TechnoLawyer: Technology Industry/Legal Profession

Coming June 12, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Robert Rice reviews Amicus Attorney's conflicts checking abilities, Philip Franckel shares his thoughts on adhesion contracts and reviews Loislaw, Robert Fleming discusses Time Matters' stability, 30-year word processing veteran Stephen Silverberg compares Word to WordPerfect, and Deb Hoffmann reviews Google's Grand Central. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

An ongoing discussion in our Fat Friday newsletter about large law firm recruiting and salaries brought back memories of an article published in the Winter 1997 issue of City Journal entitled My Life As An Associate.

Written by Jonathan Foreman, it struck a chord with me back then when I myself was a large firm associate, and remains in my opinion the best inside account of large law firm life I've ever come across. Foreman is a formidable writer who practiced law at Shearman & Sterling for two years before embarking on a career as a journalist.

I kept a copy of the article on paper for many years and eventually scanned it into PDF format. I read it twice a year at least — and I'm not one of those people who usually consumes media more than once (the movie Wall Street being the only other exception).

So imagine my excitement when I discovered that City Journal (an excellent publication incidentally) now has all of its past issues online for free in an easy-to-read and printer-friendly format — including Foreman's article. Here's a taste of Foreman's take on large firm life in the mid-1990s:

"Our corporate culture required the show of enthusiasm in all circumstances. A partner would come into your office and ask if you had any plans for the weekend. The correct answer was "no." And you would then be given an assignment to fill your empty Saturday and Sunday. The first time I was asked the question, I mumbled something about having hoped to go to Vermont. The young partner, who was nicknamed "Dave the Barracuda," looked at me with a combination of incredulity and sympathy, as if I had just confessed to a subnormal IQ. "It's a rhetorical question," he explained with an exasperated sigh, before proceeding to assign me 20 hours of research.

"Every week we had to fill out a form saying how many hours we had billed the week before and for which client. If you put down a number that suggested you had enjoyed an easy week, the assignments partner would soon wander through your open door and ask if you were busy. It was another rhetorical question: it meant that you were about to become extremely busy. It also meant that there was an incentive not to work too fast. The idea was to charge as many billable hours to clients as would seem reasonable sometime in the future. If you worked too fast, the firm would not be getting its money's worth, and you would be rewarded immediately with another assignment. So our progress was sedate even when we were billing over 100 hours a week.

...

"It seemed that only law students and their parents thought it was a big deal to work in a Wall Street megafirm. Anybody who had had the slightest contact with corporate law, from investment bankers to secretaries to dancers-cum-proofreaders, just felt sorry for us. Our amazingly high turnover meant that over two years most of the people I liked quit or were fired.

"Others, the real unfortunates, were broken to the system. Once the cream of the Ivy League, they had been told too often that they were useless, that they were lucky to have a job at all. Years of semi-brainless paperwork while their college peers were starting businesses or making movies had dissolved their self-confidence. After three or four years the outside world had come to seem a terrifying place. Some claimed they were trying to get out, but one look at their eyes told the whole story."

Read Jonathan Foreman's My Life As An Associate.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Coming June 6, 2008 to Fat Friday: D. Paul Dalton reviews Logitech's MX-610 mouse and how he uses both the right- and left-hand models, Luis Perez lays down eight tips for choosing a document management system, William Kelly compares the Palm Treo 650 to the BlackBerry 8700, Steven Schwaber reviews his recent experience trying to order a Windows XP desktop from Dell (plus we suggest another option), and Stephen Hayes reviews Word 2007 from a WordPerfect user's perspective. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming May 30, 2008 to Fat Friday: Harry Steinmetz responds to the continuing biglaw associate salary thread, John Pierce reviews eGroupware as an open source alternative for shared calendars, contacts, and more, Tom Rowe defends his position on legal cross-selling and upselling, Mary Brooksby reviews using Bluetooth headsets and Amicus Attorney with her Palm Treo 680, and Peter Pike suggests another rule for modern day email etiquette. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming May 23, 2008 to Fat Friday: Heather Hoganson shares her thoughts on CLE courses, Brent Blanchard explains why he thinks Microsoft is guilty of restraint of trade practices, Edward Schoenecker walks through the steps for importing an IPRO file into TrialDirector, Yvonne Renfrew reminisces about CaseMap co-founder Greg Krehel, and James MacMillan discusses his experience ordering from Dell. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming May 16, 2008 to Fat Friday: Stephen Seldin discusses software design in the context of Microsoft Word using Apple as a counterbalance, Karen McCormick reviews Time Matters 8, Harold Burstyn shares his thoughts on associate tenure at large firms and how patent law firms differ, Steve Loewy reviews the BlackBerry Curve versus the Palm Treo 650, and Troy Harber seeks practical Word tips that he can apply to OpenOffice (and we deliver dozens). Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming May 9, 2008 to Fat Friday: Debra Bruce reviews the Verizon XV6700 Pocket PC (and we comment on its successors), Wesley Y.S. Chang reviews ActiveWords and explains how he uses it in his practice, Stephen Seldin discusses how the Internet has affected CLE and how a different pricing structure could help, Christel Burris discusses the method behind the madness of Microsoft's various Office 2007 suites, and Michael Caldwell responds to the continuing discussion about biglaw associate salaries. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming April 24, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Mark Manoukian discusses the benefits of open source software (and how you might use it every day and not know), Brad Jensen explores whether reformatting your hard drive provides enough protection from snoops, Craig S. Clark reviews Passwords Plus as well as the Treo 700wx, Daniel Fennick reviews his experience using PracticeMaster and Tabs3 together, and Theo Yates reviews PDF995 PDF converter plus the Wayback Machine. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

