TechnoLawyer: BiglawWorld

Originally published on December 6, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter. Instead of reading BigLaw here after the fact, sign up now to receive future issues in realtime.

So, you read my last article discussing the challenges and virtues of creating a smartphone app to market your law firm. Now, you're ready to start developing your own app. In this issue of BigLaw, you'll learn about the process of developing the software and getting it approved for distribution to the public by Apple. The development and approval process for Google's Android OS is similar to, albeit less stringent than, Apple's so if Apple approves you app Google will likely approve it too.

App Development Considerations: In-House or Outsource?

Regardless of whether you plan to distribute your app to the general public or to your own employees, the process of developing an app for the iPhone starts out the same — you must find someone to design the app and write the code. One of the reasons development for the iPhone has been so prolific is that Apple has made it fairly easy to develop software with its Software Development Kit (SDK). Anyone regardless of experience can join Apple's iOS Developer Program for a mere $99 and start programing apps.

Of course, you can hire an experienced software development firm to design and program your app, but if you don't have a minimum of $20,000 to spend and you have some ambitious tech-savvy lawyers in your office, you can take a shot at developing your app in house. That's exactly what I did. Although I had no previous programming experience, after about four weeks reading books on Objective-C (Apple's coding language), asking a lot of questions in online forums, and another four weeks of playing around with the SDK, I had my first iPhone app submitted to Apple for review.

Navigating the App Review Process

Once development of the app is completed and all the bugs worked out, your firm cannot distribute it to the public through Apple's App Store absent Apple's approval. The elusive and highly critical process by which Apple reviews apps for approval has always been the subject of much contention among developers — especially because all developers must enter into a strict confidentiality agreement and are thus prohibited from discussing many aspects of the development and review process.

This protocol occasionally results in apps being rejected for vague reasons. Apple has recently relaxed (slightly) its approval requirements and has provided developers with some 150 criteria for surviving the review process. Nonetheless, the review and approval process typically takes two weeks. If your app is rejected by Apple, you will need to correct any problems with the app and start the review process all over again.

If you are fortunate enough to have your app approved, within hours of approval it will be made available for download to mobile users around the world though the App Store. If you're developing the app to promote your law firm you likely will make it available for free. But, should your firm want to sell the app for profit, Apple will take a cut of 30% of all sales. Because the App Store is the exclusive venue for distributing both free and for-sale apps, there is no way around this requirement.

You will need to maintain and update your app as necessary, particularly, when Apple releases new products and operating system updates, which may require some reprogramming and yet another journey though Apple's review and approval process.

What About Enterprise Apps?

Distributing apps to the public through an app store is just one aspect of mobile app development. In my next column, I'll explain how to develop and deploy "enterprise apps" — apps specially designed for use by your law firm's employees only.

Written by Dan Friedlander of LawOnMyPhone.com.

How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published on December 13, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter. Instead of reading BigLaw here after the fact, sign up now to receive future issues in realtime.

You've probably run into a former miserable coworker who left biglaw and surfaced a month later looking like the million bucks he left on the table. It's almost as if, simply by quitting, he instantly kicked that seven-year antidepressant habit, dropped 10 pounds, and added years to his life. Of course, if you're still unhappily slaving away, encountering these Jimmy Buffets can throw your own misery into high relief.

A widely cited Johns Hopkins study found that lawyers are more likely to suffer from depression than people in any other profession. Some have attributed this statistic to two personality traits — perfectionism and pessimism — rife among attorneys.

Biglaw attorneys seem even more depressed than your average lawyer. Why? Will Meyerhofer probably has some theories. I have five of my own.

1. Disenfranchisement

No matter where you rank in your firm's hierarchy — associate, counsel, a partner — you're constantly at the mercy of others. No matter how successful your career was prior to attending law school, if you enter biglaw, you'll start in the proverbial mailroom with everybody else as a first-year associate.

Count on waiting at least four years until you make any real substantive legal decisions or manage people below you. Even when you're a partner, clients dictate the work schedule, call the business shots, and direct you to fulfill them. Add in the pyramidal business structure that prizes billable hours over intelligence, seniority over merit, and business development over legal brilliance and it's easy see why lawyers become so unhappy.

2. Entrapment

Many law students graduate with $150,000 in law school loans and a degree that offers them only one career option for repaying the debt (relatively) quickly — biglaw. Working for three to five years at a firm can prove depressing if you're only there to pay off your loans. Also, knowing that the longer you stay, the less marketable you become to non-law firm employers makes it even worse. The dearth of legal jobs outside of biglaw that pay equivalent salaries doesn't help matters either.

3. Jerks

As I've previously noted, law firms have their own special (and especially insidious) breeds of jerks. Whether it's dealing with an indignant admin who refuses to enter your timesheets or a passive-aggressive partner who goes AWOL as important deadlines loom, the average biglaw associate is in a near-constant state of panic about screwing up, not receiving their full bonus, and getting fired. It's hard to maintain a sunny attitude when you're surrounded by jerks at work.

4. Long Hours

Long and unpredictable work hours take their toll on biglaw lawyers. Late nights, ruined weekends, and the all-too-common cancelled vacations strain personal relationships and torpedo efforts to stick with gym routines and healthy eating habits.

