Law And More

Amazon & Recruiting Aging RVers: Exploitation or Valued Opportunity to Earn Income?

The "Camperforce" documentary - which you can view here - features RVer Barb Stout and her husband Chuck Stout. After the couple lost their nest egg in the 2008 global economic crash, they pivoted into the RV lifestyle.

Increasingly that includes finding and doing seasonable or temporary jobs while on the road. Some RVers have down cold who will be hiring, where and when. For example, some show up every spring to do jobs in national parks. 

No slouch when it comes to trends, Amazon looped into that. It created a whole recruitment program called "CamperForce." Primarily it's geared to older workers such as the Stout couple. Amazon posts information about the program it on its website.

The Stout couple applied at the CamperForce program and were hired for the $11-an-hour gigs. They were "pickers" in an Amazon warehouse. That is, they scouted up the goods for fulfilling orders.

Yes, the jobs are demanding. At night, after using a scanner all day, Barb's hand can go numb. Chuck got hit in the head with a falling box. 

Liberals may balk at what seems to be exploitation of the vulnerable aging who deal with sustained financial challenges. There is a lot to be said about that.

However, what Amazon provides is work. It pays. And Barb is pragmatic. She presents her take on why Amazon recruits the aging. She hammers that Amazon knows older workers are there not to learn, not to get ahead. It's about the money. End of story. They do the job and that's that.

In coaching, that's exactly the mindset I recommend to those who are post-career. The new game for them is to earn income. And as much as possible. They are no longer pursuing macro goals such as upward mobility, personal branding or building wealth. 

That perspective allows those in their 60s, 70s and 80s to shake off all the "oughts" of the careerist. They only have to go to work, do the job and be alert for opportunities that offer more, including increased income.

All generations, not only the aging, have to continually search for work. The iconic job guide "What Color Is Your Parachute?" documents that trend. The most important skill in the current economy is the know-how to be hired. Both jobs and project assignments have shorter and shorter shelf lives. 

Here, free to download, is my guide on landing, holding and moving on to better work, no matter your age Download Outwitting ageism.

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

Amazon: Documentary "CamperForce" Throws More Shade on the Culture of Its Workplace

The RVing craze is not just a result of wanderlust. At least not for a growing number of elderly. 

It's become, the documentary "Camperforce" captures, both their only affordable habitat and their transportation to seasonal gigs.

One such  assignment is at Amazon. The tasks Barb and Chuck Stout do can actually cause them pain. The couple lost their nest egg during the 2008 global recession. And they have evolved into the RV generation of migrant workers. 

The Amazon website provides details about its Camperforce work program. It is positioned and packaged as a great deal. However, as with many jobs at Amazon, it's controversial in what it actually demands. 

Those Amazon jobs are also featured in the hit film "Nomadland." 

For the aging, the world of RVing seems to be binary. There are those retirees who are enjoying the good life on the road on their terms in a full-service vehicle. And there are those who have embraced that lifestyle as the only way they can afford to make ends meet. 

This article in Moviemaker provides a link to that documentary "Camperforce."

Here is the free guide for how to land, hold and move on to better work, no matter your age Download Outwitting ageism.

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

Greenberg Traurig's RVing - Initiative Already Gone Sour

" ... several tipsters at the firm [Greenberg Traurig] are less than thrilled [about the leadership's RVing]. Mostly because the firm, despite the bump in revenue ... hasn’t ponied up the special COVID appreciation bonuses making their way through Biglaw." - Kathryn Rubino, Abovethelaw.com, April 15, 2021.  

As some in the legal sector know, the leadership at Greenberg Traurig did a cute: They're driving (yes, themselves) the RV across the U.S. to reconnect with employees. They're also boasting that they're sleeping in the RV. But that's what you have the RV for: to sleep in it. No, you don't drive the RV and then check into a Marriott.

In the court of public opinion cute is always a risk.

I explain that in my earlier analysis of this Greenberg Trauig initiative.

Back in 2006, Walmart tried it. The whole thing soured when it this was discovered: Public relations firm Edelman had conjured up the paid scheme for it to seem like two RVers Jim and Laura were just sort of tooling around, stopping in Walmart parking lots and interviewing employees for a blog "Wal-Marting Across America."  

That wound up with a public relations disaster for everyone in the loop, ranging from Edelman to Walmart. Back then the scheme made big news. After all, Edelman was and is a major public relations firm. Ironically, its signature is putting out there annually its Trust Barometer. Here is the one for 2021.

