Just letting you know that Dine & Quinn Emanuel pulled a bait & switch. Job was sold as $35/hr + OT(that should've been the clue, since that's a high rate for Dine and they never pay OT). 50-60 hrs/wk. $20 meal reimbursement after 10 hrs.
Then when we get there, we find out it's only 40 hrs/wk. Obviously, no meal reimburse b/c no 10 hrs. We're trying to find out when the OT starts, but all we get is "Soon".
This old shyster from Dine, Norman Fashler ("VP of Operations") is there every day, probing the psyches of all the temps, trying to find out who's unhappy with this. "How's everything going?" He asks this question while issuing forth a probing energy, trying to find out what's going on inside of you. Very insidious. This guy obviously has learned all the techniques for interrogation - perhaps he was once in the CIA.... Check out his credentials on the Dine Temp website. "Defense Contracting". He must've washed out of the CIA then to be forced to go to the bottom of the barrel, temp agency-wise...
I feel bad for Shawn Treadwell, the recruiter from Dine. He seems like a nice guy (I spoke with him at length about the bad rep Dine has, and he answered my questions honestly and still placed me.) I get the feeling he's stuck in a bad position right now, for not only does Dine have a bad rep amongst temps, but it also does amongst other agencies. Not sure he's able to easily make a lateral move somewhere less satanic....
There's a lot more juicy stuff.... Will keep you posted.
Update: They're dropping like flies here. People are leaving the project in droves b/c of the bait-and-switch. The market is picking up again after a slow few months, so there are now options for experienced doc reviewers...
Now Dine has an ad on Craigs List to replace those people with "10+ admitted attorneys". Once again, they say it will pay $35+OT, and have the gall to say "substantial OT". You might want to post a warning about this and officially break the bait and switch story. (PS - Quinn is also complicit in this bait and switch - they keep saying OT will come "soon", that the hrs will "ramp up". I believe that Dine and Quinn got together and Dine told Quinn that they wouldn't be able to staff the project w/o the OT promise... So Quinn should get lambasted, too...)
Monday, July 23, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
The Roving Eye
The Roving Eye ---
He has been a staff at one of the top law firms in Midtown East for a couple of years. He is known as the roving eye staff attorney. He spends his billable time expressing his distrust of contract attorneys by physically guarding the temps (sitting and hanging out with them) or calling on the phone one of his boys to fully brief him on the environs and the in and outs of other temps. His pet friend---a tall lanky, and bitter middle aged player has been responsible for the firing of many good contract attorneys who have by some reason or another annoyed the pet friend or broken the rules by being on the phone too long, writing e-mails in front of him or being too frank about current events and political views. The pet friend, in return for longevity on the project will report every one including his so called friends.
At one point, roving eye became so arrogant and full of himself that he spent most of the day talking about a good looking woman stopping traffic along a known East Side Avenue. Forget being pc or creating a hostile work environment--he did not care, he was too excited throwing his status around. It has been rumored that he let go of a friend or did not call him back to work at this famous place because the former friend, made more money than him in investments and that pissed roving eye off. Wow, what fragile ego and what a power trip.
It is also common knowledge that roving eye and pet friend were let go of a gig because they acted in concert in eyeing women and creating an all boys club, frat house environment at a midtown firm. Anyone who knows about the actual event at this firm, will not make it at the new joint where roving eye is now a permanent employee. If you come across him, you will know who he is--his roving eye gives him away besides his gray temples. He will also use famous phrases in the form of rags:
1) do your work
2) show up on time
3) keep your head down
He has been a staff at one of the top law firms in Midtown East for a couple of years. He is known as the roving eye staff attorney. He spends his billable time expressing his distrust of contract attorneys by physically guarding the temps (sitting and hanging out with them) or calling on the phone one of his boys to fully brief him on the environs and the in and outs of other temps. His pet friend---a tall lanky, and bitter middle aged player has been responsible for the firing of many good contract attorneys who have by some reason or another annoyed the pet friend or broken the rules by being on the phone too long, writing e-mails in front of him or being too frank about current events and political views. The pet friend, in return for longevity on the project will report every one including his so called friends.
At one point, roving eye became so arrogant and full of himself that he spent most of the day talking about a good looking woman stopping traffic along a known East Side Avenue. Forget being pc or creating a hostile work environment--he did not care, he was too excited throwing his status around. It has been rumored that he let go of a friend or did not call him back to work at this famous place because the former friend, made more money than him in investments and that pissed roving eye off. Wow, what fragile ego and what a power trip.
It is also common knowledge that roving eye and pet friend were let go of a gig because they acted in concert in eyeing women and creating an all boys club, frat house environment at a midtown firm. Anyone who knows about the actual event at this firm, will not make it at the new joint where roving eye is now a permanent employee. If you come across him, you will know who he is--his roving eye gives him away besides his gray temples. He will also use famous phrases in the form of rags:
1) do your work
2) show up on time
3) keep your head down
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Pit Bull
Tom the Temp will be away this week, but have no fear. In his absence, Tom's friend "Mochni" ("talking bird" - Hopi tribe) will be providing some vignettes on some of the other notorious monsters that you need to watch out for in the NYC temporary attorney sweatshops.
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Supersized Pit Bull--curly hair, with squared framed glasses. Nasty looking.
Pit Bull worked for many years as a contract attorney. Now middled aged, single, and nursing an empty nest she finds herself in a permanent spot. Such events mold her into a diabolic coworker. She takes it upon herself to become the vigilante against all contract personnel in her office. She self-appoints her own ego as protector of the boss. He is a nice guy with a compassionate heart and a sense of decency---he cuts contract attorneys breaks and is hands off. She does not like that and claims contract personnel take advantage of him. To that extent this pit bull throws her weight around all to her benefit and against contract personnel. Her mood swings are out of control. She acts, walks and talks like she has never temped in her life. Often, she describes contract personnel as "paranoid" and that is why she asserts herself being in people's faces.
Egotistical and insecure, she hides underneath a loud voice, and a what a big mouth by her own accounts. She is a narcisist and needs to be in your face. She spends most of her days, smoking with some brown nose contracts, drinking coffee and acting as a big shot, just acting because everyone who comes in and pays attention realizes she is not. She needs to be noticed thus any opportunity she has to 'be the authority' as she puts it, she goes for it. Her ego is so inflated that she acts like she is above all temps. She is the classical case study of an inflated ego on a derailed power trip.
Her laughter is a booming echo of an wounded/abandoned child--a sick egomaniac.
Her favorite phrase is: you have an issue with authority figures. Just shut up and do your work. If you come across her take notice that underneath her loud laughter lies an insecure, bitter bully. She hates herself and acts out against others. You will know her when you see her---she is nasty and your perception is correct. She builds herself up and tears others down.
Stay away as her insecurity drives her to be spill her venom and the true Cobra will come out. Shame that she has a decent boss fooled.
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Supersized Pit Bull--curly hair, with squared framed glasses. Nasty looking.
Pit Bull worked for many years as a contract attorney. Now middled aged, single, and nursing an empty nest she finds herself in a permanent spot. Such events mold her into a diabolic coworker. She takes it upon herself to become the vigilante against all contract personnel in her office. She self-appoints her own ego as protector of the boss. He is a nice guy with a compassionate heart and a sense of decency---he cuts contract attorneys breaks and is hands off. She does not like that and claims contract personnel take advantage of him. To that extent this pit bull throws her weight around all to her benefit and against contract personnel. Her mood swings are out of control. She acts, walks and talks like she has never temped in her life. Often, she describes contract personnel as "paranoid" and that is why she asserts herself being in people's faces.
Egotistical and insecure, she hides underneath a loud voice, and a what a big mouth by her own accounts. She is a narcisist and needs to be in your face. She spends most of her days, smoking with some brown nose contracts, drinking coffee and acting as a big shot, just acting because everyone who comes in and pays attention realizes she is not. She needs to be noticed thus any opportunity she has to 'be the authority' as she puts it, she goes for it. Her ego is so inflated that she acts like she is above all temps. She is the classical case study of an inflated ego on a derailed power trip.
Her laughter is a booming echo of an wounded/abandoned child--a sick egomaniac.
Her favorite phrase is: you have an issue with authority figures. Just shut up and do your work. If you come across her take notice that underneath her loud laughter lies an insecure, bitter bully. She hates herself and acts out against others. You will know her when you see her---she is nasty and your perception is correct. She builds herself up and tears others down.
Stay away as her insecurity drives her to be spill her venom and the true Cobra will come out. Shame that she has a decent boss fooled.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Law School Fraud - Despite What The Glossy Brochures May Say, It Is Actually Tough Out There For Most Law Grads.
For most law school graduates huge salaries are a long shot. Most law grads face low pay, high debt, and substandard working conditions. Unfortunately, law schools hide this fact because US News & World Report which tracks employment information, may be prompting schools to create an artificially bright employment picture.
http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1183712786622
Monday, July 09, 2007
Health Care Reform Time
After seeing "Sicko," I was drawn back to the Moshe Kanovsky story. Something really needs to be done about the uninsured/insured in this country, specifically those who are struggling with expensive mental health issues.
After Moshe Kanovsky graduated from Cardozo, burdened by student loans, trying to piece together a series of part time legal jobs, and without adequate health coverage, Kanovsky struggled to find the funds to treat a debilitating psychological disorder.
His financial situation was dire. He was open about the fact that he could not afford the best psychiatric care and ended up seeing a "multitude of doctors," one friend said.
"You get what you pay for," the struggling intellect would tell his closest friend when discussing the quality of his therapy.
Moshe Kanovsky tragically committed suicide on April 13th. Didn't we owe something more to someone who worked so hard, played by all the rules, and spent so many hours providing free legal assistance to members of the Lower East Side?
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/04/22/2007-04-22_depression_led_to_leap.html
After Moshe Kanovsky graduated from Cardozo, burdened by student loans, trying to piece together a series of part time legal jobs, and without adequate health coverage, Kanovsky struggled to find the funds to treat a debilitating psychological disorder.
His financial situation was dire. He was open about the fact that he could not afford the best psychiatric care and ended up seeing a "multitude of doctors," one friend said.
"You get what you pay for," the struggling intellect would tell his closest friend when discussing the quality of his therapy.
Moshe Kanovsky tragically committed suicide on April 13th. Didn't we owe something more to someone who worked so hard, played by all the rules, and spent so many hours providing free legal assistance to members of the Lower East Side?
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/04/22/2007-04-22_depression_led_to_leap.html
Friday, July 06, 2007
No Peeing Permitted
Hey, Justine Clark: If ripping off 200 grand from the taxpayers isn't enough to satiate your greed, check out some of the services that this agency has to offer:
"I also recently heard from 2 doc reviewers who went to a mid-size project in early May (60 reviewers, don't know the firm) that De Novo's project manager, one John Thacher (also formerly one of "us") gave a pep talk at the beginning of the project that included the order that any time spent going to the bathroom had to be deducted from the time sheet. It may be legal -- without a union or an employment agreement there are no labor rights in this "greatest country in the world" -- but it's disgusting. Can't you just see De Novo putting its project proposal forward: "We will give you people who will bill ONLY for every minute actually spent reviewing. We will even require that they deduct the time they spent peeing."
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Kelley Drye & Warren - Corporate Criminal
Justine Clark, a partner at Kelley Drye & Warren, just plead guilty to state income tax evasion. Despite the fact that KDW has seen a steady growth in profits per partner, and despite the fact that KDW has benefited from a steady stream of contract attorney outsourcing, Clark, with greed unquenched, went ahead and screwed New York State out of close to $200,000, based on her $ 2.7 million earnings.
Her penalty? A slap on the wrist misdemeanor.
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David Lat (Abovethelaw.com) thought I was a little too harsh on Ms. Clark:
Okay, that's a little harsh. As the New York Post notes, Clark earned $2.68 million not in a single year, but over the course of five years (2000 - 2004). That averages out to a little over $500,000 a year.
