Letter from London: Foxhunt!
Ed. note: The legal world is much bigger than New York, or Washington, or even the United States. Welcome to Letter from London, a weekly dispatch from the other side of the pond. Our U.K. correspondent, Isaac Smith, will expose ATL readers to the latest goings-on in the London legal world. You can reach Isaac by email, at isaacsmithlondon@googlemail.com.
You thought Arent Fox telling deferred incoming first years that they are “free to pursue other options” was bad? Well, you Arent going to Foxing believe what UK firm Shoosmiths did last week.
In a letter leaked on Tuesday, Shoosmiths gives its 2010 intake three options: defer for a year, defer for two years or withdraw. And whatever choice you make, adds the letter, you get £0 compensation. Nice.
Outrage duly erupted on Legalweek.com’s message boards:
“Disgraceful” wrote one poster, “Shame on you Shoosmiths!” another. And my personal favourite: “I think lawyers at all levels are now treated as industrial prostitutes.”
Still, so far no major firm has told recruits they have to pursue other options. I wonder how long until that changes.
After the jump, US firms making partners in the UK.
In other news
Since US firms moved into London in the 90s, we Brits have been - let’s be honest here - praying for them to fail. You come to our country, steal our best lawyers, refuse to participate in our lunchtime boozing sessions, while all the time forcing your strange ways on us - by which I mean doing stuff like forbidding associates from using the “out of office” function on their emails lest they vex the sacred client, as Cleary’s London office did recently.
So it was with great pleasure that we read last week about partner promotions at some of the major US law firms in London hitting a four year low, with just 34 lawyers being made up this year compared to 54 in 2008.
We don’t cheer about the job cuts though, I promise. On Wednesday there were more at Reed Smith’s London office, with 9 UK associates and 19 support staff set to go after consultations.
A few more things
The G20 riots struggled to live up to the hype, although the protesters did smash up a bank - not an investment bank, but a normal bank, where the employees get paid around £21,000 a year. Rumours of opportunistic Shoosmiths management fleeing the scene with complimentary pens stuffed into their jacket pockets remain unconfirmed.
Meanwhile, London firm Norton Rose got 96% support from staff in a firm-wide consultation on its plans to put lawyers on a 4 day week rather than make redundancies. It’s really nice this sticking together in tough times thing. But will it work? “The problem could be that it is based on the premise that the good times will return,” observes The Times darkly.
Finally, Slaughter & May, the UK firm with the highest level of profit per equity partner (PEP) - and widely regarded as the country’s most prestigious firm - took its first step to cut costs on Thursday by freezing associate salaries, following a similar move by Clifford Chance a couple of days earlier. CC also voted to cut its partnership by up to 15% - with reports suggesting that the firm’s US based partners may be most vulnerable.
Elsewhere on our green and pleasant island…
If you’ve made it past the jump on this post, I’m assuming you’re the type of American who owns a passport and realises I’m not writing this from London, Ohio. So I’m not going to try and kid you that Dubai is in Britain. But Dubai does contain a lot of British people, many of them lawyers who were shipped out from quiet London offices to avoid losing their jobs. Well, that trick isn’t working anymore, as evidenced by DLA’s decision to lay off eight of its Dubai-based associates - 8% of the office’s fee earners.
What have we learned?
Lawyers? They’re nothing more than a bunch of industrial prostitutes.
Quote of the week
“A mutual and spontaneous display of affection and appreciation” - Buckingham Palace spokesman on what happened when ex-Sidley Austin associate Michelle Obama worked some of that Big Law charm on the Queen.
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first!!!
Microsoft’s worldwide IP operations chief about patent outsourcing to Indian lawyers: “We went there to save money,” he acknowledges. “We stayed and expanded because we liked the quality of the work.” It wasn’t just okay, it was better.
But LPO is the starting point for India’s legal community, not its final destination. Indian lawyers give nothing away to their western counterparts on acumen, and they seem to be considerably ahead of them on efficiency and work ethic. When clients keep looking at the hourly rates charged by most Indian lawyers — between $20 and $40, according to the Corporate Counsel article — eventually, they stop asking, “Why are they so cheap?” And they start asking, “Why are our western lawyers so expensive?” That paradigmatic perspective shift is coming faster than many law firms think.
This column is awful. All it does is summarize Legalweek. I can read that myself! If you don't have any inside information then don't bother. ATL has gone down in quality. I've been searching for a credible alternative for a while now.
At least give me some speculation on which UK firm Bryan Cave wants to merge with.
Not this guy again.
The Brits are clearly more sophisticated than us when it comes to paying attorneys what they are actually worth over the next two years, which in some cases is zero.
"If you've made it past the jump on this post, I'm assuming you're the type of American who owns a passport and realises I'm not writing this from London, Ohio. "
But the byline is "Elie Mystal," so I'm thinking it ain't written from London, England either.
I spent all weekend stretching and practicing yoga. Now I can blow myself.
Are the Industrial Prostitutes and the Catholics the ones who have been fighting in Northern Ireland all these years?
The Empire be sunk.
Gay is England.
Hmm, byline changed ...
I like this. Keep it coming.
6 - I agree. The writing style is very similar, including but not limited to obnoxious word puns.
Gay as Mystal in a bath.
Almost 11am EST. Looks like all you law student twats are up for the day....
I never sleep.