Associates get no respite from work during the day since they're billing by the hour. BlackBerrys ensure that they're always on call. Having a work/life balance is essential to maintaining happiness and sanity, but at many large law firms, this concept remains a myth.

5. Prophesy

If you work in a large law firm, you're supposed to be depressed. Like celebrities and plastic surgery, they go together. Don't blame me. I didn't start it. The media has told lawyers for years that they're depressed. The ABA and state bars have a program — the Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs — devoted to helping attorneys cope. So many people reiterating the lawyer depression meme can be kind of, well, depressing. I mean, if nobody believed that you weren't depressed, wouldn't you be depressed too?

How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published on December 13, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.

Ah, 2010, we hardly knew ye! As the year winds down in a flurry of drunken holiday parties and year-end bill collecting, we ask: Was it was a very good year for large firms, as Frank Sinatra might have sang? Or should we describe it in more modest terms? What is the takeaway from a year in which venerable institutions such as lockstep compensation and the billable hour found themselves under attack?

Well, BigLaw readers, while we would like to present an Academy Awards-style photo montage (set to stirring music, of course) commemorating the major events that transpired in 2010, we're scribes, not auteurs. So you'll have to settle for this text-based look back at the year that was.

Work-Life Imbalance

Work-life balance loomed large in 2010 — not because anyone actually achieved it, but for the ongoing conversation about it. Are we any closer to figuring out how to make biglaw life work?

Sadly, despite the significant volume of collective wisdom published in the blawgosphere this year by luminaries such as Bruce MacEwen and Vivia Chen, we still have a long way to come, baby.

If you're looking for the low-down-and-dirty on the competing demands of work, life, and love in the world of biglaw, check out this BigLaw column on why "J" and "D" may be scarlet letters for all the single ladies of law.

Not to mention this biopic (alas, also text-based) of the associate-turned-therapist who tends to the wounded psyches of law students-turned-associates, and this checklist to verify that you're truly ready to give up on the unicorn-like mythical notion of "balance" and leave biglaw behind.

Partner Paroxysms

While 2010 didn't feature the degree of bloodletting that characterized 2009, the legal profession remains a changing landscape. While some young, optimistic associates hope to dodge the "Of Counsel" bullet and make it to the putative promised land of partnership, it aint what it used to be.

In 2010 partners — perhaps more so than associates — felt both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.As we discussed earlier this year, gone are the days when "partnership" and "security" were synonyms. The trend toward bulkier partnership ranks in recent years led, this year, to a widespread, recession-inspired culling of the herd, intended to combat the phenomenon of "overpartnering."

But 2010 was also the year in which some brave souls left the comfort of biglaw partnership behind to pursue entrepreneurship — like former Latham & Watkins mega-partner Joshua Stein whom we profiled in this newsletter. Stein is one of several large-firm superstars to go it alone, suggesting that the agility and autonomy of a marquee solo practice, not to mention the freedom to have Ice Cream Fridays five days a week, may make BigSolo the new biglaw.

Of course, if solo practice isn't your thing, you can always hang around and torture associates. But don't go crying to Legal Tease when you discover that associates hate you.

AFA, LPO, and LOL

Have we reached a consensus on alternative billing, legal process outsourcing, or social media? I didn't think so. Let's just continue to talk amongst ourselves. BigLaw has, of course, discussed these perpetually hot topics since, oh, 2009.

Earlier this year, we explored why biglaw breeds bill padders and how to curtail it before someone at your firm ends up taking a perp walk.

We also brought you this interview with Jonathan Goldstein, a former large firm lawyer who helped build one of the world's largest LPO providers and then sell it to Thomson-Reuters.

Wondering why so many of our jobs — even our legal jobs — are being outsourced in the first place? Maybe it's because large firms, like American school children, are way behind the technology curve. The results of a study released this spring show that large firms are slow to adopt even basic technologies that can increase efficiency..

As for social media … we don't know what to tell you. Whether it's a good marketing tool or not remains up for debate each week in BlawgWorld, but one thing is certain: If you're going to swim in the Internet's Zuckerberg-infested waters, take these steps to protect your online reputation.

Bonuses, Reviews, and Layoffs Oh My

The thrill of an annual bonus brings with it the concomitant anxiety of your pending annual review. While it might be too late, we have a word of advice on how to prevent a bad review — avoid being a jerk or worse.

Of course, when you receive your review, you may need help translating the coded phrases and idioms unique to the dialect known as biglaw speak. Look no further than BigLaw columnist Legal Tease's explanation of what partners really mean when they commend your "positive attitude."

Alas, if you find yourself on the wrong side of a layoff, check out these tips, for how to handle that first, inevitably awkward, encounter with the jerk who canned you.

Finally, BigLaw readers: We wish you a very happy, healthy, and successful New Year — when we'll see you back here.

How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published on December 7, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.

The end of the year is right around the corner, folks. And if you're an associate working in biglaw, you know what that brings: partner drunkscapades at the firm's holiday party, reluctant realizations that you've spent yet another year trading whatever straggling shards of youth you have left for a bucketful of billable hours, and … year-end associate reviews!

