Brokeback Lawfirm: Eric Krautheimer Is Busy as a Bee
In the continuing saga of Aaron Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell, there are two central "villians" (assuming you take Charney's side -- which is about 60 percent of you).
The first villian is Eric Krautheimer, the partner who allegedly made the "bend over" comment. The second is Alexandra Korry, the M&A queen who allegedly referred to Charney's "unnatural" relationship with another male associate.
In the pages of ATL, we've seen extensive discussion of Alexandra Korry and her rumored personality quirks -- but relatively little about Krautheimer. Some of you have chalked up this discrepancy to sexism.
We'd like to make things right. We've heard general statements to the effect that Krautheimer is "a nightmare to work for." We've also heard "defenses" of his alleged conduct in Brokeback Lawfirm along these lines: "Krautheimer isn't anti-gay. He's just an a**hole -- to everyone, gay or straight."
So we KNOW there are stories out there, although we've received little in the way of specifics. We hereby request your tips about Eric Krautheimer, which you can send to us by email.
Here's one little story that came our way:
An overworked associate went to see Eric Krautheimer. He wanted to quit because of brutally long hours. Eric's response: "I don't want to hear about it. I billed 3900 hours last year!"
We're not surprised. Eric Krautheimer is many things, but he's definitely not lazy. Over the past few weeks, in which Charney v. S&C has been hogging the headlines, Krautheimer has kept a low profile. He's immersed himself in his work, doing what he does best: working on big deals.
We're not that far into 2007, but Krautheimer has already handled some major matters. He was involved in the giant Vornado/Equity Office battle, and after his client walked away from that fight, he plunged himself to the Central Parking/KCPC Holdings transaction. (We hear about these things because we're on the S&C deal distribution list.)
Perhaps Eric Krautheimer, since the start of Brokeback Lawfirm, has started treating his underlings with greater civility. But we're sure there is some dirt out there, even if it's old.
Please feel free to share it with us by email (subject: "Eric Krautheimer"). Thanks!
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Eric Krautheimer (scroll down)
(50) Comments
Mr. Krautheimer, according to his firm bio, is a graduate of Western New England College School of Law.
Just think, L2L - were it 14 years ago you'd actually have a shot at getting a big firm job.
Mr. Krautheimer, then, is a partner at a firm that wouldn't hire him as an associate today.
He looks like he needs a hug
I am not gonna say what he looks like. It wouldn't be PC and he'd say it about someone else for certain. I don't want to be like him. LOL
Skadden sucks.
Hard core sucking at Skadden.
A partner billing 3900 hours? Is it just me, or is that HIGHLY unusual?
Western New England College School of Law? Even I wouldn't hire him.
Krautheimer please give me a job. I'm a hard working tier 2 student just like you. We'll work together as a team!
3900 ain't shit. Try 4400. No kidding.
He looks like Sling Blade.
"I like them french-fried pertaters, mmm-hmmm."
4400, are you an associate or a partner? (and where)?
*Puts picture of Krautheimer on his wall*
My hero. He gives us tier 2 students hope.
Have tried to stay out of this. Used to work at S&C and know the parties involved. Eric is gruff and abrupt and does not suffer fools or mistakes lightly. I've heard him yell and I've seen him rant and rave. But at the end of the day he is a genuinely good person who deserves better than being dragged through the mud in this frivolous suit.
It is typical for a top law M&A partner bill in excess of 3000 hours. James Cole of WLRK even went on record saying that he billed more than 3000 hours in each of his 7 (of course since then the partnership track has been extended to 8) years as an associate. Any of the top 10 M&A shops in the city have partners who bill 3000h plus consistently. Of course the funny thing is that they all LOVE what they do. Most of them are nice though.
Krautheimer is apparently unusual in his complete dedication to S&C. He is apparently a poster child for that firm's meritocratic culture.
3900 hours in a year? Right. Assuming he worked every single day - all 365 days in the year - without taking a single vacation day, sick day, firm or federal holiday, or even weekend, he would have to bill just under 10.7 hours per day to reach 3900. Not possible. No one can work that much. No one.
(And even if he did, was the sacrifice of his having any kind of a life or family or relationship worth it?)
The upper bound on the number of hours is 365 x 24 = 8,760. In leap years it's 8,784.
4,400 is no where near the upper bound and so is a credible number.
If I were the client and saw that my attorney was billing for 3900 or 4400 hours, I would want a complete accounting, detailed to the minute about what he was doing for that time.
And I get that he works on more than one deal at a time, but each client is still going to get a significant bill.
3900 hours a year? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. An average of 10.7 hours EVERY SINGLE DAY? Not a chance.
8760 hours in a year. He billed 44% of the entire year.
he looks like a fat Ari Gold.
he looks like a fat Ari Gold.
2:10 - Get out of my head!
He sort of looks like one of the librarians at Fordham Law.
He looks like your mom.
He looks NOTHING like the hottie librarian from Fordham on Lat's earlier post.
2:01 is right on the money. Eric doesn't exactly sugar coat things, but he has a good heart to say the least. And he's demanding, but more so on himself than anyone else.