And in New York City, teeming with i-bankers and hedge funders, you're a pauper if if you're not taking home seven figures per annum. So can we really blame Justine Clark, struggling to keep up with the Joneses, for trying to keep a little more for herself?
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
The Awful Truth
"Funny story for y'all, kids. I was in King's Supreme Court the other day on a typical gutter-assed trip n' fall case. The bottom-feeding Insurance Defense lawyer who was my adversary introduced me to his firm's "summer intern." She was a nice looking girl about 24 yrs old, with a smart-tailored blazer and a big legal pad for taking notes, etc. When this combed-over JC Penny wardrobe-wearing loser adversary of mine went to "conference" another case ("conference" in toilet law means getting screamed at for 10 minutes by a law clerk and filling out a toilet stip that you can wipe your butt with), I proceeded to ask the intern where she went to law school, what year she was, etc. Turns out she is at one of the infamous TTT (third tier toilets) on Long Island. Next I asked her grades and the number was not top 10%, nor even close to it.
Then I started in on my tirade about salary etc. I asked her if she knew that most gutter firms are paying 45 K or less with no benefits (including the well-known boiler room she was interning at). I then asked if she had any scholarships/grants and that was a "no" too.
She seemed genuinely hurt, confused, and upset after I got done laying my old big debt, small law blog routine on her. I could tell she really didn't want to believe that 45 K is the best you'll do (if you get a job at all) coming from a TTT diploma mill school. She said she'd heard that starting salaries were going up and up, etc. The poor thing hadn't given future income any thought at all until I laid my spiel on her. Another victim of the "Biglaw raises pay to 160 K" schtick touted by the sub-human scum at the ABA and their enablers like the Valvoline Dean, Pat Hobbs.
It is really sick what these toilet-sucking diploma mills are doing to kids. I told this girl right before her ID law "mentor" came back that she should drop out right now, and not throw good money after bad. I told her that law is a dead-end, miserable job. I told her to take a good look around the courtroom we were in (King's Supreme). I told her to look at the unshaven slobs, blood-shot eyes, JC Penny wardrobe, beer guts, etc. Take a look at these clowns squinting to read the NY Post b/c their gutter firms have no eyeglass/optic plan. Look at the bad teeth from no dental insurance. Imagine riding 2 hours on the train from some aluminum-sided tract house in a ghetto and trying to explain to your children why they have to eat spaghetti and Ramen noodles for supper every nite. Take a good, hard look, because this is your future.
Question is, why can't we get the word on salaries/working conditions out in the mainstream? Why is everyone (esp. TTT law students) so incredoulous that law pays so God-awful poorly nowadays? If you stopped 100 non-lawyers on the street and asked what they thought an entry-level lawyer salary was, what % do you think would pick 45 K? The gutter schools use this naiveity and cultural dissonance to their advantage. I mean, it just doesn't seem (or sound) possible that an admitted lawyer with 7 years of education and a bar exam pass under his/her belt can be worth 12-15K less than a garbage man, does it? I always made a huge point to tell friends, family, and even stragers on the street how gutter-sucking awful lawyer salaries are, but the problem is no one believes it. You might as well tell folks a UFO lands on your roof every nite as you tell them you're a licensed attorney making 45 K.
There is a WSJ reporter working on a toilet law story. I will post his contact info once my interview w/ him is done. Tom the Temp is also speaking with him. Once we get this info published in a respected national newspaper, perhaps other newpapers/magazines etc. will wake up and reaize that law is a dead "career." There is biglaw and there is nothing else. Law is as all or nothing as it gets- if law were the food industry you would have the Four Seasons and McDonald's with nothing in between."
-- Law Is For Losers
Then I started in on my tirade about salary etc. I asked her if she knew that most gutter firms are paying 45 K or less with no benefits (including the well-known boiler room she was interning at). I then asked if she had any scholarships/grants and that was a "no" too.
She seemed genuinely hurt, confused, and upset after I got done laying my old big debt, small law blog routine on her. I could tell she really didn't want to believe that 45 K is the best you'll do (if you get a job at all) coming from a TTT diploma mill school. She said she'd heard that starting salaries were going up and up, etc. The poor thing hadn't given future income any thought at all until I laid my spiel on her. Another victim of the "Biglaw raises pay to 160 K" schtick touted by the sub-human scum at the ABA and their enablers like the Valvoline Dean, Pat Hobbs.
It is really sick what these toilet-sucking diploma mills are doing to kids. I told this girl right before her ID law "mentor" came back that she should drop out right now, and not throw good money after bad. I told her that law is a dead-end, miserable job. I told her to take a good look around the courtroom we were in (King's Supreme). I told her to look at the unshaven slobs, blood-shot eyes, JC Penny wardrobe, beer guts, etc. Take a look at these clowns squinting to read the NY Post b/c their gutter firms have no eyeglass/optic plan. Look at the bad teeth from no dental insurance. Imagine riding 2 hours on the train from some aluminum-sided tract house in a ghetto and trying to explain to your children why they have to eat spaghetti and Ramen noodles for supper every nite. Take a good, hard look, because this is your future.
Question is, why can't we get the word on salaries/working conditions out in the mainstream? Why is everyone (esp. TTT law students) so incredoulous that law pays so God-awful poorly nowadays? If you stopped 100 non-lawyers on the street and asked what they thought an entry-level lawyer salary was, what % do you think would pick 45 K? The gutter schools use this naiveity and cultural dissonance to their advantage. I mean, it just doesn't seem (or sound) possible that an admitted lawyer with 7 years of education and a bar exam pass under his/her belt can be worth 12-15K less than a garbage man, does it? I always made a huge point to tell friends, family, and even stragers on the street how gutter-sucking awful lawyer salaries are, but the problem is no one believes it. You might as well tell folks a UFO lands on your roof every nite as you tell them you're a licensed attorney making 45 K.
There is a WSJ reporter working on a toilet law story. I will post his contact info once my interview w/ him is done. Tom the Temp is also speaking with him. Once we get this info published in a respected national newspaper, perhaps other newpapers/magazines etc. will wake up and reaize that law is a dead "career." There is biglaw and there is nothing else. Law is as all or nothing as it gets- if law were the food industry you would have the Four Seasons and McDonald's with nothing in between."
-- Law Is For Losers
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Overtime
"Lots of 'professionals' get worked really hard when they are young, often by people who are not planning to offer them career long employment. One way that some professionals have compensated is by claiming overtime benefits. Others got unions, or profit sharing."
-- Kay Sieverding
-- Kay Sieverding
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Sullivan & Cromwell's Work "Pit"
While conditions at Sullivan & Cromwell have greatly improved since the opening of additional floorspace, some unfortunate souls may still find themselves being thrown into the notorious S & C "pit," as it is commonly known. Yesterday, someone sent me a picture of the pit. As horrifying as it was to look at, in order to protect the identity of the photographer, I promised that I wouldn't publish it.
"This is C2 at S&C, 120 Broad St.
I may have underestimated the size of the room, but not by much (looks perhaps 24x20). As I stated, 5 tables, 4 attys apiece, then two other people. Needless to say, there were no windows, and the stink of rotting garbage was overpowering some days - the trash can was to the left, just outside the frame.
We tolerated this for nearly 5 weeks. As for perks, we got free coffee, fruit and cookies (limited amounts; no cars, meals or consideration. Hours were very restricted --capped at 50, I think. Someone was fired for coming into the room 5 minutes before the 9:30 starting time. There was no cellphone reception on that level, and I felt that if the building were ever evacuated in an emergency, no one would bother notifying us."
"This is C2 at S&C, 120 Broad St.
I may have underestimated the size of the room, but not by much (looks perhaps 24x20). As I stated, 5 tables, 4 attys apiece, then two other people. Needless to say, there were no windows, and the stink of rotting garbage was overpowering some days - the trash can was to the left, just outside the frame.
We tolerated this for nearly 5 weeks. As for perks, we got free coffee, fruit and cookies (limited amounts; no cars, meals or consideration. Hours were very restricted --capped at 50, I think. Someone was fired for coming into the room 5 minutes before the 9:30 starting time. There was no cellphone reception on that level, and I felt that if the building were ever evacuated in an emergency, no one would bother notifying us."
Friday, June 15, 2007
Scammie Mae
Scammie Mae and these exploitive sweatshops that feed off her swarth of destruction need to be stopped.
---------------------------------------------------------
Recent law grad:
I wish they had wined and dined me before they fucked me with these loans.
One student loan company took university financial aid directors on a junket to Disney World. Another paid $500 to be placed on a school's list of recommended lenders. And others showered tequila, wine and golf outings on college aid officers.Those were among what Senate investigators called illegal enticements from loan companies to university officials to drum up business, according to a nearly 600-page report issued yesterday.
The report offers the most detailed evidence yet that lenders offered perks to colleges with the explicit goal of persuading schools to steer students their way. Some employees described the arrangements as quid pro quos. The revelations came as Johns Hopkins University agreed to pay about $1.13 million to settle an investigation by New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo (D) into the school's financial aid operation. Previously released documents from the Senate investigation show that former university aid director Ellen Frishberg accepted more than $130,000 from eight lending industry companies during her tenure. Johns Hopkins, which has denied wrongdoing, agreed in the settlement to have its financial aid practices monitored for five years by the attorneys general of New York and Maryland.
Frishberg is the focus of a criminal and civil investigation by Cuomo's office. The review could result in charges of fraud, bribery, conspiracy or all three, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Frishberg did not return calls seeking comment. The Senate findings are the latest disclosure of questionable financial arrangements between lenders, universities and regulators in the $85 billion-a-year student loan industry. "This investigative report demonstrates that inappropriate marketing practices, conflicts of interest, and back-room deals are found all too frequently in the student loan industry," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the education committee, which conducted the investigation, said in a statement. "The findings underscore the urgent need for systemic reform in the student loan system."
-------------------------------------------------------
Another story. You often hear many similar tales of desperation down in the bowls of the document review basement:
I made a mistake and had two children without being married. Single mothers like me are vilified in this culture anyway, but I wanted to be different so I went back to college when my daughter was 2. I graduated law school in 2003 and passed the bar a year later. I financed my entire education with student loans. I had to take the bar exam twice so I took out a sallie mae law student loan to exist and support two children while i took three months off to study. When I finally passed I couldn't find a job and I have been living pretty much by the skin of my teeth for four years now. My beef with Sallie Mae is the fact that my student loans have already increased by $20,000 in the past three years. I have explained that I have no job and no steady income and offered to pay a smaller amount than the $450. they were demanding a month (as much as my rent). I said I would try to pay $150, to just pay something, but they turned their noses up at that. After going around and around, they were willing to give me a deferment, but you have to pay for it, a $150.00 "processing fee". I told them that I receive food stamps, which is pitiful enough, but they don't give a crap and call me probably 8 times a day, as well as harrassing my mother, my cosigner, who is 76 years old and lives on her social security. And are they rude. I try to keep in regular contact with them because I intend to someday pay them back, but everytime I call them or answer their calls their people are so shockingly rude it makes my heart pound.
---------------------------------------------------------
Recent law grad:
I wish they had wined and dined me before they fucked me with these loans.
One student loan company took university financial aid directors on a junket to Disney World. Another paid $500 to be placed on a school's list of recommended lenders. And others showered tequila, wine and golf outings on college aid officers.Those were among what Senate investigators called illegal enticements from loan companies to university officials to drum up business, according to a nearly 600-page report issued yesterday.