Yes, it's once again report card time for biglaw associates, that time of year when your supervisors weigh in on your progress — or lack thereof — on the path to partnership. But what do these reviews really mean? What hidden messages lurk within your supervisors' vague appraisals? Are you on the way up or out?

Below you'll find translations of five common strains of associate review-speak to help you figure out if you should pat yourself on the back — or watch your back — as this year wraps up.

1. "We Thank You for Your Impressive Billable Contributions to the Firm, Though We Encourage You to Seek Out Pro Bono Work in Addition to Your Billable Client Matters."

Don't change a thing. And for the love of God, don't seek out pro bono work. Ever. Don't even say the words "pro bono" out loud — it'll only waste precious billable minutes. Just keep yourself locked in your office like you always do, remember to shower once in a while, and keep billing until you pass out and/or have a psychotic episode. You're on the way up, kid!

2. "Your Greatest Strengths Are Your Positive Attitude and Contribution to Firm Citizenship."

You will never make partner. You might have a shot at "of counsel" but shouldn't count on it.

You can, however, count on being appointed co-chair of the firm's Happiness Committee or Work-Life Balance Initiative or whatever other pile of nonsense the firm throws together to dupe associate recruits into thinking that working in a law firm is just like working at a hugging factory, but with bigger paychecks.

Calm down, though. You're safe for at least a few more years before you and your greatest strengths will be shown the door. (And by then, with any luck, you will already have had the good sense to move somewhere far, far away from biglaw, where your positive attitude really will help you get ahead.)

3. "We Strongly Encourage You to Seek Out Increased Business Development Opportunities at the Firm in the Coming Year."

As you're no doubt already aware, you're That Associate. Everyone at the firm knows that you were hired because of (a) your father's last name, (b) your mother's last name, or (c) both. Maybe Dad is a senator or Mom is a Getty or they both have their names on a few buildings at NYU.

Whichever it is, the firm will only wait so long for its little gamble on you to pay off. If you don't put your golden pedigree to work and pony up some business for the firm stat, you'll be … well, you'll probably be just fine. More than fine, actually. But you'll be looking for a new job sooner than you might think.

4. "We Appreciate Your Contribution to the Firm But Reiterate the Importance of Keeping Pace With Other Members Of Your Class in Terms of the Scope and Breadth of Your Billable Matters."

You will be fired within the next three to six months. You probably realized that about a year ago right around the time when you started wearing jeans on alternate Fridays and started thinking about writing that novel — but the firm is just now starting to catch up.

But don't worry, they won't let you go until the next review period. So just keep calm and spend the next few months polishing up your resume, depositing those paychecks, and relocating as many office supplies as you can. Consider this time an extended severance package — you might as well make the most of it. And get cracking on that novel.

5. "Your Work On the Client X Matter Was Competently Executed and Much Appreciated."

The person who wrote this review has literally no idea who you are. Your name cropped up on the list of associates who billed time to one of the 800 matters he supervised and he wrote the review roughly four minutes before it was due. Hell, you may not have even worked for this person at all — you probably entered the wrong supervisor code on one of your timesheets and got punted to this poor slob's list of supervisees by mistake.

But, hey, at least the review was positive — think of it as the firm's special way of wishing you happy holidays. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Photo Credit: The Two Bobs from the film Office Space

Legal Tease has clocked more years than she cares to remember working in one of the world's largest law firms. She writes regularly at Sweet Hot Justice, which we encourage you to bookmark and read religiously.

How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published on November 29, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.

First, they spot you in a crowded room. You flirt. You exchange contact information. Eventually you meet in a more intimate setting where you chat for just long enough to size each other up. Before you know it, you're being introduced to the rest of the gang. Don't they seem nice? Aren't they just the kind of folks you could see yourself spending some serious time with? And it turns out that they like you, too! They welcome you into their well-appointed inner sanctum, where you spend a blissful summer dining well, basking in praise, and admiring the fabulous new accessories you can suddenly afford. But then a year or so later everything changes.

Is There a Cure for the Post-Summertime Blues?

Ah, the thrill of a new relationship! The all-consuming immersion. The heady sense of possibility. The flush of novelty … and, of course, the big paycheck. We're talking of course about those early days at the large law firm where you summered and accepted an offer.

The lusty beginning eventually gives way to something a bit more measured — perhaps a relationship based on mutual respect, or more likely, one characterized by simmering resentment and financial dependence.

No matter that you think of yourself as a steely pragmatist who sys things like, "It's only a job," or "I'm just trying to pay down my loans because what I really want to do is [insert noble public interest job here]." The trappings of biglaw — the exaggerated sense of importance, the cushy surroundings, and the fluffy paycheck — make it hard to leave despite the enervating and unfulfilling existence.

Which is precisely why, when hard times come a-knockin' and the firm delivers the unfortunate news of your pending unemployment with a blandly unapologetic "It's not you, it's me," speech, it's hard not to feel like a jilted lover.

Like all jilted parties, you probably go through a painful recovery. You cry. You mope. You cold call headhunters. You send out 13,000 resumes. At some point, Starbucks calls to tell you that you're overqualified for the position. You wonder if sending a resume there in the first place made you look desperate, but why dwell on it?

