David Cardon, a lawyer at Cardon & Goodman in Hampton Roads, Virginia, has produced and released a short 4.5 minute film entitled Billable Hours. A spoof reminiscent of the cult classic Office Space, Cardon's film depicts large law firm lawyers as boorish middle-aged men more interested in gossiping about attractive coworkers and plotting free lunches than their work. The highlight of the film consists of a summer associate interview in which two partners ask a series of psychological questions approved by the hiring committee. Some people will find Billable Hours offensive. Locker room humor abounds — don't show it to your kids and don't play it at work. A more experienced filmmaker might have provided a moral compass by making the partners even more cartoonish and preposterous. However, to his credit, Cardon does provide one grounded character — the law student — onto whom we can project our own sensibilities. As someone who conducted countless law student interviews during my tenure at a large law firm, I found Billable Hours amusing. I applaud Cardon for taking a chance (comedy is not easy), and hope his film inspires other lawyers to create their own films about law practice.
Update: If the above link no longer works, you can watch the video on Cardon's MySpace page.
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