How Screwed Are the 1Ls?

Q:  As a 1L hoping to score a summer gig with a big law firm for my 2L summer, all of this layoff news does not bode well.  Given the fact that law firms are slashing people left and right, delaying start dates for first year associates, rescinding offers, and offering year-long delayed start dates, what is going to happen this August when current 1Ls go through recruitment?

Obviously the competition will just be worse as law firms will be hiring less people….but how bad will it be?  Is it time to plan a volunteer trip building houses in a third-world country or something so that I can say I did something interesting my 2L summer (and hope that I can score a big law job after my 2L summer)?  I’ll be clerking at a non-profit law firm this summer, and am reasonably ranked at my Tier 1 law school, so in any other year I’d have an OK shot at big law.  I know that people who are in the top 10% at T14s will be ok—but what about the rest of us? Let me know if it’s time to pack my eurotrip backpack. [Read more]

Life, Death, and Halter Tops

There have only been a handful of moments in my legal career—nay, in my life—when I’ve felt there was a decent possibility that all the people surrounding me in a particular space were about to collectively crouch down, bare fangs, and storm forward in a sweeping, feral frenzy of rage, ripping out the throat of whichever poor bastard happened to be in charge.  Typically, this feeling has only kicked in while, say, waiting on the tarmac at O’Hare during a blizzard, or sitting in my 1L Property Law class on the day my professor announced that she didn’t believe in teaching black letter law. But last Thursday, it happened in a 6th floor conference room in my tense, hungry little corner of BigLaw. [Read more]

The Layoff Code

You may not be aware of it, but you have the same problem I do: Them.  We see Them every day—in the firm’s dining room, in the hallways, in the elevator banks.  Even if we don’t realize it, They’re all around us.  Hell, some of Them are us.  They’re a constant reminder of our BigLaw mortality, a reminder that no matter how much of a superstar you may think you are at your firm, you’re always just a few billable hours away from joining Their ranks: victims of stealth layoffs.  And no, I can’t figure out how to act around Them, either. [Read more]

How Do I Handle a Bad Law-School Hook-Up?

Q:  OK, so I did something bad. I’m at a top 30 law school and I hooked up with a classmate.  He’s been kind of distant and is now saying we should just be friends.  I know it was just a bad bad idea to begin with, but, what’s the best course of action from here on out? Block him from Gchat, Facebook?  Or just act like nothing happened and forget about all of this nonsense?  I’ve just never been the type of girl to hook up with a guy without being in a relationship so I’m kind of at a loss about why he doesn’t have feelings for me and what to do from here on out. [Read more]

Sex, Drugs, and Billable Hours

My first intervention went down pretty much exactly like the ones you see on TV.  Well, except that there were no cameras.  Or tears.  Or therapists.  And it took place in a shoebox office in a law firm instead of, say, in my living room, surrounded by friends and family. Still, the core elements were the same: I had a serious issue and it needed addressing. No, I wasn’t a junkie, or an alcoholic, or addicted to fetish porn.  My issue was far more dangerous.  More destructive.  More worthy, apparently, of the powers that be at the firm stepping in to make sure the situation didn’t get further out of control.

The issue?  My billable hours were too high.  [Read more]

A Genius Like No Other

You know this guy, you do.  Every Big Firm has at least one. You started hearing the lore about him your first week at the firm and you admit that you were part intrigued, part terrified.  You’ve seen him in passing in the halls, usually after most of the firm has emptied out after dark.  Perhaps you’ve even tried to speak to him, only to be met with a distinct lack of eye contact and a half-snort as he scuttled away.  He’s more socially awkward than any mental patient, not fit for human—no less client—interaction.  But, word on the street—and that word’s always mentioned in hushed, reverential tones—is that he’s brilllliant.  Like, crazy genius smart.  That’s why the firm keeps him around.  The brilliance.  He’s the resident Big Firm Savant.  And I’m here to tell you firsthand, the whole “genius” thing is a complete and total fraud. [Read more]

Strike!

Please just tell me, once and for all: Do I have something stamped across my face?  No, really.  Is there some sort of watermark, a scar, a sign that screams “Only Social Deviants and Hostile Nerds Need Apply”?  Because that’s the only thing I can think of to explain why, within minutes of walking into the “Year-End Cocktail Bowling Bash!” for the firm’s corporate department (I know, no words), I’m cornered by a guy who is easily the most aggressively awkward partner at the Firm.  Let’s call him Les Metz.  Les Metz, who’s been divorced twice at 41, who has a sleep apnea mask hanging on the back of his office door, who brought his own bowling ball to this ersatz holiday party, and who’s made it his apparent mission to teach me how to bowl tonight.  Oh, and who just returned to the Firm last week from a month-long leave for a case of shingles.

Jealous already?  Just wait. [Read more]

A Rose by Any Other Name

Even in this crap economy, one heavy with associate layoffs, slashed bonuses, and a general sense of fear leaking through the halls of law firms coast-to-coast, one vestige of BigLaw life still seems to be holding strong.  You’re familiar with it, even if you don’t realize it.  You’ve seen it before, smelled it before, openly admired it before.  Hell, you may even have it on your desk right now.  It’s been around as long as the billable hour and not even a recession can kill it: Whore Flowers. And if my firm’s a decent indicator, they’re not going away anytime soon. [Read more]

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