Sooner or later, you're back on your feet, or at least leaving the house in the morning to go to an actual office, rather than the table in the back corner of the Starbucks to which you applied. You don't need that stinking law firm! You don't need those jerks!

Alas, sooner or later, you'll run into those jerks. With any luck, you'll know ahead of time — say, if you're going to a professional conclave where you're likely to come face to face with your former colleagues. This scenario is far preferable to an unanticipated street encounter — during which you're invariably clad in sweatpants, eating a Starbucks marble pound cake, and sobbing — as it gives you time to think strategically.

Have a Ball

Indeed, such was the case with an associate whom we'll call Cinderella — a pseudonym that — wink wink — has nothing to do with the fact that Cindy often found herself trapped in the office toiling away while her evil "stepsisters" engaged in frolic and detour. In any event, Cindy was a devoted associate who fell victim to the layoffs that swept our profession last year. After a hard landing, uncushioned by even a handkerchief-sized severance pillow to break her fall, Cindy found work at another firm. Suffice to say that, between a massive pay cut and a career "readjustment," Cindy's life is very different today.

Cindy called me recently to say that she would be attending a professional function at which she expected to see not just any old colleague, but her Former Boss (FB). What, she wanted to know, should she say to the woman who had worked her like a pack mule before kicking her unceremoniously to the curb? What should she avoid saying? What if she got wasted and threw a drink in her former boss's face? "I don't know," I told her. "Just make sure you look TOTALLY HOT." "We're not talking about my ex-boyfriend," Cindy reminded me with an exasperated sigh. Then she asked me to consider the following conversation starters, points, and comments, all of which she hoped to make part of the encounter.

1. "Oh, Hi! I Didn't Recognize You Without Your Axe!"

In case you didn't catch her drift, Cindy is referring to the axe used by her FB to remove associate bios (such as Cindy's) from the firm Web site. My advice: Take the high road. Being canned — even as a result of the worst economic downturn in 50 years — can be a demoralizing experience. Why compound matters by wearing your humiliation on your sleeve? Practice the following mantra: "I left to pursue other opportunities. I left to pursue other opportunities. I left to pursue …"

Interestingly, the laws of nature provide that Cindy's FB is due some humiliation of her own. While it would be immature and unprofessional for Cindy to cause such humiliation (no pig's blood dumped on FB's head from a rafter in the conference center's meeting space), Cindy is under no affirmative obligation to prevent mild embarrassment. Thus, if FB happens to walk out of the ladies' room with her pantyhose tucked into the back of her skirt (as she was wont to do when Cindy worked for her), Cindy need not feel bound to point out the, um, "inadvertent disclosure."

2. "The Biggest Challenge of My New Job Is Figuring Out What to Do With All the Extra Money!"

I know that Cindy has taken a massive pay cut. You know that Cindy has taken a massive pay cut. But does FB need to know? While traditional notions of fair play and justice might have required Cindy the Associate to be forthcoming with FB, no such standard applies to the person who issues your walking papers. So what's the harm in a little white lie?

Thus, when it comes to money, my advice: Take the low road. While Cindy might want to tone her wording down a bit (since talking about one's salary is, after all, in poor taste), it couldn't hurt to work in an innocuous comment that communicates the same sentiment. Perhaps something along the lines of, "My new job is great! Oh, excuse me — I think that's my personal shopper calling." A quick eye-roll, and a muttered "she wants me to send my driver to pick her up on Tuesday — can you believe it?" should hammer the point home.

3. "So, What Are You Doing With All That Empty Office Space?"

As I mentioned, Cindy wasn't the only one who got the axe. A number of her colleagues suffered the same fate, plus the firm has continued laying off lawyers this year. Cindy and her former comrades suspect that the firm is a sinking ship, and often picture FB picking up the phone, prepared to order an associate to rewrite a deposition summary at 11:00 at night, only to find that she has dialed (yet another) disconnected extension.

Cindy now wonders whether it is permissible to rub FB's face in the indignity of her changed circumstances. My advice: the situation calls for a mixed route, traversing both the high and low roads. Specifically, while it would be unseemly to say something like, "Wow, you seem pretty shorthanded these days — are you doing your own copying?" it probably wouldn't hurt to land a minor jab. Perhaps she could mention the fact that she and a few former colleagues are planning an "alumnae gathering" to celebrate the fabulous good fortune they have experienced since leaving the firm.

No matter that, when Cindy and her old firm pals get together, it'll be for questionable half-price sushi or a gourmet cheeseburger. Cindy should feel free to substitute "Shake Shack" with the name of the swanky restaurant where they would meet if they had more than $82 left over from their unemployment checks at the end of the month. Cindy might also want to mention a complex litigation matter that she's working on, and say something like, "Do you handle those types of cases anymore? They call for a lot of manpower, so you're probably focusing on matters that are, um, a little more conducive to lean staffing."

We wish Cindy the best of luck with her encounter, and hope that you'll weigh in with your own stories or suggestions for Cindy on how to handle the dreaded FB rendezvous. And, if you're also facing an FB rendezvous, remember this piece of advice: check your skirt before you leave the ladies room.

How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published on November 1, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.