The report offers the most detailed evidence yet that lenders offered perks to colleges with the explicit goal of persuading schools to steer students their way. Some employees described the arrangements as quid pro quos. The revelations came as Johns Hopkins University agreed to pay about $1.13 million to settle an investigation by New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo (D) into the school's financial aid operation. Previously released documents from the Senate investigation show that former university aid director Ellen Frishberg accepted more than $130,000 from eight lending industry companies during her tenure. Johns Hopkins, which has denied wrongdoing, agreed in the settlement to have its financial aid practices monitored for five years by the attorneys general of New York and Maryland.
Frishberg is the focus of a criminal and civil investigation by Cuomo's office. The review could result in charges of fraud, bribery, conspiracy or all three, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Frishberg did not return calls seeking comment. The Senate findings are the latest disclosure of questionable financial arrangements between lenders, universities and regulators in the $85 billion-a-year student loan industry. "This investigative report demonstrates that inappropriate marketing practices, conflicts of interest, and back-room deals are found all too frequently in the student loan industry," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the education committee, which conducted the investigation, said in a statement. "The findings underscore the urgent need for systemic reform in the student loan system."
-------------------------------------------------------
Another story. You often hear many similar tales of desperation down in the bowls of the document review basement:
I made a mistake and had two children without being married. Single mothers like me are vilified in this culture anyway, but I wanted to be different so I went back to college when my daughter was 2. I graduated law school in 2003 and passed the bar a year later. I financed my entire education with student loans. I had to take the bar exam twice so I took out a sallie mae law student loan to exist and support two children while i took three months off to study. When I finally passed I couldn't find a job and I have been living pretty much by the skin of my teeth for four years now. My beef with Sallie Mae is the fact that my student loans have already increased by $20,000 in the past three years. I have explained that I have no job and no steady income and offered to pay a smaller amount than the $450. they were demanding a month (as much as my rent). I said I would try to pay $150, to just pay something, but they turned their noses up at that. After going around and around, they were willing to give me a deferment, but you have to pay for it, a $150.00 "processing fee". I told them that I receive food stamps, which is pitiful enough, but they don't give a crap and call me probably 8 times a day, as well as harrassing my mother, my cosigner, who is 76 years old and lives on her social security. And are they rude. I try to keep in regular contact with them because I intend to someday pay them back, but everytime I call them or answer their calls their people are so shockingly rude it makes my heart pound.
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.
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.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Summer In The Sweatshop
Tom,
Please do not print my name, and please do not identify the name of my project.
To put it quite simply, I just completed the project from hell. There were 12 of us, and on the first day, we were corralled into a small (15' x 20') windowless "conference" room, which in all likelihood previously served as a janitor's supply closet.
There was no AC, and one weekend, during a particularly brutal heatwave, things got particularly dicey. The air became thick, sticky, smelly, and downright unbreathable. One older gentleman began to perspire, and suddenly became pale. I literally thought he was going to keel over and have a heart attack. It didn't help that our slavedriver of a boss made us work 14 hrs. that day, and would only bother to buzz us off the floor for our regimented, required half an hour break.
As I said before, getting off the floor on the weekend was nearly impossible without the master's buzz key. In a fire, the place would have lit up like a tinder box, because as the above picture illustrates, trash was literally strewn across the room. Navigating around the room necessitated the use of skillful body contortions and limber bodies.
7 years of higher education to be treated like a penned up farm animal.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Barbara's Right
"This is hardly an isolated case (see my book, Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy, co-edited with Arlie Hochschild.) If the new “top” involves pay in the tens or hundreds of millions, a private jet and a few acres of Nantucket, the new bottom is slavery. Some of America’s slaves are captive domestics, like the Indonesian women in Long Island. Others are factory workers, and at least 10,000 are sex slaves lured from their home country to American brothels by promises of respectable jobs. CEOs and slaves: these are the extreme ends of American class polarization.
But a parallel kind of splitting is going in many of the professions. Top-ranked college professors, for example, enjoy salaries of several hundred thousand a year, often augmented by consulting fees and earnings from their patents or biotech companies. At the other end of the professoriate, you have adjunct teachers toiling away for about $5000 a semester or less, with no benefits or chance of tenure. There was a story a few years ago about an adjunct who commuted to his classes from a homeless shelter in Manhattan, and adjuncts who moonlight as waitresses or cleaning ladies are legion.
Similarly, the legal profession, which is topped by law firm partners billing hundred of dollars an hour, now has a new proletariat of temp lawyers working for $19-25 an hour in sweatshop conditions. On sites like http://temporaryattorney.blogspot.com/, temp lawyers report working 12 hours a day, six days a week, in crowded basements with inadequate sanitary facilities. According to an article in American Lawyer, a legal temp at a major New York firm reports being “corralled in a windowless basement room littered with dead cockroaches,” where six out of seven exits were blocked."
--Barbara Ehrenreich, "Going to Extremes: CEOs vs. Slaves." Barbara is the author of thirteen books, including the New York Times bestseller Nickel and Dimed.
http://ehrenreich.blogs.com/barbaras_blog/2007/05/going_to_extrem.html
Article also linked at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-ehrenreich/going-to-extremes-ceos-v_b_49791.html?view=print
http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/411675,CST-CONT-ceo03.article
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070611/ehrenreich
Unsurprisingly, biglaw profits per partner (PPP) continued to soar in '06: http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=563047&mc=119&forum_id=2.
But a parallel kind of splitting is going in many of the professions. Top-ranked college professors, for example, enjoy salaries of several hundred thousand a year, often augmented by consulting fees and earnings from their patents or biotech companies. At the other end of the professoriate, you have adjunct teachers toiling away for about $5000 a semester or less, with no benefits or chance of tenure. There was a story a few years ago about an adjunct who commuted to his classes from a homeless shelter in Manhattan, and adjuncts who moonlight as waitresses or cleaning ladies are legion.
Similarly, the legal profession, which is topped by law firm partners billing hundred of dollars an hour, now has a new proletariat of temp lawyers working for $19-25 an hour in sweatshop conditions. On sites like http://temporaryattorney.blogspot.com/, temp lawyers report working 12 hours a day, six days a week, in crowded basements with inadequate sanitary facilities. According to an article in American Lawyer, a legal temp at a major New York firm reports being “corralled in a windowless basement room littered with dead cockroaches,” where six out of seven exits were blocked."
--Barbara Ehrenreich, "Going to Extremes: CEOs vs. Slaves." Barbara is the author of thirteen books, including the New York Times bestseller Nickel and Dimed.
http://ehrenreich.blogs.com/barbaras_blog/2007/05/going_to_extrem.html
Article also linked at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-ehrenreich/going-to-extremes-ceos-v_b_49791.html?view=print
http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/411675,CST-CONT-ceo03.article
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070611/ehrenreich
Unsurprisingly, biglaw profits per partner (PPP) continued to soar in '06: http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=563047&mc=119&forum_id=2.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Law School Fraud
With the proliferation of heavily indebted law graduates and the growth of horrible temporary attorney sweatshops continuing unabated, an interesting article has uncovered the massive statistical fraud that has going on within the ABA and amongst our nation's law schools. With such twisted statistics (which paint an unrealistically rosy picture of the legal market), is it any wonder why such large numbers of sheep continue to wander over to the slaughterhouse?
http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/PubArticleTAL.jsp?hubtype=Inside&id=1180688730005
"Unfortunately, some of the measures that some law schools have taken to improve their status seem like the equivalent of using a particularly dodgy tax shelter.
The law schools’ record on postgraduation employment is even less flattering. U.S. News asks law schools to report the percentage of each graduating class that is employed at graduation and at a later point (currently nine months after graduation). Since the mid-1990s, both statistics have steadily climbed for most schools in all four U.S. News tiers. Between 1997 and 2006, the employed-at-nine-months figures climbed from 83.9 percent to 91.5 percent. Unfortunately, during this same period the overall first-time bar passage rate declined from 83 percent to 78.6 percent, largely due to many states raising their passing score. Because results from a second bar exam would not be available nine months after graduation, the increased employment can only come from employment in jobs that do not require a law license.
Obviously, the numbers do not add up. University of Iowa sociologist Michael Sauder, who has interviewed more than 120 law professors and administrators for his rankings research, heard examples of alumni taxi drivers who are “employed” for the purposes of U.S. News rankings. We have collected many other examples. Such practices only serve to mislead students into purchasing an expensive legal education. In the process, legal education is losing its credibility."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's time for some honest disclosure:
Wow, wow and wow! There MIGHT actually be some changes coming soon! Tom the temp & myself have argued for years that a system to gather and audit actual salary data would be 1.) easy to implement and 2.) healthy for the profession.
A simple index card that could be filled out and completed with basic salary and employment info 12 months, 24 months, and 48 months after graduation would be a simple and easy way to compile spot-on accurate salary and employment info. Naturally, subhuman scum like the "Valvoline Dean," Pat Hobbs, and others of his ilk want no such part of any such survey. How fast would Seton Hall enrollment nose-dive if prospective students saw how utterly abysmal salary and employment truly is?
I would have the card ask these simple questions, and make non-compliance (or fraudulent compliance) with the survey a disciplinary offense with a hefty fine.
1.) Are you employed in the legal profession?
2.) If the answer to #1 is yes, are you a temporary or contract attorney?
3.) Do you practice full time (over 40 hrs week) or part time (under 40 hrs week).
4.) What is your title at your legal job?
5.) What is your current yearly salary?
6.) firm name, city/state, practice area (or non-legal job title), and debt load at graduation (that would go right under current yearly salary....)
This data could be published in an ABA book and then we'd have a solid, accurate idea of the real prospects for post-graduate employment. Random & independent audits would assure accuarcy and truth- you need to remember that sleazy rodents like the Valvoline Dean really, really enjoy their no-show "jobs" and huge salaries & perks, and will (and do) lie thru their teeth to keep them.
-- L4L
http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/PubArticleTAL.jsp?hubtype=Inside&id=1180688730005
"Unfortunately, some of the measures that some law schools have taken to improve their status seem like the equivalent of using a particularly dodgy tax shelter.
The law schools’ record on postgraduation employment is even less flattering. U.S. News asks law schools to report the percentage of each graduating class that is employed at graduation and at a later point (currently nine months after graduation). Since the mid-1990s, both statistics have steadily climbed for most schools in all four U.S. News tiers. Between 1997 and 2006, the employed-at-nine-months figures climbed from 83.9 percent to 91.5 percent. Unfortunately, during this same period the overall first-time bar passage rate declined from 83 percent to 78.6 percent, largely due to many states raising their passing score. Because results from a second bar exam would not be available nine months after graduation, the increased employment can only come from employment in jobs that do not require a law license.
Obviously, the numbers do not add up. University of Iowa sociologist Michael Sauder, who has interviewed more than 120 law professors and administrators for his rankings research, heard examples of alumni taxi drivers who are “employed” for the purposes of U.S. News rankings. We have collected many other examples. Such practices only serve to mislead students into purchasing an expensive legal education. In the process, legal education is losing its credibility."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's time for some honest disclosure:
Wow, wow and wow! There MIGHT actually be some changes coming soon! Tom the temp & myself have argued for years that a system to gather and audit actual salary data would be 1.) easy to implement and 2.) healthy for the profession.
A simple index card that could be filled out and completed with basic salary and employment info 12 months, 24 months, and 48 months after graduation would be a simple and easy way to compile spot-on accurate salary and employment info. Naturally, subhuman scum like the "Valvoline Dean," Pat Hobbs, and others of his ilk want no such part of any such survey. How fast would Seton Hall enrollment nose-dive if prospective students saw how utterly abysmal salary and employment truly is?
I would have the card ask these simple questions, and make non-compliance (or fraudulent compliance) with the survey a disciplinary offense with a hefty fine.
1.) Are you employed in the legal profession?
2.) If the answer to #1 is yes, are you a temporary or contract attorney?
3.) Do you practice full time (over 40 hrs week) or part time (under 40 hrs week).
4.) What is your title at your legal job?
5.) What is your current yearly salary?