The Greenberg Traurig's RVing could also wind up chronicled as a folly in public relations case studies. Lawyers at that firm don't want the cute. Probably not the reconnection either.

They want the bonus money that hasn't come, at least not yet. Associates need to pay off student loans. They want to buy houses. Start families. 

Now that Abovethelaw has posted what tipsters are saying about the journey of the Greenberg Traurig leadership the law firm might feel it has to cave on bonuses.

Meanwhile, I have a hunch any other businesses considering "Doing the RV Road Trip" might back off, for now. 

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Not the Professionals or Human Beings They Were Pre-COVID: Legal Sector Should Anticipate Values Earthquake

The legal industry might anticipate an earthquake in values.

That force field could rock law firms and in-house legal departments. The pheonomenon could be triggered both from those inside and third parties.

The U.S. Supreme Court might be shaken up also. Last Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden announced establishing a 32-person panel to review every aspect of the High Court. 

As The Wall Street Journal reports, the majority of Americans are not the professionals and human beings they were before COVID became a reality in March 2020.

Let's look at that from our own experience. You probably have plenty to add.

First of all, they get it that they are alive. They didn't die from the virus. Sure, those they cared about or knew from work those who did die. However, they didn't. Survival provides a platform for a new start. Despite hatred of change, many are ready to do just that: Change. 

Also, they might have experienced profound anxiety about their professional status. Would their law firm lay them off? Corporations' financial performance got hit hard by COVID. In-house legal was no longer a safe (and relaxed) harbor. After so much suffering they have gained a fresh perspective about the place of work in their lives and how much they are willing to endure for traditional achievement. 

Therefore, it's no newsflash that James Suzman's "Work" is a best-seller. Although it's ponderous - 464 pages - it ranks high on Amazon - 33,314. In addition, Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Jeffrey Pfeffer is getting attention for his "Dying for a Paycheck" movement against exploitation of the global workforce. 

And, third, social isolation provided over and over again that moment of clarity: Relationships are important. Human beings are a social animal. You bet, make time to find and nurture those human ties.

The legal industry will have to pony up real solutions for work/life balance. Read Glassdoor and the universal complaint is too much work, much of it unscheduled. That eliminates the opportunities to lock up social. For Jones Day, an associate posted on Glassdoor in January 2021: "zero work/life balance." That employee gave the firm a 2.0 out of a possible 5. 

Of course, media outlets are in the business of picking up on trends. The disruption in the cultures in the legal sector is what they will probably focus on. And it's not just the advocacy player Abovethelaw. Traditional media centers such as Law.com are also looping in. Recently it published an article that indicated some skepticism about Orrick's much-praised paid Unplug initiative. 

For decades, thought leaders will analyze how COVID transformed the perception of work per se and the collective unconscious of America. A lot is so so different. It's up to the legal sector to adjust.

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

 

Paul Weiss Through the Glass Door - As a Friend of Joe, New Scrutiny

" ... Paul Weiss has emerged as a power center in the Biden era." -  Bloomberg Law, March 24, 2021.

That positioning - label it being "a Friend of Joe" - brings new scrutiny to the dynamics of that law firm.

Just as when law firm Jones Day had been"a Friend of Donald," it will be under the microscope for the next four years. Can you hear it? That's the sound of the media rushing onto the playing field to develop unique angles on how Paul Weiss operates, externally and internally.

One feeder pool for data about Paul Weiss is the input from members of the firm, present and past.

On Glassdoor, they give the firm a 4.1 rating out of 5.

That's in the ball park of other BigLaw players such as Cravath which has a 4 rating. It's higher than Willkie Farr's 3.8

Overall, the gush factors about working at Paul Weiss mirror those at most of BigLaw:

Good pay, decent benefits. At least for lawyers. Staff has some beefs.

Smart colleagues.

A shot at interesting assignments. Some do get stuck in the document review ghetto - and for years. 

Availability of lots of overtime for paralegals.

Transparency.

Satisfaction with the chairman Brad Karp (92% approval rate).

Most of the negatives also mirror much of BigLaw:

Politics. The values are power-driven. Most large law firms are microcosoms of what goes down Inside the Beltway. Talk to those who don't make partner and their assessment frequently is that they played the politics wrong. A useful read for insight into those machinations is the oldie but still relevant "The Power Game" by Hedrick Smith. Another oldie but helpful is "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli. 

Long, unpredictable hours. The implied expectation is of availability 24/7.

