Layoffs
Lawyer Laid Off at Skadden After Surviving Hudson River Landing
Posted Apr 17, 2009 9:01 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Lawyer Frank Scudere considers himself lucky to be alive, but his luck ran out soon after surviving the Hudson River landing of US Airways Flight 1549.
Scudere’s father died less than a week later, and Scudere’s law firm job was gone about two months after the water landing, according to msnbc.com. Scudere was a staff lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom who worked in New York City on weekdays and commuted home on weekends to Fort Mill, S.C., where his wife and two young daughters lived.
Scudere was originally slated to be laid off Jan. 16, the day after he survived the emergency landing, the story says. Scudere, 48, was called into a meeting in a conference room that day and told he was on the layoff list, but he wouldn’t be let go—at least not yet. Skadden was eliminating nearly all of its staff lawyers—about 50 people in all—along with some support staffers.
On March 26, Scudere finally got the bad news that his job was eliminated. “I feel displaced,” he told msnbc.com. “Who am I? My identity as an attorney—that's gone."
Still, Scudere is philosophical about his situation. "I don't feel sorry for myself," he told msnbc.com. "It just shows the randomness of life, and the inevitability of loss. You can lose, and yet you can still be preserved. I lost my job, and yet I have my life."
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Comments
B. McLeod
Apr 17, 2009 9:20 AM CST
“My identity as an attorney - that’s gone.” This seems crazy, but I have heard a lot of law firm castaways say it. It amazes me that anyone would let the job become so much a part of their identity that they don’t know who they are the day after the layoff.
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Avon
Apr 17, 2009 10:23 AM CST
I’m not amazed in the least that he feels that way.
When I hung out my own shingle after 5-10 years as an associate hoping to make partner, and 5-10 more years as an associate elsewhere doubting that I wanted to be business partners with prima donnas, I knew I should feel fulfilled - but I felt rootless for weeks. It didn’t matter that my news was good news!
A little dedication and loyalty will do that to you, regardless of whether they’ve remained within healthy bounds.
A lot more lawyers are going to feel this sort of thing, and the rest of us might as well understand them. Not only are 50 “staff lawyers” (in their 40s or older) gone in one firm, but most firms are re-structuring in many ways. Things will feel different all over the place.
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D. Kemper
Apr 17, 2009 10:30 AM CST
It’s sad that you lost your job. I’ve lost a few in my life too. Having your identity tied to something you do for a living only makes the separation more difficult. You are still a lucky guy, an unemployed attorney, father of 2, and a husband. One door has closed and many more will open. Have faith.
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Mary
Apr 17, 2009 10:34 AM CST
I feel for Mr. Scudere, but am also surprised that he would feel that his identity as a attorney is “gone.” Is he that pessimistic about ever working again in the law, or is he really saying that being a Skadden, Arps attorney, in particular, was a very important part of who he was? (understandable, in my view, since he may have spent quite some time there).
But there are other jobs in law, and other ways to be a lawyer, even in this economy—and yes, even for those of us over 45. I hope that Mr. Scudere finds one, or creates one.
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anon
Apr 17, 2009 12:03 PM CST
Mary, I don’t think you’ve ever been in the position of being an older unemployed lawyer, or you wouldn’t be making such naive statements.
I was laid off from my long-time in-house job while I was still in my 40s, and was either unemployed or working in assorted temp jobs for more than 5 years afterward. Eventually, I was lucky enough to claw my way back into a position starting over at a small firm. But I had a lot going for me, including an Ivy League JD and a stellar resume prior to my layoff, and friends of mine who work in the placement field tell me I was extraordinarily lucky.
An attorney friend of mine who hasn’t had quite as much luck after getting laid off a few years back is currently in the hospital after a nearly-successful suicide attempt.
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James
Apr 17, 2009 12:41 PM CST
Very very sad that he feels this way. And it does have something to do with the biases present in big firms whether it be a bias against those over 40 or one toward people from a non-ivy school or one against people not in the top 10%.
No one is ever truly secure in their jobs.
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James
Apr 17, 2009 12:42 PM CST
Unless you start your own firm that is. It’s not a path for everyone, but I don’t know too many people who have done it and regretted it afterward.
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B. McLeod
Apr 17, 2009 3:50 PM CST
It has to be better than driving around with one of those bumper stickers that says, “Don’t you know who I used to be?”
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Joe Dick
Apr 17, 2009 5:18 PM CST
Look, this guy should be glad he’s alive. Thank Captain Mr. Whatshisname and go out and get some babe to keep you warm at nght. It could be worse. You could be sleeping with the fishes.
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Nancy
Apr 17, 2009 6:06 PM CST
Mr. Scudere, I hear you! I am a legal secretary recently laid off by a large Chicago firm after 22 years. Was called to the conference room and told to pack my belongings and go. At least I wasn’t escorted out. The Chicago legal community is small, just as I suspect is New York. Laid off legal staff in any position will remember how they were treated for a long, long time. Good luck to the firms being the harshest. What goes around comes around. Good luck to you Mr. Scudere and your lovely family!
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The Swedish Chef
Apr 17, 2009 8:34 PM CST
Comment removed by moderator.
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Joe
Apr 18, 2009 6:36 PM CST
Calling someone in to a conference room the day after he survived a plane crash, and telling him he would have been laid off if he hadn’t been in the crash? Real classy.
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Rick
Apr 19, 2009 9:11 PM CST
I had a staff attorney job with Miller Canfield in Michigan. I lost it in Jan 08 when the securitized loan industry collapsed. Since then, I’ve been very depressed…and felt like dying sometimes. I’m 56 and am being professionally treated.
I wonder if Frank will wish he had died on the plane if he’s out of work as long as I’ve been?
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h schwartz
Apr 22, 2009 9:55 AM CST
“Law is a business.” These words were spoken to me by a firm partner my first day as a clerk during law school. After several years of practice the only question that a firm asks at an interview concerns the size of your portable billings. Give the right answer and they start showing you office space. The wrong answer ends the meeting, and they bring in the next contestant.
Got clients and you’re a lawyer with your name on the door; otherwise you’re dead meat. Sorry, but just being a staff attorney eventually was going to end badly. Weekends with your family at the expense of client development makes you a better human being, but not a partner. Firms do not throw rainmakers under the bus, everyone else is expendable.
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