6.) firm name, city/state, practice area (or non-legal job title), and debt load at graduation (that would go right under current yearly salary....)
This data could be published in an ABA book and then we'd have a solid, accurate idea of the real prospects for post-graduate employment. Random & independent audits would assure accuarcy and truth- you need to remember that sleazy rodents like the Valvoline Dean really, really enjoy their no-show "jobs" and huge salaries & perks, and will (and do) lie thru their teeth to keep them.
-- L4L
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Imelda Marcos Law Students
Tier II school will only allow prospective student to borrow $56,278 a year. Student upset.
Loyola LA (Class of 2010):
"Hollywood, sunshine, and a BMW. Who said law school can't be fun?
I actually went to the financial aid office yesterday and that is why I was so confused. The lady made it sound like we were not allowed to take out PERSONAL PRIVATE LOANS. She made it sound like they estimated the Cost of Living as $56,278, and minus Federal Loans ($20,500) the difference is $35,778.
I wrote her an email asking her if I could take out a GradPLUS for the $35,778 and then get a private loan on my own that I didn't tell the school about for the rest. I'm about $13,000 short for yearly rent. However she probably won't respond until Monday. "
Does this girl have any idea of the misery that is awaiting her in the bowls of the document review sweatshops?
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Update Legal Voted Worst Temp Agency In On-Line Poll
No surprise there. People have been complaining about the underhanded tactics of this agency for years. Courtesy of http://tempatty.com:
"Half the attorneys I know have been "blacklisted" by these overly sensitive Bedford Wives."
"This is a wild place. I have heard that they blacklist folk."
"By far it is the worst, unprofessional and dishonest agency that I had to deal with. I worked for 3 months/ 12 hours a day/6 days a week in sweatshop like conditions, but when I had to see a doctor and "only" came in for 8.5 hours - they black listed me, told me the project is over "for me", refused to let me go back to collect my things, and tried to deny my unemployment benefits."
"I feel very let down and misused by update. My experience on my present assignment is negative. They have crammed 150 of us into a space that the fire marshall has approved for only 75 persons. There are only 6 bathroom stalls for 150 people!!! We are lined up table to table like a sweatshop. To leave my seat I must squeeeze through chairs and ask my colleagues to move their carcasses out of the way. Update does not have the contractors' interests at heart. They are simply here to enforce the desires of the hiring lawfirm. We must work 58-66 hours but the site is open only to 8:00pm so to avoid giving us carfare or dinner. In effect, we are forced to work until 8:00 at least 4 days per week until 8:00 - to leave earlier means not being able to make one's hours. "
"Don't ever tell them anything they do not wish to hear or you will be blacklisted. They can be unprofessional."
"Worst agency EVER. I have worked with several agencies and this was by far the worst. The yelled at me and threatened me - partly because I picked up my cell phone to answer *their* call (I knew it was them because they are the only blocked number that would call me) and because I was accused of socializing too much - approx. 30 min during the course of 10 hour days. Avoid like the plague."
"Don't forget, they will blacklist you for not taking a project that pays below market rate. I've overheard conversations that were bizarre! I have successfully worked with 5 or more agencies. Only with Update, my first (and last) experience with them had been a nightmare."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE NOTORIOUS UPDATE LEGAL BLACK LIST is very real and my premise is that it ultimately is disservice to the legal profession, individual lawyers who are unfairly discriminated against for consideration of employment as well as law firms and their clients. How you ask? The Blacklist "spin" is that agencies use it as a "quality control" or "QC" technique to weed out undesireable candidates who less than stellar workers. Nothing could be further from the truth. In point of fact, Update Legal staffers, most of whom are not lawyers, paralegals and not only have never worked in the law firm enviornment but many lack actual workplace, human resource and real life professional experience. Yet these very same people often make wrong or discriminatory decisions about qualified people. Many are young sales girls who see your overtime as their next pair of shoes and will sooner try to staff that guy who always finds a way to get 14 hours of work out of 9 hours than the professional who is a tad more ethical. Firms like Update Legal reward mediocrity by assigning greater value to those who do not rock the boat, bill the most hours (regardless of whether the work justifies it) and never leave a project for a better opportunity.
ISSUE: How does the Update Legal Black List or lists of such kind impact a law firm's and their client's bottom line?
ANSWER: Many agencies seek exclusives or semi-exclusives to staff a project. The problem is granting an agency that has a questionable means of blacklisting qualified and desireable candidates means that said law firm will never see the resumes of many people who might be of greater assistance to that law firm than those presented. What they are getting is the people whom that agency has most control over. While many think of doc review as a skill-less exercise, it is usually the first layer of review of evidence in a case. Hence, the eyes reviewing your client's evidence might be relevant. I would not have believed it if I would not have seen and experienced first hand how Update drones are regularly staffed while highly qualified people remain on the sidelines.
SOLUTION: Law firms should require agencies to sign an agreement that their screening and qualification criteria does not discriminate unfairly against candidates based upon highly subjective and personal criteria (reminder: screening is often by a 24 year old sales girl). Law firms should eliminate exclusives and semi-exclusives and look into whether those making decisions about what agencies to use or not use are not receiving kick backs, payments and/or and gifts from Update Legal, Lexolution etc. Law firms should instead staff their projects on a rotation basis with several agencies so that they will see a more diverse and more qualified applicant pool. And lastly, they should consider seriously the ergonomics of the work space for interim staff and whether it enhances the success of their overall effort.
"Half the attorneys I know have been "blacklisted" by these overly sensitive Bedford Wives."
"This is a wild place. I have heard that they blacklist folk."
"By far it is the worst, unprofessional and dishonest agency that I had to deal with. I worked for 3 months/ 12 hours a day/6 days a week in sweatshop like conditions, but when I had to see a doctor and "only" came in for 8.5 hours - they black listed me, told me the project is over "for me", refused to let me go back to collect my things, and tried to deny my unemployment benefits."
"I feel very let down and misused by update. My experience on my present assignment is negative. They have crammed 150 of us into a space that the fire marshall has approved for only 75 persons. There are only 6 bathroom stalls for 150 people!!! We are lined up table to table like a sweatshop. To leave my seat I must squeeeze through chairs and ask my colleagues to move their carcasses out of the way. Update does not have the contractors' interests at heart. They are simply here to enforce the desires of the hiring lawfirm. We must work 58-66 hours but the site is open only to 8:00pm so to avoid giving us carfare or dinner. In effect, we are forced to work until 8:00 at least 4 days per week until 8:00 - to leave earlier means not being able to make one's hours. "
"Don't ever tell them anything they do not wish to hear or you will be blacklisted. They can be unprofessional."
"Worst agency EVER. I have worked with several agencies and this was by far the worst. The yelled at me and threatened me - partly because I picked up my cell phone to answer *their* call (I knew it was them because they are the only blocked number that would call me) and because I was accused of socializing too much - approx. 30 min during the course of 10 hour days. Avoid like the plague."
"Don't forget, they will blacklist you for not taking a project that pays below market rate. I've overheard conversations that were bizarre! I have successfully worked with 5 or more agencies. Only with Update, my first (and last) experience with them had been a nightmare."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE NOTORIOUS UPDATE LEGAL BLACK LIST is very real and my premise is that it ultimately is disservice to the legal profession, individual lawyers who are unfairly discriminated against for consideration of employment as well as law firms and their clients. How you ask? The Blacklist "spin" is that agencies use it as a "quality control" or "QC" technique to weed out undesireable candidates who less than stellar workers. Nothing could be further from the truth. In point of fact, Update Legal staffers, most of whom are not lawyers, paralegals and not only have never worked in the law firm enviornment but many lack actual workplace, human resource and real life professional experience. Yet these very same people often make wrong or discriminatory decisions about qualified people. Many are young sales girls who see your overtime as their next pair of shoes and will sooner try to staff that guy who always finds a way to get 14 hours of work out of 9 hours than the professional who is a tad more ethical. Firms like Update Legal reward mediocrity by assigning greater value to those who do not rock the boat, bill the most hours (regardless of whether the work justifies it) and never leave a project for a better opportunity.
ISSUE: How does the Update Legal Black List or lists of such kind impact a law firm's and their client's bottom line?
ANSWER: Many agencies seek exclusives or semi-exclusives to staff a project. The problem is granting an agency that has a questionable means of blacklisting qualified and desireable candidates means that said law firm will never see the resumes of many people who might be of greater assistance to that law firm than those presented. What they are getting is the people whom that agency has most control over. While many think of doc review as a skill-less exercise, it is usually the first layer of review of evidence in a case. Hence, the eyes reviewing your client's evidence might be relevant. I would not have believed it if I would not have seen and experienced first hand how Update drones are regularly staffed while highly qualified people remain on the sidelines.
SOLUTION: Law firms should require agencies to sign an agreement that their screening and qualification criteria does not discriminate unfairly against candidates based upon highly subjective and personal criteria (reminder: screening is often by a 24 year old sales girl). Law firms should eliminate exclusives and semi-exclusives and look into whether those making decisions about what agencies to use or not use are not receiving kick backs, payments and/or and gifts from Update Legal, Lexolution etc. Law firms should instead staff their projects on a rotation basis with several agencies so that they will see a more diverse and more qualified applicant pool. And lastly, they should consider seriously the ergonomics of the work space for interim staff and whether it enhances the success of their overall effort.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Biglaw's Jim Crow Caste Structure: Part 2
Are Firms Missing Out On a Diverse Talent Pool?
The Legal Intelligencer
By Gina Passarella
May 25, 2007
One of the most common reasons large firms cite as a cause for their lack of diversity is a limited talent pool from which to draw.
There are only so many qualified candidates and only so many of those are minorities, they say.
Could that pool be deepened by looking to the skills of contract attorneys? Some say yes. Others aren't so sure.
One black contract attorney from Washington, D.C., who has been working in the field for almost five years said the contract attorneys he's worked with on firm matters have been disproportionately diverse compared to groups of associates at those firms.
Part of that, he said, is due to financial constraints that keep students from all backgrounds out of the top-tiered schools, and subsequently out of the top-tiered firms.
Bob Nourian of Coleman Nourian, a recruiting firm that places both contract and permanent attorneys, said contract attorneys are naturally going to be more diverse because "you're pulling in from a greater percentage of a whole [graduating] class."
Katherine Frink-Hamlett of Frink-Hamlett Legal Solutions in Teaneck, N.J., said contract attorneys are more diverse because the larger law firms are losing minority attorneys at high rates and they have to go somewhere. She said contract attorney work is often used to fill in the gaps.
Not everyone has found it easy to find diversity in the contract-attorney ranks.
Cynthia Scott, founder of Choice Counsel in Pittsburgh, specializes in placing contract attorneys. She said she wishes there was a more diverse pool from which she could draw.
"Our percentage of minorities is not nearly what we wish it could be," she said.
Offering a rough estimate, Scott said minorities on the matters she staffs typically do not comprise more than 10 percent of the group. The Washington, D.C., contract attorney put that number at 50 percent in his experience.
Scott said she has found that it is more difficult in Pittsburgh to build diversity numbers because the larger cities woo talent away.
Ah yes, talent. Despite the most sincere efforts of firms to increase their diversity, talent and quality understandably remain the foremost criteria for hiring associates.
Nourian said firms are looking to find both diverse and nondiverse candidates, while maintaining the same criteria for talent.
The problem with looking to the contract-attorney field for candidates, minority or not, is that the hiring criteria for those attorneys are not as stringent as for associates, he said.
"Unless firms are going to dramatically change their hiring criteria for full-time, partnership-track associates, I don't think the contract attorney pool will help them," Nourian said.
He said his firm has done a lot of temporary-to-permanent conversions once contract attorneys work for a firm and prove they are associate material. It is difficult to stand out, however, when there are 30 or 40 attorneys doing document review, he said.
