The junior partner was elated: “I just landed a big case in Los Angeles!”
The senior partner was much calmer: “Congratulations. How do you plan to staff it?”
“I’m going to call the head of the LA office this afternoon and ask for help.”
Free Attorney Time Tracking Template For Smarter Billing
Tired of messy time logs? This free attorney time tracking template helps you bill with confidence and accuracy. Learn more in the full article.
“Are you nuts?”
“What?”
“Don’t call the head of the LA office. The head of the LA office has one objective: To keep everyone in LA busy, so the office looks good at the end of the year. When you ask the head of the LA office for help, he’ll find the one lawyer who has nothing to do, and he’ll assign that lawyer to your case, to keep the lawyer busy.”
“So?”
The Law Firm’s Guide To Trust Accounting And Three-Way Reconciliation
Proper trust accounting and three-way reconciliation are essential for protecting client funds and avoiding serious compliance risks. In this guide, we break down these critical processes and show how legal-specific software can help your firm stay accurate, efficient, and audit-ready.
“Any associate in this firm who’s any good has too much work to do. Partners are fighting for the associate’s time. The person with nothing to do is terrible. He produces garbage, so nobody wants to use him. That’s why he’s sitting around twiddling his thumbs. Call the head of the LA office to ask for help, and that’s the person who’ll be assigned to your case.”
“What should I do?”
“Is there anyone you know and trust in LA? Call someone in LA who you personally know and trust. Ask that person to recommend a good associate to you. Then call the associate directly, and entice the associate to work on your new matter. Whatever you do, don’t call the head of the office.”
“I never would have thought of that. Thanks for the suggestion.”
“No problem. By the way, who are you using here in Chicago for help on your new case?”
“I’m using Jarndyce. Jarndyce helped me on my last case, and she was spectacular. I’m asking her to help again.”
“Is Jarndyce really good?”
“Terrific. She’s one of the best associates I’ve ever worked with.”
“You’d better keep that under your hat.”
“Huh?”
“If you ever find any associates who are worth a damn, you don’t want your partners to know the associates’ names. Your partners will steal those people from you.”
“Huh?”
“The average associate around here is average. That’s not very good. No partner wants typical associates working on the partner’s cases. Partners wants the few great associates that we have, so the partners are able to produce great quality work for their clients. If you ever stumble onto associates who are good, the last thing you want is for everybody else to know their names.”
“Can I ever tell anyone that associates are good?”
“Sure — at review time. When we’re reviewing associates, you want our management to know which are the quality associates, and you want to help the careers of those people. But that’s it. Otherwise, tell people you don’t know any good associates — or tell people that the bad associates are good.”
“How long have you been working here at Bigg & Mediocre?”
“Ever since I graduated from law school 25 years ago. Trust me. I’ve seen a lot.”
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 [email protected].