If I'm allowed to have this opinion, I would like to state my dislike of Ms. Oh. When a firm lets you work for them for ten year, earning more than 97% of other Americans during those year, when you are bringing in NO WORK and thus don't deserve your job, then you should not treat them as she did.

Outrageous.

AGAWAG!

"One GC emailed me to let me know that she has fired [PH]."

Ouch. That lost business was probably more than what the firm saved by firing Oh.

no soup for you

"Ouch. That lost business was probably more than what the firm saved by firing Oh."

Um, based on the attitudes expressed in her email and the blog, it was definitely worth every penny to PH to excise her from the ranks. I think I may have gained a little bit of respect for the firm. She is a debby-downer.

Maybe I do not agree 100% with what she did, but when someone gives full effort to an employer and is dumped in the street at a vulnerable time, maybe she knows a lot more than we do.

I feel bad for her. PH did not need to fire her. The partners are to blame for not carrying their weight.

3:53 - Maybe you'd be "a debby-downer" too if you just lost your baby.

3:53 is real evidence that some people are just a--holes

Reputation is sometimes the only thing that keeps bad people from doing worse things. Score one for the tabloid.

enough of this woman already!!!!!! suck it up ... c'est la vie.

3:53, or rather, partner at Paul Hastings, you are a complete and utter douchebag.

Meh -- if Tucker Max can do it, why not Ms. Oh?

Normally when women have a miscarriage, the LAST thing they think to do is milk it for sympathy.

This is really objectionable conduct.

Why does everyone think that their life is so damn important that it warrants a blog?

"moving and beautifully written"? Are you joking? This self-absobed Creative Writing 101 treacle might do well in the chick-lit world, but it sure doesn't qualify as beautifully written.

4:09 - Chick-lit treacle is what gets six-figure book advances. The "literary" stuff goes nowhere (unless Oprah gives you her Midas Touch).

I laughed out loud when I read that she bought a brand of pretentious sounding cigarettes to compensate for her lack of pretention. She oozes pretension. Her blog reads like it was written in between chapters of the new romance novel she’s writing. I can see her future heroine sipping, wistfully, from a cup of chamomile tea while looking to her friends, pets, books, and family to rediscover that she IS a bright, powerful, and independent woman.

Does "Esq." really qualify as coming "behind" a name? I would think it came after, or followed -- "behind", to me, would be something that is being obstructed by the name.

good god, could someone have posted a warning to not read her blog while eating? her first entry is truly...disgusting. blech.

4:14, holy crap, get a life.

4:08 & 4:07(2) are correct.

She's clearly garnered a lot of support. But it's probably best to allow her PH e-mail to speak for itself. I just can't help but think that describing her life in intimate detail on a blog isn't the best idea. It rarely is.

I'm glad we got a chance to see into the life of this woman, but, I do agree with 4:07. Business is business, the bottom line doesn't care about you an individual. We all know the game, cruel as it is. Let's not pretend that BigLaw cares about what happens outside of your extended office. Good luck to Ms. Oh, good luck to all of us.

First, this woman does not deserve a book deal. Tucker Max had years of comical happenings and true law related scandal and he wrote ONE book (albeit, a great book) about his law-related wranglings.

Second, although I think she did get screwed by PH, and was not treated fairly, she is not a martyr. I agree with two posters (3:54) and (4:12). She likely did not merit a partnership position, and she was likely the most pretentious b***ch you ever met before her latest misfortune.

If she were a man, we would call her a douchebag. It sucks that bad things happened to her, but bad things happen to a lot of people everyday. When did lawyers or doctors or any type of professional deserve attention for overcoming adversity in their lives?

The first step she ever took in self-realization was her denial of the PH buyout and public disclosure of bullsh*t way she was fired.

Now, instead of looking ahead, she wants to pout about the fact that she isn't where she wanted to be when she imagined her life 15 years ago. Boo hoo, welcome to the life of roughly 90% of the U.S. population. Not everyone mires in their own self-pity.

Oh, and as far as the argument about her miscarriage, save it. Save the nonsense. It happens to millions of women. She can try again. Her deprecation simply supports the notion that she 'expects' things to come to her because she wants it.

I have also decided to start a blog. Here is my first entry:

This morning, I woke up, showered, and went to work. I had a sandwich for lunch.

More to follow! Hopefully there is a book deal in this for me if I keep at it.

While we're at it, I think she has one of the most hideous smiles I've ever seen.

I don't know what emotion causes that facial expression, but I hope I never feel it.

I need to know if she is in a WGWAG! Please do some more research!

