I was reading Bernard Goldberg’s OpEd piece in the WSJ remembering Tim Russert where he quotes from Russert:

I am for having women in the newsroom and minorities in the newsroom — I’m all for it. It opens up our eyes and gives us different perspectives. But just as well, let’s have people with military experience; let’s have people from all walks of life, people from the top-echelon schools but also people from junior colleges and the so-called middling schools — that’s the pageantry of America . . . You need cultural diversity, you need ideological diversity. You need it.

While Goldberg is focused on media bias in the newsroom, his points resonated with me on so many different levels and I began to ponder how we, as legal professionals, view law firm diversity programs.

At the start, what do we mean by diversity and what are we trying to accomplish? Are we looking to mix up the photos on our websites, increase our stats for an RFP, and perhaps win an award or two? Or are we trying to infuse different perspectives and ideas into how we and our firms view a client’s problems, issues or challenges?

One of the newer trends I am seeing come from our industry (law firms, bar associates and industry groups, etc) is to participate in programs that increase the pipeline of minority students who will eventually attend law schools, thereby increasing the minority candidates to recruit.

This is a great beginning. But, where do we go from there? Will all of those students end up at Harvard, USC or University of Chicago? What about the kids who end up going to 2nd Tier schools like Southwestern, McGeorge or Howard University? How many AmLaw 100 firms have tables set up there?

The question I have is: will we continue to limit our recruitment efforts to the Ivy Leagues and other top tier schools, or will we open it up to the middling schools?

I want to be extremely clear: I’m not saying don’t actively recruit women and minorities. I applaud those efforts. I’m just saying we should not close our eyes to the economic, cultural and ideological diversity that exists as well. At the end of the day, diversity is more than just a color, it’s the way our varying and diverse life experiences, beliefs, attitudes and opinions come together to create a masterpiece.

A recent article in the Washington Post, Why We’re Gloomier Than The Economy, addressed the interesting phenomenon where perceptions of a slow down in the economy are much greater than reality. While consumer confidence is at 30 year lows, the traditional metrics used to measure misery are not in the basement. In fact, they are at mere fractions of what they were in 1979, 1991 and 2001.

I have been running into this recently at a number of law firms I have been visiting. In fact, back in March, I actually had an AmLaw 50 firm ask for a pricing discount on a contract due to "the economy". I guess looking down at your shoes glumly while walking the marble floored halls of your Park Avenue law firm can be depressing.

I am not buying it. It is just another excuse for inaction and preservation of the status quo that is rampant in many risk averse law firms.

There have been changes in the level of business to be sure. In fact, some people are complaining that the typical counter cyclical practices like bankruptcy and litigation are not picking up like they usually do. Well, news flash folks, the leaders in these areas are doing just fine. Which ones? Hmmm, maybe the ones that have invested in their brand, people, client service initiatives and infrastructure during the boom years.

Look how smart you marketing people are.

Those firms that have not done the things I mentioned above are going to find this next two years a bit rough. It is not that many of them will go out of business from lack of work. However, they may lose a number of key partners who defect to the forward thinking firms that continue to grow profits per partner (PPP) in a downturn. THAT might knock them out of business.

In a world characterized by access to anything you want to buy via the Internet, instant answers on Google and endless supply of viable choices for legal expertise, choosing to do things the way you always have is just not a rational option. Taking a break when it is tough is not an option. And, using a "slowdown" as a reason for pulling back instead of grabbing market share is shortsighted (to put it nicely) from firms still boasting a PPP that would make their own mother’s blush.

I confess. I Love My Blackberry.

I’m reading ATL today about all the strange places people use their Blackberries. It got me thinking of all the GREAT things I get to do because I have my Blackberry.

