Law And More

The Law Firm in 2021: Jabs, Branding, and Being "Double-Humped"

The politics and the theatre of the vaccination issue have pivoted into a branding one.

For example, early adopters in announcing mandatory jabs have been positioned and packaged as heroes. Those range from chairpersons David Sanford at Sanford Heisler to Brad Karp at Paul Weiss. In a sense they have been "Profiles in Courage," as John F. Kennedy understood that term.

No surprise, the entire law-firm niche currently gets it how important in reputation management is the jab policy - along with the decisions about the return-to-the-office and when.

Chairperson at Akin Gump Kim Koopersmith receives lots of space in Bloomberg Law in the announcement: no access to the office until two weeks after being fully vaccinated. Also, circling back to the office has been rescheduled from September 13th to October 11th. That might be wishful thinking. 

Obviously, the legal sector is getting it that, just as with the Influenza pandemic, the world is going through a second round of COVID. That, just like how influenza circled back in 1918, could be more virulent than the first hit. Back in the early 20th century, chronicles Lawrence Wright in "The Plague Year: America in the Time of COVID," the phenomenon was called being "double-humped."

A double-humped law-firm industry could ride this out smoothly (despite all the announcements and backtracking) if it doesn't panic. Remote had been proved out. Evidence of that had been the windfall profits of 2020.

The rub, of course, could be possible pressure from clients such as Morgan Stanley by way of Chief Legal Office Eric Grossman. They could be impatient to have all lawyers on the account back in a formal office setting, very soon.  

A premature return to the office could involve tremendous risk. Even with the abundance of caution, COVID could spread through an office. The jabs don't guarantee much. As played out in Provincetown, MA, some of the fully vaccinated did contract the Delta variant. The most optimistic take on going through the ordeal of the jabs is that if contracting Delta, the experience probably won't be life-threatening. 

The outbreak of COVID in a law firm could derail that brilliantly engineered assembly line to get the nuts and bolts tasks done which implement partner strategy. Associates could wind up beig stuck at home, too sick to even do work remotely. Also, it's a brand issue. The law-firm leadership would be vilified for "allowing" the plague to take over the lives of the workforce.

Of course, there are no right answers.

In "The Plague Year," Wright notes:

"In 1918, Americans were facing the same confounding choices they would a century later."

With the brand in play, law-firm chairpersons are in a pickle they probably never anticipated. On this one, they have to think beyond business to old-fashioned ethics. In a sense, this is the ESG moment for the ethos of the legal sector. Forced could be a massive rethinking of culture. 

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Darkness Fell Upon the Land Today

Australia deploys helicopters and soldiers to keep people inside during lockdown...
'Mandates will backfire. People will resist even more'...
New mask guidelines create total confusion...
PFIZER and MODERNA raise price$ in EU...
Germany to offer 3rd shot...
Fauci And The New Doom...
More Workers on Edge About Return to Office... Back-To-School Anxiety...
Restaurants Fear Worst: 'Oh God, Is This It Again?'
White House frustrated with 'hyperbolic' and 'irresponsible' coverage...
REPORT: NYT editors banned lab-leak investigation...
APPLE removes dating app for unvaxxed...
Billionaires Segregate Selves On Luxury Private Islands...
Obama defies CDC inviting 500 guests to 60th bday party...

CUOMO TELLS BUSINESSES: REQUIRE VACCINES
CASES SURPASS LAST SUMMER'S PEAK
BIDEN DECLARED VICTORY 'TOO SOON'
GALLUP: OPTIMISM PLUMMETSDarkness fell upon the land today. By late afternoon the Dow Jones felt it. It fell, after the financial media starting out the day bullish.But there was a tiny bit of light. That had been created way back during the first round of a quite clever virus. It was and is the COVID Resource Center. That digital tool had been invented by the selfless non-paid labor of thousands of lawyers throughout all kinds of law firms. Who had mobilized that effort, sort of like we envision things got done on the battlefields of World War II, had been Brad Karp, chairperson of law firm Paul Weiss.Here's how Karp (should we think of him as "General Karp") tells the backstory:

"Millions of Americans, especially those who live paycheck to paycheck, are now threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic ... [and] the short- and long-term assistance and resources available to those in the need, the scope of the options and the steps needed to unlock them are bewildering.

