In-House Counsel

What Trump Said About Law Firm Bonuses!

Interesting commentary on bonus season from POTUS.

By  
on

Yeah, yeah:  It’s the anniversary of this column, and I have a tradition of ginning up an attention-grabbing headline so a few people will click through and celebrate with me. 

Today’s headline was drawn from today’s headlines:  If you mention Trump, you draw eyeballs.  If you mention law firm bonuses at Above the Law, you draw eyeballs.  So I did both today, and I fooled you into clicking through and celebrating with me.

These are the basics: Today’s the eighth anniversary of my writing this column, heaven help me.  I’ve now written about 500 columns for Above the Law — two per week for the first two years and one per week for the last six.  Some three or four million visitors have clicked through to read this drivel.  In celebration, I’ve written a birthday poem, with apologies to Robert Frost:

Ginning Up A Post On A Sunday Evening

My birthday comes just once a year;
I lie to gather page views here.
My headline may not be so true
But it draws readers, do not fear. 

I’m turning eight as you can view
By searching columns old and new.
Five hundred posts I’ve written now
That have had readers by the slew.

My favorites I’ve linked to — wow!
My son is out of med school now.
My daughter was in b-school deep;
She’s graduated; take a bow.

Sponsored

My column here still makes me weep
As I seek theses on the cheap:
A thousand words before I sleep,
A thousand words before I sleep.

Those eight years have had their benefits, of course.  I collected a bunch of old columns and published them as a book — Inside Straight.  That gives a guy a sense of satisfaction.   

I’ve met a bunch of interesting people who’ve chosen to send me their reactions to my columns.  I like making new friends. 

I’ve gotten to comment, to a fairly large audience, on certain aspects of in-house practice (without getting myself fired).  That’s been entertaining, while posing its own set of challenges.  

And I’ve had a chance to get to know the Above the Law community, such as it is. 

Sponsored

So I owe you, my readers, thanks.  

Thanks for the opportunity.  Thanks for reading.  And thanks for celebrating with me as I turn eight.

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

, ,