Success in 21st Century Private Practice: Retooling for an Enterprise Culture

Preface: This article, originally published in the Fall 2009 edition of the University of Virginia Law School magazine, UVA Lawyer, discusses how attorneys can make themselves more marketable and successful in the years ahead.  While it was published over three years ago, its message is perhaps even more applicable today.

by Martha Ann Sisson and Amy Leafe McCormack

A tangible but elusive era of change is emerging in how private sector lawyers provide services and receive compensation. The very definition of success — what it will look like, how it will be measured, and the feasibility of annually replicating it — are in flux.

This article is written from the perspectives of two former practicing attorneys who are now legal recruiters. Our goal is to identify the qualities necessary to achieve success in 21st century private practice. We believe, at a minimum, these qualities will include the initiative, innovation, and responsibility required by an “enterprise culture.”

Until 20 years ago, it was easy to measure success: attend a prestigious law school, get a clerkship that leads to employment at one or two AmLaw 200 firms, and become a partner or member of a Fortune 500 legal department. You used your legal skills to get work from (and develop relationships with) the firm’s longstanding institutional clients. In the corporate world, the guarantee of uninterrupted employment with a stable and growing company fostered avenues of career diversification. This was the path for many UVA Law alumni.

The paradigm changed in the early 1990s when the onset of vibrant economic growth and greater financial transparency in law firm economics caused a major upheaval. The American Lawyer’s annual publication of the AmLaw 200 and its analysis of profits per partner awoke a sleeping giant. Grumbles arose from the ranks of law firm attorneys who wanted to share in the wealth they helped create in emerging growth companies. In-house attorneys questioned whether the trade-off in lower pay for more predictability in schedule and job security seemed naïve in the aftermath of corporate failures, relocations, and industry consolidations.

In the 1990s and continuing until the last few years, law firms and corporate entities grew through lateral hiring at the associate and partner levels. Successful partners began to operate as free agents. If the needs of their practice, their personal economic shares, or their management goals were being stymied in their present firms, they could enter a hiring environment that rewarded movement and change. Firms accepted the premise that someone who had not thrived in one firm could succeed in a different environment. And, if things did not work out in the new firm, profitability really was not affected, and the attorney would simply move on.

The emerging world of private practice since mid-decade provides a sharp contrast to those days. Law firms now define success by economic contributions made by members in much the same manner as their commercial clients examine sales figures. In short, “What have you done for me this quarter?”

The current obsession with immediate return has crowded out long-term planning. In time, the need for immediate returns and investment in the future will balance; individuals and institutions will be more agile, able to respond to economic challenges and opportunities in a manner more reflective of successful businesses. Achieving and maintaining success in 2010 and beyond requires a new approach.

Creating an “Enterprise Culture”

Historically, firm affiliation branded the quality and nature of work performed by its lawyers. With increased lateral hiring and firm mergers, however, this quality-by-association branding has been diluted, resulting in the current client trend of hiring individual lawyers based on their professional reputations rather than their law firm affiliations. We believe that specialized expertise will continue to be in demand, but that individual lawyers must now identify and market to clients the transferability and relevance of their experience rather than rest on the accomplishments of their firms. This means that attorneys need to approach their career development as a special enterprise, an effort nurtured by their law firms but created and directed by each attorney individually.

Indeed, although experience has always been recycled or expanded for new engagements, creating an “enterprise culture” within a firm or practice group is one of the most promising ways an attorney can obtain specialized skills, practice diversification, and client exposure. This “enterprise culture” describes an environment that encourages and rewards the initiative and commitment that are critical to every lawyer’s professional growth and success.

To create an enterprise culture, attorneys need to become more self-reliant by seeking out new skill-building assignments and client interactions. Such singular focus does not necessarily eliminate a collaborative or teaching culture, but requires active initiative in mastering necessary skills and taking control of one’s own professional development. While a firm may try to be all things to all clients, the “enterprise” lawyer and her team will proactively identify and offer a skill set tailored to fit each client’s individual needs. We are unable to predict whether these skills will appeal more to mid-market, regional, global, or boutique firms, but the trend toward customized skills is clear.