"Paul, Weiss is offering this Coronavirus Relief Center as a clearinghouse of the most up-to-date information about available city, state, federal and nonprofit resources available to those contending with COVID-19 ... For each type of assistance, we offer an index of resources available, along with a description of the type of relief offered and a link to more details. We also offer a quick summary of eligibility requirements and information on how to access assistance.  

"We will continue to add information about resources as we become aware of them."

This mirrors the spirit of extreme caring that Joe Andrew, Dentons chairperson, let loose in his op-ed in The Hill. He mandated the world bear witness to the reality that some didn't have the option not to go in-person to the workplace. 

Let's hope that same caring ethos is embedded in workplace policies about return-to-the-office, vaccinations, and masks. That requires humility. There is overwhelming uncertainty. In one school of zen, there is the mantra: Clear thinking, don't know. Can American business, including law firms, surrender the posturing of all-knowing?

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The Line Has Been Crossed: LinkedIn News Questions If Return-to-Office "Jinxed by Delta?" (CruiseShip Cravath)

Now law-firm chairpersons struggling with everything from return-to-the-office to vaccinations to masks now have something to hang their hats on. LinkedIn News crossed the line from the vestige of optimism about resuming office life to posting the headline: Return-to office jinxed by Delta?

With Delta proving to be such as clever player things don't look good for a safe return-to-the-office. Even with vaccinations and masks that enclosed environment can be a breeding ground for contagion.

The gallows humor can be CruiseShip Cravath.

If chairpersons are wise and have a bit of courage they will push back on any clients' demand to shift from total remote to full time in-the-office or hybrid. Yeah, to play it safe. 

Meanwhile the Eric Grossmans of the world who want all souls back at the desks in trophy buildings are looking narcissistic. Like they were and still are unable to focus on others. Especially their health and safety.  There is a virus in play whose dynamics no one understands.

Hell, more and more of us are admitting we no longer understand much. That's why more and more of us are taking a break. 

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Antisemitism - Social Networks, Well, Useless in Defusing Hate

"84% of posts containing anti-Jewish hatred were not acted upon by social media companies. Facebook performed worst, failing to act on 89%, despite announcing new rules to tackle the problem."  This is a finding from the recent research by US/UK nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). Here is the CCDH report. 

The social networks which were essentially useless in defanging the hate are, in addition to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. That covers the main territory.

Ironic. Remember when social networks were introduced. They were celebrated as forces for good in society. Everything from personal connection to sharing information/insight were to become more accessible. And, for free. 

Initially there were outbursts of gratitude for the new, user-friendly and no-cost platforms. Those who had been adopted located their biological brothers and sisters. All those cat antics were fresh kinds of entertainment. And just click on one of the online videos to find out how to fix your computer or motorcycle. 

Then, darkness fell fast.

Some of that was direct, as in hate speech.

More of it was indirect - that is, sins of omission. Moderators didn't remove antisemitic postings and ban the posters from the platform.

That leaves us with the question: What will put the brakes on the escalating antisemitism?

If not slowed down there could be "Another Squirrel Hill."

Back in 2018, there had been a fatal attack on the Jewish community in Squirrel Hill. 

I had lived in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh when it had been the model of an assimilated community. It had been a Jewish Ph.D. psychologist there assisting with a VA cancer ward who allowed me to interview the patients for my series of articles on Making Today Count. Those in my portfolio helped me pivot from freelance to a full-time media job at the University of Pittsburgh. 

That easy flow of diversity in Pittsburgh probably had contributed to the ability of Pittsburgh, unlike Younstown, Ohio, to retrofit its economy after the collapse of the steel industry. Currently Pittsburgh thrives with healthcare, education, and tech.

Obviously, that live-and-let-live ethos was then. Like every other urban area with a heavy concentration of Jewish people, Squirrel Hill remains a target. And for violence. 

So, it comes down to this: Can the influence of large law firms accomplish what social networks haven't? That could play out.

At Paul Weiss, the chairperson Brad Karp mobilized about 50 law firms in an initiative to oppose antisemitism. They range from Cravath to Skadden. Big  Guns in BigLaw.

