Biglaw Perk Watch: Fried Frank to... New Orleans!
It's not as lavish as holding your law firm retreat at the Ritz in Pasadena, like O'Melveny & Myers. Nor is it as exotic as an all-expenses-paid trip to Jamaica, like Boies Schiller.
But still, this is neat. From a Fried Frank source:
Fried Frank announced to its associates on Tuesday that it is sending all associates in their third year and above, plus some partners and special counsel, to New Orleans for its 2008 attorney retreat. I thought this was pretty cool of the firm to do, especially because there's a mix of fun, workshops that sound useful, and community service to help the residents of New Orleans.
A cynic might say that the last thing a devastated city needs is to be descended upon by a bunch of lawyers (a la Bhopal). But between the tourism dollars they'll bring in and the volunteer work they'll perform, the arrival of the Fried Frank folk is clearly a good thing. John Edwards, eat your heart out.
Announcement memo, after the jump.
FRIED, FRANK, HARRIS, SHRIVER & JACOBSON -- MEMORANDUM -- ATTORNEY RETREAT IN NEW ORLEANS
We are pleased to announce that the Firm will be hosting attorney retreats for associates in the third year class (Class of 2005) and senior from the New York and Washington, DC offices in New Orleans, Louisiana this year! The retreats will focus on leadership, communications skills and styles, and personal career development at Fried Frank. In order to foster an intimate, interactive environment where attorneys can engage fully in the program, there will be four separate sessions with identical programs. A mix of attorneys from different classes, departments, and offices will attend each session. Our regular programming for junior associates will continue.
Associates will be assigned to attend one of the four retreats. Partners and special counsel will also attend each retreat. The dates of the retreats are as follows:
Friday, May 16 - Sunday, May 18
Friday, June 13 - Sunday, June 15
Sunday, June 15 - Tuesday, June 17
Friday, October 17 - Sunday, October 19
For sessions beginning on Friday, participants will travel Friday morning and return Sunday. For the session beginning on Sunday, participants will travel on Sunday morning and return on Tuesday.
No trip to New Orleans would be complete without an opportunity to engage with the city itself. We've planned activities that include a jazz dinner and a walking tour of the French Quarter and Garden District. You will also have an opportunity to participate in the renewal of New Orleans through an optional community service activity with The Phoenix of New Orleans, a non-profit organization that re-builds damaged housing in the mid-city area of New Orleans. Our participation in the rebuilding will have an impact on this neighborhood's recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
(27) Comments
doesn't this sound like a hellish way to spend a wekeend? enforced walking tours with your boss.
I hope they're going during the all-star game, because that's when all the hookers and golddiggers are in town.
fried frank is solid.
Is ATL loading weird for anyone else today? Once it finally loads on my screen, there is blank space where the top story should be. You have to scroll down to get to the first story. All the stuff on the left side of ATL is normal.
Retreats are for the defeated
Obama '08!
Will one of the tours involve proper lessons in proper boob-flashing etiquette?
Lawyers reconstructing houses? Sounds nice, but it's a bit un-utilitarian. How much do we earn an hour? We'd be better off spending the hours working at the jobs for which we're best suited (i.e. law, hopefully), then taking part of the money we make and paying construction workers to do the rebuilding.
Everyone wins, productivity goes up, and you have construction workers doing construction, instead of lawyers who don't know a Torx bit from a Hex bit.
the corndog law firm?
Did you know OMM has a CRAZY retreat at the Ritz in Pasadena?
Can't believe no one has posted this 'til I came along.
Yes, 3:55, but then you don't get the same warm fuzzy feeling that you have when you get to sit around a table drinking expensive wine patting each other on the back for a 4-hour work day of doing shoddy construction interrupted on multiple occasions for photo opportunities and snack breaks.
SHOW YOUR TITS!
4:23 -- that is hilarious -- did they use bricks or rocks?!
Even my TTT mid-size firm that doesn't pay market sends us on "training" and "retreat" things every year. They always end up being massive parties. No one actually listens in the training sessions. The firm puts us up in a nice hotel, once even the Ritz Carlton, and pays for all our meals. We get a dinner per diem that people end up using on booze. This is a firm that's not even in the Vault 100 or AmLaw 100. I would expect places like OMM to do this even more.
4:26 says, "and pays for all our meals. We get a dinner per diem that people end up using on booze."
They pay for all your meals AND you get a dinner per diem?
New Orleans in June? Yuck! ;)
What is the status of cocaine use at law firms?!? That is a posting worth having!
This being Fried Frank, I'm sure the associates will have to account for each minute they're in New Orleans and close out their billings on carpe diem on an hourly basis.
Fried Frank is first class. Partners are fun to be around and super smart. Any associate would love to be out with them drinking and hear what they really think (about each other!).
what is a fried frank?
fried franks are yummy
I had a fried frank once... I spent the next 10 hours on the crapper.... Sufficient proof that fried frank is shit.
Fried Frank tax partners rock
4:23, you bastard!
good thing i was at home and not in class
Yea man- give a heads up when you tell people to go to a link like that.
What happened to 4:23's post?
The general feeling in the firm (among both partners and associates) is that this is a seriously unwelcome impingement into our schedules. We spend enough weekends with the firm already...do we really need to spend another one with all the same people doing team-building nonsense?
if Fried Frank is the corndog law firm they should become an official sponsor of national corndog day. the beer is still not free to hosts.