Friday Files: No, I’m not that Jennifer Alvey

Yes, I’m back. I didn’t really go away, but let’s just say that the intermission was longer than anticipated.
One of my favorite characters lately is Thursday Next, from the Next Octology series by Jasper Fforde. (Several reviewers call the series “Harry Potter for grownups.” Possibly this means I’m not really a grownup, since I love [...]

Read Full Post »

Friday Files: Poor Choice of Words

So I’m at lunch with my two sisters, celebrating the 40th birthday of one of them. Being girls, we of course must all go to the loo together after the meal. Fate smiled on us, giving us three empty stalls and indeed, an entirely vacant loo. So much the better to keep gossiping and catching [...]

Read Full Post »

Friday Files: Lawyers and Carolyn Hax

Here’s another one of my guilty addictions: Carolyn Hax’s Tell Me About It columns and online chat. I’ve been reading her since her very first column appeared in the Washington Post. Strictly coincidentally, her column started about a year before I left law. I remember reading the column in the firm library on Fridays. Good [...]

Read Full Post »

Friday Files: Wouldn’t Wanna Be Ya

Sometimes, you just feel for people. Even though you know that most BigLaw partners are huge pains in the tookus, when one screws up so majorly and publicly, you feel something. Gratitude, if nothing else, that it wasn’t you who did it.
It’s the worst nightmare of every attorney: an email goes astray to a reporter. [...]

Read Full Post »

Friday Files: The Great Font Debate

The thing about so many lawyers is they are very, very knowledgeable about one or two things, but think that means they know everything about everything. Which leads them into trouble when it comes to non-linear things like, say, typography.
In reality, I know precious little about typography, but having edited magazines, I’ve picked up bits [...]

Read Full Post »

Friday Files: Method Depositions

I used to work with Hank, a compulsive micromanager and highly methodical partner at a 30-attorney boutique. Despite having practiced for 20-plus years, Hank wanted his depo prep binders to have every possible iteration of a question included.
So I dutifully included questions like: What is your current position? How long have you held that position? [...]

Read Full Post »

Friday Files: Stupid Phone Tricks

You know how they tell you in trial practice class that you should check all your equipment functioning, the courtroom, etc. before you start the trial? Well, this isn’t about a trial. It’s about something much closer to home and office — your telephone.
During my last law firm gig, I worked on a ginormous patent [...]

Read Full Post »

Friday Files: The Mad Partner Editor

I worked for a couple years in a boutique firm of about 30 attorneys. Smaller numbers did not make this a warm fuzzy place to work. The parnter I worked for most of the time billed a ridiculous amount of hours, like 3,000 annually. Some of it was actual legal work, but a lot of [...]

Read Full Post »

Friday Files: Lawyers and Cars

Lawyers pop up in the strangest places. There I was a couple Monday nights ago, watching Top Gear, a fabulous and (in Britain) wildly popular TV show about cars. Well, it’s about cars the way Car Talk is about cars. But the accent is better and the show much funnier.
So the Top Gear guys decided [...]

Read Full Post »

Friday Files: Lawyer Rationalizations

Lawyers have this maddening, awe-inspiring ability to rationalize damn near anything. Take, for instance, a D.C. BigLaw firm that, back before emailing to people outside your own firm was common, moved into swank new offices in a restored historic building.
These offices were meant to impress. Pearwood and black terrazzo surrounded us, along with glass and [...]

Read Full Post »