Apple's App Store offers more than 200,000 apps for the iPhone (primarily) and iPad. Apps run the gamut from games to social media clients to sophisticated document editors to flashlights. Yet there is a shortage of law-related apps, especially those developed by large law firms. In future BigLaw columns, I'll discuss the app development process as well as enterprise apps for internal use at large firms. Today, let's explore law firms apps as marketing tools.

Ignore Smartphone App User Psychographics at Your Peril

The iPhone — now in the hands of over 30 million users, many of them corporate executives — seems like an ideal platform for large law firms to advertise their legal services. However, most firms have not yet released an app.

App development is not cheap. Even the simplest of iPhone apps costs around $20,000 to develop — and that's just to write the code. The price can quickly escalate to upwards of $50,000 once you include the costs to maintain the code, house and run the servers necessary to feed information to the app, and the need to keep the app up to date with Apple's iOS operating system releases. While you can spend less to develop an app, the cost savings is usually apparent in the resulting quality and utility of the app.

Despite the high costs of entry, some law firms — big and small — have ventured into mobile advertising by releasing iPhone apps. Did being first to market help these firms? Probably not. Most of these apps don't offer significant value, which means that those who download them quickly abandon them.

Mobile industry analysts and Apple's own software engineers have stated that the most successful mobile apps are those that do one thing and do it well. Generally, users of mobile technology have a short attention span. They want to click on an app, use it, and move on. They don't want to spend ten minutes drilling through attorney bios, case law updates, and legal news it as if they were sitting at their desktop computer viewing a Web site.

This psychographic profile of a typical app user explains why the current iPhone offerings by law firms have failed. Most law firm apps consist of simplified regurgitations of their Web site. They try to squeeze too much information onto a tiny screen and do not offer anything to motivate users to return to the app a second time. So, what should your app contain?

The Recipe for Law Firm Smartphone App Success

To succeed, advertising your law firm should be incidental to the primary purpose of your mobile app — not the other way around. Ideally, it should offer frequently-updated information or a tool that makes users want to return to the app again and again. Also, incorporating game dynamics can help make a useful app even more addictive.

Morrison & Foerster's free MoFo2Go app is probably the best of the law firm apps currently available. In addition to attorney bios, legal news, press releases, and firm newsletters, the app also provides some entertainment value by including a small labyrinth game. Although a step in the right direction, the game is not compelling enough to persuade users to return.

Obviously, developing an app that corporate executives download in droves is easier said than done, but not impossible. Eventually, a large law firm will release such an app. It may as well be your firm.

Written by Dan Friedlander of LawOnMyPhone.com.

How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published on November 8, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.

If you're a biglaw partner and have spent any time cruising around the latest legal blogs, or, hell, even cruising around your office building, you've probably noticed the obvious: Your associates don't much care for you. In fact, on most days, we sort of hate you. A lot.

And no, it's not because you make scads more money than we do, or just because you're our bosses. It's mostly about the small stuff — the grating little things you do on a daily basis that make us, on a good day, resent you and, on a bad day, want to go target shooting with your professional headshot.

But there's hope! All it takes is a little self-awareness mixed with a dash of self-restraint. So, take a hard look at the five most common hate-mongering partner habits below and if any of them seem familiar … stop! Before you know it, the only people left hating you will be your clients.

1. Pick One — Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde

If you're going to be a jerk, be a jerk. We're okay with that. Actually, we expect it. The problems start when you pull the cool partner" act, treating us to happy hour cocktails and encouraging us to set personal boundaries one day — and then turning into a drooling bipolar lunatic the next day when we don't answer your 2 am email within 30 seconds. Just pick one emotional identity and stick with it. We may not like you for it, but at least we won't hate you … or try to have you committed.

2. Get Over Yourself and Give Out That "A"

Remember that professor you had in law school — the one who refused to give any grade higher than a B+ because he believed that no one (aside from himself, of course) was actually smart enough to deserve an "A"? Well, tuck that fond memory in the back of your mind the next time you fill out associate reviews.

In other words, don't be like the infamous IP litigation partner in my firm who refuses to give a top review score to any first-year associate, as a matter of self-proclaimed policy. Look, we get it. We're just lowly junior associates. Someday, if we work really, really, really hard, maybe we'll be as amazing as you are. But in the meanwhile, these reviews determine our bonuses. So, give credit if credit is due — or live with the results.

3. Pause Before Sending Us That Facebook "Friend" Request

Really? Do you really want to be "friends" with us, on a social networking Web site or otherwise? Why? You barely make eye contact with us, much less talk to us. If you actually want to be friends with us, start by … well, moving to a new firm. Or stopping by to say "hi" once in a while. And if you're just hoping to see drunk pictures of us, try buying us drinks and bringing a camera. Either way, leave our online alter egos alone.

4. Save the Teaching Points for Morning

Training is great. We love it! That's why we chose to work at a large law firm in the first place — those big, fat, biweekly … training sessions. We actually appreciate it when you take the time to explain the background behind a fine point of law or a general practice pointer to us — just not when you do it at 2 am from your vacation lake house in Tahoe while we're at the office closing a deal for you after a string of all-nighters. So, please, keep the practice pointers coming, but try to use some discretion when handing them down. At the very least, wait until daybreak.