Next to media, BigLaw is probably the most powerful institution in America. That always was. Now, that power is amped up almost exponentially as progressive law firms redefine their businesses to include social justice. Hate groups, including those against Jews, have no idea what they are in for. 

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Madonna Badger - She Is So Back (including from all the litigation)

On LinkedIn Updates, ad executive Madonna Badger posts:

"So proud and excited to be a part of the #AdAge Hot List today with our work for #Olay. #Olay has pushed us to empower women with all of the work we do together. This #TokyoOlympics Ad with Aly Raisman celebrates the #PowerofaDream. Thank you Olay, together we really can #faceanything."

Badger is the chief creative officer and founder of Badger and Winters. 

Lawyers might know Badger's name from the litigation generated by the 2011 fatal Christmas morning fire in her Stamford, Connecticut This Old House. Finally in 2018, it was announced that was all done. 

But the larger world knows Badger on an intimate emotional and spiritual level. In that fire she lost her three young daughters and mother and father. Later, her former husband Matthew Badger died of a heart attack at a relatively young age. 

After that tragedy, Badger left her professional life and went out west to heal. We who followed her painful journey weren't optimistic that she could restart her life and ever do the high-powered "Mad Men" kinds of work which had been her brandname. 

But, come back she did.

She married a long-term friend.

There is award-winning Badger and Winters.

And she has extended her brand to advocate for the desexualization of females in advertising. That is to honor her three daughters.

Obviously, Badger is a guiding light for how the rest of us can navigate our current challenges. For my tribe it's been aging. 

Thank you, Madonna Badger, for coming back. We needed that.

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TikTok's Job App Can Leave Employers Wide Open to Discrimination Complaints

[TikTok's pilot job-app program] dissolves any previously-established protection against looks-based discrimination, encouraging what one attorney called “hyper superficiality,” or the idea that an applicant’s whole identity is visible via their videos. That flips the script of the usually-advised practice of employers scrubbing resumes of protected information that could be used to discriminate against an applicant." Bloomberg Law, July 30, 2021.

Those being turned down for jobs can pursue plenty of options for allegations about discrimination in the process.

And it's not only the appearance issue.

Also think ageism. So scary is how many over-45 could be knocked out of the box because their age is right out there on video. A recent study by Generation documented that around the world age bias kicks in at 45.

According to Bloomberg Law, what some employment law experts recommend is that the "package" arriving from TikTok be scrubbed for any data which could be interpreted as a source of possible discrimination before being presented to those making the hiring decisions. However, that seems like a lot of extra work. So, why use the TikTok app to begin with?

This kind of discrimination via video isn't new with TikTok. COVID escalated the use of Zoom video. I have a hunch that too many not especially attractive people and those over-45 didn't get hired after a Zoom interview. 

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Goldman Sachs Lowers Global Growth Rate - Vaccinations, Mau-Mauing, and 2021 Profiles in Courage

It's global guerrilla warfare.

That's probably the best way to describe the Delta variant.

And because of it, Goldman Sachs has reduced its global growth rate to 6.4%, reports MarketWatch.

That's not all that shabby. But in the long game a higher rate could lift billions of human beings out of poverty. That's the way it goes.

What Goldman Sachs projects would return growth to the fast lane is this: more vaccinations. Meanwhile, the slow acceptance of vaccinations is among the primary factors constraining economic growth.

To use social critic Tom Wolfe's term for senseless protest, there is lots of mau-mauing among thought leaders, politicos and employees about requiring vaccinations.

You know how that goes: In some circles, those mandating the vaccinations have become the bad guys. It's not hyperbolic to compare their situations to those described in "Profiles in Courage" by U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The leaders Kennedy salutes range from John Quincy Adams to Sam Houston. 

At law firms, what leaders are in that courage box? Currently there are five.

They range from David Sanford of Sanford Heisler to Brad Karp of Paul Weiss.

What they risk is not only the mau-mauing. Yeah, they can anticipate leaks of their employee communications to Abovethelaw and Bloomberg Law.