  • Disneyland, in line for Dumbo (the longest line at D-land), where, after sending some long replies on an RFP, I realized it was no longer a vacation day, but a work day! Woo hoo! I love being Exempt!!
  • At the beach in Newport watching my kids play in the surf while working on my summer tan (tanning season has officially begun, by the way).
  • At a screening for Speed Racer with the kids, on a Thursday afternoon, because I am on that mailing list.
  • At the airport, trying to catch an early flight home after a business trip so I could actually see the kids before they went to sleep.
  • Sitting out by the pool watching my kids play with their friends on a 90° day in the middle of January, because we get those weird heat waves in LA and who wants to sit in a high rise when you can be enjoying it.
  • Leaving the Thai Massage spa last Friday, because I really needed it.

I will also be leaving the office today, but remaining fully connected, so as to attend the last Brownie Scout meeting of the year, because my Blackberry allows me to be the Brownie Troop Leader.

Personally, I don’t look at my Blackberry as something that keeps me chained to the office or to work. I see it as a liberating tool that allows me to fully participate in my own personal life.

Yes, I look at it on days off, on vacations, at night. But I also know when to put it down, when to leave it in the car, or when to let the power drain completely.

* OK I admit to being on my Blackberry soon after Piper was born. But it was more about chatting with my friends than working. Those e-mails I ignored.

I was forwarded an article from Friday’s issue of The Recorder, “Building a Book.” I wanted to pick up the phone and shout out, “Hey, did you read that whole part about financial motivation?”

Associates are encouraged to wine and dine potential clients with the help of an unlimited expense account. And they’re given an incentive: 15 percent of any fees from work they bring in, according to [Stuart] Liner.

Articles like this keep me marveling about the several generations of attorneys bred to be motivated only by numbers, and why we, legal marketing and administrative professionals, continue to fight against this, only to be frustrated again and again.

Right now, I see attorneys primarily motivated by:

  • GPA
  • LSAT
  • Law school rankings
  • Class placement
  • Hours
  • Billed
  • Percentage realized
  • Dollars originated
  • PPEP
  • AmLaw 100 ranking

And the list goes on.

Larry Bodine recently wrote in an article posted to his website, Memo to Senior Partners: Motivating Younger Lawyers to Generate New Business:

You have to make law practice cool again.

While I agree with Larry that we need to bridge the gap between the generations in the workplace, I believe that the current law firm business model does not support it. The business model has yet to adapt to the concept of “work-life balance,” technology and outsourcing, let alone the work ethics, or lack there of, of Generations X, Y or the Millenniums and what motivates them.

How many firms out there support associates attending industry or trade conferences, or to take CLE courses which involve air travel and hotel? How many firms out there are handing out raises and bonuses to partners based on client feedback results? I know many firms offer marketing or business development hours, but how many require that they be used? How many firms actually allow associates to bring in new clients, and to receive origination credit, other than Liner? They might get a “finders fee,” but origination credit?

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe most firms out there are only rewarding their attorneys based on a percentage, a dollar sign or a decimal point. Until the business of law changes, why do we continue to try and motivate attorneys in a fashion foreign to them?

We might not have the “power” in the law firm to evoke change, but we have the benefit of knowing the art of persuasion and we can certainly encourage, at the least: a better compensation system which encourages cross-selling; a reward system for marketing and business development activities; a client feedback program tied to attorney bonus; an associate development program, with supportive leadership; and a retention program for women and minority partners.

And while in a perfect firm attorneys will embrace business development, cross-selling, attorney development and retention all for the betterment of the firm, in reality they will remain motivated by a number.

Until then, I say complexo numerus! Embrace the numbers!

The Alexandria outpost of George Washington University is the scene of the third cohort of 18 students working on a certificate/masters program in Law Firm Management. That’s right…there is such a thing, and I’m in the middle of it, after cramming the required reading in a period of two months: Law Firm Strategy (Mayson), Reinventing Strategy (Pietersen), Aligning the Stars (Lorsch & Tierney), and The Lawyer’s Guide to Increasing Revenue (Greene), plus a notebook of about 20 other articles. The first six credits of the program are packed into this 9 day residency taught by GWU faculty and Hildebrandt Institute.

