It started out so damn simple. A email went around Magic Circle firm Freshfields, scheduling a BBQ for new attorneys as COVID restrictions are easing up. How nice! The original email contained the line, “In case helpful, a reminder that I am rich in barbecues (there are 2) and so meat will be cooked on one and everything else on the other.” Which is useful information for those on a plant-based diet.
But someone couldn’t leave well enough alone.
An unnamed attorney edited that line to make a “joke” (it isn’t funny, but that was reportedly the intent), and Roll on Friday details the exchange:
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The trainee solicitor, whom RollOnFriday will identify as ‘Wedge’, sent the gag to his second year intake this week.
Another trainee, whom RollOnFriday will call ‘Stack’, had emailed the cohort to arrange a Summer social event. Stack wrote, “In case helpful, I am rich in barbecues”.
Wedge changed Stack’s text so it read simply, “I am rich”, and sent it to the group with the message, ‘Now amended below’.
Stack altered the revised text so that instead it read, “I am rich in colleagues and so poor in nothing”, responding to the group, “And now amended for sake of clarity”.
Wedge then smashed the banterbus into fifth gear and circulated a final version to his intake with the message, “Thanks [Stack] – a final amendment below”, after changing the email so it read, “I am rich and the poor are nothing”.
Stack appears to have surrendered, replying, “Great, thanks [Wedge], will send to [a colleague] now if everyone else on the chain is happy with current drafting”.
The line circulated among ~40 colleagues.
Some seemed to give the… attempt at humor the benefit of the doubt, saying it was “so outrageous that it seems to be self-mocking” and was “poking fun at living in an ivory tower.”
But not everyone approved of the joke. A firm spokesperson told Legal Cheek “the comments are not reflective of the firm or its values.” Which, you’d certainly hope not. And the blog from across the pond also reports colleagues aren’t pleased with the unnamed attorney:
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The rookie’s tweaks didn’t go down well with some colleagues, with one insider telling us that it was a “shame” they appeared to have chosen to poke fun at people from “working class” and “less privileged” backgrounds.
Which is a powerful reminder for this new lawyer: think before you hit send, especially to such a large group. Not everyone will share your opinions and even things you mean as a joke may not read that way to others, particularly when you’re taking aim at as large a swath of humanity as the “poor.” Also a healthy dose of compassion for people other than yourself goes a long way.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).