There is also the practical business possibility that associates unhappy with the vax policy could do a lateral to a firm without a mandatory one. Given the overload of work at law firms, the exit of even a small number of associates could be a serious blow to the firm.

Ironically, among the the most prominent in mau-mauing such a Robert Kennedy Jr. are the supposedly progressive. They want a better deal for those at the bottom. As his uncle JFK put it, a rising tide lifts all boats. Vaccinations will make that tide rise, documents Goldman Sachs.

Legal media can create a special category of awards for the Sanfords and the Karps who did what (obviously) had to be done. But is bound to cost them.

UPDATE:

Fried Frank has joined other large law firms in requiring vaccinations when coming into the office. Here are more details from Bloomberg Law.

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Activision Blizzard's Workers Did Walk Out - Bobby Kotick's Crisis Management Was Too Little, Too Late

The drama at video-game creator Activision Blizzard hasn't let up. 

There had been a chance it would. That was when the head guy Bobby Kotick did a mea culpa and announced he had contracted with law firm Wilmer Hale to investigate allegations about a "frat house" culture.

Before that, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing had filed a lawsuit against the corporation for sexual misconduct and more. The more includes that only 20% of employees are female. Employees experienced Kotick's reponse to that lawsuit as tone-deaf. They threatened to walk out. 

Kotick had been struggling to prevent the employees from doing that yesterday. But walk they did.

The Guardian reports:

"Employees of Activision Blizzard, the video game company that produces World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, staged a walkout Wednesday morning to call for better working conditions ... Hundreds of workers gathered outside the company’s headquarters in Irvine, California, Wednesday morning while others, unable to attend in person, took part in a virtual protest."

Yes, that made a nice photo-op for the media.

Also, as Bloomberg reports, fans are threatening a boycott.

Meanwhile, the stock is still down. After the announcement of the lawsuit, it had plunged. Yesterday it had closed at 84.82. That was down from the 52-week high of 104.53.

So, what should other corporatons be pondering? They have to ask themselves:  Could we be the next Activision Blizzard? And what should we do about that?

The first stop should be, obviously, at your law firm. Cutural issues are pivoting into legal landmines. Activision Blizzard is the most recent example of that.

If your law firm is state-of-the-art as is Paul Weiss, it will have in-place a practice customized to help you navigate both internal and external crises as values keep shifting in business. The common moniker for that is ESG (Environmental Social and Governance). Essentially ESG focuses on what has been added to corporate responsibilty beyond the bottom line. That ranges from the well-being of employees to protection of the enviroment. 

Chaired by Brad Karp, Paul Weiss launched in April 2020 its ESG practice. Here is what it does: 

"Business leaders face greater pressure to increase their organizations’ resilience while simultaneously addressing social issues of importance to stakeholders. Our advisory practice helps companies navigate the legal, business and political ramifications of developing and implementing ESG initiatives. We advise on matters such as stakeholder engagement, corporate governance, crisis management, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, ethics and compliance."

Note that its mission explicitly includes "crisis management."

The meme-in-waiting could be: Not being the next Activision Blizzard.

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Playing It Safe, Complaining Has Become Unattractive - Apple Brings Back Masks, Paul Weiss Requiring Vaccinations

"Apple to Require Employees, Customers to Wear Masks in Many U.S. Stores - The company has also told workers in corporate offices to wear masks regardless of vaccination status" - Bradley Olson, The Wall Street Journal, July 28, 2021.

As the cliche goes: This isn't our first rodeo.

Very quickly we got it: We are back in (serious) trouble with COVID. And, of course, we feel foolish putting out there all those Post-COVID memes. There was also all the advice we dished on how to manage business or the university or a law office in the new normal. That new normal turned out to be old-COVID. But hopefully with wisdom this time around. 

Of course, chastened us don't believe the optimism in another article today in The Wall Street Journal. It proclaims that, yes, COVID has resurged "but Western economies are adapting." We have had a belly-full of happy-clappy. Our portfolios took a hit during the past few days. 

Meanwhile, we salute those who are on the front lines, like Apple, in mandating playing it safe. Those include law firm chairpersons requiring vaccinations for the return to the office. They range from Brad Karp of Paul Weiss to David Sanford of Sanford Heisler. 