Large Farva
Microsoft’s worldwide IP operations chief about patent outsourcing to Indian lawyers: “We went there to save money,” he acknowledges. “We stayed and expanded because we liked the quality of the work.” It wasn’t just okay, it was better.
But LPO is the starting point for India’s legal community, not its final destination. Indian lawyers give nothing away to their western counterparts on acumen, and they seem to be considerably ahead of them on efficiency and work ethic. When clients keep looking at the hourly rates charged by most Indian lawyers — between $20 and $40, according to the Corporate Counsel article — eventually, they stop asking, “Why are they so cheap?” And they start asking, “Why are our western lawyers so expensive?” That paradigmatic perspective shift is coming faster than many law firms think.
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The problem with this, is that Indians don't pay $200 for Microsoft WIndows. They steal it, for free, or for $1 at some counterfeited store.
If you had a clue about economics you would understand this cyclical relationship, and how such gains rob yourself of a market.
DLA is starting a trend.
Dubai to desert mirage!
17 - Which market are you talking about? Are you referring to the US legal profession as a parasite on corporate america robbing the true returns to those shareholders investments held in their retirement accounts?
How Indians view paying for Windows
"Its so bad here that frankly till date I have rarely seen a home user using a legitimate copy of Windows. Even when I have seen that, it was in branded PCs which came pre-installed with the OS. The moment I congratulated someone for using a legitimate OS, within a minute he figures out that he was made to pay for the OS by the PC vendor, and he felt bad that he could have got the pc for less if he had a way for not opting for the OS."
So go ahead MSFT, pay those Indian lawyers instead of hiring Americans. Soon no one will buy your stuff. Americans won't buy it because they don't have jobs, and Indians won't buy it because they steal it.
2 - You're an idiot. India is a developing nation. There is no doubt that many of their lawyers are highly competent and comparable to top attorneys from any country. However, as with other industries that have outsourced, they will continue to lowball their fees until they've siphoned away business, then you'll get to see how fast the fees will rise and work will return to the US.
Optimistic? Possibly - but it's already happening in pharma and tech. To say NOTHING of the fact that Indians haven't even successfully mastered the "call center" yet.
Of course, this may be a moot point as Pakistan may be falling to hardliners soon, and then we may see the world's first nuclear war.
I don't know where this column came from, but I like it. A lot.
Too British. Didn't read.
21 -I guess that the idiot would be the one seeking or holding a US law degree with a mountain of debt waiting for the jobs to return at some pay scale that will afford a lifestyle beyond always being behind the financial 8 ball.
Zero Compensation? Cue Partner Emeritus...
As legal jobs get exported, so will US lawyers... to set up legal systems and open new offices in emerging economies. Just have to learn to want to be international.
How does the Letter from London fail to mention the Freshfields April Fool's letter making it's way around the city?
How does the Letter from London fail to mention the Freshfields April Fool's letter making it's way around the city?
Who the fox is Isaac smith?
#2: Last year's news.
And good luck to Microsoft with its malpractice case when the inevitable big screwup is uncovered. The problem with non-lawyers trying to judge "the quality of the work" of lawyers is that they have no idea what they're talking about.
And good luck to the Microsoft board when they try to explain to the shareholders that they lost billions of dollars on some legal screwup because they tried to save a few bucks on legal fees.
31/32 - Isn't that why malpractice insurance is carried and the work in India has to be supervised by US attorneys as stated in the ABA Opinion? Using your rationale, there is no need for US attorneys to carry insurance.
No. 6 That corner has already been turned and the CFOs of the business community have taken notice. Ask any in house counsel how much weight a CFO will throw around once they realize they can save a bundle on outsourcing legal services for the routine stuff that was the bread and butter of so many big law and wannabe big law firms. Orrick actually might be onto something with their "office" in WVA. If the legal profession wants to keep jobs stateside, then any small town/business city like Peoria, Des Moines, Syracuse, Rochester, Manchester, Ann Arbor, Sacramento, pick any or add your own, are viable candidates for similar operations. Prediction - in a year, there will be at least three "operation centers" in the US staffed by displaced associates from biglaw. Just like accountants and other "professions", we are getting squeezed to fit big company production models. Wanting to become a pharmacist used to mean something other than being a Walmart/RiteAid/CVS hourly wage guy. In 10 years, the practice of law will be unrecognizable when compared to how law is practiced today.
No. 6 That corner has already been turned and the CFOs of the business community have taken notice. Ask any in house counsel how much weight a CFO will throw around once they realize they can save a bundle on outsourcing legal services for the routine stuff that was the bread and butter of so many big law and wannabe big law firms. Orrick actually might be onto something with their "office" in WVA. If the legal profession wants to keep jobs stateside, then any small town/business city like Peoria, Des Moines, Syracuse, Rochester, Manchester, Ann Arbor, Sacramento, pick any or add your own, are viable candidates for similar operations. Prediction - in a year, there will be at least three "operation centers" in the US staffed by displaced associates from biglaw. Just like accountants and other "professions", we are getting squeezed to fit big company production models. Wanting to become a pharmacist used to mean something other than being a Walmart/RiteAid/CVS hourly wage guy. In 10 years, the practice of law will be unrecognizable when compared to how law is practiced today.
35 - Good point. This is part of the "follow the sun" strategy setting up shared databases to be processed around the clock with shops in every time zone.