Staff perception that they are being treated as "lower class"

Arrogance of some of those with authority. The gallows humor could be all about the divine right of kings. But, I have a hunch, that's already as much a cliche as the "perfect storm."

Low probability of upward mobility. One post reads "Only chance of promotion is becoming a Senior Staff Attorney, which is extremely hard to get (maybe 1% make it) and only available after 5 years." After all, the system is up-or-out. Large law firms are a dead-ringer for the tenure game in elite academia such as Harvard.

Little predictability about what assignments you will get. Could be stuck in menial tasks or could wind up in a team who is in the courtroom for trials.

But there are also the rants which stand out as a sticky on Paul Weiss. They include:

Ironically, a Conflict Analyst reported, "I was yelled out and chastised for any mistake I made." What's of note here is that that kind of behavior was of the type that not even a conflcit analyst was able to tame. Interesting.

There is also the issue of turnover, which may be atypically high. One employee comments about " ... some really impatient and unpleasant clients (internal and external) so most people won't last long."

No formal or informal connection between legal and non-legal employees.

One post uses this terminology "dirty clients." (But, hell, don't most clients contact elite law firms because of alleged serious wrongdoing? That should stink up the place.)

Another post uses the term "toxic" to capture the culture.

Some or much of this could change.

Yes, the barbarians could be at the gate.

Even before the disruption of COVID, Millennial lawyers have been challenging the traditional values, policies and practices of large law firms.

With the current chase after talent their voices have become louder and are being heard.

Actually, though, no one can freeze-frame those Millennial values. That's one reason Abovethelaw is conducting a major survey about what young lawyers want.

The stakes for law firms, including Paul Weiss, are high on this one.

The Millennials can leak to media and/or exit as a lateral, solo, or boutique player. They can also file lawsuits. The gender-bias ones may only be the beginning of the litigation challenges to how it is to work in large law firms.

The whole future of work, of course, is in play.

Overdue is how those issues could transform career paths in the legal sector. Incidentally, Willis Towers Watson is among those projecting the end of careers. Replacing them will be developing and carrying around a portfolio of skills and experiences. 

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

 

Lawyer Lawrence Garbuz - NY's First COVID Case, First Anniversary of All That (including hostility in court of public opinion)

A slight cough.

So, hard-charging New York lawyer Lawrence Garbuz blew it off. He went about his business and his life. Embracing the usual he landed himself in not only an almost fatal encounter with COVID-19 as the first case. He became identified as the source of thousands of cases of contagion. 

Garbuz is aware of how all this threw shade on him as a human being. He has claimed that the medical staff in the ER didn't bring up the possibility that he had the virus. So, no, he contends, he was unaware that he could be spreading the virus.

Whatever. He did set in play an angst-driven onslaught of hostility from those who recognized how lethal the virus is. In the legal media, there were even those who defended Garbuz. Hey, leave the guy alone. The blame game was that intense.

The Wall Street Journal begins the article about the first anniversary of all that with a warm-and-fuzzy tone. It was hardly that. Not back then. And no one can predict what this lawyer's legacy will be. What will the first sentence of his obituary in The New York Times or The Economist say?

Those early days of last March when the reality of COVID-19 was becoming known, it was not a catastrophic fantasy to envision most of the human race, including the residents of the densely populated New York Metro area, wiped out. The virus was the 2020 version of the nuclear bomb. According to media reports like this one, 335,000 cases had been attributed to this one carrier: Garbuz. His hometown New Rochelle, NY was put in lockdown. Yes, he had commuted from that hometown to Manhattan. The horror.

That he was also a victim seems irrelevant. This was life and death stuff. It still is.

The details of the activities of Grabuz before he was hospitalized with coronavirus indicated indeed he had been out and about. It might have been in ignorance. But compassion was running on empty in those days. A frightened group can be a vicious mob. 

Obviously, though, he is blessed. He did survive a near-fatal version of the virus. Currently, he has his family and the insulation of his orthodox Jewish religion. Human beings don't need much support. But they do need support. He has it. 

Meanwhile, the story of Grabuz is just one the legal community has lived through. Another had been that of recruitor David Lat. Earlier in his career he had founded the out-of-the-box Abovethelaw. Those who had enjoyed the ATL exposes for years were bug-eyed following Lat's struggle. Yes, he wound up on a ventilator. Compassion spilled over. Perhaps prayers do work. Lat bounced back. 

There will be more stories before the pandemic pulls out of town or at least there is herd immunity.