Yesterday we started at 8:30 a.m. and went for 12 hours; the day culminated with dinner at Bookbinders, where our barely formed teams presented our take on the normative environment of an imaginary Chicago law firm that’s in deep trouble. Our team role chose to role-play the exit interviews of five employees including one partner, one associate, two administrators who tried to outsource the IT department, and the executive director. One team member played the HR director. We vented what was wrong with the firm (it’s on it’s demise on the s-curve.) Today we focused on the firm’s strategic plan. Tomorrow we’re dealing with profitability analysis. The pace is intense, but well worth it.

Maybe it’s the nightmare I had last night that the Lakers blew their 24-point lead and lost to the Celtics, but I am in an irreverent mood today. And while the cup might not be half full on Figueroa today, it’s definitely filled with something a bit stronger than coffee.

What I enjoy most from the legal marketing and administrative community is that you confirm for me that I am not alone in my thoughts. With this blog I sometime think, “ohhhhh, I don’t know if you want to hit the publish button on that.” But, I read it again and think, “Hey, why not. It’s nothing I wouldn’t say in a conversation around the Watercooler.”

So, file this one under “told ya so.”

From Casual Day Has Claimed Another Victim

If you have to tug it or yank it when sitting down, it’s too short.

I guess I now have to add, if they can see your boobs, your blouse is too sheer or low cut.

Have a great weekend and a Happy Father’s Day to Dear Ol’ Dad and Joe.

I read today that SF has lost its last hometown chairman to NYC:

Matthew Larrabee, chairman of Heller Ehrman, will move to the firm’s New York office this month, the Recorder reports. Larrabee told the publication the change is a strategic plus. “We’ve been focused on building out a truly national platform,” he said. “That means growth in New York and D.C. for us right now.”

Other than the food, shopping and theatre I am confused by the AmLaw 50 trend of disassociating with your home town roots for a NYC zip code or the new “National” title.

Humor me. I know that the firm location label was originally ascribed by American Lawyer via a headcount formula, but the trend itself has been embraced in recent years by the firms themselves.

I get the whole “NYC firms make more money” and “NYC is the center of finance,” but what does relocating the chair of the firm, or the main office, say to your home town, or, better yet, to your attorneys in the now demoted “home” office? It can’t all be client driven? If so, our firm should relocate to Hartford or Boston today.

Working next door to the original “LA Law” building, I have to wonder, where have all the LA law firms gone?

Latham describes itself as a “full-service international powerhouse;” Gibson Dunn references their “global reach.” I do give two thumbs up to O’Melveny for touting their LA history. As a 3rd generation Angeleno, I love the old photos. Too bad you have to dig deep to find the references (Go Dodgers!)

American Lawyer only identifies two of our hometown favorites as Los Angeles firms: Quinn Emmanuel and Sheppard Mullin. But, for how long?

Of the Top 50 AmLaw firms, the breakdown of firm location is:
National – 23
New York – 13
International – 3
Houston – 3
Boston – 2
Atlanta, LA, SF, Chicago, Milwaukee, Richmond – 1 each

So, come on, just between us: What does Wall Street have over Figueroa, Avenue of the Stars, Fremont or Market Streets?

Is this payback for the Dodgers and Giants? It’s been 50 years already.

Maybe it’s because I live in LA LA land, or perhaps I’m just reading too many blogs these days, but when did our society cede personal responsibility to a 28-day stay at Promises or Betty Ford?

I understand it when Brittany, Amy and Lindsay need to get the heat off, but come on, Bill Lerach has asked to enter a treatment facility at the prison:

According to the motion, filed by John Keker, his lawyer: Lerach has struggled for years with severe alcoholism and faces the substantial possibility of relapse without the type of treatment offered by the BOP’s residential drug program. . . . Lerach suffered from alcoholism for more than 20 years. The extent of Lerach’s alcohol abuse and his need for continued treatment is documented in detail in the four letters from his doctors filed herewith under seal.”