Personal and professional accountability to clients and one’s professional growth needs to take the place of passive acceptance of the law firm’s traditional way of training attorneys and bringing them into the client fold. A successful personal enterprise culture will yield happy clients, happy law firms, and satisfying personal professional paths.

On Thinking — and Acting — Like the Client

An enterprise culture embraces market principles— one assumes responsibility for one’s professional welfare, share of overhead, and contribution to profits. Over the years, we have heard many lawyers muse that they would have attended business school if they were not math-phobic. Achieving success, however, requires overcoming old fears and perceived deficiencies. Law firms are businesses, and lawyers must understand that the current economic distress and instability have brought renewed focus on “the numbers.” Weak demand for legal services, overcapacity in head count, unpredictable and often declining rate structures, lowered profitability, and personal productivity measured against cost have all affected the bottom line, and firms are focusing on managing costs as clients request lower or outcome-based fee structures.

Businesses routinely face competitive pressures and disadvantages and react according to normal business principles; they dust themselves off, cut where they can, and make do with what they have while positioning themselves for what lies ahead. Lawyers and law firms must mimic their successful clients’ nimbleness. Those who do will reclaim or expand market share. Clients face these daily pressures themselves, and if you seek the role of valued advisor and business partner, you need to walk the walk.

Conclusion

An in-house practice offers an attorney the opportunity to benefit from the efforts of a larger enterprise. Internal counsel understand (more than their highly compensated outside counsel) that it is a good thing to be viewed by the company as a business resource capable of adding strategic value, reducing costs, and generating revenue.

The same holds true within a law firm. In this current economic environment, developing an enterprise culture and the skills that encourage success requires going beyond what is comfortable and safe. Law firms must foster the elements of entrepreneurship and individual “enterprise zones” within a practice. Providing legal advice is merely one component of the value attorneys contribute. They cannot remain above the mundane practicalities of price structures and competitive economic positions and still partner with clients as strategic advisors. To remain vibrant, law firms and legal departments must understand their clients’ unrelenting business pressures and respond in kind. Lawyers, firms, and corporate counsel who demonstrate flexibility and innovation will be the ones considered “successful” in the 21st century.

Am Law Article: Law Firm Lateral Hiring Boom Goes On

In an article in today's Am Law Daily, author Victor Li discusses a new report released by the publication along with LexisNexis which projects continued strong lateral hiring by law firms.  A particularly interesting excerpt:

"On the talent front, a whopping 96 percent of survey respondents indicated that their firms plan to hire laterals over the next two years as a means of growing, while nearly three out of four said their firms expect the increase in lateral hiring to extend over the next five years. " 

This is certainly good news for experience attorneys looking to make a move.

Job Interview Tips From Top Law Firm Partners

In this video presented by Bloomberg Law, hiring partners at some of the nation's top large law firms give advice on how to avoid disasters and succeed during the interview process.



Video: The Impact of "Say On Pay" on Executive and General Counsel Salaries

As part of their "2012 GC Compsensation Study,"  Corporate Counsel magazine reporter Shannon Green sat down with Francis Byrd, an expert on corporate governance and executive compensation to discuss the effects of Dodd Frank's "Say On Pay" rule.  The rule mandates that public companies must put executive compsenation to a shareholder vote at a minimum of every three years.

Enjoy:

"Corporate Counsel interview with Francis Byrd about executive compensation under "Say On Pay"

THE JERK

By Rich Janney

A little more than 2000 years ago, a guy named Zeno thought up a crazy paradox.  Arrogantly, he called it “Zeno’s Paradox.” (Get a load of this guy…)  Zeno’s Paradox states that you can never get from Point A to Point B because, in order to get from here to there, you have to get to the halfway point first.  And if you want to get to the halfway point, you will first have to get halfway to the halfway point—more commonly known as the one-quarter mark.  And if you want to get to the one-quarter mark, you will have to first get to the halfway point between here and the one-quarter mark, which is the one-eighth point.  And, to get to the one-eighth point, you will first have to arrive at the one-sixteenth point.  And if you want to get to the one-sixteenth point…  This goes on and on forever and ever, which means that not only will you not get from Point A to Point B, but you will never even be able to start moving since there are an infinite number of things that have to happen before you can get to any point along the way, let alone to your destination.

