Why Do Lawyers Curse When They Work At Law Firms? - Above the Law
Why do lawyers curse when they work at law firms?
I hear you in chorus: “Because they hate their lives!” “Because their opponents in litigation are jerks!”
PLI’s corporate programs help sharpen your skills while earning CLE. From M&A hot topics, to ESG considerations, to the wide-ranging needs of in-house counsel –…
Fair points, I suppose, but that’s not what I’m thinking about today.
I recently had dinner with a lawyer-friend and his wife, and the wife said that she really didn’t like the lawyer working from home. His home-office was right above the room where she worked, and she could hear him cursing a blue streak all day. It bothered her.
Which got me to thinking: Do lawyers who work at firms curse more than in-house lawyers do?
I speak mainly from two long-term job experiences: Twenty years at one of the largest law firms in the world and 12 years in-house at a huge international company. Based on that experience, I offer this thought: Lawyers in fact curse more when they work at law firms than when they work in-house.
I witnessed it.
But is it coincidence, or is it generally true?
It just might be true. Here’s why:
Lawyers tend to have certain personality traits, including skepticism, urgency, and autonomy.
Lawyers at firms tend to operate as fiefdoms: I have my clients and my lawyers who work with me. I speak whatever words the firm likes to hear about operating for the common good, but we all know that my clients are my power, and I’m not giving them up lightly.
Lawyers at firms are focused externally. They’re routinely dealing with opposing counsel and courts, and those players exasperate them.
Law firms tend to give short shrift to human resources departments. Human resources is basically: “You do the work; we pay you. We also teach you some stuff, largely by osmosis. Over time, there’s an outside chance we’ll invite you into the partnership. If you become a partner, we pay you more. If you like that arrangement, then stay. If you don’t like that arrangement, then leave. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
In that sort of environment, people curse.
The environment encourages you to curse, and there’s nothing controlling you.
In-house lawyers of course started with the same personality traits, but the traits have moderated over time.
In-house lawyers are not operating in fiefdoms. By definition, in-house lawyers have no portable clients. There are things to protect at a corporation, but your client base is not one of them.
In-house lawyers are working with internal clients far more than they’re working with opposing counsel. At many corporations, external counsel deal with opposing counsel in litigation. The in-house lawyers handle relationships with others in their corporation — the in-house lawyers’ “clients” — and with the corporation’s external counsel. Those folks don’t treat you quite as rudely as opposing counsel do, and there are reasons for you to treat those people with respect.
Corporations have large human resources departments, and those departments want everyone to be happy. Lawyers (even junior ones) and staff should be happy. Why would anyone curse on the job?
And in-house lawyers have less power to ignore rules than do lawyers at firms. Heavy-hitters at law firms curse, get criticized, and respond: “Screw you! I’ll take my clients and leave.” The firms decide that, on reflection, they can live with the cursing.
In-house lawyers who reacted this way would probably be told they didn’t have the right attitude, were ruining the corporate culture, and should consider a career change.
Do lawyers at firms curse more than in-house lawyers do?
I’ve lived it, and I can think of reasons why it might just be true.
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 Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at [email protected].
source: https://abovethelaw.com/2021/09/why-do-lawyers-curse-when-they-work-at-law-firms/
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.