Tuesday, December 04, 2007

The "LEX-Pollution" Wall of Shattered Dreams




"HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!

"Please join your friends at

LEXOLUTION for a Holiday Open House

Drop by, share some holiday cheer, and pick up a holiday gift from Lexolution!

Also, beginning in early 2008, Lexolution’s website will feature some of the unique talents, skills and passions that our LEXtraordinary candidates pursue outside of their legal careers. We’ll be collecting information about this at our Holiday Open House, so please bring any information you’d like to share.

We look forward to seeing you all…"



Once again, we have yet another example of how "Lex-Pollution," and its primary founder Scott Krowitz, attempt to carry on the charade that they actually have a vested interest in the personal and professional development of their candidates. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. As someone previously mentioned, the sole aim of an organization like "Lex-Pollution" is to add yet another layer of profit between the law firm clients and the "Morlock" grunt-working temps.

While we struggle to pay loan sharks exorbitant monthly student loans, and suffer through an endless series of demeaning, dead-end temps jobs, all the while trying to make it through flu season without health insurance, the stakeholders at "Lex-Pollution" sit back in cushy offices, get rich, and plot new and creative ways of shoving newly minted, fresh-faced JD's into crowded sweatshops.

Krowitz's claim that he actually cares about the individuality and the "LEXtraordinary" talents of his employees would be laughable, if it wasn't so tragic. People like Krowitz are nothing more than highly compensated industrial meat grinders, people who grease the wheels of biglaw, and lead a steady stream of cheap, docile, and highly disposable sheep into the economic and professional slaughterhouse.

Those who in anyway question the modus operandi of Krowitz are immediately blacklisted. Leave work often enough to attend to one of your "LEXtraordinary" talents and you will find yourself blacklisted. Criticize a dangerous "Lex-Pollution" work site, such as the one on East 44th Street that was cited last summer by the NYC fire marshal, and on the blacklist you go.

So, who will attend the "Lex-Pollution" holiday party this year? Who will fall victim to Krowitz's chummy b.s., or be bought off by a "gift," most likely in the form of a cheap bottle of Lex-Pollution booze? Remember, an inebriated sheep is a docile sheep. More importantly, who will give away any last shred of human dignity and contribute to the "LEXtraordinary Wall of Talent," which in my opinion, should more appropriately be called the "LEXtraordinary Wall of Shattered Dreams"? Will it be you?

59 comments:

Anonymous said...

One of your better posts, how preposterous of them to post outside talents, because we all know that document review can be performed by monkeys and therefore requires no talent. It's hard to imagine that anyone has the time to devote to anything but sitting like Humpty Dumpty in front of the computer screen 10 -12 hours per day.

The lex-pollution web site now contains a splash page that they've opened an LA office, maybe they're trying to get out of work actors and performers to sign up for paralegal or document review work....

Anonymous said...

Great Post. Hit the nail right on the head.

Anonymous said...

My unique talents, skills, and passions? I don't even get home in time to see my kid.

Anonymous said...

Tom:

Krowshitz' and Dickhead Osman's plantation is at 16 E. 40th St., 10th Floor, not E. 44th St. Please correct this.

Anonymous said...

There's really no amount of PR they can do to fix their reputation. Yet they still try...

Anonymous said...

Is this because of the Quinn Emmanuel debacle??

Anonymous said...

Why turn a positive into a negative? We all already know that the agencies are money-making businesses and that we have no control over our work conditions. What's the point of criticizing them like this when they are actually doing something positive? I'd rather get a gift than no gift, and have a party than no party. I haven't been placed by Lex in ages, but I certainly don't think they deserve this kind of reaction. If you keep posting stuff like this, you're gonna lose all credibility.

Anonymous said...

"We all already know that the agencies are money-making businesses and that we have no control over our work conditions."

Thanks for stopping by, Uncle Tom! Did Simon Legree give you a two-minute break to post that laugh riot?

Anonymous said...