To be clear, Zeno was a jerk for coming up with this doozy which has been confounding people for a long, long time.

But even if you’ve never heard of this jerk or his paradox, chances are that you are governed in some way by a similar, cruel logic.  People procrastinate for reasons that aren’t that dissimilar to the problem articulated above:  “There are a million things that have to happen in order for me to do X, and I can’t do a million things right now, so I am going to wait to begin until I have time to do a million things.”  Well, you’ll never have time to do a million things, so you’ll never get started.

As a recruiter, I hear this all the time.  I talk with someone who is psychologically ready to make the move to another firm or corporation, but is paralyzed by what seems to be an infinite number of tasks that need to happen in order to get from Point A to Point B. They put off taking that first step. They put it off, and off, and off.  Until one day, they wake up and realize that they missed their window of opportunity to make a move. 

Don’t let your career choices be governed by the logic of a two thousand year old philosopher.  If you are ready to make a job change (or if you are ready to do anything, for that matter), don’t over think things.  Yes, there is a list of things that have to be done before you can walk into your new office, but there aren’t that many items on the punch list and a recruiter can help clarify the process and guide you along the way.  As Lao-tzu once said, “A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step.” Okay, ignore what I just said about letting your career choices not be governed by a two-thousand year old philosopher.  Just ignore Zeno.

GOOGLE YOURSELF

By Rich Janney

Social media is over-discussed these days.  Every five seconds you hear a story about it—Facebook, Twitter, etc., etc.  Even the angle I am taking with this article—that social media can make you look like a real idiot to a potential employer—has been beaten to death.  But I still feel the need to remind people about this topic because I believe that the message has not been received.

Assume that potential employers will be Googling your name if they get your resume and are interested in you as a candidate.  And, if you have a Facebook account—even if you lock down your security settings—or you have uploaded photos to Flickr, one of your photos might end up coming up in the search results.  And I’m sure it was funny when you came to a Halloween party wearing a Batman costume made out of black plastic garbage bags and some black construction paper (for the ears).  But the fact is that the first thing your potential employer sees is you, dressed up like a semi-melted Batman, holding a red plastic cup full of keg beer standing next to a girl dressed up like a Strawberry Shortcake hooker.

If you are going to pose in a Batman costume for your Facebook profile picture, you should at least go buy a good costume.  They sell awesome ones these days—ones that look just like the kind Christian Bale wears in the movie.  I saw a YouTube video of a guy in a Lamborghini driving around wearing a Batman costume.  He looked awesome.  You can get good costumes online:

http://www.amazon.com/Rubies-Costume-Co-Collectors-Batman/dp/B000A81P9M/ref=pd_sbs_a_5/178-0302624-4000223. 

The garbage bag Batman costume says, “I get things done sloppily and at the last minute.”  Strawberry Shortcake says, “I am a harassment suit waiting to happen.”  And the red plastic cup says, “I will be hung over on Friday morning, if you see me at all.”

You really should punch your name into the Google and see what comes up.  It may be a picture of you, dressed up as The Dork Knight.

In Defense of the Big Firm

By Rich Janney

Big law firms get a terrible rap.  When I was a student at Harvard Law School (I didn’t go to Harvard), we were constantly told by our peers that big firms were evil, though they paid well.  We were told that we wouldn’t get any practical experience at the big firms, that all we would be doing was document review and cleaning the toilets for the first three years.  We were told that they were sweat shops.  We were told that they ground up associates and then spit them out.  We were told that they would sneak into our rooms at night and kill us in our sleep.