As many of you know, I have used a Mac as my main machine since 1990. As a company, we currently own 4 Macs and 3 PCs with 2 new Macs about to replace 2 old Macs and 1 PC (one of the new Macs — mine — will also run Windows). I even watch Steve Jobs' keynote presentations (they're more entertaining than most TV shows).

Mac users have a reputation for evangelizing their choice of computer platform to others — kind of like a missionary. I've done it myself. But I'll be the first to admit that when Mac users act with such speed and zeal that they miss the point and fail to make a cogent argument, they can become annoying.

Case in point.

In the April 2nd issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire we covered the Asus MK241H, a 24 inch LCD monitor with a built-in Webcam for video-conferencing.

Almost immediately, two Mac fans within Technolawyer responded. The first wrote:

"Or ... you could just get an Apple PowerBook — either the iBook or the MacBook Pro. Both have a camera built in along with video conferencing software which runs like ... well, like a Mac."

This response has several problems. First, a few factual errors. The iBook and PowerBook never had a built-in Webcam (iSight). Apple introduced this feature with the MacBook and MacBook Pro in 2006. The MacBook Air also has a Webcam.

Second, did he read the article? We covered a 24 inch display with a Webcam! Suggesting that those interested in such a display instead use a notebook with a 13, 15, or 17 inch display misses the point — by 7-11 inches.

Apparently, he forgot that Apple sells two "headless" Macs — Mac Pro and Mac mini. People who use these Macs need external displays just as much as those who use headless PCs. And I know that at least some of these people (like me) want an integrated Webcam. So the Asus MK241H doesn't appeal only to PC users, but to Mac users as well.

Unfortunately, Apple has ignored its very own customers in this regard. It has not updated its line of 20, 23, and 30 inch Cinema Displays since 2004. Yes, 2004! None of them have a built-in Webcam. (Apple changed the specifications slightly in 2006.)

The other person who responded wrote:

"For several years, Apple's iMacs (computers integrated with monitors) have included built in video cameras, along with their excellent video conferencing software iChat. It's good to see the PC world is catching up."

While the iMac line does include a model with a 24 inch display, the line about the PC world catching up again ignores all the Mac Pro and Mac mini users who want a display with an integrated Webcam.

So, why would someone want a Mac Pro or Mac mini in the first place? Many reasons exist.

For example, the Mac Pro is the fastest Mac by far. It supports dual displays out of the box. Its four hard drive bays eliminate the need for external drives and messy cables.

The Mac mini is extremely portable and cheaper than a laptop. Set up a 24 inch monitor, keyboard, and mouse at your home, office, and vacation home, and just shuttle the Mac mini among all three locations.

Sadly, this tale has a sad ending. The Webcam in the Asus MK241H does not work with iChat, the video-conferencing software in Mac OS X.

In other words, isn't it about time Apple caught up with the PC world?

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Coming April 11, 2008 to Fat Friday: Debra Bruce lists five reasons why general counsel choose big law firms (plus she offers suggestions for reducing attrition rates at large firms), Barbara Norris reviews Spector Software for billing your time (it's surveillance software), Colleen O'Donnell shares her wish list for future legal technology trade shows, Michael Schwartz responds to a recent TechnoFeature about hiring a legal assistant, and Nathaniel Barber challenges the claim that WordPerfect is a "Rosetta Stone." Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.