This is the best ATL content in a year. If she wants another baby I can help out with that...

- King of WGWAG

I agree with 3:41. What a self-entitled woman. Most people don't earn in a lifetime what she earned in 10 years. They offered her a very generous severance. If you're a 10th year associate, you should know the writing is on the wall.

Rivetting. NOT. why do we now have to stare at 2 mugshots of Oh on the ATL home page?

That blog is a fake if I have ever seen one.

4:23 is the real douche...and they can't even spell correctly with stars! (b***ch) I mean...if we can't trust your self-censored rants, what can we trust.

so ... those of you who think that Ms. Oh should stop writing would (1) cheer when your practical and realistic law firm fires you; (2) tell all your other also-fired colleagues to shut up and (3) proclaim "c'est la vie!"

If that is the case, congrats!! Your law firm has successfully grommed and brainwashed you into another a--hole partner wannabe.

Bonne Chance

Someone needs to tell her you're not supposed to put "Esq." after your own name, or behind it, or following it.

I can't wait to not read this ttt blog!

Shinyung Oh: "I worked for 10 years at a biglaw firm, earned lots of money, had a miscarriage, got offended by the partners in my firm because they didn't delicately handle my miscarriage, got fired and wrote a big hissy-fit email about it that got circulated widely, haven't looked for a job since, am worried about my dog thinking less of me....and all I have to show for it is a blog that dwells on all of the above."

No, 5:01, those of us who think Oh should stop writing think so because her writing is atrocious. Her maudlin musings about her life/career/baby are written with the adjective-addicted, overwrought frenzy of an undergrad who thinks she's a Really Good Writer. Her choice to speak out about the circumstances of her dismissal was one thing; continuing to pat herself on the back about it is another.

This woman was treated wrongly by a disgusting, money-obsessed law firm, but Ms. Oh's blog shows her to be emotionally unstable. She tells us the lurid details of when she discovered the miscarriage, incuding exactly what came out of her. I find this bizarre and troubling that she would share something so personal and intimate with strangers.

5:30 gets it right. End of thread.

What's with the attitude that not having a baby is some kind of failure? Having a baby is not an accomplishment--it's a biological function.

How annoying.

4:59 - Jackass

If you are going to discredit the opinions on a blog by pointing out folly in the structure of the writing, tighten your criticism. Exclamation point, then hypotheses? Excellent grammar. Again, jackass.

Oh, and it's a blog.

5:30 - Please don't make your points so well as to make it irrelevant for anyone else to contribute. I'm going over to the Duke page...

5:43 - sorry about that. Enjoy ragging on Duke.

--5:30

This may be a Whole Other Thread, but isn't having a child the most selfish, carbon-footprint-expanding indulgence a human is capable of? And somehow she's a hero for failing to do so?

I will gladly never reproduce. There. Now make ME a hero!

5:52 - I agree 100%. Not only is having a child selfish and carbon-footprint-expanding, giving birth is the greatest violation of human rights one person can impose on another. Why do we feel entitled to force others into existence when they have no choice in the matter?

5:52 is obviously a militant lesbian. Deal with it.

I feel bad for her miscarriage, but I agree her life (with maybe just a few "tweakings") is ideal for chick-lit. here's a three -sentence summary of plotline-- Sentence One (first half of book) -- While going through efforts to have a baby, started to see "the light at the end of the tunnel", and thus let work slack (but will be described mirthfully as "finally realizing that there are no true emergencies outside of medicine." or something to that effect)

Second half of book (sentence 2) --- Then, when the whole thing did not work out perfectly for her (not getting promoted despite no book of business and likely slipping attention to work, have a miscarriage despite waiting to have children in late 30s when rate of miscarriage is nearly 1 in 3), she rejects her firm's several month severance package and send a "take this job and shove it" email, despite having a huge mortgage hanging over her head.

Concluding pages (sentence 3) -- Lives a carefree life working in non-profit, writing novels, doing nothing (or whatever) (with passing reference, or none at all, to the husband - with 6 or 7 figure income - who still has to work to support the family.)

Ok, that's it!!!

This is ridiculous. This is a bizaroo-world Jerry Maguire-esque parade that simply needs to end. That email was unprofessional and ridiculous. On the other hand, it does ring true somewhere deep down...

I just cannot decide whether it was honorable or just plain stupid (ie: career-killing, etc...)

This is truly ridiculous. I love how the balance on here is now about 50/50, after all of the emotional boo-hooing about her miscarriage (get over it--it 's awful but it happens; life goes on and you can have a lot of fun trying again) made it more like 95-5 against Paul Hastings on the previous threads.