At some point, it starts to sound like camp counselors telling spooky ghost stories around the campfire.  Yet, this ghost story has persisted over the years: “And then, when the associate got out of the cab on his way home at 4 a.m., he found a BLOODY HOOK STILL ATTACHED TO THE DOOR HANDLE!”  

[1^st year law students screaming and crying]

But I am here to tell you, as a former big firm attorney (I really did work at a big firm), that much of these stories are bunk or that they are not stories that are limited to life at the mega firm.  The following is a breakdown of many of the perceptions of big-firm life that attorneys and law students alike might want to take into account if they are considering joining a large law firm.

#1 You Will Work Crazy Hours

It can be true, yes, but it’s not always the case.  And though working long hours can happen at those mega firms, it can also happen at mid-sized and small firms too.  Sadly, this is the nature of the business these days, and it isn’t contained to the large firm.  For example, if you are working on a case that is going to trial, you are going to work long, grueling hours getting ready for it whether or not you work at a big or small firm.  If you are a transactional attorney and you’re working on a really big deal? Same thing.  And sometimes, at a small firm, because there are fewer attorneys who can bear the brunt of the case load, when it gets busy, it gets REALLY busy REALLY fast and there’s very little letup.

Furthermore, I have heard of plenty of tales of people who work at big firms and who maintain very good hours.  They bill 2000 hours and are not punished for failing to bill 2400.

Bottom line is that the practice of the law is a pretty tough life when you’re junior.  But it’s also pretty brutal if you’re a young doctor, or a young pup working at a hedge fund.

#2 You Won’t Get Any Practical Experience

Two main things determine how much hands-on experience you will get in your position if you work at a big firm: 1) your personality; and 2) who you end up working for.   With regard to point number one, if you are the type of person who is inclined to try and ‘hide’ at the big firm, you probably will be able to stay away from getting real hands-on experience.  And that, I suppose, is less stressful in the short run—if you are a ‘hider,’ that is.  However, hiding is not good for your career and it’s not the fault of the firm that you chose to avoid getting your hands dirty.  The most the big firm can be blamed for is providing a large enough biosphere in which you can successfully duck and cover.  With respect to point #2—who you end up working for—well, that’s out of your control to a large degree. If you work for partners who want to lock away their associates doing document review for the first year at the firm, then you drew the short straw, I am sorry to say.  At my former firm, I was lucky enough to be sent to court the day after I passed the bar and I never looked back; I went to court hundreds of times in my career.  But I was lucky—I worked for a great partner who really valued having associates who knew how to do stuff, so he made us do stuff (which is good, because I would probably have tended to be a ‘hider’). If, on the other hand, you have landed in a practice where they truly intend to keep the substantive work away from the young attorneys, then you really are in a bad situation (unless you are a ‘hider’, in which case you are working for a ‘hiding enabler’). However, again, this isn’t necessarily endemic to big firms—there are ‘hiding enablers’ at smaller firms too—the good news is that if you are at a big firm, you have a better chance of finding a different partner to work for because there are lots and lots of them there.  They can’t all be hiding enablers.  Use the size of the firm to your advantage.

#3 It’s a Sweatshop

Sweatshops exist in third world countries and the people who work there barely make enough money to live.  You will make enough money on your first day to buy yourself gold teeth.  Knock it off with the ‘sweatshop’ comparisons.

#4 You’re Just a Cog in a Machine

People think that at a big firm, they will be dehumanized, that they will only evaluated as a set of numbers that appear in a gigantic spreadsheet.  They think that if they don’t make their hours, they won’t be valued even if the work they do is outstanding.  Conversely, they complain that the inefficient attorney who bills 2300 hours will be considered a superstar even though their work is junk.

OK.  To some degree this is true.  Evaluating people by the numbers is more likely to happen at any organization where they have to manage hundreds and, perhaps, thousands of employees.  But doing high-volume, poor-quality work will only float for so long.  Eventually the system catches the clunkers, it just may react a little slower than the system at a small firm.  If you do good work and get good reviews, you will be recognized and rewarded.

