Bad Ideas, Biglaw, Parties

Would You Want to Join the 'Big Law Society'?

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A D.C.-based friend of Above the Law sent us an email Friday, with very simple instructions:

LOL … please find out more about these d-bags:

http://biglawsociety.eventbrite.com/

The link took us to an invitation to the launch party for the “Big Law Society.” It’s tomorrow night at 8 p.m. at the BlackFinn American Saloon. While BlackFinn is in the appropriate part of town, the power corridor near the White House, it is a sports bar.

A sports bar! Ick. Not an auspicious start for these “d-bags.” (A proper Biglaw Society event should be in the cigar bar at the Old Ebbitt Grill, or at an upscale restaurant like the Palm or Central.)

What is it with D.C. and douchey societies? See our previous coverage of the Ivy Plus Society.

We’re not sure how many firms in D.C. received the invitation, but our Biglaw correspondent told us that the email with the invitation attached was “carpet-bombed to associates” in his office. We’ve tried to find out more about the people behind BLS, but it appears they want to keep the founders’ identities secret. We did find something that gave us serious concern about this society, though…

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An error in the invitation!

“Seize up the competition”? Any self-respecting Biglawyer considering entry into an official society should shudder upon seeing such a faux pas. (Or was this intentional, and is BLS more of a dating than a social club?)

We know there’s something to be said for diversity in your social groups, and many of you may shudder more at the idea of spending your evening with a bunch of lawyers than you did at the typo. But those who live in D.C. probably spend most of their social time with lawyers anyway, given the town’s professional composition. Through BLS, they can weed out the government and public-interest types.

We’re not sure what the Society has planned in terms of its future events. We recommend it consider holding a prestige-themed rankings party, featuring a “Bros Icing Bros” competition (a drinking game that Akin Gump has already embraced). Except it would be called “Biglaw Icing Biglaw.”

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Attendees would have the option to “ice” fellow attendees from lower-ranked firms — with an event-appropriate high-ball drink, not a malted beverage. So a Skadden lawyer could approach an Arnold & Porter associate and “ice” him or her. There would, of course, have to be a “reverse ice” option: Arnold & Porter could reverse the ice if his law school were higher on the U.S. News rankings than Skadden’s alma mater.

We hope BLS will take this suggestion under serious consideration. In the meantime, if any of you attend the launch party tomorrow, please send us a report.

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