Frink-Hamlett, whose company handles diversity audits and offers diversity solutions for firms, said she recommends her clients look at contract attorneys to meet diversity needs, but said it might only be for a short-term solution.
"These are very often folks with Ivy League credentials or somewhere near there, but their resume doesn't meet the permanent-resume requirements," she said.
Attorneys with gaps in resumes or those with master of laws ( LL.M) degrees who are here from other countries are often viable permanent candidates who may have taken some time off to pursue other endeavors or are new to the country's legal system, Frink-Hamlett said. That often makes them unviable permanent candidates in the eyes of large firms, she said.
"I think it's going to be imperative for law firms and law schools to recognize [that] contract attorneys are a force in the industry," she said.
So if the war for talent is at an all-time high, some argue it might be worth training contract attorneys at large firms to help them meet the associate-hire criteria in order to increase the talent pool.
"You have this entire untapped pool of legal talent . . . and nobody's making the investment to train them," the contract attorney said, adding later, "In a global war for talent, no stone can be left unturned."
Another minority contract attorney in Washington said there is no training available on projects to help elevate her to the next level. She said there would always be someone to hire her, possibly at a smaller firm, but student loans often make large firms the only option.
Frink Hamlett said bar associations need to replicate for contract attorneys the committees or commissions on diversity or women in the profession that now exist in order to help with networking and empowerment.
Networking among other contract attorneys, however, doesn't help elevate their status, Nourian said. Contract attorneys need to affiliate themselves with the same groups as full-time associates in order to make contacts in hopes of finding a full-time position, he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Bar Associations need to replicate for contract attorneys the committees or commissions on diversity or women in the profession." Exactly.
Dear Tom,
I have spoken with Barry Kamins at ABCNY about setting up a contract attorney committee. ABCNY has a subcommittee of a larger executive committee, which deals with forming new standing committees.
The problem is that I, although I am barred in New York, I am {out of country/personal reasons}. My first impulse is to identify responsible people in New York who could spearhead this.
The next step is to submit a proposal to Mr. Kamins, which he would then forward on to the subcommittee. I would be delighted to help with the proposal. Do you have any ideas as to who might spearhead this? Obviously, we want responsible people organizing this committee. You have wide access to a number of contract attorneys, so I thought you might be a good person to ask.
The Legal Intelligencer
By Gina Passarella
May 25, 2007
One of the most common reasons large firms cite as a cause for their lack of diversity is a limited talent pool from which to draw.
There are only so many qualified candidates and only so many of those are minorities, they say.
Could that pool be deepened by looking to the skills of contract attorneys? Some say yes. Others aren't so sure.
One black contract attorney from Washington, D.C., who has been working in the field for almost five years said the contract attorneys he's worked with on firm matters have been disproportionately diverse compared to groups of associates at those firms.
Part of that, he said, is due to financial constraints that keep students from all backgrounds out of the top-tiered schools, and subsequently out of the top-tiered firms.
Bob Nourian of Coleman Nourian, a recruiting firm that places both contract and permanent attorneys, said contract attorneys are naturally going to be more diverse because "you're pulling in from a greater percentage of a whole [graduating] class."
Katherine Frink-Hamlett of Frink-Hamlett Legal Solutions in Teaneck, N.J., said contract attorneys are more diverse because the larger law firms are losing minority attorneys at high rates and they have to go somewhere. She said contract attorney work is often used to fill in the gaps.
Not everyone has found it easy to find diversity in the contract-attorney ranks.
Cynthia Scott, founder of Choice Counsel in Pittsburgh, specializes in placing contract attorneys. She said she wishes there was a more diverse pool from which she could draw.
"Our percentage of minorities is not nearly what we wish it could be," she said.
Offering a rough estimate, Scott said minorities on the matters she staffs typically do not comprise more than 10 percent of the group. The Washington, D.C., contract attorney put that number at 50 percent in his experience.
Scott said she has found that it is more difficult in Pittsburgh to build diversity numbers because the larger cities woo talent away.
Ah yes, talent. Despite the most sincere efforts of firms to increase their diversity, talent and quality understandably remain the foremost criteria for hiring associates.
Nourian said firms are looking to find both diverse and nondiverse candidates, while maintaining the same criteria for talent.
The problem with looking to the contract-attorney field for candidates, minority or not, is that the hiring criteria for those attorneys are not as stringent as for associates, he said.
"Unless firms are going to dramatically change their hiring criteria for full-time, partnership-track associates, I don't think the contract attorney pool will help them," Nourian said.
He said his firm has done a lot of temporary-to-permanent conversions once contract attorneys work for a firm and prove they are associate material. It is difficult to stand out, however, when there are 30 or 40 attorneys doing document review, he said.
Frink-Hamlett, whose company handles diversity audits and offers diversity solutions for firms, said she recommends her clients look at contract attorneys to meet diversity needs, but said it might only be for a short-term solution.
"These are very often folks with Ivy League credentials or somewhere near there, but their resume doesn't meet the permanent-resume requirements," she said.
Attorneys with gaps in resumes or those with master of laws ( LL.M) degrees who are here from other countries are often viable permanent candidates who may have taken some time off to pursue other endeavors or are new to the country's legal system, Frink-Hamlett said. That often makes them unviable permanent candidates in the eyes of large firms, she said.
"I think it's going to be imperative for law firms and law schools to recognize [that] contract attorneys are a force in the industry," she said.
So if the war for talent is at an all-time high, some argue it might be worth training contract attorneys at large firms to help them meet the associate-hire criteria in order to increase the talent pool.
"You have this entire untapped pool of legal talent . . . and nobody's making the investment to train them," the contract attorney said, adding later, "In a global war for talent, no stone can be left unturned."
Another minority contract attorney in Washington said there is no training available on projects to help elevate her to the next level. She said there would always be someone to hire her, possibly at a smaller firm, but student loans often make large firms the only option.
Frink Hamlett said bar associations need to replicate for contract attorneys the committees or commissions on diversity or women in the profession that now exist in order to help with networking and empowerment.
Networking among other contract attorneys, however, doesn't help elevate their status, Nourian said. Contract attorneys need to affiliate themselves with the same groups as full-time associates in order to make contacts in hopes of finding a full-time position, he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Bar Associations need to replicate for contract attorneys the committees or commissions on diversity or women in the profession." Exactly.
Dear Tom,
I have spoken with Barry Kamins at ABCNY about setting up a contract attorney committee. ABCNY has a subcommittee of a larger executive committee, which deals with forming new standing committees.
The problem is that I, although I am barred in New York, I am {out of country/personal reasons}. My first impulse is to identify responsible people in New York who could spearhead this.
The next step is to submit a proposal to Mr. Kamins, which he would then forward on to the subcommittee. I would be delighted to help with the proposal. Do you have any ideas as to who might spearhead this? Obviously, we want responsible people organizing this committee. You have wide access to a number of contract attorneys, so I thought you might be a good person to ask.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
How To Land A Document Review Position
While it is often quite difficult to screw up an agency/law firm screening interview (typically, many jobs are just seeking out those with a license and a pulse), here are some answers that will guarantee you that coveted doc. review position:
Q. What makes you want to undertake document review work?
A. I have alot of student loan debt that I need to pay off.
Q. Are you interested in long-term or short-term work?
A. I'll take anything.
Q. Do you have any future ambitions? Do you plan on looking for permanent work?
A. No, I am too fixated on my student loan debt to worry about the future.
Q. Do you have any outside interests or any other professional undertakings?
A. No, I have too much debt to concern myself with any of that.
Q. (A favorite of Update Legal): The client is very flexible (an obvious lie) and would just like to know for scheduling purposes if you plan on taking any days off in the coming months?
A. No, I have nothing going on in my life in the next six months.
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In other news, Cardozo and Fordham jacked their tuitions up over the $40,000 mark for the first time today.
Q. What makes you want to undertake document review work?
A. I have alot of student loan debt that I need to pay off.
Q. Are you interested in long-term or short-term work?
A. I'll take anything.
Q. Do you have any future ambitions? Do you plan on looking for permanent work?
A. No, I am too fixated on my student loan debt to worry about the future.
Q. Do you have any outside interests or any other professional undertakings?
A. No, I have too much debt to concern myself with any of that.
Q. (A favorite of Update Legal): The client is very flexible (an obvious lie) and would just like to know for scheduling purposes if you plan on taking any days off in the coming months?
A. No, I have nothing going on in my life in the next six months.
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In other news, Cardozo and Fordham jacked their tuitions up over the $40,000 mark for the first time today.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
"Nuke' em"
Meet William Neukom. "Nuke' em" is president-elect of the American Bar Association. "Nuke' em" has a long history of trying to screw over contract attorneys. Several years ago, Seattle firm Preston Gates, which "Nuke' em" is the chairman of, was successfully sued for denying overtime pay and rest breaks to many of its contract attorneys.
"Nuke 'em" will head an organization which directly affects the day-to-day lives of thousands of contract attorneys. In the past, the ABA standing committees have given law firms carte blanche authority to mark up the costs of contract attorneys by over 300%, allowed law firms to successfully outsource contract attorney work to India, and have allowed the law schools to continue their practice of falsifying graduate career statistics. In short, the ABA has been instrumental in providing biglaw with a steady stream of disposable (disproportionately minority), cheap labor. Is it any wonder why we have now reached a point where profits per partner have truly become "recession proof"?
I wonder what policies "Nuke 'em" will advocate for during his reign of terror?
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Is the Legal Profession Promulgating A Jim Crow Caste Structure?
method="post">---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: diversetemps diversetemps >
Date: May 17, 2007 12:01 AM
Subject: Contract Attorneys and Diversity
Morrison & Foerster prides itself on ethnic and cultural diversity yet, below the surface, it does little to tap deep enough into the applicant pool to develop and retain diverse candidates.
From: diversetemps diversetemps >
Date: May 17, 2007 12:01 AM
Subject: Contract Attorneys and Diversity
Morrison & Foerster prides itself on ethnic and cultural diversity yet, below the surface, it does little to tap deep enough into the applicant pool to develop and retain diverse candidates.
Indeed, as evidenced by the email below, Morrison and Foerster actually stifles diverse attorneys' career development by limiting internet and telephone access, which are critical for pursuing opportunities beyond document review.
This firm seems to operate from a fixed paradigm: that early success in law school is an irrefutable predictor of future career success and, thus, other lawyers who come in to pick up the grunt work are not worthy of any sort of dignified treatment. This could not be further from the truth. Good lawyering, as with any other skill, can be learned irrespective of where someone went to law school or what rank they were in law school. Lawyering is not an innate skill. It is a mistake to assume that there is not diverse talent to be developed amongst the ranks of contract attorneys. In fact, the reason why law firms have such a difficult time attracting diverse candidates is because they are myopic in their approach.
While associate salaries, law school tuition, and profits per partner have grown exponentially in recent years, the hourly rates of contract attorneys have remained stagnant. Interestingly, the ranks of contract attorneys are up to five times as diverse as the ranks of full-time associates. Yet, contract attorneys receive little substantive training and mentoring. This is an issue which can no longer be ignored.
Too many discussions about diversity at law firms are focused solely upon associates. It is time for the discussion to be expanded. Instead of stifling the career opportunities of this diverse pool of lawyers, Morrison and Foerster, other law firms, clients, and bar associations should be devising ways to develop them.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: The Posse List
To: distribution@theposselist.com
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 22:21:05 -0400
Subject: A complaint from a Posse member
...From a Possemember:
The Morrison Foerster Project at Compliance is an affront to the dignity of the 50 contract attorneys working there. Compliance's Project Manager's behavior, tone and tactics are reprehensible. From Day 1, the Project was adversarial in tone. Internet access was removed, only 2 computers provided for nearly 50 people to use. Phone call access is relegated to a balcony where there is absolutely no privacy. Compliance provided 2 keys for access to the women's restroom, only 4 key cards are provided for egress from the building after 6:00 p.m., and constant monitoring of every attorney's action, conversation and even look. The atmosphere is dismal, morale low and self-esteem constantly attacked.