Now, Let’s Talk Affirmatively About the Good Stuff

Don’t forget about all the good things that the big firm can provide that aren’t necessarily available at smaller firms.  Big firms provide a ton of CLE training right in the confines of the office.  There are experts from all over the firm who can provide amazing insight and guidance on a huge variety of subjects.  There are support systems in place that run 24 hours a day because, let’s face it, no matter where you practice, you are going to have late nights from time to time.  Better to have a whole staff of document specialists on hand to help you out when it gets super late.  Need a thousand copies at 2am?  They’ve got you covered.

The benefits are usually great too.  At some firms you will likely have vision, dental, health, 401k, 501k, and some sort of shark attack insurance (optional).

Then there’s the access to people.  While I was at DLA, I was able to meet a Secretary of Defense, a couple of congressmen, Michael Jordan’s lawyer (Jordan came to the office himself once, but I missed it), Gandhi, and also God.

Long story short, there are a lot of benefits of working for the mega firm.  Don’t let the camp counselors scare you.

START YOUR NEW JOB ON THE RIGHT FOOT

By  Sabrina C. Spitznagle

You made it through the interview process; obtained and accepted the new job; and gave notice and left your old job.  Now what?  It seems like the hard part should be over, but don't forget that the first few months of any new job really is a continuation of the interview process and that changing jobs is hard.  You will have to prove yourself all over again, and depending on where you are moving, you may experience some culture shock.  It is important that you are prepared for this, and that you don’t lose sight of the reasons you decided to make the move in the first place.  None of this is rocket science, but remembering the tips below can help ensure that your transition is as smooth and successful as possible.    

1)      First and foremost, make a good first impression.  You will earn so much credibility and buy yourself much flexibility down the road if you start off on the right foot.  You were hired -- so they obviously like you.  Keep up this momentum and hit it out of the park on your first assignment.  Exceed expectations -- do more than you otherwise would on the project; proofread it more than you otherwise would; and turn in the project earlier than they expect it.  Do this even if the project seems somewhat menial.

2)      Arrive early and stay late (at least initially).  You absolutely don't want to be the last one in the office, or the first one to leave. 

3)      Be responsive.  Respond to emails and voicemails as soon as humanly possible after you receive them -- even if it is just to acknowledge that you received the email and are working on getting an answer.  Attorneys tend to be somewhat masochistic, and misery loves company -- they will be pleased that someone else is working at 2:00 in the morning (or at some other odd hour).

4)      Make a concerted effort to get to know people in the office.  Ask people to lunch.  Accept invitations to happy hour if you can (But, don’t drink too much -- limit yourself to a 2-drink max.  Drink club soda with lime after that).  Make small talk, even if you’d rather just shut the door to your office, get your work done, and go home (Another but -- don’t share too much.  They don’t need to know all your weird habits, thoughts, politics, etc. right off the bat).

5)      Figure out the politics and hierarchy.  Determine this as soon as possible and do your best to develop a positive relationship with at least one of the firm or company’s decision makers as soon as possible.  If you do not get assigned a mentor, try to develop a relationship with someone who has been there for a long time to whom you can go with questions.

6)      Don't stand out in some weird way.  For example, if everyone keeps their door open, don't sit in your office with the door closed all day.  Don't work with your office lights off and only a lamp.  Dress conservatively and in line with the way everyone else in the office dresses.

7)      Be nice to everyone.  The first few months of any job are really a continuation of your interview.  Make sure that you are especially nice and friendly to the assistants for the attorneys with whom you work; your assistant; the people who work in the mail room; and the receptionists.  

8)      Follow their procedures.  If they have a certain way of doing things -- writing a brief, drafting documents, marking things up, keeping track of time, etc. -- do it their way.  If you think things could be improved, you can make a tactful suggestion, but don't go crazy trying to change their ways -- you will need to adapt.  No one likes a know it all.

9)      Go to the birthday celebrations. You don't have to eat cake, but you should show up and sing (and maybe pretend to eat the cake).

