Legal Arena Starting to Look A Lot Like Sports (A Revisit)

"I've never seen anything like this." How many times have you been in a conversation with someone and either you or that person had said that when talking about the current economic market and its impact on BigLaw? With all of the dynamic moves of partners, the freeze on hiring associates, the firm collapses such as the most recent examples of Howery and Dewey and even with people such as Marc S. Drier driving his firm into the ground, this all seems strange and foreign to us- but is it really?
I can't but help thinking that we have seen this all before, only in a different market....sports. I know you may think I'm crazy, but let's just compare and contrast for a minute.
For those of you who are sports fans let's float back to a time when the baseball players had a reserve clause and when you were with an NFL team, they owned you for your career- or until they didn't want you anymore. That's how it was in the early days of Biglaw. An Associate, would come into the fold, work his or her way up to Partner and retire as Of Counsel. There was little movement from firm to firm except for those exceptional few- the Babe Ruth's of the legal world if you will.

...and then came Curt Flood

All of a sudden in the 90's with the Biglaw's love affair with the lockstep, Associates began to firm hop. Three years here, four years there. With the pay mostly in unison , associates could take that step and test free agency knowing that if they moved to a competitor they would be compensated the same. The risk of moving was lessened. Loyalty was gone. Johnny Damon moved to New York. Brett Farve was trying to play for the Vikings. Associates began to test the market more and more and asses their value to both there firms and their competitors. The talent wars, which had historically occurred in the law schools and amongst that group, had now spilled out into the "street" of firm life.

.....and then came Nick Saban and Larry Brown
With the Players all jumping ship after "Plan B" free agency, the fans could never depend on the loyalty of a player again, but one thing they could always count on is that the captain of the ship, the head coach would be there through and through for the team....That is until Nick Saban and Larry Brown came around-the genius coach that could turn any team around- for the right price. What we are seeing now in these slow times is a drop in the stock on the "player" or the Associates and a rise in the stock in the "coaches"- the Partners.

Partner recruiting is now hotter than ever, and in the past 24 months there has been a record number of lateral moves by senior and junior partners. So not only are Nick Saban and Larry Brown changing teams, but so are the Tom Creen's and Norv Tuners of the legal world.The times of loyalty and and the 20-year stay are gone. We just have to get used to attorney movement and accept it as a part of the business, just as we have to accept that Jay Cutler plays for the Bears.

So the next time you or your friend say "I've never seen anything like this," all you need to do is turn on ESPN and you will have it right in front of you.

HEY?! WHO IS INTERVIEWING WHO?

We all have been in an interview at one time or another in our professional careers. We have all felt that anxiety build before, during or after the interview. "Will they like me?" "Do they like me?" " Did they like me?" The interview process is is the most crucial step in a new career or in a career change. A career decision is one of the most crucial steps a person will make in there lives. An employer takes the time to thoroughly screen a potential employee (most anyway). Interview questions, background checks, reference checks -some even ask for credit checks. They are even throwing away privacy taboos and asking for Facebook and email passwords to check up on candidates and their personal habits (more on this some other time). That employer wants to take very step to insure that they are hiring the right person into their company. For the most part, employers are not afraid to ask the tough questions....So then why are job seekers?



I mentioned earlier that a career decision is one of the most important decisions you will make in your life. It's right up there alongside, getting married and buying a house. So how come most of us don't treat it that way? I mean, would you buy a house without seeing the inside or the backyard? Without an appraisal or inspections? Would you marry someone without seeing them with their makeup off? I hope not! Then why do we accept job offers without asking our employers the hard questions?.... Because most of us are afraid to ask those hard questions. We shouldn't be.



"I came across a few articles that stated that this company has lost profits two years in a row, Is this something I should be concerned with?"



"Is this a position where I am replacing someone or is this a newly created position? If I am replacing someone, what is the turnover rate of this position?"




"If I were to speak with former employees of this company, what do you think they would have to say about this company and its culture?"




"How often is my performance reviewed and what is the basis and method that you use as an assessment of my performance?"



Where is the wrong in asking your perspective employer questions like these? There is nothing wrong with it. In fact, you are completely in the right to do so. Most people don't because they think they will blow the interview of they do. That the perspective employer will view them as a problem in waiting or someone who will be "high maintenance." That if the tough questions are asked, the job offer will never come. I'm here to say that if that employer won't extend an offer because you ask the hard questions, then that is an offer you don't want. If that person thinks you are going to be trouble, then its no the right place for you, because eventually you will be trouble. I don't mean trouble as in a trouble maker. I mean trouble as in an unhappy and therefore not fully productive person.



Knowing who and what you company is and whether this place will be a place that fits you entirely is important for you to thrive as a professional. How can you thrive if you are worried that the company will collapse and fold in a year? Or that you could lose your job because your direct manager is never happy, or his abrasive personality chases you away like the three people who held your title before you? You can't function like that. You can't thrive- and every employer should want employees to thrive right? Asking the tough questions eliminates those little surprises that turn into large surprises that lead to employee turnover. Many of our resignations, firings, or downsizing would never have to us had we not been afraid to ask the hard questions and dug a little deeper into the resume of our employers.



Your potential employer wants to know everything there is to possibly know about you professionally and sometimes learn as much about you on a personal level before they extend an offer. What's wrong with seeing them without their make up?