Referencing the announcement that Sullivan & Cromwell will raise starting salaries for newly minted attorneys by $20,000, to $145,000 (plus bonus), Wall Street Journal writer Cameron Stracher writes a provocative article called Cut My Salary, Please! (on line subscription required). Cameron Stracher, author of “Double Billing: A Young Lawyer’s Tale of Greed, Sex, Lies, and the Pursuit of a Swivel Chair” (William Morrow, 1998), says “Corporate law firms are, essentially, giant pyramid schemes…” iStock_000000565766Small 72.jpg “Corporate law firms are, essentially, giant pyramid schemes…” He goes on to say:

But what makes economic sense to the firms makes less sense for young lawyers. For one thing, each salary increase has been accompanied with a corresponding increase in billable minimums. When I started practicing, lawyers were expected to bill around 1,800 hours a year. These days, it’s about 2,200. Those 400 extra billable hours translate to about 600 more hours at work, or approximately two to three more hours in the office each day. Even at 1,800 hours I worked until nine at night, and most weekends. At 2,200 hours, a lawyer might as well move a cot into his office.

Before concluding he suggests that:

Tomorrow, law firms should cut starting salaries by 50%

You’ll have to read the full article to analyze his reasoning. My Opinion: During the dot com boom I recall participating in a round table in San Francisco where we discussed the then ridiculous increases in associate salaries. I understand the free market mechanisms that drive firms to compete for talent. I said then and I will say it again that salaries alone do not buy you motivation, commitment, drive and the desired peak performance. They buy you compliance with extremely high billable hour targets. I believe the long term winners have to be competitive in their salaries but also must learn how to enhance the satisfaction of both lawyers and the clients they serve.

Picture 6.jpg Ed Wesemann of Edge International and Creating Dominance Author When you visit Ed’s Blog, you will find almost nothing but fabulous strategy articles. So why did he post on a less serious topic today? Because one of our Edge International colleagues got a PDA with a camera and told Ed he doubted he’d use it. Ed is a master at using his, and tells us how in Top 10 Uses for a PDA Camera

ENJOY and LEARN!

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head-1.gif Seth Godin’s post, Going to Meetings, outlines the benefits that might accrue to firms who look at their vendors in a new way. Here is how he introduces his wise tips for all who receive presentations from vendors:

Here are a few tips, tips that are based on one assumption: if you do a better job in the audience, the person speaking will do a better job. You’ll learn more, get more, accomplish more, today and the next time she comes back as well.

Here’s how he concludes:

When you treat your vendors the way you’d like your vendors treated, it comes back to you. It pays off. It gets you better information, better attention, better prices. You’re a professional at your desk. You should be a professional at a meeting, too.

Here is a teaser from his tips – (shocking or brilliant?): iStock_000001349122Small 72.jpg

When you meet the sales rep in the lobby, have a few interesting questions ready. Offer her a glass of water. Be on time. Act like you’re glad she’s there. Even if you’re not, acting that way will get her to do a better job, and that’s your job, right?

SUGGESTED ACTION: Read the rest of his valuable tips and publish them for your senior team. I agree with Seth… it will pay off for you (probably more handsomely than you might have imagined).

iStock_000001033608Small.jpgiStock_000000784362Small(copy).jpgiStock_000000674592Small copy.jpg Bruce MacEwen of Adam Smith, Esq. fame does not disappoint in yet another thought-provoking post “The Vanishing Middle”. Read his post and then you will learn about the “hourglass”, “pear” and “palm tree” models. PUNCHLINE: Read Bruce’s post and whatever your preference, make sure your strategy is consistent with the right model for the clients and industries you serve.

iStock_000000477761Small.jpg The addicts referred to are identified in the title of a Reuter’s story today: Workaholics struggle to say ‘No’ to work Does this sound familiar:

WA [Workaholics Anonymous] identifies workaholics as people who often are perfectionists and worriers, derive their self esteem from work, keep overly busy, neglect their health, postpone vacations and overschedule their lives.

