for jobs practicing law too long. Their severance and savings had run out. Their student loans needed to be paid. 

Hedges

What they should have done is hedge. Yes, search for a comparable job. Also, research how they could leverage their experience, skills and education to other career paths. In addition, pick up survival jobs, after their unemployment compensation ended, which could provide insight about the labor market. The classic example had been some part of property management, including leasing. That gave a peek into the whole continuum of the real estate industry.

Self-Love

What else lawyers sacked in 2020 and 2021 must do is analyze the story they are telling themselves about this reversal of fortune. When I lectured to unemployed lawyers at the New York State Bar Association all I spoke with primarily blamed themselves for the termination. They didn't reflect on macro forces. It takes two to tango. Why did they take full responsibility for the job loss? My hunch is that they needed  conceptual certainty. The self-blame was an absolute. They could wrap wrap their heads around that.

The self-talk that unemployed lawyers should be doing is positioning and packaging this development as an opportunity. Sure, understand their mistakes. But then ditch all that. Adversity is the platform for The Next. The burden, though, is on those stranded to experiment in what are the fresh possibilities.

Likely they are outside playing in the practicing-law sandbox. Actually, they might have outgrown their satisfaction playing with those particular toys.

Purging the Past

And, third, is the imperative to phase out of the people, places and things which probably are impeding moving forward.

When a laid-off senior associate contacted me for a complimentary consultation he presented as a + that he met regularly with other displaced senior associates from a BigLaw firm based in Chicago. They traded everything from gossip about their former employer to tips about job openings. 

No surprise, none of them had made any progress in a job search. That's why this lawyer was considering coaching.

Clearly he had allowed himself to become stuck more stuck most stuck. The past was still a presence in his professional and personal life. Bluntly, I told him to cut that out and I recommended he read "Necessary Endings" by executive coach Henry Cloud. That book, now in paper, provides the detailed explanation of how the past can and will hold those in transition as hostages. Yesterday's network isn't a bridge to today's possibilities. 

Laying off throws shade on the law firm. That's why most are struggling to avoid that. However, in the next several months reductions in force involving lawyers may be a must-do. 

Those caught in that web have to embrace:

Hedges

Self-love, and

Purging the past. 

The answers about your professional life are inside you. You will learn through coaching how to open yourself up to them. And get unstuck. Soon enough you will be your own coach. Affordable rates (sliding scale). Make an appointment for complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com) Download PleaseMeetYourCareerCoachJaneGenova