Biglaw’s training presentation says “You’re online 24/7” and that’s not even the worst advice
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And yeah, that sucks for anyone who doesn’t want to admit that this is exactly the way law firms operate. How they worked for decadesbut for all the hype surrounding the watches, people are asleep at how terrible the rest of this piece of advice is.
Law.com I posted this slide the other day:
“The customer always comes first and they are always right. If a customer wants to move a mountain, we move it. No questions asked.
This is it Exactly how Skadden handled Elon Musk’s Twitter deal And look how it turns out. In fairness, most of Biglaw’s clients are accomplished lawyers rather than billionaires and sons, so most applications wouldn’t suggest waiving due diligence and fixing a valuation based on a joke. But the outside lawyer is there advisor No rubber stamp. Beginners will not say no to the client, although they must understand that they work for the firm and that means they sometimes have to help partners tell the client that the client is stupid.
Kindly and considerate of course.
“Someone pays over $850 for one hour of your time. Think about it in everything you do” and “No questions asked until you try to figure something out on your own.” Yes, the client is certainly excited at the prospect of paying $850 so that a junior lawyer can google it when he can just call the mid-level staff and get an answer. No one wants to be a beginner who is unable to eventually figure out the answers, but one of the most important skills they can learn is gauging your pride. If the question is going to take more than 6 minutes — 0.1 in legal parlance — ask someone else.
The presentation suggests “talking to your classmates” as a last resort, which reeks of a lazy old man. Why some other random beginners are better off than mediocre working on the same issue?
“I don’t know” is not an acceptable answer at all.” If that’s the only answer, that’s fair. But “I don’t know…and I’ll find out” is a very acceptable answer. Lawyers should know what they don’t know, and no one is serving to make things up. Raising a culture of fear around the idea of acknowledging a lack of knowledge is the way ChatGPT ends up defaming people.
Paul Hastings said in a statement that the material was prepared by a colleague and “the opinions expressed do not reflect those of the company or its partners.”
Yes… the author should probably have contacted an elder before doing this exercise. You know, because it’s okay to ask questions when you don’t really know something.
Fellow BigLaw’s warning to be available 24/7 with “no exceptions or excuses” goes viral (ABBA magazine)
You’re Online 24/7: Why Paul Hastings’ Show went viral and what it says about law firm cultureAmerican lawyer)
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