Shinyung, grow up. Keep your sob story to yourself. It was your choice to say "shove it" before, but this is getting pathetic. You're doing yourself a trememdous disservice, and you sound like a total downer b***h.

What's the big deal? Guys at my high school used to fish abortion tissue out of the toilets with chopsticks all the time.

I didn't have a problem with her original email/going public, but she's getting a little bit too Do You Hear The People Sing about it at this point.

4:23 = Tucker Max

5:52, the only thing worse is that you continue to breath and generate carbon. Kindly desist.

Guess I'm the only one who thinks she sounds VERY unstable emotionally. I thought her letter to rejecting the firm's severance package was well-written and very powerful. These blog posts, however, make her sound in need of professional help. Given all that has happened that's understandable. I just hope she gets that help.

Take-aways I can use:
1. Law firms have amazingly bad HR skills.
2. Not everyone makes partner.
3. Partners are robots.
4. Non-robots don't typically make partner.
5. Asians love blogging.

Was there something else?

I second everyone who says she ought to seek professional help. Clearly, this has taken a toll on her emotional health. It's not as hard for every woman who loses a pregnancy, but for others, it can mean spiraling into depression. I'm still recovering from losing an unplanned pregnancy in February of this year. Seek help, Ms. Oh.

She writes much better than Saira Rao. Perhaps Lat's got some standards

I would buy her book, so I hope she does write!!!

9:37, foreshame.

You guys are just jealous that she doesn't have to work just yet. She did the right thing. She has more balls than almost all of you.

I actually think Oh was treated unfairly by PH, but that kind of thing happens to so, so many associates - they just don't talk about it. I'm grateful that she publicized it, though, because firms generally bank on shaming their associates into silence.

That said, what is it with these associates leaving firms that union-bust and defend companies from aggrieved workers in a blaze of glory when their time to get treated like shit comes? You'd think it was the first time an employee had been mistreated. I'm thinking of that dreadful blogger who wrote Opinionistas and Oh. In truth, I don't know if Oh was an employment attorney, but I know PH does a ton of that kind of work.

It would've been even ballsier if she had taken the severance, sat quietly, and then disparaged them.

Oh Crap

To the partners and Kool Aid drinking moron associates posting that she has nothing to complain about, the next time something truly horrible happens to you, remember that you read this:

YOU DESERVE IT, YOU SORRY SACK OF #$%&.

With your obvious lack of compassion and basic human decency, most if not all of the people around you secretly cheer for your pain, and even your significant other, if you've managed to keep one, is only there for the money, feels relief when you're not there, and hopes you get hit by a bus so s/he can collect the insurance. Believe it.

10:39 -

another liberal douche. Did you read the substance of the posts. Most people sympathize with her plight, but realize she is not emotionally stable and (albeit a few posters) opine she was likely a pretentious bitch prior to 'the great fall.'

When you get out of law school, you will understand.

This is getting way out of hand; Moreover -- speaking as a PHJW associate -- I think it's totally hypocritical of her to crap on the firm after she leaves -- she doesn't care about other people -- she literally only cares and thinks about herself. She's no different than the people that run this business. She could care less if the firm goes down in flames. Well lady - this place provides a living for many other people besides yourself. Try to think outside of yourself for once before you hurt this firm any more.

11:16 - so she's supposed to take pity on the people who fired her? Jesus H, you have really been brainwashed. Or is it the minions lining the pockets of those evil bastards, and perpetuating their wrongdoing enterprise, that you would have her feeling sorry for and keeping quiet to protect? She may have been one of you, but that doesn't mean she should be taking it easy on the partners or the enterprise once realizing what scum they are! Once you realize something is evil, it's incumbent upon you not only not to take part, but to help change the system. Either that, or you're just in it for the money, don't give a shit about the world or anyone else, and evil yourself.

PH clearly showed its stripes as a TTT by doing what they did. You don't give someone stellar reviews and then let them go for reasons ostensibly performance related with no prior warning. If the firm is having economic layoffs, they should just own up to it, and smearing the reputations of former employees after telling them they've been doing fantastic work shows the firm deserves every bit of derision it has gotten here and more.

The difference between 11:16 and me is that I didn't care if my firm burned to the ground even when I worked there.

12:12 (2)

Every morning I drive to work hoping to hear on the radio about a disaster that destroyed my building.

There are some fellow associates I'd miss, but I wouldn't shed a tear, pour a 40, or even refrain from openly smiling for most of the partners. And I know many other associates in my office feel the same.

