What New Lawyers Need to Know: Business Emphasis Not a ‘Torture System’

B. McLeod
May 28, 2009 10:59 AM CST

It sounds good, but there are problems.  First, there is no point covering these subjects if it is not done honestly.  So, it would have to include discussion of the short-term profit orientation that drives most firms, as well as the creative billing, conflict “finesse” and “client management” techniques that result from that orientation.  It would need to include discussion of how rates are set, how “associates” will be expected to work enough hours to generate collections at a multiple of their salary, and the extent to which non-partner attorneys without their own business book are fungible and expendable.  Some appreciable number of students can be expected to flee, screaming.  This will really not help the law schools’ “placement” statistics (which is one reason why there is such limited information on law firm practice taught currently).

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VJCochran
May 28, 2009 8:25 PM CST

Two books I recommend to new associates:
The Model Rules of Personal Finance for Professionals (ABA 2008) and
Law Firm Management (IncisiveMedia). These provide a realistic picture of what new attorneys need to know about the business side of a law firm and how to plan for it in their personal and professional lives.

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barbara res
May 29, 2009 7:42 AM CST

I agree with number 1.  The best example is ethics.  What we are taught has nothing to do with the real world. 
Take discovery.  We are not taught to do everything possible to avoid providing important docs, even motions to quash. 
The true meaning of zealous advocacy as it is practiced today is extremely close to the edge of unethical behavior.  And lawyers NEVER report other lawyers,  In ethics class they say, when in doubt, rat your friend out.  This is a total fantasy.  Sure, go to the ethics board and have them slap you back for making a spurious claim.
The bottom line is schools should either teach the real world or do something about changing a business that is frequently unsavory and materialistic.

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Publicus
May 29, 2009 9:22 AM CST

Teach them that Big Firm economics dictate that service and client satisfaction take a poor second to the billable hor (however spurious and unneeded the activity) and business development to satiate the hunger of the rainmakers who demand ever larger pieces of the pie.  Do it enough and you might finally put that needed stake into the heart of the Big Firm model as the apex of legal success.

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chryst
May 29, 2009 10:25 AM CST

I agree with comment #6.  I worked at a big law firm and was often used as a “go-to” associate to get things done right the first time. I recieved great annual reviews.  However, because I have a family and am married, I could not do all of the social events at the firm. This killed me and the partners made a big deal out of it.  They never complained about my work, just my lack of socializing.  Coming into the firm, I thought (wrongly) that my work would speak for itself but if you cant work a room socially and drink beer with everyone that walks through the door, your career at a large law firm IS limited.  Yes it sucks but its true.

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Johny Law
May 29, 2009 12:59 PM CST

The problem is INCOMPETENT law professors.  They just spew a bunch of academic drivel and don’t teach anything worthwhile.

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been there done that
May 29, 2009 2:02 PM CST

I attended a well known top 20 law school, which taught as though it believed that all of its students would be doing appellate work for big law firms.  In thinking about it, most of its professors had come from big firms after 3 or 4 years of doing appellate work (although presumably not at a level that would have enabled them to acheive partnership).  The problem with law school education is that there are few teachers with real world experience and even fewer with real world success, so the emphasis on teaching information that few students will actually use or need is perpetuated.

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John
May 31, 2009 4:17 PM CST

It’s amusing hearing law firms whine about their hires not possessing business skills.  Let’s see, you want people who had a 4.0 in undergrad, close to that in a top 20 law school, and consequently had little-to-no-life.  Most of these folks went straight through skill and have minimal work experience.  Ah, but they went to top 20 law school!  They must be good!

Law firm hiring is the problem.  Older students are discriminated against.  Lower-tier schools who have always emphasized practical skills are discriminated against.  Life experience is discriminated against.

The only time BigLaw weighs work experience and life experience is when two people with equal school credentials are vying for the same job.

They don’t take time to get to know their applicants.  They don’t ask real questions during interviews.  They don’t function as any sound business does during a hiring process.

Just compare the interview process at a mid-to-small level firm with that of BigLaw.  Much more intimidating in content, but much more worthwhile in the outcome (even if you don’t get the job).

Call me jaded.  The firms near my school were especially bad at all of this.

Let them crash and burn, the competent firms and lawyers will always be around to pick up the pieces.  And bill it on the tenth-hour.

- John

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