A
few
years
ago,
a
programmer
went
viral
—
in
was
2020,
so
maybe
not
the
best
phrasing
—
after
seeing
a
job
listing
requiring
“4+
years
of
experience
in
FastAPI.”
Quite
the
feat,
he
noted,
since
he
was
the
guy
who
invented
FastAPI
only
1.5
years
earlier.
The
modern
law
firm
partnership
track
feels
a
lot
like
the
FastAPI
trap.
Associates
have
to
prove
they
will
bring
a
book
of
business
to
the
firm
when
they’ve
spent
years
on
the
bottom
of
a
pyramid
scheme
with
senior
partners
taking
all
the
credit
and
nurturing
all
the
relationships.
How
do
you
prove
your
business
worth
when
you’ve
never
been
allowed
to
build
business?
There’s
not
a
single
answer
for
getting
over
that
hump,
but
Kellogg
Hansen
partner
Alex
Parkinson
had
an
additional
line
item
on
his
resume
that
some
lawyers
haven’t
considered:
he
wrote
a
treatise.
Specifically,
the
treatise
on
Multidistrict
Litigation
now
available
from
PLI,
which
he
started
during
his
clerkship
and
then
polished
in
his
limited
free
time
as
an
associate.
The
project
began
as
a
joke,
he
told
me,
an
effort
to
one-up
a
fellow
clerk
who
declared
that
they
planned
to
read
a
whole
treatise.
The
obvious
next
step
is
to
write
the
treatise
yourself.
Really
raising
the
bar
from
“maybe
I’ll
train
for
a
marathon.”
The
result
is
a
comprehensive
review
of
one
of
the
great
procedural
beasts
in
federal
court.
The
legal
system’s
industrial-sized
case
consolidator
makes
up
more
than
half
the
federal
docket
—
or
it
did
before
the
whole
docket
became
“[Person
with
well-established
constitutional
rights]
v.
Trump”
—
and
this
figure
keeps
increasing
as
America’s
problems
grow
more
intertwined.
Talc
cancer
cases,
opioid
litigation,
NFL
concussions…
all
the
stuff
you
see
in
headlines
without
realizing
there’s
a
whole
procedural
universe
making
it
possible.
The
content
of
the
treatise
itself
is
catnip
for
litigators
who
like
their
cases
massive,
messy,
and
in
need
of
a
federal
traffic
conductors.
“It’s
really
a
testament
to
what
is
possible
in
terms
of
efficiency
and
achieving
justice
in
a
large
number
of
cases,”
Parkinson
told
me.
“It
is
pretty
remarkable,
the
amount
of
coordination
that
occurs
to
get
these
matters
resolved
and
to
get
lawsuits
before
courts
and
heard.
I
think
that
the
federal
judiciary
is
proud
of
that
and
should
be
proud
of
that.”
Later
this
year,
the
Federal
Rules
will
add
Rule
16.1
to
codify
the
best
practices
developed
by
MDL
courts.
But
beyond
a
timely
guide
to
an
area
of
law
on
the
rise,
the
treatise
is
a
powerful
marketing
weapon
disguised
as
a
hobby.
It’s
a
branding
tool
with
some
history
at
Kellogg
Hansen.
Michael
Kellogg
and
Peter
Huber
—
the
firm
was
once
Kellogg,
Huber,
Hansen,
Todd,
Evans
&
Figel,
of
course
—
navigated
the
high-flying
Baby
Bell
years
as
the
acknowledged
experts
who
wrote
the
book,
literally,
on
federal
telecommunications
law.
Young
associates
almost
never
get
to
build
a
“book
of
business”
while
they’re
staring
bleary
eyed
at
document
review
platforms.
But
that
doesn’t
mean
they
can’t
build
their
business
prospects,
and
chiseling
your
name
on
the
cover
of
a
leading
text
is
quite
the
proof
of
concept.
At
least
if
the
firm
sees
value
in
the
practice
area.
The
author
of
a
treatise
finds
their
name
bound,
indexed,
and
generating
phone
calls.
And
since
the
subject
matter
continues
to
evolve,
Parkinson
is
already
thinking
about
the
future.
An
update
in
light
of
the
incoming
Rule
16.1
is
already
planned
and
he
has
ideas
for
future
chapters
over
the
coming
years.
Apparently
once
you
start
feeding
the
treatise
beast,
it
demands
regular
offerings.
Most
lawyers
out
there
won’t
bite
off
a
challenge
as
hefty
as
a
treatise,
but
those
aren’t
the
only
writing
opportunities
out
there.
By
keeping
one
eye
on
the
business
environment,
lawyers
can
hack
the
business
development
timeline.
Go
give
clients
a
reason
to
think
of
you
first.
If
nothing
else,
it
beats
training
for
a
marathon.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.