I'm so sick of people just constantly complaining.

12:47 - stop complaining about it.

i love that a GC fired PH. take that, from shinyung oh! PH associates worried about their jobs: rather than trying to support a system that will end up screwing you in the end (do you really think you'll still have your job when you become as senior as shinyung was?), why not do your part and find a better place to work--you'll be helping yourself in the long run.

She does come off as particularly whiny, but she is a Korean woman. The vast majority of Korean woman, 95% of them, are whiny, pretentious, I'm-too-good-for-you bitches.

She does come off as particularly whiny, but she is a Korean woman. The vast majority of Korean women, 95% of them, are whiny, pretentious, I'm-too-good-for-you bitches.

Her stuff is really good. I'd buy it.

From today's blog:

I read the comments on Above the Law, and I got that churning feeling in the pit of my stomach. Why did I give my facebook photo to the WSJ reporter, and why is it plastered all over the place? I am freakin tired of looking at it too. But such mean comments. Who are these people? And why do they have so much time on their hands? But maybe this is what I get for grabbing more virtual space that this is worth. Should I just delete this blog now? Go away quietly and resume my life as it was before this fiasco? I mean, why use this opportunity to try my hand at writing? It's gibberish, and why do I have to practice my writing in front of the world to see (and judge so harshly)? And who cares about some random chic who had a miscarriage and got fired? Shit happens all the time, and on the grand scale, this really is trivial.

Good that this self-absorbed freak is not able to reproduce.

She does come off as particularly whiny, but she is a Korean woman. The vast majority of Korean women, 95% of them, are whiny, pretentious, I'm-too-good-for-you bitches.

She does come off as particularly whiny, but she is a Korean woman. The vast majority of Korean women, 95% of them, are whiny, pretentious, I'm-too-good-for-you bitches.

re: the pretentious cig musings... sounds an awful lot like someone just read the new david sedaris-?
(except he was funny about it)

My thoughts exactly, 4:02. Her whole blog reads like a horrible pastiche of Sedaris elements, minus the art, grace, wit, or sensibility.

Not one of you racist, cowardly hypocrites would ever have the courage she does to acknowledge truths. You all work WAY too hard in protecting Big Law and the choices you've made and the environments you toil in with snide, ugly remarks which belie incredible insecurity, remarks you would never own face to face. You are like a pack of hungry hyenas feasting because you THINK it's anonymous.

But you disrespect every choice that isn't yours. If someone does something you wouldn't you are like a crowd of stone-throwing peasants. Get over yourselves, you pompous pissant(s)

I am totally ready to acknowledge two truths. 1) Oh admirably stuck by her principles when she turned down PH's severance and hush agreement. 2) She's an awful writer. I fully respect her choice to deal with PH as she did. I do not respect her insistence on continuing to pat herself on the back for it, nor do I have any patience for her crappy blog. If she wants to try her hand at writing, that's great - really - but she's got a long road of self-editing and self-awareness to travel before her stuff is worth reading. I guess part of my extrmeely visceral reaction to her posts comes from my assumption that someone 15 years out of college (who spent 10 of the intervening years in a writing-intensive profession) should be a little more polished.

Hi, this is Shinyung Oh here. I appreciate people's comments, and if my writing sucks, it's probably good to find that out now, although I don't think I'm necessarily looking to write for this audience - and as I wrote on my blog, it really is practice writing since I haven't touched this stuff for so long. I didn't mean to be patting myself on the back and didn't think that I was. Isn't there a world of blogs that people never read, and I assumed that mine would fall into that category. Yet, people seem to be reading it and taking the time to comment on it. I find it amazing how invested some people seem to be in all this. Kind of curious to me...

Then don't read her blog. Must every book or blog ever written pass your lithmus test? Acknowledge it is your opinion, don't read her blog give a bad review we all can benefit from if and when she gets a publishing deal.

But the jackals on this site discussing her ethnicity and more are just cowardly bland-faced bullies; the kind of cretans I grabbed by the collar in fifth grade and pushed up against the wall when they picked on little girls or boys who were not athletic.

And if the majority of these faceless neandrathals are lawyers....no wonder we have the reputation we do.

Oh...now I"m going to be lambasted for spelling neaderthal wrong....god help me.

Here's a question - how did Lat come to know about Oh's blog? Did he stumble across it himself, or did she tell him about it? If it's the latter, it's kind of hard to now argue "aw shucks, I didn't think anyone would read this."

How does Lat come to know about any blog or piece of gossip...he has people working for him who are paid to find these things out....