Some don't have the ability to see the obvious. We should be working directly for the client, saving them a ton of money while we rake it in. Instead, law partners and temp agencies swipe away a huge cut, contributing nothing to the process. But because palms are greased and those who've operated this insane system continue to benefit by it, it doesn't change. And it won't change as long as we're willing to do this work. Me? I simply use it to support my other habits (and at this point in my life, those are all legal) hoping one of my outside hobbies rescues me from this den of despair, like Richard Geer sweeping Debra Winger off her feet and out of the factory at the end of "Officer and a Gentleman." So I don't mind that much and I'll go and say Hi to Scott and fake smile. Heck, maybe I'll even whiten my teeth.

Anonymous said...

http://www.law.columbia.edu/media_inquiries/news_events/2007/November/russell_smith

More on the rise of outsourcing...why aren't the ABA or NY State bars doing anything about our jobs being replaced by non-barred attorneys? It appears all of the growth in the US legal market is taking place in India.

Anonymous said...

You are all a bunch of lying fuckfaces. If Lex was staffing a job tomorrow that paid $50 an hour you'd be there in a heartbeat. As always, the ones complaining are the ones who no agency will work with.

I honestly can't imagine how shitty it must feel to have spent all the money we all did in law school and not even be able to get a stinkin monkey doc review gig.

You people MUST be feeling like shit. Reading you losers bitch makes me feel better about my small firm job.

Anonymous said...

Of course, we would! We have rent and student loans to pay. I bet many of the people complaining on here are many of the same people smiling to the faces at the agencies. You don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Anonymous said...

10:42, isn't it something how these fucktards think that BUT FOR the agencies they would be working *for* the top firms directly as "contractors".

Good one!!!!!

Anonymous said...

YOU ARE RIGHT. They will never work directly for the firms. The firms need the agencies to act as their buffer to carry out their employment abuses, racial discrimination, and their illegal failure to pay O.T.

Anonymous said...

See above------>

Another fine attorney who will forever remain unemployed. Keep blogging moronic statements!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey 11:12- How does it feel to have no medical or dental insurance???

Happy Holidays!

Anonymous said...

I don't need it. I am fit as a fiddle. Unlike many of our sleazy recruiters who are busy fucking people over, I don't have a venereal disease

Anonymous said...

" I don't need it" in regards to medical/dental insurance.

Is this the dumbest person or what??

Good to know you are "fit". Ask Lance Armstrong how that worked out for him.

HUGE shock you are unemployed.

Anonymous said...

It's called sarcasm, look it up.

Anonymous said...

This is like the Wild, Wild West. Isn't it time for this little niche industry to be regulated?

Anonymous said...

How can you regulate a bunch of animal temps who see it fit to engage in "guerilla warfare"?

Anonymous said...

12:05- Now, now... they call themselves "attorneys". Attorneys who should be given employment and cars and meals.

Not guerilla, they are GORILLAS.

Anonymous said...

Are you deliberately trying to be racist?

Anonymous said...

Is Kim Powe the Clarence Thomas of temp attorneydom?

Anonymous said...

Are you deliberately not trying to get a life so you can stay on this blog and say stupid shit about law firms, agencies and recruiters?

Or are you a natural born loser?

Anonymous said...

The ABA and NY Bar Association don't do anything about outsourcing because THE BOARD MEMBERS OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS ARE ALL PROFITING MIGHTILY FROM IT because THEY ARE THE PARTNERS AT ALL THE BIG NYC FIRMS!

Don't you get it?

Anonymous said...

Thanks 7:46, once again the reflexive answer, "That's the way it is, don't you get it (idiot)".

The problem with this argument is that pure unmitigated greed is unnaceptable and ultimtately leads to economic ruin....Do we actually need MORE examples of this (subrime mortgage, S&L scams, Internet stock bubble, the list goes on).

So we as licensed attorneys are supposed to sit here like chimps eating bananas on a log while these assholes gut our profession?

Unchecked greed will lead to the demise of this profession, too (perhaps it's already occured).

Anonymous said...

It's not the local bar associations, it's G.W. BUSH who's responsible for the revision of white-collar exemptions for overtime. Now, if some of the complainers would bring a lawsuit for overtime claiming that in fact we are not acting as attorneys on these jobs because we are not truly using the discretion that an attorney should be able to use in making "tagging" decisions, and in fact many of us are not even licensed in the jurisdiction in which we are working,.....

Anonymous said...

Great, blame everything on Bush...how absurd. The local and national bars need to do more to protect their members.