5. Avoid the Blame Game

Who doesn't love a speeding bus? Associates, that's who — especially when you throw us under one. Look, we understand that we make mistakes now and then — big ones, sometimes. We don't expect you to cover for us in front of a client (though if you do I can assure you that you'll earn more fierce loyalty from us than you can imagine, no matter how much of a jerk you may otherwise be).

But nothing will prompt us to gather a figurative lynch mob outside your office faster than blaming us for your mistakes in front of a client. Not only is it vile and pathetic, it's a cop out. You're supposed to be a leader, right? When someone you supposedly supervise screws up, you're just as much to blame as they are. So suck it up, grow a backbone, and take one for your team once in a while.

And don't worry. You can always take it out on us later in private. This is biglaw after all. We wouldn't expect anything less.

Legal Tease has clocked more years than she cares to remember working in one of the world's largest law firms. She writes regularly at Sweet Hot Justice, which we encourage you to bookmark and read religiously.

How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published on October 18, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter. Instead of reading BigLaw here after the fact, sign up now to receive future issues in realtime.

Picture, if you will — a struggling economy (like, oh, the one we've confronted for the past two years), a practice area that has been battered by the economic tides (let's call it "commercial real estate"), and the kind of national mega-firm where top partner billing rates hover somewhere between $750 and $1,000 an hour (say, for example, Latham & Watkins, the third largest law firm by revenue according to the 2010 AmLaw 100).

Now picture a partner at such a firm, whose commercial real estate practice has continued and survived despite a volatile market and epic downturn. If you could flip ahead in this story, you would find this partner battening down the hatches, snuggling into the warm embrace of the large firm where he practices, and waiting for the tough times to pass, safe in the knowledge that he is largely insulated from the day-to-day struggle faced by his counterparts in the cold, hard world of solo practice. Right? Wrong.

Why Jump From BigLaw Success to Solo Practice?

If that practitioner were Joshua Stein — who happens to be the hero of this particular tale and one of the leading commercial real estate lawyers in the United States — you would find him in a newly appointed office suite in midtown Manhattan — alone. Or virtually alone. In August 2010, Stein left Latham & Watkins to form Joshua Stein PLLC, a one-man practice that he manages singlehandedly, in what he calls "efficient solitude."

Specifically, unlike the mega-firm he left behind (which employs thousands), Stein has chosen the more traditional superhero route, with a modern twist: he has taken on one trusty administrative sidekick, but she is not an on-site secretary, or even a constant presence. Instead, he hired an hourly virtual assistant who works from Redmond, Washington, and with whom he communicates almost exclusively by email and file sharing. "I think we've spoken four times," he says.

So, why leave the security of an established practice at a venerable firm now, and strike out in an unpredictable economy and a wretched commercial real estate market? Perhaps more importantly, if you're bold enough to strike out on your own in such inhospitable conditions, how do you make it work? Well, as a preliminary matter, Stein is clearly not a bitter ex-partner, and has no unkind words for Latham & Watkins. Rather, his departure and his strategy for life as a solo practitioner start from a few basics — freedom, flexibility, and simplicity.

One issue, he explains, is that billing rates at many large law firms have escalated to a level that clients find problematic, though not necessarily because of the high cost of partners' time. The larger point of resistance, says Stein, seems to be associate time, which — at large firms — clients often regard as both overly expensive and inefficient.

As a solo practitioner, Stein enjoys the freedom to bill his clients for completed projects or on any other basis that makes sense, rather than just quantity of hours. Although his billing rate still reflects his years of experience and expertise, he has flexibility thanks to dramatically lower overhead and the autonomy of making (and living with) his own financial decisions, with no need to obtain any approval from any committee. We refer to lawyers like Stein as "BigSolos".

So far, his formula is working. "From a client's perspective," he explains, "it's often a good deal to pay more for someone who has lots of experience and really knows what they're doing," rather than inexperienced associates.

Stein also enjoys the freedom to work on any matters that suit him, including some that are not necessarily a good fit at big firms. For example, he says, expert witness work and certain kinds of transactions can be difficult to take on as a biglaw partner, whether because of the potential conflicts or economic realities they present. At his new practice, Stein can focus on the work he enjoys, unburdened by the fear that a small but very interesting matter will present a conflict for the next mega-deal to come down the pike, or that his views on a particular issue (as an expert or a commenter in the press) will come back to haunt him, his clients, or his partners.

New Technology Powers Stein's New Law Firm

When it came to setting up his new practice, Stein truly appreciated the "freedom and simplicity" of the solo life. He says that he toyed with the idea of not renting office space at all, but ultimately decided that clients are "very interested" in knowing that their attorney has a physical office, and less thrilled about "using someone who works out of their bedroom."

After securing office space, his first priority was "pushing the use of computers as far as I could." Always an early adopter, Stein has made technology an integral part of his practice since the early 1980s. Earlier this year, he published an article in TechnoLawyer in which he shared his favorite software and Web sites

In his new practice, he not only embraces technology, but says that he "really enjoys being my own technology department." He has outfitted his office with 6 or 7 computers ("so far," he adds, like any good tech-junkie), and moved his document management to the cloud with NetDocuments, about which he offers high praise. "It has much the same functionality as Interwoven," he says, "but without the need for care and feeding that comes along with a software-based system." Moreover, it suits the flexibility of Stein's new, nimble way of practicing, which calls for the occasional use of additional staff, and makes it "incredibly easy for me — and anyone I work with — to access my documents online, while also keeping everything totally private and secure."