But the one sticking to Garbuz won't be all high-fives about his miraculous recovery. The blame initially attached to him is impossible to shake.

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

Gordon Caplan Dodges Disbarment Bullet

"Avoiding disbarment despite committing a felony, Gordon Caplan, the former co-chairman of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, was given a two-year suspension from practicing law by a state appeals court on Thursday for his role in a much-publicized college admissions bribery scandal that generated outrage nationwide." Jason Grant, Law.com, Feburary 18, 2021.

A major issue of CollegeAdmissionsGate had been if convicted miscreant Caplan would ever be practice law again. Well, he only has gotten stuck with a two-year suspension.

The Refree on the panel concluded that his criminal behavior had been atypical. Also he has displayed a sincere desire to make amends. 

If Caplan is savvy about reputation restoration, he will lay low for a while. Then he can contract with a top public relations firm to create a fresh personal brand. 

The Future is already underway. Ghostwriting/Marketing Communications and coaching on those issues. Sliding scale fees. Complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Success - Should Human Beings Still Be Chasing It (in such a driven way)

Embracing the traditional and rigid model of getting, holding and scaling success lifted our Baby Boomer generation into the middle class - and, yes, beyond. 

The first step - college - was universally available. Unlike now, tuition was peanuts. Part-time jobs were plentiful.

The post-War economy caught fire.  

And, The Pill allowed for limiting the size of families (previously a distraction from chasing success with everything we got). 

But as lawyers, medical doctors, head nurses, public relations experts, information specialists, career military and university professors look back in our 60s and 70s, we are analyzing what the hell that was all about.

For many of us, our careers had peaked. Although more of us are still working, it's more focused on income per se versus Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Last night, on a open Zoom discussion (https://zoom.us/j/99892265318) hosted by Tina Squire, minster at the Sky Island Unitarian Universalist Church, Sierra Vista, Arizona (6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. mountain time) both Baby Boomers and members of Generation X analyzed success. Among the issues were how perspectives on success might shift with aging and how Millennials as well as their parents currently rate its importance.

According to the book "Excellent Sheep," by Yale professor William Deresiewicz, the chase is still going on. And at a feverish pace, at least in the Ivy League. For success, those students are willing to conform as much as Baby Boomers did during the Eisenhower era. 

But, come on, there is that old cliche: On deathbeds no one regrets not working harder. But that might not be true. Some of the conversations during the Unitarian Zoom meeting indicated disappointment at not having been more successful. Obviously, that whole enchilada - how far our careers had taken us - remains for too many of us unfinished business. In my career coaching of those over-50, a dominant meme is the assumption that they could have been a lot more successful, if only ...

Of course, what factored in our revisiting our professional past were issues such as the role of failure and our own "human frailty." With aging comes a reaching in, noted Rev. Squire. And, you bet, both Baby Boomers and Xers are doing that. Inner life can no longer go uninspected.

Yes, yes, yes, there is a school of thought, especially among tech entrepreneurs, that professional life is nothing but an experiment. Most of those experiments don't pan out.

However, the tough nut to crack, at all stages of a career, is to accept that reality. Lawyers try strategies and tactics for both litigation and transactional work. The world, from the leadership in law firms to the media, watch. Failure isn't a private matter. Failure usually entails contracting with a top public relations agency for reputation restoration.

Likely the questioning by Baby Boomers and Generation X might have no influence on the value the next generations in America put on success. When some of us finally broke free we created the Generation Gap. That model continues to dominate. The different generations operate in silos.

Actually, unlike Baby Boomers, Millennials are a highly fragmented bunch. Some, reports INC., are impatient for traditional kinds of success. Among them are the majority of law-firm associates who are convinced they will be promoted to partner.

On the other hand, observes The Guardian, there are the Millennials who demand meaning from professional life. That is more important to them than the size of the paycheck. For that reason, in mission statements employers are hammering purpose. The buzzword "vocation" is back. In his LinkedIn posts digital marketing expert Paul Chaney explores how work can be sacred. His musings are influential. 

All generations are welcome to join the Unitarian discussions, usually based on a particular book (but, no, you don't have to read it), on Wednesday evenings.

At 10:00 a.m. (mountain time) there are a Zoom meditation sessions and discussions https://zoom.us/j/97417456265

My takeaway from circling back to my experiences as a careerist is that more failure came from following supposed expert advice on success than was necessary. Had I trusted my intuition I likely would have had more success and on my own terms. Success can be a beautiful journey. The financial security which sets in with aging can give us the courage to experiment in very different ways. And not default into regret.

