The Cautionary Tale Of A Contract Attorney's Biglaw Lawsuit
After suing Biglaw for overtime and losing, a contract attorney is now living out of his car.
Now, I don’t consider myself the most religious person you’re likely to meet. But I’ve had my fair share of Judeo-Christian indoctrination. And there is one phrase that has always stuck with me: “There but for the grace of God go I.”
Sure, I mostly remember the phrase as my Nana would cluckingly utter it, in a tone that seemed far less Christian than a strict textual interpretation might suggest, but the point remains. Sometimes it is necessary to appreciate the dumb luck and seemingly small and inconsequential decisions that separate your good fortune from those with far less.
That is certainly how I feel about the poor, dumb bastard who had the audacity to take on Biglaw….
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You may remember the tale of contract attorney David Lola. He filed suit against Skadden Arps and his staffing agency, Tower Legal, alleging his work as a contract attorney did not rise to the level of the practice of law and as such he was entitled to overtime wages. (He then also turned around and applied to Tower for another contract position, but that’s another post.)
So how are things going in Lola’s world?
Not very well. Last week Judge Richard Sullivan granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss, finding that the provision of legal services by a lawyer are exempt from federal overtime laws regardless of the nature of the task performed.
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While that is not the best news, certainly as a lawyer Lola would be familiar with the risks associated with litigation and planned accordingly… right? Well, if by “planning accordingly” you mean that he’s been blackballed from the contract attorney market and is now living in his car, then yes.
You see, Alison Frankel of Reuters wasn’t satisfied with the mere facts of the case as described in Judge Sullivan’s decision and decided to dig deeper. What she found isn’t pretty:
On Tuesday, I spoke with Lola. He told me that he was returning my call from his car, where he’d slept the night. Lola said he can’t get work anymore as a contract lawyer – no one wants to hire someone who sued his last employer, he said – and can no longer pay his bills, including his student loan debt. He said he’d like to be a patent examiner but he’d have to go back to school for a graduate degree in chemistry and he’s not sure it would be worth the cost.
And though it’s likely that Lola’s case is an extreme example — someone who swung for the fences with the lawsuit and is now paying the price — there is a lesson to be learned for all document reviewers.
“Like a lot of other lawyers, David is just looking for whatever he can find,” said Lola’s friend, a California lawyer who has also dabbled in document review. “The common theme is desperation.”
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Oh, you mean a friend (and fellow attorney) of the guy who has been blackballed for trying to stand up to the power players in an industry that churns through contract attorneys doesn’t want to be publicly named in an article? Huh. Weird.
Lola also told Reuters he was considering leaving this noble profession in order to build houses. And he may just have a point. In the immortal words of Office Space…
Peter: This isn’t so bad, huh? Makin’ bucks, gettin’ exercise, workin’ outside.
Lawrence: F**kin’ A.
Peter: [nods] F**kin’ A.
The sad tale of the contract lawyer who sued Skadden (and lost) [Reuters]
Earlier: Contract Attorney Sues Staffing Agency For Overtime; What Happens Next Will Make You Chuckle