Workaholism seems to be an occupational hazard for lawyers by the nature of what we do and how we do it. I tease in presentations that as lawyers we are perfectionists for whom 100% is a minimum and that is why no document is ever finished – there is simply a point at which we are compelled to let the client sign the darn thing. I believe that lawyers ought to maintain this mindset about their work just as I hope surgeons do also. The challenge is that workaholism is so deeply engrained in our law firm cultures that we dare not even speak of balance without being considered “less”. This is one of the (usually) unspoken reasons why part time work for new mothers is such a controversial subject. We carry this mindset over to our senior support professionals. The Chief Marketing Officer who goes home before 7 PM has their loyalty questioned. Worse, they are often invited to meetings that start at 6 PM without even being asked if that is OK (although too many are afraid to say “no” even when it’s not OK). The real issue is whether workaholism comes at a price. The Reuter’s story has a heading which reads: DESTROYING LIVES

“People think it’s funny… it’s amusing until you hear the stories. There have been many people who have come, and work is destroying their lives.”

MY OPINION: I know from first hand experience that many part time professionals contribute much more per hour at the office than their full time counterparts. Perhaps out of necessity, part-timers develop better time management skills and they are also forced to focus. I am not arguing against billable hours, per se, but many lawyers report that they spend far more time in the office than their billable hours suggest. Many lawyers are spending too much time at the office and getting far less of a return for themselves and their firms (and their clients) than they would if they spent something less but worked more efficiently and effectively. Many lawyers report that they do not capture their real work effort in their billable hours. Imagine if the capturing of billable time became more efficient. The income would be sustained while allowing lawyers to attend the odd family birthday party (when it begins instead of when it ends).

bobpic_sm.jpg Robert J. Ambrogi Thank you to Robert Ambrogi’s for his post ‘Happiness index’ puts lawyers at bottom which is a grim reminder of the under-appreciation of lawyers and the legal profession and the consequential dissatisfaction of lawyers (as well as many clients, I am afraid). MY OPINION: Many lawyers are under-appreciated because they are focussed exclusively on lawyering and do not invest sufficiently in client relations. I know that a small percentage, probably 10 or so, are exceptions to this and are extraordinary at developing relationships with their client and can interactively shape the metrics by which they will be measured creating much greater client satisfaction. The profession must invest much more in client-relations training… not by bringing in the gurus but by having interactive internal learning sessions that allow the firm’s best to pass on skills to those who need to acquire them. FASTFORWARD: Imagine for a moment that we double client satisfaction. Can you imagine the impact on the lawyer happiness quotient? I rest my case.

000_0050.jpg Stephanie West Allen Stephanie launched her new blog IDEALAWG yesterday after much encouragement from me and many other friends who highly respect her thinking. I wish her great success and suggest you include her in your aggregator from the get go. Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while (thank you) will recognize Stephanie’s name as I have acknowleedged her as the source of a number of great post ideas and content. Stephanie reports that this is “techno-plunge” week for her as she will create her first podcast this Friday. I can not wait! BREAK A BLOG-LEG, STEPHANIE!!

ban_prove_it_1.jpg Thank you to Brand Autopsy for this awesome quote. Now imagine using this quote in connection with your law firm’s legal work or business development efforts. It would take about a nano-second for the resistance to begin. If you are the Managing Partner, or a Department Head, Practice Group Leader or Industry Group Leader, what are you doing to change all that?

Arnie Herz.nylj.jpg Arnie Herz’s post active listening and the art of conversation I consider a vitamin because it ought to be consumed daily. I quote from Arnie’s Post:

1) Listen 50% more 2) Ask twice as many questions 3) Hold eye contact 50% more 4) Make slight contact, or hold contact slightly longer 5) Show sincere sympathy or enthusiasm for something they say 6) Ask them if there is anything you could help out with

PUNCHLINE: This is a prime example where “knowing is not doing” – we can not get enough reminders on the subject of listening – THANK YOU, Arnie.

bjm-1.deutscheoper.jpg Many have written about the New York Times article, Why Do So Few Women Reach the Top of Big Law Firms?, but of it all I think you may want to see the Letter to the Editor by Bruce MacEwen of Adam Smith Esq. fame, refernced in his post: When The New York Times Speaks, It’s Reality MY OPINION: Diversity issues create a wonderful opportunity for great managing partners in great firms because they can gain competitive advantage by doing the right thing.