Why are foreign laywers with only an undergrad law degree allowed to practice after just a one year llm, when Americans citizens have to go for three years post-undergrad? Does this make any sense?

Again, what are the national and local bars doing to protect their members? It seems to me, nothing.

Anonymous said...

9:30, you stupid asshole - 7:46 is on your side!

The BigLaw partners all sit on these boards - ABA, NY Bar Association, etc. That's the reason the temp abuse goes unchecked - these reptiles are making a fortune billing out temp labor at associate rates, while only paying a fraction of that rate for the labor. And don't forget: these scumbag fucks also aren't on the hook for benfits or 401k plans for the temp labor.

Why would they show an interest in reforming something that's lining their pockets?

Anonymous said...

And as long as you all still work for us agencies, we GOTCHA ripe for the abuse. You know you are going to be treated like the undesirable, angry assholes you are, but you keep coming back for more.

THANK YOU! Keep blogging- it's not going to change shit.

Anonymous said...

Let's start a slave revolt now!!!!

Anonymous said...

The Update party is tonight. Could a partygoer please report back on this?

Anonymous said...

It's true that the "wall of shame" just adds to indignity of working on these horrible projects. As if any of these legal temp agencies want you to do anything but sit in the chair like patches o'houlihan and click like a monkey....no time for any kind of life or oustide interests.

They always ask if you have any vacations or outside events going during the duration of the project. Can you imagine if you said, "Well, I'm an actor and will be subject to callbacks for possible engagements" or "I'm a member of the writer's guild and will be supporting my co-workers and manning the picket lines".

Do you think they would even submit your resume? Would they even say goodbye before slamming the phone in your ear?

Anonymous said...

I've never done legal temp work, so can a contract lawyer enlighten me--are most of the people who work at/run the agencies even college graduates? Because the ones that come here to troll seem pretty stupid.

Anonymous said...

Do have any actual knowledge of whether an inebriated sheep is a docile sheep?

Anonymous said...

Why shouldn't they slam the phone in your ear? You think they owe you something just because you made the mistake of going to law school?

Get your own job and you won't need them.

Anonymous said...

A common fallacy is the belief that contract attorney work is part-time/flexible in nature. Most projects are NOT part-time, nor are they flexible. They require long hours of monotony, are rigid in the hours that they require you to be on-site, and can burn you out. Taking off too many days will get you fired.

The only saving grace of contract attorney work is the time you can have off IN BETWEEN projects. With student loan debt rising and contract attorney wages stagnating, however, this sole benefit is quickly fading. The era of working mothers, actors, writers, etc., being able to survive in this field is over.

Anonymous said...

That's right. Why improve working conditions or give you more money when you need us agencies for your rising student loans?

We can make your projects 10x cheaper, meaning worse, and you will still keep calling in available.

Anonymous said...

Update party is tonight. Who is out drinking with the Stepford Wives?

Anonymous said...

"Why improve working conditions or give you more money when you need us agencies for your rising student loans?"

Good point. Skyrocketing law school tuition and the rapid increase in the use of cheap temp labor go hand in hand. It's no coincidence that while the law school deans, law firm partners, and agency heads get richer, we get poorer. It's a classic inverse relationship. In fact, a simple google search will reveal that Krowitz often sends out his trolls to scout out desperate labor at many of NYC's most overpriced toilets. Here is what I found at $40,000 a year NYLS's site:

"Marketing Yourself as a Graduating Student: What Should I Be Doing Now?

Hear about how to market yourself, including timing of the job search, what to do until and after graduation, and how to target your cover letters and résumés to employers.

Speakers:

Danielle Aptekar, director of career services
Hillary Mantis, career consultant
Debby Sharpe, Esq., of the legal recruitment and staffing firm Lexolution"

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Does Krowitz ever send his Aunt Tom Kim Powe to these things?

Anonymous said...

Aunt Tom Kim Powe makes $100K+ a year for serving house Massas Krowitz and Osman. I guess it's true that house slaves are better treated then those picking cotton out on the plantation.

Anonymous said...

Yes, just another cheap marketing ploy, brought to you by your friends at Lexolution.

