Boutique Law Firms, Small Law Firms

Beyond Biglaw: Job Security, 'Hidden Figures' Style

Make yourself indispensable.

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hidden-figuresOne of the best movies I saw in the past year was “Hidden Figures,” the story of African-American women working for NASA as “computers,” or human calculators, at the height of the USA’s space race with Russia. The movie does a great job of demonstrating how these determined women were able to flourish in demanding and changing roles, even in a time where institutionalized racism was as present in the workplace as it was in society at large. When we meet the protagonists, they are all struggling to perform at work while maintaining their dignity, such as during the unforgettable scenes where the main character is forced to run across NASA’s campus in high heels just to use the bathrooms reserved for colored people. To see these women persevere, and ultimately contribute in various ways to advancing America’s space program is uplifting, and a welcome change from the typical superhero or sophomoric comedy fare at the box office..

The movie weaves together a number of themes of interest, with one of the more interesting subplots involving Dorothy Vaughn, the woman who at the beginning of the movie is responsible for managing the assignments of the various calculators employed by NASA. The law firm equivalent would be an assignment partner, tasked with making sure that the firm’s associate workforce is distributed to best help any partners who currently need help.

One of Vaughn’s frustrations is that because of her race, and despite her significant work responsibility, she is consistently shut out of a managerial role, at least with respect to her pay and official title. We feel her frustration at having the job brief of a manager, while being denied the respect that comes from actually bearing the title. Watching her struggle, I thought of various senior associates I have encountered over the years, who have the skill and responsibility of partners, but were never bequeathed the actual title from their firms. A difficult circumstance to function in, especially in a high stress environment.

For Vaughn, however, opportunity arose from an unlikely source. As part of NASA’s efforts to modernize their operations, they had procured an actual computer from IBM (http://www.zdnet.com/article/hidden-figures-and-the-ibm-7090-computer/), a true technological marvel of the time. Problem was, no one seemed to know how to use it, with even the IBM-supplied technicians struggling to get it working, much less turn it into a productive machine for NASA’s purposes. Sensing opportunity, our heroine began to familiarize herself not only with the technical manual of the computer itself, but also the early software programming language, Fortran, that the computer ran on. No one told her to acquire those new skills, just as no one told her to make sure that the other calculators under her charge would also learn how to program.

Whether she did what she did out of a fear of being phased out, a genuine interest in new technology, or both — her learning how to handle the new technology ended up saving her job and securing for her a long-coveted management position. Not only that, but because her staff had learned to program, they were also indispensable to NASA, and ended up keeping their own jobs, albeit in new roles. There was no way any of them could have done their calculations as quickly or accurately as a computer, ensuring their workplace obsolescence. They sidestepped disaster, however, because they were willing to invest in themselves and acquire new skills.

One of the more interesting things about this storyline in the movie is that by embracing the new technology before her more-established colleagues, our heroine was able to leapfrog not only the potential loss of her job, but the racism that had kept her down in the first place. The simple lesson is that even as powerful a force as racism is not enough to keep people from accepting minorities who are willing to do jobs that others simply do not want or feel are too difficult for them. On a broader note, it also reinforces the fact that successful employees are those who consistently acquire new skills, and find ways to contribute despite the obstacles placed in their path by technological change.

There is a powerful analog in the law firm world, where lawyers who acquire specialized skills, especially in areas that are too complicated or otherwise undesirable to other lawyers, may enjoy a higher level of job security than would otherwise apply to them. At the same time, every lawyer must consistently make sure that their skills are not becoming stale, or that tasks they have long billed for are now the domain of machines that can perform those tasks at much lower cost.

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This is especially true at a smaller firm, where lawyers are forced to handle a variety of administrative tasks, and can’t rely on the “back offices” that support a Biglaw firm’s operations. Even when a small firm outsources administrative work, someone at the firm needs to oversee that outsourced work, and develop some familiarity with those functions. Likewise, and perhaps more importantly, technological facility is what helps smaller firms even the playing field with their Biglaw brethren, putting a premium on the smaller firm’s lawyers learning how to maximize their productivity using the latest technological legal tools.

Ultimately, Vaughn’s character arc in Hidden Figures reminds of the need to always stay current in our practices when it comes to technology. It also teaches us to value those colleagues who make a point to learn new skills, and are brave enough to challenge themselves to consistently grow in the face of rapid change. As a bonus, whenever we need some inspiration, we can think back to those women in Hidden Figures, who fought to make themselves relevant in a time when everything seemed set up to keep them an afterthought.

Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.

Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique. The firm’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.

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