10)  Participate in the charities.  Pay the $5 to wear jeans on Fridays – you will be more comfortable anyway.

11)  Don't abuse privileges.  Figure out the rules and what the home grown people do, and then do a bit less than they do.  For example, if everyone charges through their car home and/or dinner if they are working past 7:00 pm, only charge your car home and/or dinner if you work past 8:00 pm.

12)  Be happy to be there!!  People like positive people -- try not to be a complainer. Don’t let yourself idealize your old job and forget all the reasons you left.  Instead, continue to remind yourself of the reasons why this new job is better. 

While these tips may sound exhausting and make you want to give up your job search before you even start, remember that this transition period is only temporary.  If you do all this initially, you will be able to quickly establish yourself and enjoy all the great things about your new job! 

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN MAKING THE MOVE IN-HOUSE: THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY

By Sabrina C. Spitznagle

     Attorneys often think of going “in-house” as the golden ticket; the panacea to all their problems. In many cases, in-house opportunities do offer a better, more predictable lifestyle, without the hassle of having to account for every second of your time. But, as with everything in life, there are definite trade-offs, and not all in-house positions are created equal. To get some perspective on “the good, the bad, and the ugly,” I spoke with a number of attorneys who have made the move from a large law firm to an in-house position.

“The Good”

     Most of the attorneys with whom I spoke agreed that the best aspect of making the move in-house is a more predictable schedule. They no longer worry about getting travel insurance in case they have to cancel their vacation last minute, and they are confident they will be home in time for dinner. They also agreed that they are working less in-house than at a law firm (or at least they feel like they are working less – it sounded to me like several of them are still working quite hard, and don’t forget that some in-house positions can be every bit as demanding as working at a large law firm). However, working in-house is absolutely less flexible than working at a law firm -- no more deciding to come in at 11:00 am thinking you will just stay later; running out in the middle of the day to Nordstrom’s to do some quick shopping, to a child’s music class, or to get a mani/pedi; or deciding to work from home on a random Tuesday. Nonetheless, while not everyone would agree, my interviewees were unanimous in valuing a regular, predictable schedule over a more flexible one.

     Of course, there are several other very positive things about going in-house. Billing your time is the bane of most attorneys’ existence, and this is not something you are required to do in an in-house environment. (Even in-house, however, most attorneys do have to account for their time in some way – typically through periodic written or verbal reports.) In-house attorneys also don’t have the same pressure of having to develop business, which for many people is a huge weight off their shoulders.

     Finally, being in-house offers the chance to work with the same client repeatedly, so that you feel much more invested in your client and are able to be more involved in the business side of things. This, by the way, is the absolute best reason to provide in an interview as to why you want to go in-house (please, please, please do not ever, under any circumstances whatsoever, tell anyone in any interview that you are looking to make a move for a better lifestyle – just keep that to yourself). One of my interviewees described being in-house as feeling more like a career, rather than simply a platform to do something else.

“The Bad”

     All of the attorneys with whom I spoke said that they felt more like support staff as in-house counsel. You become part of the company’s overhead, rather than a revenue generator. Likely contributing to this feeling of being support staff is the fact that you typically don’t have the same support staff you did at a large law firm. In most cases, you don’t have a secretary to answer your phones, draft your letters, or make copies for you. At the same time of course, you often don’t have the same secretarial or support staff needs that you did in private practice.

    Many in-house attorneys, especially litigators, also miss actually litigating their cases -- even if they thought that they wouldn’t. It can be very hard to move from being in the driver’s seat to the back seat. While in-house attorneys absolutely remain involved in strategy and decision making, their role can be more akin to giving guidance from the back seat than actually driving the car. You may have to restrain yourself from jumping in to ask a question during a deposition or to make a point during an oral argument in court.

     In-house positions almost across the board pay less money than law firm positions. Bonuses, equity, and benefits can make up for some of the difference in the lower base salary, but you should be prepared to make less if you move from a firm to an in-house legal department (at least initially – it does appear that over the course of time, in-house lawyers catch up with most of their law firm counterparts, with the exception of the ultra successful business generators).