Hourly Billing Without the Usual Accoutrements

As for billing, Stein says that, while he is "open" to alternative practices, such as flat fees, volume discounts, or monthly retainers for certain clients (for work within a carefully defined scope), he often returns to the "logic of the billable hour." At the end of the day, he reflects, the unequal incentives inherent in both flat fees and hourly billing make them imperfect systems, "parts of which always create concerns for one of the parties." But, he adds, "there is a lot of power in hourly billing at a rate that reflects high quality partner time," which is what he delivers — in streamlined form — to his clients. He does not charge for expense disbursements such as copies, telephone calls, and secretarial time; uses contract attorneys only when a need arises; and does not employ a paralegal.

This minimal approach to staffing has given Stein the opportunity to handle a wide range of projects, with a level of autonomy that he finds refreshing after years as part of a large institution. The change, apparently, suits him. From planning a recent open house at his new office to interacting with the press, he speaks with palpable relish about the freedom of being his own boss.

Indeed, Stein even had a hand in designing his own logo — a Warhol-esque burst of colored skyscrapers, which looks more like the stylized graphic you'd expect from a high-end architectural firm, and less like the tired images of pillars, scales, and serious-looking attorneys carrying briefcases that adorn many law firm marketing materials. It may be a small touch, but it is, perhaps, another symbol of the fresh approach to practicing law that Stein, and others like him can adopt after years in biglaw.

"This is not for everyone," Stein says, "but for the most part, it's allowing me to focus on what I really like. I was worried that I might be lonely without other people around, but truthfully … I find that I'm usually too lost in my work to notice."

How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published on October 25, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.

Two years ago, I left my job as a biglaw associate the same day an of counsel who sat on my floor also departed. At our joint going away party (which featured a small cake for me and a larger one for him, naturally), we chatted briefly about why we were leaving. He said he was lateraling to another large law firm in the city to try to make partner. I said I was leaving to pursue writing. Only one of us made it (hint — you're reading my BigLaw column).

It's not that this guy wasn't great at his job. To the contrary, he was a very serious, detail-oriented lawyer who routinely worked long hours even though he had young kids and a wife. And though I personally liked him very much, he could be aloof with clients, and had an awkward phone demeanor — and, occasionally, bad breath. There was good reason he was of counsel and not partner at my old firm. Sadly, he lacked self-awareness if he thought that lateraling would solve the problem.

Biglaw partners are a very specific breed. If you're an associate with great technical skills but no "it" factor, you're doomed to become of counsel, or worse — be asked to leave. Fortunately, you can take steps to dodge the of counsel bullet and gain the "it" factor. Below you'll learn how to fake it 'til you make it.

1. Cultivate Your Partner Personality

I recently met a senior associate at a firm who expects to make partner this year because he's meticulous and a hard worker. However, despite having never seen any of his work, I can guarantee that he'll make of counsel. Why?

He comes across as desperate, exhausted, and uptight. He's also extremely overweight and disheveled. Firms want partners who are socially savvy, self-aware, and confident. They look for well-dressed, well-kempt people who can get the job done for clients and take them to a dinner after the deal closes (case settles).

If life is a schoolyard, partners (aside from tax partners) are the cool kids with decent grades who play sports. Counsel are the straight-A nerds in marching band. If you're a natural-born nerd, you need to fight your inner bookworm and act the part of partner. That may mean polishing your small talk skills, revamping your wardrobe, and/or losing weight. If you're unsure how you come across, consider hiring an image consultant for brutally honest feedback.

2. Get An Important Client To Back You

Once you've finessed your partner personality, it's time to start buttering up your firm's key clients. If you work closely with a particular client and become their go-to lawyer, the client may develop allegiance to you as an individual. You can leverage this loyalty by having the client praise you to your firm's partners or even go to bat for your directly.

Nothing will motivate a firm to make someone partner more than if a client threatens to take its business elsewhere — especially if it's a major blue chip client. Giving you a small equity stake in the firm is a lot cheaper than losing millions of dollars of business.

3. Bring in Business. Lots of It.

Future partners are shameless salespeople who win new clients based on the strength of their personalities. A mid-level associate friend of mine frequents an Irish pub where bankers hang out and has brought in millions of dollars to his firm simply by buying people drinks, schmoozing with them, and handing out his business card.

By contrast, future of counsel hide in their office and work on the matters assigned to them. They find networking oily and uncomfortable and think they prove themselves on the strength of their work. Law firms are businesses like any other, so if you want to make it to upper management, you have to prove your business savvy.

4. Build Your Reputation in the Firm

If you've ever looked at your firm's new partner and of counsel announcements, odds are you recognize the names of all the associates who made partner and few, if any, of the associates promoted to of counsel. That's because associates who eventually become partner wage public relations campaigns and work hard to raise their profiles within the firm. They demonstrate their commitment by sitting on firm committees, spearheading charity events, and taking on highly visible pro bono projects. They build reputations as tough but fair project managers and make it a point to work with as many partners as possible to ensure widespread buy-in.