And if that's not the case and she told him about it....then her marketing savvy will be untapped by the fools who unceremoniously let her go. I for one, vote for the former. She's been drawn into the spotlight, again, and hopefully she will handle it wisely and profitably to herself.

Either way, it doesn't undo the damage that was done by the law firm and the profession overall and given right back to them in spades then and now...and it doesn't hamper her potential growth in a new direction.

I hope to read more about the talented Ms. Oh

Accord, 4:18. If she had sent the email and left it at that, she would have been able to find employment at a law firm (but not biglaw, since as a 10th year without a BoB, you're not biglaw material). Doing this makes her seem more interested in fame and less "together"/competent to handle representing others. I know she has a lot to work through, but she should be keeping a diary, not a blog.

"Yet, people seem to be reading it and taking the time to comment on it. I find it amazing how invested some people seem to be in all this. Kind of curious to me..."

Are you for real lady? Perhaps you are incredibly naive, however for a TENTH year associate to have sent that email, you either knew or should have known that it would get out of the PHJW network. Plausible that you didn't think it would mushroom to the small to moderate spectacle it has become but this attitude you display is not fooling anyone.

If you had no intention of anyone paying attention to your case, then why'd you contact Lat and why do you post responses here and why did you start a blog? Answer: You are a self righteous pretentious person, living off your husband. Had you not had a miscarriage no one would have cared about you. Hate to be crass but after reading your entry on your miscarriage, which was patently nauseating, I don't feel as bad about being so crass.

Wow, 3:48 - so much anger. try not to have a heart attack. you sound way too involved (you gave yourself away by using "PHJW")

"(you gave yourself away by using "PHJW")"

How so? They've been widely referred to as same for years.

"But the jackals on this site discussing her ethnicity and more are just cowardly bland-faced bullies; the kind of cretans I grabbed by the collar in fifth grade and pushed up against the wall when they picked on little girls or boys who were not athletic."

Um, Cret*a*ns refers to people from Crete. Cret*i*ns is likely what you meant, lest you yourself be anonymously accused of racial prejudice, tough guy.

3:48 is spot on.

another self entitled peon who thinks because they went to some snooty law school that (a) they should be worshipped as a God and (b) that anyone cares about their feigned protestations. Lets be honest, had that firm offered her partnership she'd have taken it, then, I suppose, sh'd be one of the evil partners. Not sure if this chick has been reading the papers lately but things are bad all around. She should be KISSING THE GROUND that this didn't happen to her 1-2 years out as it has for some other unfortunate folks. But no, she was ENTITLED to partnership. And God forbid that a woman get laid off. God forbid. Well, what about the MALE associate who gets laid off with a pregnant wife and a mortgage? What about him? Where's the indignance on that one?

I have followed this story with sadness, but also with a fair amount of vindication. Years ago I went through an experience at Paul Hastings similar to Ms. Oh's, though without the personal misfortune, and can readily second her observations about the culture there, which is 100% focused on increasing PPP to the exclusion of all else (anything else is just PR stuff for the clients). I admire her for her courage in going public over treatment that was vile by any standard. Detractors focus on three months' severance and disloyalty to PH, while ignoring the timing and the false pretenses of the termination (which certainly justifies her animosity and "disloyalty" to PH). Ms. Oh is to be congratulated for her courage and integrity. Those of you unfortunates still stuck in BIGLAW or, God help you, PH, get out now, while you can, and stop trying to prove to yourselves that everything is OK in your sad little world. It's not, and in the off chance you stay on board, you, too, will be monsters one day, like the muckety-mucks at PH: blowhards, sell-outs, whores.

Hello,
I heard your story on the Today show this morning. I applaud your courage. I would like to share my story. I was employed by a mid size insurance company. I found out I was pregnant and they laid me off . All of the people in my unit got jobs, but me. I was the only pregnant one. After I came back from maternity leave they offered to demote me. Very nice huh? I had to deal with post partum, a sick baby and employer harrasment. I played along hoping to get a job. So, I applaud what you did. I say GOOD for you. This big companies SUCK.

Hello,
I heard your story on the Today show this morning. I applaud your courage. I would like to share my story. I was employed by a mid size insurance company. I found out I was pregnant and they laid me off . All of the people in my unit got jobs, but me. I was the only pregnant one. After I came back from maternity leave they offered to demote me. Very nice huh? I had to deal with post partum, a sick baby and employer harrasment. I played along hoping to get a job. So, I applaud what you did. I say GOOD for you. This big companies SUCK.