     Finally, there are a limited number of companies with downtown locations, so depending on where you live, moving in-house often involves a lengthy commute (usually in a car) to get to work. Even if you live in the suburbs and don’t have to commute, many people have told me that working in the burbs feels extremely isolated (certainly not as many good lunch spots!), and they would rather commute downtown. If you are used to meeting your downtown friends for lunch or for a quick drink after work, this can be hard to give up.

“The Ugly – Things You Wouldn’t Expect”

     I think everyone who has made the move in-house would agree that you should be prepared to experience a fairly serious culture shock. Working in an in-house environment often means the end of your own private office with a window; your own secretary and/or paralegal; after-hours secretaries and paralegals; coffee stations on every floor; and a beautiful lawyers’ lunch room. Most of the people I interviewed said that they did not appreciate or anticipate this cultural difference or how much “secretarial” work they would do themselves as an in-house attorney.

    The attorneys with whom I spoke also were surprised by the sheer number of matters for which they became responsible as in-house counsel. While at a large law firm you may be responsible for ten or so matters, and you know every last thing about them; as in-house counsel, you are responsible for overseeing hundreds of matters, and you must get comfortable with hopefully at least remembering the names of the cases. This can be a struggle for many of us Type A, detail oriented attorneys.

     A common misperception about going in-house is that your practice will become much broader and that you will handle a wide array of matters. While this absolutely may be true in a very small legal department, joining a large in-house group at a large company often means that your practice becomes much more narrow and focused. At a larger company, in-house attorneys tend to support a specific business. Thus, while you may handle many different types of litigation matters as a litigator at a law firm, as in-house counsel, you may be responsible for only real estate litigation matters for example.

     Finally, attorneys often think that by going in-house and becoming the “client,” you are able to respond to matters at your leisure. In reality, however, you still report to internal clients, and you often receive many internal emails that require an immediate response. Several people with whom I spoke said that they did not realize how frustrating it would be (and how bad you look) to not to be able to respond to your internal client because outside counsel has not yet responded to you.

    At the end of the day, when you are analyzing where you want to be in the next 5 to 10 years and are managing your career to get yourself there, remember that going in-house is not necessarily the be all end all. It is a terrific option for many people, but it is not necessarily for everyone. Moving to a smaller law firm often can offer some of the same benefits as moving in-house, without a number of the negatives. Think about your strengths and weaknesses and what you value most, and perhaps most importantly, look before you leap -- talk to as many people as you possibly can to ensure that you are making an informed decision that is right for you.

ASTEROIDS

By Rich Janney

Your firm probably isn’t going to implode.

However, associates have always fretted that one day they will show up to work and find themselves padlocked out of their offices.  That worry is understandable.  Ever since I graduated in 2000, there have been some pretty spectacular law firm collapses—Altheimer, Brobek, Heller Ehrman, Jenkens, and Howrey, just to name a few.  It’s hard not to take notice when a well-respected firm up and dies and catches most of its attorneys by surprise.

But all in all, it is not common for a firm to die suddenly.  I mean, don’t get me wrong—firms do fail, but it is more common for the failure to come in the form of a slow and painful death, exhibiting plenty of warning signs to the outside world.  And those warning signs give law grads and lateral attorney candidates ample opportunity to avoid the firm.  In other words, the passengers on those ships have known, or should have known, for a long time to head to a lifeboat and to push women and children out of the way to get there if necessary.  They really can’t claim surprise when the hull disappears under the surf.

But the slow painful death of a firm is not what worries attorneys.  Just like the general population is more worried about an asteroid hitting the Earth than they are about global warming, attorneys fret about the possibility of getting blindsided by their firm going supernova. But since there is still the chance that a law firm can get hit by a metaphoric asteroid, wringing ones hands over the subject isn’t entirely without merit.  I mean, hey, that’s how all the dinosaur attorneys got wiped out, right?