I’m not criticizing alcohol treatment, and please understand, I have personal experience with the havoc alcoholism causes in the lives of the alcoholic and to everyone they come into personal contact. I just have a problem with the recent trend in lack of personal responsibility when the s*&^ hits the fan.

I am really, really tired of pampered celebrities, indictment-facing executives, and now disbarred attorneys, seeking sympathy by avoiding personal responsibility via a 28-day program … and then issuing a press release, or leaking the information, so we all know about it a la Josh Gersten of the NY Sun, who quotes one friendly to Lerach:

“Bill has accepted responsibility for conduct that had no victims and is doing all he can to address his human frailties,” a political strategist friendly with Lerach, Christopher Lehane, said in response to a query from The New York Sun. “When you take it in the totality of all he has done, it is clear the guy has always stood up — and will continue to stand up — to make sure the little guy has an even playing field.”

(emphasis added)

The article ends with this:

Lerach left Milberg Weiss in 2004, taking many of the firm’s lawyers to start a new San Diego-based firm, then known as Lerach Coughlin. He resigned before pleading guilty last year. In light of their felony convictions, all four former Milberg Weiss lawyers are expected to be disbarred.

Doesn’t sound like a victimless crime to me. Sounds like he got caught.

With the Secret Service, CIA, FBI and Karl Rove on speed dial, McCain turns to Google to vet VP candidates.

It got me wondering, if you don’t show up in the first few pages of a Google search result, do you exist? And, if you don’t exist in Google, how do you create a presence for yourself? I think it goes back to that whole SEO thingie, which can get too technical for me at times. I guess I’m like a lawyer in that respect. I don’t want to know how it works; I just want to be #1.

One of the reasons I started the Legal Watercooler was to see how easily I could manipulate my Google search results. Before the blog, there was some gymnast with the same name that was all over the first four pages. I popped up somewhere around page five. Not a real presence for anyone doing due diligence on me. In the month since launching the blog, if you search “Heather M. Milligan” the Legal Watercooler comes up #1. I show up as #2 for “Heather Milligan,” which takes you to the LMA-LA leadership page. Heather Milligan Marketing or Heather Milligan Legal both result in 1st place listings for the Legal Watercooler. Not bad for a free blog, some not-so-free time, and some pithy opinions.

I know there are other search engines out there, but do they count? I’ve tried some of them, but I always go back to Google.

So Coolerites? Where do you rank with Google? Are you number 1, or just floating out there with the other 822,000 results? If you’re mad as hell with your search results, what are you going to do to change it?

I’m not talking about iceCream. I want an iPhone. I’m not a gadget sort of gal, but this new iPhone is looking luscious. The first thing I did when I dropped out of corporate America was go back to Mac. I, like many early home computer users, started out on a Mac SE in the ‘80s. I was reluctantly forced into Microsoft once I hit the law firm circuit. It’s okay, but I’m a happier person today because I’m back to lovin’ my Mac. (With a few moments of exception.) Anyway, last year I wanted an iPhone and last year my law firm said NO iPhones. I stuck it out with my Blackberry, which is fine, but as soon as my T-Mobile contract is up in a few months I’m moving over. Trying to patch on PC/Mac sync software is a headache and it doesn’t really work all that well.

So, where am I going with this post? For all the enterprise peeps out there lusting over that sweet little gadget, the iPhone now has software to integrate with Microsoft Exchange! “The best phone for business. Ever.” They also have a new application called MobileMe which when I figure out what it is, I’ll report back.

So, coolerettes, who is going to ask (or has already asked and been turned down) their IT group to support iPhone? Do you think they will? Hey, its way cool and now it’s business savvy too, why not?

A couple months ago the dude at T-mobile tried to convince me that my Blackberry could act like an iPhone – and I admit there are a few nice features like a basic GPS, Bluetooth, and Facebook application – but the screen, the UGI and the feel of it doesn’t even come close. So, “Will Masses Embrace Apple’s $199 Handset? Today’s WSJ asks? Count me in.