Despite the minimum 50 hrs. and maximum 60, there is no food provided for after hours, unlike most large law firms' policy. Attorneys are urged to limit their lunch to 30 minutes to ensure "getting-in the 50 hour minimum," and any deviation from the 1/2 hour rule must be reported to the "Drill Sergeant" Project Manager. I've worked on several Compliance projects, and many others for large staffing agencies, I've heard many a horror story, but this one takes the cake. Most of the Project Attorneys are eager to jump ship at the first opportunity--if you're listening out there--PLEASE HELP!!!
Contract attorneys create value for staffing companies like Compliance, and their respective clients, not the other way around.
*The Posse List, based in D.C. , is 6 years old and its membership now exceeds 3,200 lawyers.
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Wednesday, May 16, 2007
When You Sign Up With New York Law School, You Sign Up With The Devil
New York Law School is one stinky toilet. Despite the fact that it is a tier 3 school and provides little in the way of opportunity for its graduates, New York Law School has the audacity to charge one of the highest tuition of any law school in the United States -- higher than even NYU and Columbia!
The dean of the school, Richard Matasar, is a scumbag of the worst kind, making a comfortable living by destroying the lives of naive 21 year olds. (Matasar has a reputation of maximizing profits and endowments, at the expense of students; during his tenure at Chicago-Kent College of Law (1991–96) , while tuition soared, the school’s endowment rose from $5 million to more than $17 million.) As someone else so aptly put it, Matasar takes the hope, optimism, and vulnerability of young people and wipes shit all over it.
One of Matasar's victims recently graduated from the NYLS toilet with over $198,000 of student loan debt. He makes only $48,000 a year, and over 60% of his after-tax income goes to pay for student loans. He is considering suicide and is trying to decide whether bullets or carbon dioxide would be a better way to carry it out.
I suppose going to work for the Legal Options agency could be an option for him, but if he did undertake this "opportunity," he would have to bill 48 hours a week (every week, no holidays or unexpected unemployment) just to make his minimum monthly loan payments. Only then could he even begin to think about paying for such necessities as food, rent, and health insurance.
College grads, be forewarned! When you sign up with Matasar, you sign up with the devil!
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Ode To The Valvoline Dean
In the tradition of a Seton Hall dean,Scrub your stats squeaky clean,
Send 'em glossy brochures,
Lots of big firms out there willing to hire,
Milk all you can out of college kids' desire,
And in a few years, they'll cry out:
Doc review!
--Author Unknown
Legal Options Ad: $15-18 an hour
LEGAL OPTIONS AD: "They changed their email in the listing from resumes@legaloptions.com to the anonymous craigslist email. That's kinda weird."
Admitted Attorneys- Temporary Document Review Projects
Reply to: job-331960047@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-05-16, 9:29AM EDT
Admitted attorneys needed for document review projects at large firms in the city. Must be flexible for long hours, OT including weekends, and be admitted in one U.S. state. No unadmitted JD's at this time. Please forward resumes to the address above.
Location: Manhattan
Compensation: $15-18 an hr. + OT
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
The market rate in NYC is a flat rate of $41.80 an hour, or $35.82 an hour + OT. See- http://temporaryattorney.googlepages.com Is this placement agency advertising ridiculously below-market compensation in an effort to maniuplate the well-established market rates in the NYC document review market?
Admitted Attorneys- Temporary Document Review Projects
Reply to: job-331960047@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-05-16, 9:29AM EDT
Admitted attorneys needed for document review projects at large firms in the city. Must be flexible for long hours, OT including weekends, and be admitted in one U.S. state. No unadmitted JD's at this time. Please forward resumes to the address above.
Location: Manhattan
Compensation: $15-18 an hr. + OT
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
The market rate in NYC is a flat rate of $41.80 an hour, or $35.82 an hour + OT. See- http://temporaryattorney.googlepages.com Is this placement agency advertising ridiculously below-market compensation in an effort to maniuplate the well-established market rates in the NYC document review market?
Monday, May 14, 2007
ABA Law School Tuition Gouging
With the help of the inflation calculator http://www.westegg.com/inflation/, here is concrete proof of some of the massive tuition gouging that has been going on during the last 9 years at some ABA approved NY area law schools:
1997 Tuition / '97 Tuition in '06 $'s / Actual 2006 Tuition
Albany: $18,905 / $23,489 / $35,079
Brooklyn: $20,640 / $25,645 / $37,525
Buffalo: $7,350 / $9,132 / $12,170
Cardozo: $19,780 / $24,576 / $36,900
CUNY: $4,840 / $6,014 / $8,900
Columbia: $25,128 / $31,221 / $40,024
Cornell: $23,100 / $28,701 / $39,690
Fordham: $22,600 / $28,080 / $36,670
Hofstra: $21,182 / $26,318 / $35,260
NYLS: $20,770 / $25,807 / $40,478
NYU: $24,740 / $30,739 / $38,980
St. John's: $21,000 / $26,092 / $35,900
Syracuse: $21,136 / $26,261 / $35,120
Touro: $19,150 / $23,793 / $32,300
Tuition gouging increases student debt loads, which will only help to proliferate the growth of vicious biglaw temporary sweatshops:
"Or maybe what attracts employers to college {and law school} grads is the scent of desperation. Unless your parents are rich and doting, you will walk away from commencement with a debt averaging $20,000 {$150,000 - law school} and no health insurance. Employers {Lily, Anita, Youngwood, Piggy, etc.} can safely bet that you will not be a trouble-maker, a whistle-blower or any other form of non-'team-player.' You will do anything. You will grovel."
http://ehrenreich.blogs.com/barbaras_blog/2007/04/the_higher_educ.html
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In other news, another stressed-out associate bites the dust:
Stressed-Out Associate's Death Ruled an Accident (?)
New York Lawyer, May 15, 2007
An associate at the London headquarters of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer who fell to his death at the city's famed Tate Modern gallery was suffering from cannabis-induced depression, the Evening Standard report. That conclusion was reached in a coroner's finding that the death of George Matthew Courtney, 27, after falling from his perch on a bannister while using his Blackberry PDA, was accidental. But the associate lifestyle may have played a part, as Courtney was one of several associates who had reportedly approached firm management about the stress of grinding out 14 hour days to hit billable targets in the weeks before his death in February and had also discussed the problems he was having with his long hours and sleeplessness to his psychologist.
Cannabis-induced depression, what the hell?
Thursday, May 10, 2007
They Want Sheep, Not Bulls
"That is why some of the agencies have some of the most unethical, lazy people on their staffs. Many of the people they retain aren't necessarily the best workers, but people that can be counted on to follow the agency/firm's modus operandi.
As someone so aptly put it, agencies/firms want sheep, not bulls. I was once on a project where some of the agency "darlings" were skipping over entire boxes of documents. What they were doing was clearly unethical. Because they were buddy-buddy with the project supervisor and because the agency could count on them to bill excessive amounts of hours, they were not only retained, but the people that brought the problem to the attention of the agency were ultimately fired. I quickly learned that I needed to put my head down, keep clicking, and never again open my mouth.
That is when I ultimately discovered that the temp. racket wasn't for me."
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More sheep:
"It is not just the law schools that are in predator mode. It is the entire legal education and licensing industry. From LSAC 5 yr limit on LSAT scores to the state bar examiners use of intimidation tactics on C&F and licensing, not to mention egregiously intrusive questionnaires, to the nonprofit law schools that charge tuition based on WHAT THE MARKET WILL BEAR, to corrupt entanglement of the law schools and universities with the student loan institutions (as evidenced by the lack of transparency), to the textbook/bookstore industry that has evolved to produce textbooks that cannot possibly be read by the students during the semesters (and ARE NOT READ), textbooks that are overstuffed to generate REVENUE, to the hostile and intimidating atmosphere generated by each of these corrupt legal industry institutions, all the better to induce a sheep like state in the students as they are led to the economic slaughterhouse..."
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Student Loan Crisis: Creation of the American Indentured Slave Class
Hi Tom, I enjoy your blog. I was reading an NYT comment board that you should consider contributing to. (BTW, I have no connection to the NYT -- I just created a temporary Gmail address as a return address so I could post my own comment there.)
It seems that the Times thinks that lawyers have no problems paying off their student loans.
Here's the story and the comment board: http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/08/when-student-loans-dont-pay-off/
Keep up the excellent work. Best.
It seems that the Times thinks that lawyers have no problems paying off their student loans.
Here's the story and the comment board: http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/08/when-student-loans-dont-pay-off/
Keep up the excellent work. Best.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Diane Barrasso: Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold was a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He is perhaps the most famous traitor in the history of the United States.
Meet Diane Barrasso. Diane Barasso, of Barasso Consulting, runs a notorious temporary sweatshop out in Westfield, New Jersey. Barrasso pays a benefitless wage well below market rate. Barrasso is able to offer such measly local wages by pitting heavily indebted recent American law graduates against cheap, overseas Indian labor.
At a time when our country is on the brink of a financial catastrophe, where health insurance costs are skyrocketing, and where American taxpayers will soon be on the hook for millions in defaulted student loans, Barrasso is getting rich by helping "McJob" yet another American industry.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Piggy Swooney
Tom,
Don't leave Paul Weiss's "Piggy Swooney" (her nickname at work is "Pig") off your radar. She single-handedly turns one of NYC's worst document reviews into even more of a hellish experience. Her PMS-like outbursts, constant surveillance, encouragement of paralegal snitching, and snide e-mail "reminders" make working with her all the more unbearable. In my opinion, "Piggy Swooney" ranks right up there with Anita and Lily.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Big Owl Is Back
Apparently, not only does the Kirkland owl stare down at you from glass-encased cubicles, but now it appears as if the Kirkland owl has been accused of spying on the private telephone calls of certain employees:www.legalweek.com/Company/454/Navigation/18/Articles/1023650/Kirkland+in+legal+dispute+after+ex-staffer+pursues+mobile+phone+intercept.html
Friday, April 13, 2007
Cardozo Law Grad. Jumps Off Empire State Building
According to his registration profile, Moshe Kanovsky was previously an associate at the small firm of Lawrence, Krause & Associates. As demonstrated by a recent job posting, the pay at this firm was just awful:
Attorney: Krause & Associates, 67 Wall Street, New York, NY, 10005. Plaintiff personal injury firm, $35,000. Cover letter, resume and writing sample.
Add this abysmal salary to the fact that many Cardozo students are now graduating law school with over 150k worth of student loan debt at 8% interest, and you can see how someone could so easily be pushed over the edge.
As someone on the autoadmit board, so aptly put it:
"Dude, picture yourself in six figure debt and busting your ass for 2200-2400 in billables only to pull a salary of 35k -- in NYC, no less. That is bound to give anyone issues."
"Now the state bar and ABA will hold a bunch of stupid conferences and meetings and shit where NOTHING will be decided and of course NOTHING will change and the ABA will of oourse continue to accredit more and more TTT schools."
www.xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=612983&mc=53&forum_id=2
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A lawyer has leaped to his death from a 69th-floor office at New York's Empire State Building, severing a leg that crashed to the sidewalk in front of horrified onlookers.
Cops raced to the 102-story landmark just before 3pm local time on Friday after several witnesses called 911 to report a body part on the ground. A police source identified the dead man as Moshe Kanovsky, 31, of Brooklyn.
"I cried and got sick to my stomach," said Theresa Colon, 46, a tourist from Virginia who was accompanied by her 11-year-old daughter and 16-year-old niece. "I pray he knew who God was."
The left leg, severed below the knee, was bare except for a gray and black sock. Police said the rest of Kanovsky's body was found intact on a 30th-floor landing.