The Future is already underway. Ghostwriting/Marketing Communications and coaching on those issues. Sliding scale fees. Complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Some Elite Business Schools Step Back from Rankings - Will Law Schools Follow (and has the ranking game peaked and on its way to irrelevance)

"Harvard Business School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Columbia Business School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, among others, opted to skip the most recent rankings by the Economist and the Financial Times. Several schools said Covid-19 made it difficult to gather the data they must submit to be ranked." - Patrick Thomas, The Wall Street Journal, February 15, 2021.

Ranking is the way of academia. Or, until COVID it had been. Top administrative jobs in professional schools could have been lost if the institution of higher learning dropped in rankings by such assessors as U.S. News & World Report. Applications could surge if the ranking increases. 

The moves among elite M.B.A. programs to not participate in rankings can make a lot of people think the unthinkable: Has ranking's hold on academic institutions peaked and is on the way to irrelevance? That, of course, could also apply to law schools. 

Instead of relying on rankings to select which professional program to apply to, there would be a reliance on other factors. Those could range from word of mouth about the school to the prominence of its graduates. And, in this era when tuition and room and board for three years of law school could total about $300,000 a school could become in-demand because it is generous with financial aid. So what that it's a state school. Take the money and then put together a career. 

The entrenched formal systems of ranking could evolve into the informal ways of the people. Applicants would be in charge of the new game. Moreover, instead of the high ranking of the M.B.A. program or law school automatically opening the first few doors in a career, early success could depend primarily on what that specific player does or doesn't do on a career path.

Again, COVID-19 could prove a wildly disruptive force.

The Future is already underway. Ghostwriting/Marketing Communications and coaching on those issues. Sliding scale fees. Complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Rescuing Your Adult Children from Peter Pan Syndrome: Lawyers Have to Redefine "Success," and 5 Other Recommendations

"Ironically, as Millennials (and Gen Z) are better educated than any other generation, they can’t even get full-time employment in their chosen profession or career." - Patrick Ow, Thrive Global, October 5, 2019.  

That grim observation was made before COVID-19 triggered a lot more unemployment among all generations. But Millennials an Generation Z are the most vulnerable because they haven't had the luxury of time to build up a financial reserve, get down cold how the work world really operates and to acquire resilience.

So, it's no surprise that too many are taking refuge in what has been called the "Peter Pan Syndrome." Essentially that represents the mindset and behaviors of an adult who refuses to "grow up."

One sign of that is the adult who already has the BA or BS degree and even an advanced one. Yet, he or she decides the "smart" thing to do is invest in a graduate degree. There is a refusal to leave the identity of a protected class: student. They can wind up piling on one more unmarketable degree. 

Another sign: Despite the walls they hit in their job search, they are nowhere near a decision to leave their envisioned career path. 

And, what's obvious is that it's quite easy to bunk again under their roof of mom or dad (so many parents are divorced.)

If joblessness continues, the way they see the world and present themselves for work may harden into a permanent Peter Pan identity. There could be no looping out. Employers could pick up right away that this individual isn't manageable. They have been without work too long.

But there is hope. Parents frequently request consultations with me about how to nudge their offspring into adulthood. Here are my six recommendations:

• Make their lifestyle less comfortable. Charge rent, add on required chores. 

 

• As with reporting for unemployment compensation, mandate daily documentation of a job search. Yes, ask questions such as "How did you apply and what would you have done differently." Where are you applying tomorrow?

 

• Have that difficult conversation about reskilling. For instance, training to be a long-distance truck driver can be free. Some businesses offer that option to those pledging to remain working with the organization two years. Community colleges provide low-cost certificate programs. Also, they can work for free to learn a trade. The lines between white collar and blue collar are blurring. Work has become work. End of that story.

 

• Encourage them to get the hang of meditation, which has been proven to change the channel in their heads. The internet is filled with free training. Here's free instruction from American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron.

 

• Provide a stipend for them to be professionally coached about how to find, hold and scale to better work. Jane Genova arranges sliding scale fees.

 

• Lower your own expectations about what "success" means. Your own success might be blocking them from even getting into the game.

If you have the courage to repeat an age-old truth, share with your offspring the adage: Nothing gets you a job like a job. That leaves them with the takeaway to grab a job, just about any job, and then go on from there.

 

The Future is already underway. Ghostwriting/Marketing Communications and coaching on those issues. Sliding scale fees. Complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)