As for the 3900 hours, I wouldn't second guess it for a minute. The man doesn't leave the fort when there's work to be done. And considering that he handled AT&T/Bellsouth last year, 3900 makes perfect sense.
there's no way he billed 3900 hours. on a more serious note, if that anecdote were true, it shows him to be a terrible manager and would definitely complement any allegations of abusive language. however, i don't think it's true. it's retold in the snopes urban legend style.
I don't believe anyone who says they billed more than 3400 hours.
Nobody has said it, so I will. Eric is huge. I mean morbidly obese. He should devote 200-300 of his 3000 hours to the gym before he drops dead.
I would be embarassed to walk into a room with him, it is that bad.
If he's that big, do you think he told Charney to bend over to pick up the papers because he physically can't?
anyone who bills more than 2000 hours is insane!
A lot has happened since the last poll Lat, you should consider another one.
A lot has happened since the last poll Lat, you should consider another one.
FYI, people are allowed to go back and change their votes (which is what I did).
2:01: "Eric is gruff and abrupt and does not suffer fools or mistakes lightly. I've heard him yell and I've seen him rant and rave. But at the end of the day he is a genuinely good person who deserves better than being dragged through the mud in this frivolous suit."
Problem is... most people would consider what he allegedly said unacceptable in any professional environment, under any context. There's a difference between not suffering fools and being verbally abusive.
1:58 ("The 4400"), you'll be lucky to bill 4399 this year, now that you spent all that valuable time reading and responding to comments here. *I* had my secretary do this. I'll see you on my second lap, loser.
4:57: I'll concede your point, but this suit is not about being "verbally abusive", it's about systematically discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.
Most biglaw environments feature at least one or two abusive partners. Whether that's acceptable is beside the point. It's endemic to most firm culture that I've observed or heard about and should be addressed elsewhere and by other means.
Eric, for all his faults -- and they are legion -- has never been discriminatory in my experience. Surly and nasty, yes. But as 3:17 points out, he is harder on himself than on any of his associates. He expects and accepts nothing less than the best, and woe to them who disappoint him.
I would be absolutely shocked if he knew that Aaron was gay before making the infamous comment. Aaron as much says so in his NYMag interview. As I said earlier, underneath it all, he really is a genuinely good guy who has worked damn hard for what he has.
And 3:50 -- yes, Eric has a serious weight issue, and yes, it would probably be beneficial to himself and others if he addressed it more seriously (he's certainly tried in the past), but let's leave that out of this. It's rude and offensive, at best.
Charney (or basically anyone) should write the New York Bar and note that Krautheimer is padding hours.
I could buy 2900 but not 3900. Perhaps whoever told Lat this story mixed up the first number.
"Mr. Krautheimer, then, is a partner at a firm that wouldn't hire him as an associate today. "
There's a guy in my class who landed a summer associate job at S&C's NYC office *this year*, and we're 4th tier. L2L and you other whiners just like to complain about unfair bias against low-ranked law schools because you're not smart enough to make it in the big leagues.
6:23 - maybe unlike Charney, he acquiesced to the request to "bend over"? Otherwise, not bloody likely.
Umm... how does billing 3900 hours say ANYTHING positive? If you're billing that much, then objectively something is wrong. You're probably being dishonest, and even if you aren't, there is something psychologically WRONG with someone who would work that much. Period.
That's not non-laziness. That's someone mentally unfit to be an attorney.
I think the fact that there are significant numbers of attorneys in BigLawNY completely padding their hours is obvious. Firms turn a blind eye. I'm not saying Big Kraut doesn't work like mad, but I'd bet that a good portion of those hours he spent surfing the web or eating. (and that's not meant to be a dig on his weight).
Is this guy as unkempt (and scary looking) in person as in his photo? One would think that the PR-meisters at S&C would try to make him look as good as possible in his firm photo. Whoa.
.7 - attention to emails re restructuring of ___
2.8 - telephone conferences re ___
4.5 - eating children
3.2 - review draft of bridge loan and underwriting agreements
2.1 - eating office furniture
.4 - attention to status
1.2 - conference re ____
14.9 hours
7:09, fucking hilarious.
Stop eating up Sullivan's PR crap!
3,900 hours? It's just not credible. Most Partners don't keep track of time at all. They look at their watch when they come into work and look at it when the leave.
If they come in at 8 and leave at 8, they bill 12 hours. If they take a two-hour lunch, they were thinking about the case/deal/compliance issue. If they sleep during work hours, they were dreaming about the case/deal/compliance issue.
Most partners would be indicted for mail or wire fraud if clients knew how they billed their time.
S&C uses a value billing concept -- all the client gets is a number, not a breakdown, and it's not strictly tied to hours logged. So it really doesn't matter how many billables he clocks, the firm bills for his work whatever it feels like charging.
Payola 3L knows what he's talking about. On litigation matters though, S&C does charge strictly on hours billed. (Of course, that would not be true of Krautheimer in M&A.)
Signed,
Mrs. Korry's beck and call boy. (The one who runs her cars back and forth from the office to her apartment. So what if I've allready been here a couple of years. It takes loads of experience to run those cars.
3900 hours, or just shy of 11 hours every single day of the week. Of course, that's billable, which means he's actually 'working' 13-14 hours every day.
Either he's a liar and a fraud or he's a sad little fat man who has nothing better to do with his time than push paper back and forth in service of soulless institutions pushing numbers back and forth.
Pathetic. I pity the asshole.
A forensic accountant will know