In-House Counsel

Compassion At Corporations And Law Firms

Some might say this is the real difference between corporate legal departments and law firms.

By  
on

At a corporation, you’re supposed to be nice.

(This is quite a challenge for some of us.)

You’re supposed to support corporate initiatives and build esprit de corps.  You’re supposed to engage the troops.

Law firms don’t worry about that crap.

At a corporation, you hear people say:  “Jarndyce is a good lawyer.  But he was criticizing our in-house training program for executives.  I’m not sure we want someone around who has that kind of attitude.”

Or:  “Jarndyce negotiates a pretty good deal.  But he was awfully abrupt with opposing counsel on the last transaction.  I think he needs coaching.”

Or:  “Jarndyce is much too self-centered.  He just sits in his office and gets his work done.  He never strolls the floors, chatting with others.  That’s not really the right attitude.”

Sponsored

Or:  “Jarndyce occasionally seems unhappy with his job.  That’s his fault.  At this organization, you’re responsible for your own engagement.  If you’re not engaged, it’s your fault.  Maybe it’s time to let Jarndyce go.”

Folks who work at corporations understand what I mean.

Folks who work at law firms think I must be making this stuff up.

At a law firm, you hear:  “Jarndyce is a great thinker!  She comes up with arguments that most people miss.  She writes extraordinarily well.  She’s good on her feet.  And she’s started to bring in some clients.  Make her a partner!”

She may have the personality of Vlad the Impaler, but no one really cares.  For the most part, firms are judging people on their legal (and business development) skills, and no one worries about the rest.

Sponsored

There are reasons for this:  Lawyers at firms (generally) are billing time.  Lawyers at corporations (generally) are not.  “Strolling the floor, chatting with others” doesn’t have an ABA billing code.  It thus constitutes “vacation” at a law firm.  At a corporation, it constitutes “work.”  There’s no surprise that people do more of it at corporations.

Additionally, cynicism (I’d call it realism, but someone would think I was being cynical) is almost expected at law firms.  Lawyers worry about which practices are declining, who’s not pulling his weight, what can go wrong, and so forth.  This is instilled in a lawyer’s training and reinforced by a lawyer’s life.  

You might hear this at a law firm:  “We’re set:  Summerson told me he’d send the client a note.”  “Did he actually send it?”  “He said he would.”  “So what?  Until you see it go, that’s just a promise.  And it’s probably a promise that Summerson is breaking.  Confirm that the note actually went.”  That’s either being a compulsive nutcase or being a lawyer who’s practiced for a couple of decades. 

People, as opposed to lawyers, aren’t like that.  They assume that Summerson sent the note.  People want to know that they’re working at the very best corporation in the world.  They want to know that it’s 72 degrees and sunny.  They want to know that everything’s going swimmingly and, incredibly, things will go even better tomorrow.

In other words, they’re nuts.

But, as odd as this may seem to lawyers, that’s the world.

If you feel comfortable living in a world of realists, and you prefer not to sit around singing Kumbaya all the time, then stay at your law firm, for heaven’s sake.  Your personality fits the joint.

But if your law firm feels a bit icy to you — people don’t stop to chat or take an interest in your personal life — consider making a move.

There may be places that don’t fit the stereotypes but, for the most part, law firms cater to lawyers, and corporations cater to people.

Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now deputy general counsel at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.

Topics

, , ,