Investigators questioned employees at Levine & Blit, a personal injury practice, and at Ashok Karmaker. Both law firms share a suite on the 69th floor where Kanovsky "did odds-and-ends work" for Karmaker.
It wasn't immediately clear what prompted Kanovsky's suicide.
"He was interviewing a client," said a man who works in the suite. "He just got up, opened the window and jumped."
A police source said that Kanovsky met with the client in one room and jumped from another.
At least 30 people have jumped from the Empire State Building since it opened in 1931. Before Kanovsky, Dovid Abramowitz, 21, was the last to die. He leaped from the 66th floor on February 2, 2006, after buying a ticket to the 86th-floor observation deck.
AP
Sunday, April 01, 2007
"LILY" and the "EGGMAN" -- Hughes Hubbard Dungeon Masters
4/3/07 -- HH associate provides a further description of Lily:
Hahaha. I laughed out loud when I saw this thread! I actually saw "Lily" today at the office.
For those who don't know, "Lily" is not her actual name. Her real name rhymes with Lily and I will use this psuedonym to protect the guilty.
Anyone at HH knows who she is. She is a grotesque 300 lbs, and her physical deformities are utterly beyond description. Her best friend is a bag of cheetos, and her fat, mangled fingers are often coated with their orange powder. She drives her slaves (this is the slang for "managing" temps or "contract attorneys") offsite in a basement in New Jersey. I believe there may be windows, but I have not been there myself to verify this fact.
Lily does maintain a presence in the New York office, rather unfortunately, and we see her rear her ugly head from time to time. Probably just taking orders from some non-equity partner in charge of the firm's various doc review projects. The sole purpose of this woman's existence is to squeeze every last drop of efficiency out of each slave, and to make their miserable lives as horrible as possible, all for $35/hour.
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"Lily" the (17th?) year associate who "manages" the contract attorneys is a fat, nasty monster. "Lily" once ripped a cellphone out of someone's hand at the offsite location. "Lily" also fired people on the spot for having newspapers at their "desks" and wanted to take away garbage cans as a way to make the space cleaner (someone needs to retake the logic games portion of the LSAT). "Lily" takes it upon herself to impose cost-cutting measures which only serve to undermine efficiency and work product quality. She has brought about a state of affairs whereby overtime is treated like the holy grail and the miserly meal allowance and tickets to ride in cars with maniac drivers are glimmering mirages in a desert. Meanwhile, newspapers reveal that the client has set aside billions of dollars in legal fees and that the firm has matched associate salary hikes to remain competitive. Translation: "Lily" is a woman getting paid over $200,000 / year to sit on her ass and who is trying to cheat contract attorneys out of every penny.
Speaking of bathrooms, in lockstep with Paul, Weiss, the temps working at the offsite location have to sign in and out to use the bathroom. An attorney at that space was driven to smearing his feces on the wall of the men's room there. "Lily" surmised that the substance was actually chocolate. The temps kept in the dungeon of the firm's main office have to use grimy hall passes to the bathroom. The ceiling of the men's room crashed down into a stall and was left in that state for a week. All of the toilets regurgitate waste in the same manner of the firm's work product-billing system. The floor beneath the bathrooms is rotting, and the stench invades the air. One time, they refilled the soap dispensers with flourscent pink gummy goop. People of the same and opposite gender were indeed followed to the bathroom by the ex-communicated on-site coordinator. At one point, the temps were told they would have to deduct bathroom breaks from their paychecks. No wonder people are driven to smearing feces on the walls . . .
As for "Egg Man," this man is so physically repulsive that his image is excluded from the firm's website. Physicality aside, the man is a dick. His former law school classmates remember him running up to professors to tell on students who hadn't done the reading for the day. These tactics are still employed in his capacity of slave-driver at HHR. Anyone arriving at the site a minute late must report to him. Although he occupies hallways and door frames like a clogged artery, his step is feather-light. He loves to stealthily sneak into the workroom and "catch" the temps under his tutelage engaged in non-work behaviors. He pits coworkers against each other and tries to convert some into snitches; however, often the tattletale gets the axe along with the troublemaker. He doesn't seem to do any billable legal work apart from taking up space bumbling around and stuttering instructions about the doc review. He always has a sinister expression on his face, belying the myth that fat people are supposed to be jolly. In fact, he may be getting his "jollies" from putting temps on edge through his espionage and witch hunt tactics. He is single-handely responsible for many of the progressively worsening conditions on the project. In the year since his hiring (more likely than not accomplished by means of nepotism), he has engaged in a Reign of Terror. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!
Friday, March 30, 2007
Hughes Hubbard & Reed: Low-Class Sweatshop
One firm that was left off the chart is Hughes, Hubbard and Reed. It pays below market--$35 / hour and is incredibly stingy across the board. The conditions on that project are horrendous, and the leadership is both incompetent and psychotic. They have an operation offsite like the Matrix with 100s of attorneys crammed into one room. They put the rest of the bodies in the bowels of the firm's main building in a windowless space with lead paint, asbestos, dust, blinding flourescent lights, a broken furnace that sets the room as either an arctic freezer in the winter or a sauna in the spring and some of the nastiest bathrooms in the city. The size of the overblown egos of the staff attorneys and 17th year associates are rivaled only by their waistlines--the Eggman and the Walrus personified. These uncredentialed, illiterate, ignorant and just plain dumb figures wield the micromillimeter of power they have to make other people's lives miserable. They stuck a babysitter ("Anita" equivalent) in a corner of one room to peak through the glass of a partition to spy on people in another room and instructed her to follow people to the bathroom to make sure they were really going to the bathroom. Then they had someone scrape the frosting off the glass with an ice scraper and a toxic chemical that converted the glass to plastic while people were working in that room. This project may rival the "Anita" project and Paul Weiss, and things promise to get worse still: the glass wall will come down (if only life were a Lewis Carol novel, Humpty Dumpty / the Eggman would sit on the wall and have a great fall), and more bodies will be crammed into the dank space making it even more of a fire hazard and health code violation than it already is. If anyone calls you with a job at HHR, hang up the phone and run away.
Monday, March 19, 2007
JDjive R.I.P.
The toilet firms were quite successful last week in closing down JDjive and keeping their reputations of horrible young attorney treatment off the google cache. Luckily, I saved some of the more memorable postings:
Leahey & Johnson is a horrible place run by horrible people. Junior is as nasty as they come & lacks 1% of the old man's talent.If you go there for a deposition, you cannot use their toilet. They are disgusting people - & they churn the crap out of there files. By the way, get ready to wear a suit on Saturdays if you work there. No - I never worked there, but I'm beyond the associate ranks & know many who have. I dealt with those creeps on many cases over the years too.
Melli, Guerin, & Wall. A "firm" that is generally ranked in the Top 5 listing of NYC toilet firms to work at every time such a thread comes up. Salary is 45K for a 50 hour week doing dead-end no fault defense. You cut and paste frivilous boilerplate toilet motions together and argue them at the homeless shelter known as NYC Civil Court. Also very poor health insurance and no bonus. This place goes thru about 3 lawyers a month.
Doc. review at Paul Weiss. $21 an hour to be locked in a windowless basement full of dead cockroaches with the fire exits blocked and ONE bathroom for 65 people (that we also shared with the homeless people who live in the concourse below Rockefeller Center) all for 80 hours a week.
An earlier post and probably others have suggested the Raymond Schwartzberg & Associates is probably one of the worst firms to work at in NYC. This is what I've gathered so far... 1. He pays $30-35K to start (like he has for the past 10 years) and bonuses and raises are few and far between. 2.He expects 80-hour work weeks. 3.His office is a real dump. 4.He does medical malpractice and personal injury law. 5.Turnover at his offices is extremely high. 6.What little support staff he has are incompetent.
I worked at Schwartzberg's office for about 6 weeks. Awful, Awful place. Ray is a huge dick all the time, the lawyers there are REALLY bad, the place is a dump, Ray treats the clients and his employees like @#$%&, no benefits, low pay ($16 an hour. They pretend its salary when you apply, but really it is $16 an hour),and long hours. I had read these posts before I started, but I was desperate and who knows who's posting these things, I thought that maybe everybody here was a spoiled jerk (like most law students) who expected too much from their first job. I wanted to make it work and just put up with some bullshit, but i'd rather forget about the law and go back to delivering pizza than ever work for that @#$%& ever again! Seriously, its bad. Not just bad, but the kind of bad where you spend your nights dreaming of murdering your boss. The only way I would ever go back there is if my only other option was homelessness.
Melli might give Frieberg & Peck a run for their money re: most hated firm. The routine is pretty much the same at both, although Melli actually has the nerve to require real billible hours for no-fault toilet work. Melli pays only 45 K and has a couple computers from 1989.There is NO CASE MGMT SYSTEM! NONE! Everything is in two-pring paper files like it was 1955. Also the partners who run Melli are born liars, they exaggerate the job and lie about new computers, bigger space, etc.
Advertised job for $21k at 50 hours per week. $8.40 an hour. Wal-mart employees make an average of $9.26 an hour. It's only a matter of time before insurance carriers and ID firms catch on. How will it play out? Anemic bonuses. Salary stagnation. Entry level salary DROPS. Higher requirements in terms of hours worked, subservience, etc.
Rappaport Hertz, a real estate firm in Forest Hills, Queens, NY. There was an article in Law.com a few months ago that discussed several EEOC complaints brought by former employees about sexual harrassment and abuse. It is alleged that they put semen on some new JD's phone. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1124269512308
Leahey & Johnson is a horrible place run by horrible people. Junior is as nasty as they come & lacks 1% of the old man's talent.If you go there for a deposition, you cannot use their toilet. They are disgusting people - & they churn the crap out of there files. By the way, get ready to wear a suit on Saturdays if you work there. No - I never worked there, but I'm beyond the associate ranks & know many who have. I dealt with those creeps on many cases over the years too.
Melli, Guerin, & Wall. A "firm" that is generally ranked in the Top 5 listing of NYC toilet firms to work at every time such a thread comes up. Salary is 45K for a 50 hour week doing dead-end no fault defense. You cut and paste frivilous boilerplate toilet motions together and argue them at the homeless shelter known as NYC Civil Court. Also very poor health insurance and no bonus. This place goes thru about 3 lawyers a month.
Doc. review at Paul Weiss. $21 an hour to be locked in a windowless basement full of dead cockroaches with the fire exits blocked and ONE bathroom for 65 people (that we also shared with the homeless people who live in the concourse below Rockefeller Center) all for 80 hours a week.
An earlier post and probably others have suggested the Raymond Schwartzberg & Associates is probably one of the worst firms to work at in NYC. This is what I've gathered so far... 1. He pays $30-35K to start (like he has for the past 10 years) and bonuses and raises are few and far between. 2.He expects 80-hour work weeks. 3.His office is a real dump. 4.He does medical malpractice and personal injury law. 5.Turnover at his offices is extremely high. 6.What little support staff he has are incompetent.
I worked at Schwartzberg's office for about 6 weeks. Awful, Awful place. Ray is a huge dick all the time, the lawyers there are REALLY bad, the place is a dump, Ray treats the clients and his employees like @#$%&, no benefits, low pay ($16 an hour. They pretend its salary when you apply, but really it is $16 an hour),and long hours. I had read these posts before I started, but I was desperate and who knows who's posting these things, I thought that maybe everybody here was a spoiled jerk (like most law students) who expected too much from their first job. I wanted to make it work and just put up with some bullshit, but i'd rather forget about the law and go back to delivering pizza than ever work for that @#$%& ever again! Seriously, its bad. Not just bad, but the kind of bad where you spend your nights dreaming of murdering your boss. The only way I would ever go back there is if my only other option was homelessness.
