Blogging, Small Law Firms

Little Richard Comes Out of His Pseudonymous Closet

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I’ve been appropriately chastised for writing this column from behind the protective wall of a pseudonym. Readers want to know who’s talking to them. As a reader, I get that.

To the extent I did not get it, the point that was made very clear in the comments to my inaugural post:

It’s hard to take seriously anyone who hides behind a pseudonym. Your description of your bona fides leaves a lot to be desired. Why are you afraid to reveal your name, your law school, and your current and past employers? How are we to know whether you have any special insights into the practice of law at a small firm such that we would be interested in reading a twice weekly column?

By way of response:  I agree. I agree. Not afraid – just wanted to be cautious (I’m still a lawyer by training after all) given that I’d never done anything like this before (commence the “yeah, we can tell” comments) and I had no idea how long the column would last. Good point.

People use pseudonyms for a variety of reasons and I had mine. Sufficed to say, those reasons no longer merit my anonymity. So let’s get to it. Answers and vitals after the break…

First and foremost, why “Little Richard?”

The short-lived nom de plume was the result of (1) using my nickname (Dick) and (2) trying to fit “small” or some synonym thereof into the moniker. I would’ve preferred “Biggie Smalls”, but didn’t really want to get in a turf war with the very dead, but still very Notorious B.I.G. Basically I was shooting for something clever and missed. Maybe next time I’ll try an anagram.

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Second, in an attempt to quash various other (rather amusing) guesses that I’ve read:

  • I’m not David Lat’s alter ego – If he has one, I’m sure it’s a better writer than me.
  • I’m not Billy Merck – though I commend him on his school choice.
  • I’m not gay – not that there’s anything wrong with that.

As more than one commenter guessed, I graduated from the Grady School (2000) of Journalism & Mass Communication. After three years and four jobs in four different industries, I started writing giant checks to Villanova Law School — best known for here for banning laptops and Deans behaving badly (UPDATE: after 16 months of searching, VLS finally appointed a new Dean) — and eventually graduated in 2006. I spent my law school summers at Drinker Biddle & Reath and Chimicles & Tikellis in that order. Two days after graduation I moved back to Georgia where I passed the bar and spent 3+ years working at this small firm (Last I checked they still have the same composite picture which includes yours truly). Care to guess which one is me?

For the record, I didn’t leave my small firm because I hated it. I left because I just wasn’t that into practicing law. I looked around at the partners with whom I worked and, for the most part, those guys (there was exactly one woman lawyer) really loved their chosen profession. I didn’t, so I chose happiness over financial security. Now I live in San Diego where I work in the corporate HQ for a national retail outfit where I advise the execs on leasing issues and other stuff during the day, and masquerade as a writer at night. If I had my way, I’d write full-time.

At the risk of losing any chance to ever do that, but in the interest of full disclosure, I’m the guy that auditioned for the MD as The Gobbler and wrote this debacle of a post. It was late and, as happens often, my goofiness got the better of me. I still think it had potential, but certainly not for that space.

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Thanks for reading, commenting and sharing your own vitals with me. Until further notice, you can still send me emails here and find me on Twitter @LittleRichardJD. I’m looking forward to having a more open conversation here.

Sincerely,
Josh Dickinson

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of small law firms

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