A noble profession is facing its defining moment. From law schools to
the prestigious firms that represent the pinnacle of a legal career, a
crisis is unfolding. News headlines tell part of the story—the growing
oversupply of new lawyers, widespread career dissatisfaction, and
spectacular implosions of pre-eminent law firms. Yet eager hordes of
bright young people continue to step over each other as they seek jobs
with high rates of depression, life-consuming hours, and little
assurance of financial stability. The Great Recession has only worsened
these trends, but correction is possible and, now, imperative.Read more>>http://www.amazon.com/Steven-J.-Harper/e/B001JSAEF8/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1372369658&sr=1-1
In The Lawyer Bubble, Steven J. Harper reveals how a culture of short-term thinking has blinded some of the nation’s finest minds to the long-run implications of their actions. Law school deans have ceded independent judgment to flawed U.S. News & World Report rankings criteria in the quest to maximize immediate results. Senior partners in the nation’s large law firms have focused on current profits to enhance American Lawyer rankings and individual wealth at great cost to their institutions. Yet, wiser decisions—being honest about the legal job market, revisiting the financial incentives currently driving bad behavior, eliminating the billable hour model, and more—can take the profession to a better place.
Read more>>http://www.amazon.com/The-Lawyer-Bubble-Profession-Crisis/dp/0465058779#reader_0465058779
A devastating indictment of the greed, shortsightedness, and dishonesty that now permeate the legal profession, this insider account is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how things went so wrong and how the profession can right itself once again.
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Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
Harvey Miller is one of the most famous partners at Weil, Gotshal & Manges
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Monday will be a "grim day" at Weil Gotshal, The New York Times' DealBook reports.
The New York City law firm managed to get through the recession without mass layoffs, but it's letting 60 lawyers and 110 staff members go today. It has already cut the pay of 30 of the firm's 300 partners.
Weil's Chairman Barry Wolf told DealBook there just wasn't enough work for all the lawyers there anymore.
The timing of the mass layoffs is unusual. Big law firms had mass layoffs during the recession, but those have eased up in the past few years. Weil probably managed to avoid recession-era layoffs because one of its specialties is bankruptcy — an area of the law that thrives during tough economic times.
While it's possible other firms may start laying off associates, Weil was in a pretty unusual position because it had a number of very lucrative bankruptcies (including Lehman) that have been winding down, industry expert Steven Harper told us.
"So the firm may have had unique reasons to act as it has," says Harper, author of "The Lawyer Bubble: A Profession In Crisis.
"What's especially remarkable to me is that a firm would announce a major layoff now," Harper added, "when top law students from all over the country are getting their first taste of life in a big firm as summer associates."
Weil is one of the largest law firms in America, as was Dewey & LeBoeuf, which filed for bankruptcy last year. Unlike debt-laden Dewey though, Weil told DealBook it had zero debt.
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