Melli might give Frieberg & Peck a run for their money re: most hated firm. The routine is pretty much the same at both, although Melli actually has the nerve to require real billible hours for no-fault toilet work. Melli pays only 45 K and has a couple computers from 1989.There is NO CASE MGMT SYSTEM! NONE! Everything is in two-pring paper files like it was 1955. Also the partners who run Melli are born liars, they exaggerate the job and lie about new computers, bigger space, etc.
Advertised job for $21k at 50 hours per week. $8.40 an hour. Wal-mart employees make an average of $9.26 an hour. It's only a matter of time before insurance carriers and ID firms catch on. How will it play out? Anemic bonuses. Salary stagnation. Entry level salary DROPS. Higher requirements in terms of hours worked, subservience, etc.
Rappaport Hertz, a real estate firm in Forest Hills, Queens, NY. There was an article in Law.com a few months ago that discussed several EEOC complaints brought by former employees about sexual harrassment and abuse. It is alleged that they put semen on some new JD's phone. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1124269512308
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Pillsbury
The law firm Pillsbury Winthrop hired 80 people for a one week project, and then fired 60 of them on the spot. I guess there wasn't enough cookie dough to go around after all.Oh man, that sucks. My agency was HIRECounsel. I got a mass email about it and I emailed the recruiter with all the pertinent info (my availability, my conidentiality forms). I was told the "Training" would be held March 1st at 4 pm Eastern Time (1 PM Pacific), then it was "delayed". On Sat afternoon (yesterday at 4 pm), HIRECounsel sent a mass email to all the temps saying basically "well sorry but Pillsbury decided to choose their own temps and if you havent received an email saying you're on the project, then you arent on it. But anyways, let us know if you are available for other assignments next week!
Friday, January 26, 2007
Unbearable Blood-Sucking Agencies
Tom: I have come to understand a great deal about the ultimate motives, agenda of some of those who come into an equity role at some of the major legal temporary agencies. Attorneys have to recognize that in most instances these folks are not your friends or career advisors invested in your professional development and success. All too often many of us are bought off with a slice of Pizza or a free sandwhich or in the case of that Scott Krowitz guy at Lexolution, some chummy b.s seminar about "Careers in Coding." Behind the scenes some slimebag middle management profiteer is all too happy to add a layer of profit in between you and the law firm employer.
Consider the case of one Robert Singer, who formerly served as an Executive Director at Weil Gotshal and Manages and Finance Director at Cravath. Roles which were primarily financial and devoid of any human component. His role has been principally to teach law firms how to be more profitable. He took his former fat paychecks and in late 2005 bought into the partnership at DeNovo legal. Since that time, he has changed the face of that agency, mostly for the worse. His motives are purely profit oriented, primarily for himself and those in his inner circle. Most temps go to work on DeNovo projects because of Sean Curtin. In fact, a friend of mine is a partner at a firm and he mentioned being pitched by Singer and the guy did not know the first thing about the data retrieval process critical to the management and staffing of a major case but tried to schmooze him about how DeNovo Legal was a full service Trial Preparation Firm. The Partner told me that a bean counter who knew jack shit about his business was essentially trying to jack him off because he saw DeNovo as no different from any other temp agency.
I worked on a project there in 2005 mostly because it had a reputation as one of the better enviornments to work in. They, however, are out of touch with people who have to work 60 hours or more a week doing mind-numbing work to pay their bills. We have to endure Update like staffers like this Evelyn Louie chic, who has the worst interpersonal skills. Friends on a project there tell me that she periodically rises from her hole like its Groundhog day to make another announcement about the conditioning of expense reimbursements but largely the temps have no idea whether the project will last for a week, a few more days or months. Sure, they give out free pizza and the like but those that built what was a more uniquely personal and professional agency get pushed aside and what these people are replaced with is a Nazi like efficiency. They sit around with calculators all day long trying to figure out ways to extend the work day, eliminate breaks or reimbursements for meals or cars. That is the word on the street. Fortunately or unfortunately I was staffed on something else at the time, and am actually working for an agency I hate right now but it pays the bills. Agencies are increasingly becoming "UPDATE" like with no regard to ones professional development and long term job security. If we have to deal with people like Update's Leslie Firtell, Eileen Lamboy or Evelyn Louie and Robert Singer at DeNovo Legal, most will likely go someplace else.
The further lesson in all of this, is that in this modern era in America we increasingly find those at the top of the food chain sucking more and more $$ out of the business while the proletariat professional classes have to rationalize getting less. It will work for a time but ultimately bankrupt souls like Robert Singer will be dumped on the scrap heap of business history.
Consider the case of one Robert Singer, who formerly served as an Executive Director at Weil Gotshal and Manages and Finance Director at Cravath. Roles which were primarily financial and devoid of any human component. His role has been principally to teach law firms how to be more profitable. He took his former fat paychecks and in late 2005 bought into the partnership at DeNovo legal. Since that time, he has changed the face of that agency, mostly for the worse. His motives are purely profit oriented, primarily for himself and those in his inner circle. Most temps go to work on DeNovo projects because of Sean Curtin. In fact, a friend of mine is a partner at a firm and he mentioned being pitched by Singer and the guy did not know the first thing about the data retrieval process critical to the management and staffing of a major case but tried to schmooze him about how DeNovo Legal was a full service Trial Preparation Firm. The Partner told me that a bean counter who knew jack shit about his business was essentially trying to jack him off because he saw DeNovo as no different from any other temp agency.
I worked on a project there in 2005 mostly because it had a reputation as one of the better enviornments to work in. They, however, are out of touch with people who have to work 60 hours or more a week doing mind-numbing work to pay their bills. We have to endure Update like staffers like this Evelyn Louie chic, who has the worst interpersonal skills. Friends on a project there tell me that she periodically rises from her hole like its Groundhog day to make another announcement about the conditioning of expense reimbursements but largely the temps have no idea whether the project will last for a week, a few more days or months. Sure, they give out free pizza and the like but those that built what was a more uniquely personal and professional agency get pushed aside and what these people are replaced with is a Nazi like efficiency. They sit around with calculators all day long trying to figure out ways to extend the work day, eliminate breaks or reimbursements for meals or cars. That is the word on the street. Fortunately or unfortunately I was staffed on something else at the time, and am actually working for an agency I hate right now but it pays the bills. Agencies are increasingly becoming "UPDATE" like with no regard to ones professional development and long term job security. If we have to deal with people like Update's Leslie Firtell, Eileen Lamboy or Evelyn Louie and Robert Singer at DeNovo Legal, most will likely go someplace else.
The further lesson in all of this, is that in this modern era in America we increasingly find those at the top of the food chain sucking more and more $$ out of the business while the proletariat professional classes have to rationalize getting less. It will work for a time but ultimately bankrupt souls like Robert Singer will be dumped on the scrap heap of business history.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Note To Agencies: Stop Passing Yourselves Off As Unbiased "Career Counselors" To Naive, Debt-Ridden Law Graduates
"Temporary legal work is a great opportunity for those who graduate from law school without a job offer," says Scott Krowitz, a partner in the temporary placement firm Lexolutions. "The work gives young lawyers exposure to the practice of law and creates new networking opportunities. And temp-to-perm (temporary to permanent) positions can lead to permanent jobs that might not have been available to these attorneys through the usual recruiting channels."
The concept of a seminar on career opportunities in coding is nothing short of a marketing sham designed to position Lexolution and its CEO, Scott Krowitz as somewhat of a career counselor invested in your success. That is a fabrication of the role that entities like Lexolution serve. Certainly you need to be on good terms with as many entities that might call you for a job. But I have seen way too many firms just stop dealing with particular candidates for irrational reasons and rewarding syncophants no matter how f'ing stupid and incompetent they are. Talent, skill, ability or goal oriented individuals are not the candidates that they want. Instead, they want subservient insecure fools who kiss the ass of these agency gatekeepers in order to continue to get a pay check. The more firms consider hiring directly without the agency, the more they might find an increase in the quality of candidate, and the more money will be available to reward said individual for his hard work. It is ridiculous that the agency cut off many candidates exceeds that candidates hourly rate. In many cases where the attorney is collected $35 per hour, the agency is billing for $75 per hour and the law firm is billing the client $150 or more.
Just a sage bit of advice to aspiring legal professionals,law students and/or potential document review attorneys. Recognize that owners of agencies like Lexolution (i) are NOT career advisors or counselors who have your long term professional development at heart, (ii) but are independent agencies, brokers or intermediaries who add a layer of cost between the legal professional and the law firm client and (iii)have no professional, entrepreneurial or economic incentive to help you evolve from this type of work into a different career path. In short, you must look at the likes of Scott Krowitz as someone you need to evolve past in the long term as for now, folks like him are "necessary evils" in the temp game. They are not your friends but rather are folks who are complicitors in your professional enslavement.
The UPDATE Blacklist is very real indeed. But they are not the only firm that has one, a good question to ask Scott Krowitz at Lexolution who also secretly has one as well. Regardless of how intelligent you are, how much experience you have and how good a job you have performed in the past, either of those firms will blacklist you if they perceive that you at all question their M.O. There are enough lawyers who will work in these temp jobs. They want SHEEP and not BULLS. The more you stand out, the worse it is for them and since more and more attorneys graduate each year, they would rather place passive people in these jobs who do not at all question or buck the system. Their are people that UPDATE places regularly who are actually horrific candidates but they do precisely what UPDATE tells them to. That is what many of these firms want. You are being paid to sit in a chair for as many hours as possible, code docs so that the agency can get their override and the law firms can jack their clients for work which at times is even questionable really needs to be done. Plain and simple.
-- fellow poster
The concept of a seminar on career opportunities in coding is nothing short of a marketing sham designed to position Lexolution and its CEO, Scott Krowitz as somewhat of a career counselor invested in your success. That is a fabrication of the role that entities like Lexolution serve. Certainly you need to be on good terms with as many entities that might call you for a job. But I have seen way too many firms just stop dealing with particular candidates for irrational reasons and rewarding syncophants no matter how f'ing stupid and incompetent they are. Talent, skill, ability or goal oriented individuals are not the candidates that they want. Instead, they want subservient insecure fools who kiss the ass of these agency gatekeepers in order to continue to get a pay check. The more firms consider hiring directly without the agency, the more they might find an increase in the quality of candidate, and the more money will be available to reward said individual for his hard work. It is ridiculous that the agency cut off many candidates exceeds that candidates hourly rate. In many cases where the attorney is collected $35 per hour, the agency is billing for $75 per hour and the law firm is billing the client $150 or more.
Just a sage bit of advice to aspiring legal professionals,law students and/or potential document review attorneys. Recognize that owners of agencies like Lexolution (i) are NOT career advisors or counselors who have your long term professional development at heart, (ii) but are independent agencies, brokers or intermediaries who add a layer of cost between the legal professional and the law firm client and (iii)have no professional, entrepreneurial or economic incentive to help you evolve from this type of work into a different career path. In short, you must look at the likes of Scott Krowitz as someone you need to evolve past in the long term as for now, folks like him are "necessary evils" in the temp game. They are not your friends but rather are folks who are complicitors in your professional enslavement.
The UPDATE Blacklist is very real indeed. But they are not the only firm that has one, a good question to ask Scott Krowitz at Lexolution who also secretly has one as well. Regardless of how intelligent you are, how much experience you have and how good a job you have performed in the past, either of those firms will blacklist you if they perceive that you at all question their M.O. There are enough lawyers who will work in these temp jobs. They want SHEEP and not BULLS. The more you stand out, the worse it is for them and since more and more attorneys graduate each year, they would rather place passive people in these jobs who do not at all question or buck the system. Their are people that UPDATE places regularly who are actually horrific candidates but they do precisely what UPDATE tells them to. That is what many of these firms want. You are being paid to sit in a chair for as many hours as possible, code docs so that the agency can get their override and the law firms can jack their clients for work which at times is even questionable really needs to be done. Plain and simple.
-- fellow poster
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