But all isn't The Great Gravitas. Gawker is back. Yeah, that's the mean-spirited digital tabloid which the nuclear verdict of $140 million in "Hulk Hogan v. Gawker" disappeared. Resurrected and headed by EIC Leah Finnegan it's fun and funny but w/o the brittle. For instance, one article is "Space: The Lamest Frontier." Click in here for some gentle out-of-the-box. No paywall.

The new etiquette: Complaining about aspects of playing it safe has become unattractive. 

UPDATE:

Fried Frank has joined other large law firms in requiring vaccinations when coming into the office. Here are more details from Bloomberg Law.

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Too Jewish, Too Gay, Too Whatever for a Female - Myth of the Melting Pot

"Jackie Mason, When Told He Was Too Jewish, Stuck With His Shtick" - James R. Hagery, The Wall Street Journal, July 28, 2021.

Jackie Mason succeeded, despite being slapped down with the labeling of "too."

Of course, he must have struggled emotionally. But on a professional level he made it big. And, that's what matters most in America. This is America, not some country with a less careerist ethos.

And, in America, judgments are harsh. Despite whatever efforts could be made on reputation restoration for Bill Gates, he will wind up The Unforgiven. 

That goes back to the self-righteous Puritans. That value system still prevails. Just listen to the tone and language used by Morgan Stanley's Eric Grossman about law firms serving his account circling back to the office full-time. Grossman could have fit in nicely as a Puritan hellfire-and-brimstone minister. 

The majority of those who weren't a perfect fit with American social norms (as well as being from central casting in a professional persona) have suffered. I know that from doing career coaching. For men, for instance, they were "too short" for the perfect executive image in Corporate America, at least back before the era of wildly achieving oddball entrepreneurs. 

There has been and still is the "too gay." Fortunately, America has a good legal system. "Too gay" Sargeant Keith Wildhaber won $2.8 million in damages and $17 million in punitive damages. The jury agreed that the St. Louis police department blocked his promotion because he didn't fit how those in law enforcement should look, talk, walk and more. 

Women, especially those who are lawyers and mothers, are being hammered (despite third-wave feminism) about just about everything. One recent dustup had been in the American Bar Journal about what a lawyer-mother should say or not say about career obstacles. 

As is obvious, the negative assessment of being "too Jewish" or Jewish at all still dominates. Actually, it is escalating.

Again, I know.

Although I am not Jewish, I have been harassed in the midwest and even in looser Arizona because it was and is assumed I am a "New York Jew." Call that "antisemitism lite." The "evidence" used to persecute me in that way include my deep Jersey City, New Jersey accent and Eastern European facial features/body style. (Also, since I grew up in a Jewish neighborhood I fall into Yiddish slang but I cut that out as too dangerous. I don't want my car keyed.)

Incidentally, late novelist Philip Roth focused a lot on ethnic self-hate. He might have been onto something big. That could be the missing piece in trying to figure out how Yale Law School one-time star team Jed Rubenfeld and Amy Chua (Tiger Mom) fell from grace. 

The elephant in the room on this one is this: Can this blatant kind of discrimination change?

Well, those in the front lines of diversity are trying.

Everyman and Everywoman are being encouraged by coaches, therapists, and loved ones to "be themselves." That simulates, of course, the Dove meme that everyone is beautiful.

Also, powerful institutions such as the law firms in BigLaw are bringing issues such as the current antisemitism mainstream and pushing back against them.

For example, at Paul Weiss its chairperson Brad Karp organized about 50 other law firms to come out strongly against antisemitism. Paul Weiss has also been an early adopter in initiatives for nuts-and-bolts social justice. Among the accomplishments has been the COVID Resource Center. Through it, even those COVID victims living paycheck to paycheck can gain access to assistance.  

Maybe the first stop in all this, though, is to dismantle cherished American myths like the melting pot. Yeah sure.

Vividly I recall the nuns at St. Boniface Roman Catholic grade school, based in the tenement district of Jersey City, socializing us children of immigrants to The American Way. That included the all-American breakfast. No more Polish pancakes. Nonono. Guess for me that didn't take. I continue to be sized up as way "too Jewish."

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