Thursday, June 14, 2007

Peek-A-Boo Games

"Pillsbury Winthrop's D.C. office recently held its sixth annual Summer Associates Research Challenge. Last Wednesday, three teams gathered in the firm’s library to see who could answer 40 legal questions the fastest and most accurately in 90 minutes or less. But here’s the rub: no Google, no Westlaw, no computers allowed. "

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/06/14/pillsbury-summer-associates-rockin-the-law-library/

While dozens of summer associates are upstairs playing peek-a-boo games in the library, enjoying three hour lunches at Nobu, and earning $3,000 a week, hoards of contract attorneys are slaving away down in the crammed dungeon, working 12 hour days, and aren't even being provided with toilet seat covers. I guess somebody has to pay the piper.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Motivation to do better in law school I guess

Anonymous said...

Be fair - I worked for 10 years at a place without seat covers.

Anonymous said...

perhaps it is time to look for a new job then

Anonymous said...

Hey, man - at least you're working. I haven't gotten any document review work in a month.

I'll buy you seat covers if you give me your paycheck.

Anonymous said...

When 100 people are using a nasty, dirty toilet, I think $5 cheap, plastic toilet seat covers would be a nice touch.

I have been on doc. reviews where the bathrooms have been so nasty, that i'd rather have gone off and used the one in the new york city subway.

Anonymous said...

Partners are defecting from Pillsbury, anyway. It's a place that not even its own people like.

Anonymous said...

Again. So what are we actually going to DO about all of this?

Anonymous said...

They probably think something similar when they see you guys surfing the net all days in your pajamas for $35 / hr.

Anonymous said...

also, it's "hordes" not "hoards."

Anonymous said...

Wait till the next recession hits, and watch all those 200K bodies tumble into the basement. It is going to be ugly.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the people that were hired at your toilet firm wear pajamas to work, but the people I work with tend to be a bit more on the professional side. I guess you get what you pay for.

Anonymous said...

Can we please get organized? Seriously.

Anonymous said...

We are organized. People are sharing their experiences on-line. Firms that engage in this type of behavior are being exposed in front of a national audience. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul,_Weiss,_Rifkind,_Wharton_&_Garrison What more do you want?

Anonymous said...

The online activitism piece is only one aspect of what we need to do to improve working conditions and career development opportunities. Everyone knows that wikipedia is freely editable by everyone so, while it is certainly widely read, its credibility has been questioned, which Wikipedia itself as acknlowledged: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Credibility.

Just as there are bar committees for solo practitioners, intellectual property lawyers, young lawyers, etc. there should be bar committees, in each major legal market, that is composed of contract attorneys who work towards career development opportunities and work with other committees to improve the perception of contract attorneys in the marketplace.

Anonymous said...

sorry, i had a grammatical error i wanted to say, "there should be bar committees, in each major legal market, that ARE composed of conract attorneys ..." Sorry about that.

Anonymous said...

ok so i can't spell "contract," either ... You get the point!!!

Anonymous said...

9:56 PM hate to break up your misery loves company thoughts, but once you have biglaw on your resume, you can actually get better jobs than document review.

Anonymous said...

With biglaw on your resume, "you can actually get better jobs than document review."

Um, by "better" do you mean I can have the honor of sitting in front of a computer drafting contracts, or wills, or perhaps I can ensure that a merger or acquisition is done properly. Sounds awesome. How soon will I be able to live that dream?! Lawyers are the most unimaginative, boring group of people I've ever met. Nobody gives a shit about the "prestige" of big law except the people who practice it, and that's because the rest of their lives are so hollow. I'll skip on the "better" jobs, thanks.

Anonymous said...

A 1st year associate in Big Law makes at least double your avg. contract attorney makes in a year--$160,000. Plus, they don't have to pay for their health insurance & receive paid vacation & 401(k) matching.

While the work may not be exciting, it's certainly more interesting than doc review.

I totally understand your need to rationalize your failure in law though. I'm in the same boat, but I prefer not to delude myself.

Anonymous said...

Honestly, I am not trying to delude myself or rationalize my failure in law. I (and I think I speak for many others) went to law school under the impression that civil rights lawyers and first amendment lawyers were actually in demand and were paid well. The truth is law school and the practice of law is all about bending over to save your corporate client's ass. Lawyers are whores like that. I graduated law school 2 years ago, and have been so fed up with it ever since I was a 1L that I am now saving my money from doc review and learning to invest it in the Market. It's far more risky, exciting and rewarding than sitting at a desk nitpicking over responses to discovery requests until 2 in the morning.

vakil said...

So when are we going to form the committee?

Anonymous said...

Moron from 7:48, having "Biglaw" experience as a temp doesn't mean much of anything in the legal profession, unless you're looking for a staff position or a different temping gig.

Graduate from law school, then come back.

Anonymous said...

2:05, I was talking about working as an actual associate in a law firm. That was what the OP was talking about (the eventual fate of some of Pilsbury's SAs)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for article!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for interesting article.

Anonymous said...

Glad to read articles like this. Thanks to author!

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