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via
Getty)
Given
the
ginormous
expansion
and
size
of
Biglaw
firms:
is
it
possible
that
they
have
gotten
too
big?
I
ask
because
several
ginormous
(albeit
nonlawyer)
companies
are
slimming
down
post-COVID.
Whatever
weight
was
gained
in
the
pre-COVID
years
is
now
seen
as
a
liability,
rather
than
an
asset.
So,
GE
is
separating
into
three
units
(Jack
Welch
must
be
turning
over
in
his
grave):
health
care,
energy,
and
aviation.
Johnson
&
Johnson
is
dividing
itself
in
half,
separating
the
consumer
products
unit
from
the
pharmaceutical
and
medical
device
unit.
And
not
to
be
left
behind,
Toshiba
has
announced
plans
to
divide
itself
into
thirds:
energy
and
infrastructure
in
one,
hard
disk
drives
and
power
semiconductor
business
in
another,
and
flash
chip
and
other
assets
in
a
third.
So,
can
Biglaw
sustain
its
bigness?
Should
it?
Associates
who
fill
the
coffers
with
the
billable
hours
are
not
so
sure
that
that’s
where
they
want
to
be
and
how
they
want
to
spend
their
working
lives.
Reasonable
considerations
given
the
demands.
Does
Biglaw
continue
to
grow,
or
will
it
think
to
rethink
its
bigness?
Some
mid-size
firms
are
considering
mergers
due
to
succession
challenges.
The
need
for
viable
succession
planning
is
not
new.
As
we
slog
toward
the
end
of
a
tough
year,
many
peeps
are
asking
questions
about
not
only
what
job
they
might
want
to
have
but
how
they
might
want
to
have
it.
In
the
office?
Remote?
A
hybrid
of
the
two?
What
about
legal
work
energizes
you
and
what
sucks?
I
am
not
the
first
to
tell
you
that
every
single
lawyer
job
sucks
in
some
respects,
and
if
you
think
it
doesn’t,
then
let’s
talk
further.
Drudgery,
to
a
greater
or
lesser
extent,
is
part
of
every
lawyer’s
work.
Discovery
work
was
always
what
I
hated
the
most.
The
endless
responding
to
what
seemed
to
be
endless
requests
for
documents,
admissions,
answers.
Not
just
boring,
but
mind-numbing.
Not
quite
like
what
you
imagined
the
practice
would
be.
Right?
And
did
any
professor
tell
you
that
in
law
school?
(Rhetorical
question.)
The
only
ones
who
came
even
close
to
telling
you
anything
about
the
real
world
of
lawyering
were
the
adjuncts,
those
in-the-trenches
lawyers
who
told
you
the
truth
about
practice.
Here
in
California,
I,
along
with
many
other
lawyers,
would
like
nothing
more
than
to
drive
a
stake
through
the
heart
of
the
current
discovery
statutes
for
good
and
find
a
better
way
to
litigate
and
resolve
cases
rather
than
endless
motion
practice.
Lawyers
prosper
on
the
theory
of
leaving
no
stone
unturned,
while
clients
rail
against
the
expense.
Further
news
on
the
state
bar/Tom
Girardi
front.
The
state
bar
will
consider
revisions
to
how
lawyers
manage
their
trust
accounts
or
mismanage
them,
as
the
case
has
been
with
Girardi
and
others
over
time.
The
proposed
changes
would
require,
among
other
things,
compliance
certification
of
the
trust
accounts
by
CPAs.
The
board
will
consider
rule
changes
after
the
first
of
the
year
and
the
proposed
changes
will
be
open
for
public
comment
until
midyear.
And
the
December
issue
of
our
monthly
glossy
magazine,
not
surprisingly,
titled
Los
Angeles,
has
on
its
cover
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Tom
Girardi.
The
cover
banner
reads:
“Barely
Legal,
Crooked
Investigators,
Swindled
Orphans,
A
Fortune
Squandered
on
Bling,
Inside
the
Surreal
Scandal
That
Toppled
L.A.’s
Top
Lawyer
and
His
Ambitious
Reality-TV-Star
Wife.”
(Emphasis
on
the
cover.)
“Barely
Legal.”
Really?
Jordan
Rothman
was
spot
on
in
his
recent
post
about
micromanaging.
Micromanaging
is
always
a
curse
and
never
a
blessing.
I
was
GC
of
a
nonprofit
many
years
ago
and
the
CEO’s
micromanaging
drove
me
out
and
into
my
own
firm.
Every
single
decision
had
to
be
made
by
him
so
all
the
competent
people
around
him
were
merely
fact
gatherers
and
order
takers.
Not
one
single
decision
could
be
made
by
those
on
his
team.
Mentoring
is
good;
micromanaging
is
bad.
How
are
peeps
supposed
to
learn
if
they
are
not
allowed
to
make
mistakes?
Why
hire
anyone?
Just
do
it
all
yourself.
Micromanaging
is
borne
out
of
fear,
of
insecurity,
of
not
trusting
the
judgments
of
your
staff
and
so,
to
CYA,
the
manager,
the
boss,
whoever
is
micromanaging
does
so
out
of
a
lack
of
trust.
There’s
nothing
worse
than
not
being
able
to
do
the
job
you
were
hired
to
do,
to
not
be
able
to
use
your
judgment
to
make
decisions,
but
it
is
your
job
to
keep
the
boss
informed
and
to
escalate
issues
as
needed.
No
one
likes
surprises.
If
a
boss
is
insecure
and
a
micromanager,
then
look
out.
That
boss
may
well
be
driving
the
bus
that
you
find
yourself
under.
I
have
the
tire
tracks
to
prove
it.
Having
graduated
from
a
nonranked
law
school
that
is
now
gone,
I
think
the
recent
kerfuffle
at
Yale
Law
School
requires
a
matrix
to
figure
out
who’s
who
and
why
anyone
should
care.
Joe
Patrice
opines
that
the
school
is
a
microcosm
of
a
failing
democracy.
Read
Timothy
Snyder’s
book,
“On
Tyranny,
Twenty
Lessons
from
the
Twentieth
Century,”
in
which
he
lays
out
20
signs
of
a
country
headed
in
the
wrong
direction.
(There’s
also
a
graphic
book
version.)
Among
those
signs
is
the
failure
to
remember
our
professional
ethics.
If
we
“confuse
our
specific
ethics
with
the
emotions
of
the
moment,”
then
we
can
find
ourselves
“saying
and
doing
things
that
we
previously
would
have
thought
unimaginable.”
Lawyers
in
Hitler’s
inner
circle
thought
that
the
law
was
there
to
serve
his
aims.
We
all
know
how
that
turned
out.
Jill
Switzer
has
been
an
active
member
of
the
State
Bar
of
California
for
over
40
years.
She
remembers
practicing
law
in
a
kinder,
gentler
time.
She’s
had
a
diverse
legal
career,
including
stints
as
a
deputy
district
attorney,
a
solo
practice,
and
several
senior
in-house
gigs.
She
now
mediates
full-time,
which
gives
her
the
opportunity
to
see
dinosaurs,
millennials,
and
those
in-between
interact
—
it’s
not
always
civil.
You
can
reach
her
by
email
at
oldladylawyer@gmail.com.