The fact remains that this kind of shit work doesn't lead itself to a better work/life balance. Figure that your typical project pays $30-40 an hour. At 2000 hrs a year, that is $70,000. PLUS, you have to pay for your own health benefits, retirement, bar dues, etc. PLUS, you have to figure that (if you are lucky) you will be unemployed, in between projects for 1-2 months out of the year. So, for those 10 months that you are working, you will be working crazy biglaw hours for 1/4th the associate pay. I think that under these conditions no one really has the time to pursue any outside interests, passion, talents, etc. Unless, you can squeeze in time during those 2 months that you are out of work and scrambling for other projects.

Anonymous said...

Yup. No outside interests. See you slaves at the party! Thanks for temping! If it wasn't for you losers, I wouldn't have been able to induldge in my most recent holiday shopping sprees.

And thanks for paying off MY student loans. Keep coding!

Anonymous said...

One thing's for sure about Aunt Tom Kim Powe: she's sure eating well. She's starting to look like Star Jones, pre-gastric bypass surgery.

Guess Krowshitz and Dickhead Osman feed their house slaves well.

Anonymous said...

I'd love to be Snot Krowshitz or Dickhead Osman for just one day.

Or at most, just one hour - I might hang myself if I had to be a piece of shit like them for longer than that...

I'd love to know what it feels like to be absolutely despised. I'd love to walk into the Lexplantation at 16 E. 40th, 10th Floor and know what it feels like to have so much negative energy thrown at me.

It really doesn't seem to faze them in the least.

I guess when it comes to scumbag assholes like them, nothing affects them unless it hits them like a bullet or affects their pockets.

Anonymous said...

8:25- why should it faze them? You are going to "call in available" on Monday and we all know it. You NEED the money because you can't get your own freggin perm job, right?

Sucks to be you.

Anonymous said...

"I'd love to know what it feels like to be absolutely despised"

If you are a temp attorney like these loser blogging freaks, you ARE despised. Why do you think we make you log out to take a piss? Why no internet? Why do we make you leave our firm at 8:29 so that you can't get a car home?

BECAUSE YOU ARE DESPISED. I am very much looking forward to moving our e-discovery to India. Bye-bye assholes!!

Anonymous said...

"I'd love to know what it feels like to be absolutely despised"

If you are a temp attorney like these loser blogging freaks, you ARE despised. Why do you think we make you log out to take a piss? Why no internet? Why do we make you leave our firm at 8:29 so that you can't get a car home?

BECAUSE YOU ARE DESPISED. I am very much looking forward to moving our e-discovery to India. Bye-bye assholes!!

Anonymous said...

"I'd love to know what it feels like to be absolutely despised"

If you are a temp attorney like these loser blogging freaks, you ARE despised. Why do you think we make you log out to take a piss? Why no internet? Why do we make you leave our firm at 8:29 so that you can't get a car home?

BECAUSE YOU ARE DESPISED. I am very much looking forward to moving our e-discovery to India. Bye-bye assholes!!

Anonymous said...

How about deleting two of this a-hole's posts, Tom. You seem to be all over any mention of Stepford Wife Eileen Lamboy, yet this guy keeps on truckin'....

Anonymous said...

10:00- STFU!

See you at the Lex party, jerk-off. Can't wait to see your featured talents on the Lex website.

What will yours be? Practicing taking fast craps because we dock your time for the bathroom????

I SAID CODE, Boy!

Anonymous said...

No, 10:07 - my special talent will be taking fast craps and accurately throwing my feces at your forehead.

And I'll bill for the time, too. I deserve to be paid for such a LEXtrordinary talent.

Anonymous said...

Will there be any food left at the LEXtrordianry party after Aunt Tom Kim Powe and Nora Moo-Moo get to the buffet table?

Better get there early.

Anonymous said...

Tom:

Once again, please correct the address of the LEX-Plantation site:

16 E. 40th Street, 10th Floor

NOT E. 44th Street

You're right on top of celeting all posts about Stepford Wife Eileen Lamboy, but you haven't yet corrected this mistake in your initial post.

Anonymous said...

"deleting," not "celeting"

Anonymous said...

Krowshitz and Osman couldn't care less that they are despised by the slaves on the Lexplantation. As long as the cotton gets picked, why should they care? In lawland, temps are viewed as niggers. Niggers that don't kowtow to their subhuman status will never last on the Lexplantation.