That begs the question, then, as to how does one know if a firm is going to blow up?  I mean, they don’t really go without any warning signs, at least not to the insiders.  As such, after conducting a thorough study of firms that have gone out of business over the last two decades, and recording countless interviews of former partners and associates of failed law firms, I have compiled the following list of warning signs that your firm is about to fold like a lawn chair:

1.      You work at Dewey & LeBoeuf

2.      The lights won’t turn on any more

3.      You walk by a conference room and partners are warming their hands around a barrel of burning trash; also, they’re wearing those gloves that have the fingertips cut out of them

4.      All the important partners are rappelling down the side of the building past your window with boxes of documents strapped to their backs

5.      You see the unhappy ghosts of deceased name partners roaming the halls and rattling chains

6.      The managing partner is talking to a loan shark collections guy and is shrugging and pulling his pants pockets out into rabbit ears to show that they are empty

7.       You receive an email saying that Rosasharn from The Grapes of Wrath will be serving lunch

8.       A Trustee in Bankruptcy is walking around the office, measuring things

9.       All the senior partners are going on vacation to non-extradition countries

10.    No more furniture

11.    Wild animals roaming the halls

12.    The partner that kept the tank of exotic fish in his office is eating them to survive

13.    You learn that your firm accounted for its finances based on a Mayan, rather than   fiscal, calendar

14.    There is a recruiter suctioned cupped to the outside of your office window, just waiting

Look, in reality your firm probably isn’t going out of business overnight; it’s a pretty rare event.  But to the extent that you see any of the above-mentioned criteria, you might want to consider moving to another dinosaur cave—asteroid’s a-comin’.

Memories

By Rich Janney

I make a lot of jokes about my time as a litigator and it probably gives the impression that I didn’t like it.  However, I spent seven years litigating for a good reason—I really did enjoy many parts of it and often overlook or fail to communicate some of the many fond memories I have. Whether it is the academic challenge of articulating case law in a persuasive manner, the thrill of winning a motion, or the satisfaction of having out-witted your opponent, there are a lot of aspects of being a lawyer that warrant celebration.  But there are other nuances to the practice that I found very rewarding, too; elements that I think get overlooked.  The following is a list of things I really enjoyed while I was a Chicago litigator:

1.      Judges with mild dementia

2.      Metal detectors at the Daley Center that wouldn’t go off even if I had a leg made out of solid steel

3.      Court calls where the case right in front of mine happens to be one of those mortgage foreclosure deals where the attorney brings eight million files up to the bench and spends the next six hours kicking people out of their houses

4.      Getting to know some really unhealthy people

5.      Putting my keys and cell phone in a dog dish before being allowed to pass through security at the Dirksen Building

6.      Waking up at 3 am with positive thoughts about all the things that could go right with my cases

7.      Martinis

8.      The 85-year-old sheriff’s deputy at the Daley Center who would simultaneously shush the courtroom and put one hand on his pistol, as if he was going to blow your head off if you didn’t shut up (no one called his bluff, though)

9.      The way a wool suit smells after you’ve panic-sweated through the jacket

10.    Putting endless hours into a draft of a brief and then getting it back from the partner covered in a bloodbath of red ink—so pretty!

11.   Technology, which has made it easier to file briefs right up until midnight and thus allowed associates to work right up until midnight, too

12.   Driving to a court call in a collar county and fantasizing about continuing to drive westward, then northward, then escaping to Canada

13.   The slovenly attorney who just can’t seem to get the whole shirt tucked into his pants

14.    Living a balanced, healthy life

15.    Counting the cigarette burns in the carpets in each courtroom in of the Daley Center

16.    Using carbon paper in the 21^st Century

17.    Redweld paper cuts

Those are just a few of my fond memories as a Chicago litigator.  I know, I know.  I probably sound like Garrison Keillor right now, idealizing my past into such a picturesque narrative.  But it’s just how I feel inside, and I had to get my insides out.  Please let me know if you have some fond experiences as an attorney that you would like to share and I’ll read them on the air.