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“You Are Too Efficient. You’re Fired.”

By Patrick Lamb on January 27th, 2009 Posted in Commentary

Fred Bartlit tells a story in a Legal On Ramp post that bears publicizing:

Last night a young lawyer from a top school told me about one of his best friend’s experience in a large Chicago firm

(Now – this IS hearsay because it is second hand, but I know the source well and believe the story)

His friend has always had top reviews. Top.

This year he is told "you are in trouble. YOU DID NOT MAKE YOUR HOURS"

He replies that he finished every assignment efficiently and was always told how good his work was.

The reply? "you are too fast. Slow down. Study the cases more carefully"

And, "you are in trouble b/c if your hours are up this year, we will think you have faked them to keep your job"

I AM NOT KIDDING

Firm has made decision to get rid of the fast, smart, efficient lawyer in favor of slow working drones.

And some people wonder how strong a message large firms deliver to their associates that hours count more than anything else.

You can’t make this stuff up, folks. And no matter what BigLaw spokesmen or apologists say, this kind of institutional pressure is inherent. It is part of BigLaw DNA.

http://www.litigationandtrial.com Max Kennerly

I’ve heard multiple associates at multiple BigLaw firms tell me of a very particular scenario that repeats itself with a frequency that boggles the mind.
At some point after hours or over the weekend, the partner will email the associate an “urgent” assignment that they have to complete at the office. The “urgent” assignment will turn out to be the associate “supervising” a paralegal and/or secretary as they make copies.
The associate will then end up billing three or four hours doing, quite literally, nothing but watching someone else make copies.
I’ve also lost track of the number of times I’ve heard of a deposition of a New York City resident, taken by a NYC-based attorney, and defended by a NYC-based attorney, occurring somewhere other than NYC, with travel hours naturally being billed to the client.