If you think extracurriculars don't count and that the only variables that matter are your billable hours and work product, you're setting yourself up for counsel and a six- rather than a seven-figure salary. No associate was ever plucked from obscurity and made partner.

How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published on October 14, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.

On August 6, 1930, I disappeared. Many have written about my disappearance, most recently Peter Quinn in his novel, The Man Who Never Returned. With all due apologies to Mr. Quinn, I have returned. And not from the dead. Rather, from a long 80 year "nap" of sorts. I did not relish living through a seemingly endless economic downturn, though I have awoken in the midst of another one. More importantly, I knew a day would arrive after my likely death when the world's largest law firms would need my wise counsel.

As a man of means, I worked with a brilliant young scientist to slow the aging process and my metabolism. For the last 80 years, I have "napped" while subsisting on BST — a high-protein intravenous fluid created from the blood, sweat, and tears of first-year biglaw associates. With the number of such associates dwindling and my supply of BST in jeopardy, I have "awoken" to help guide those who manage large law firms, and in doing so ensure my continued survival. In my first BigLaw column today, I offer some advice on a topic I know a great deal about — the two best places in your office take a nap. Because it's unlikely you're using them efficiently anyway.

Your Conference Rooms: Improve Your Meetings

Meetings can rack up billable hours, but they often accomplish nothing and prevent you from finishing your personal billable work earlier. Because relatively little of importance occurs during meetings, you're better off using your conference rooms for naps — unless you're willing to change your ways.

Writing for Harvard Business Review, Gina Trapani enumerates some effective measures successful companies have taken to shorten meetings. For example, Google uses a chess-like timer to keep meetings on track. Some companies employ chairless conference rooms, while others ban laptops and smartphones.

Marketing guru Seth Godin might agree to ban laptops and smartphones, but he believes the solution to more efficient meetings lies in iPads. Unfortunately, the app he envisions doesn't exist yet, but you as the meeting organizer can perform most of its functions. For example, you should create and distribute an agenda, ensure that everyone participates, and take votes.

Project management expert Michael Taylor echoes much of Godin's advice in his free report, How to Conduct Better Meetings, but he also offers an even more important tip. Park any extraneous topics that surface for discussion another time and stick to the agenda. I would add to Taylor's advice that you should save any small talk for a more social setting, which brings us to another good place for a nap.

Your Library: Transform It Into a Zagat-Worthy Cafe

Good riddance to libraries now that law firms no longer need them. But many still exist, relics of a bygone era chock full of untouched books with a five-year layer of dust. So just lie down within one of the quiet aisles and close your eyes — unless you're willing to better use this space.

If you're fortunate enough to have just leased some raw office space, don't even build a library — and reconsider your conference rooms as well. Last month, BusinessReport.com reported on Phelps Dunbar's new digs in Baton Rouge. Thanks to the help of architectural firm Gensler, Phelps Dunbar built flexible conference rooms that can change in size as well un-conference rooms — informal breakout areas where employees can congregate. The firm built a library — probably because an old-school partner insisted on one — but at least it's much smaller than the firm's previous library.

CMS Cameron McKenna in Scotland built its new office space in a similar manner according to allmediascotland.com in an article published this week. While the firm built a breakout area, it also unfortunately built a library.

In his new book, Where Good Ideas Come From, Steve Johnson disagrees with the conventional wisdom that innovation strikes most frequently in solitude — like when you're sitting in your office or when you're zoned out in your own world at a poorly-run meeting (see above). Instead, he argues that the best ideas most often stem from informal gatherings. If you don't want to read the book, watch his recent TED Talk instead.

Johnson's anecdotes and research are compelling, but as any lawyer knows, good ideas can also bubble up when you're alone but not necessarily in your office or even working. So consider transforming your library into a Zagat-worthy cafe. Move your librarians to cubicles somewhere (I'm not suggesting large firms no longer need librarians), and instead hire a barista to serve espresso drinks, sandwiches, and baked goods better than you could get at Starbucks.

If Johnson is right, your firm will benefit — more business, better work product, etc. — from the informal conversations that take place. Unlike your cafeteria, a cafe offers more opportunities for conversations outside your usual circles within the firm, and also serves as a better place for creative solitude. One possible downside of a cafe exists — more office romances.

Until Next Time

I can remain awake for only short periods of time. I must now return to my chambers for some BST and a nap. But don't emulate me. Instead, get to work on improving your meetings, and draw up a blueprint for your cafe.

Editor's Note: One of our readers pointed us to Malcolm Gladwell's article from ten years ago, Why Your Bosses Want to Turn Your New Office Into Greenwich Village.

Long considered dead after disappearing in 1930, Judge Crater instead hired a brilliant young scientist to slow his aging and metabolism. Subsisting on BST, a high-protein intravenous fluid created from the blood, sweat, and tears of first-year biglaw associates, Judge Crater periodically arises from his slumber to offer advice to those who manage the world's largest law firms.

How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Answering this question requires digging up some dirt, but we do with the best of intentions. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw analyzes the business practices, marketing strategies, and technologies used by the country's biggest law firms in an effort to unearth best and worst practices. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.