“Lead, follow, or get out of the way” is an expression which some attribute to Thomas Payne. Tommy died in 1809, so this is hardly a new turn of speech.
And yet, back in my law firm (and I suspect in many others), there were partners who never came to terms with it.
It is virtually certain that every lawyer with real intelligence who plans to stick around the profession for at least another five years is going to use artificial intelligence in their practice. (Unfortunately, so will every lawyer without real intelligence, but that is a topic for another day.)
I would have to guess that at the law firm where I toiled for 34 years, some people like what I write on LinkedIn, and some do not. The reason that I have to guess, is that with the very occasional exception of one Associate, none of them ever react or comment. Now you might think that the flaw in my logic is the underlying assumption that they are reading my stuff, but the LinkedIn analytics tell me that a good number of them do.
In the mid-90’s, someone called a recession, and everyone showed up. We had one lawyer who did nothing but enforce mortgages for a Bank. I was a junior partner who fancied myself as a business promotor, and I suggested that we use the slogan, “[name of our firm], kicking more people out of their houses in Peel Region than any other law firm.” For some reason, the senior partners did not agree.
A brave articling student once quipped about me that, “if you say, ‘pro bono’ near Murray, you’d better be talking about Sonny and Cher.” Now that was a tad unfair. It was not that I was against our firm doing pro bono work, but I did want us to be doing it for people who could not afford a lawyer, as opposed to people who were just cheap and did not value what we did.
It’s Not a Principle Until it Costs You Money
~ Bill Bernbach
We have all been reading about the law firm of Paul Weiss having settled with the Trump Administration to get out from under an Executive Order, the legality of which is to say the least, questionable.
Some say that Paul Weiss buckled under instead of defending the rule of law. Their Managing Partner said that they were facing an existential crisis and that they took reasonable steps to survive and protect their clients. He also mentioned that their peers in the legal industry offered little support, and in fact targeted their clients.
I was at the receiving end of a rant from a young associate recently, who I will call Mike. I don’t mind when Mike calls me to rant, usually late at night on his commute home from work. He needs to unload, and I am happy to be a sympathetic audience.
This Article is about what lawyers need from LegalTech providers. I use Wills and Estates as an example, but the principles apply to many areas of practice.
You can read the article here: https://appara.ai/news-and-insights/where-theres-a-will
Do any of you old-timers remember the first ten minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark? Let me refresh your memory.
Dr. Jones retrieves the golden idol and tries to escape the cave. A giant boulder rolls towards him as he frantically tries to get out of its way. Finally he jumps over a cliff, only to come face to face with some scary looking natives with bows and arrows. Things only got worse for him from there.
My friend Peter was an accountant. He told me that at his partners meetings there were partners who worked hard to build the firm for the benefit of all. Then there were others who stayed mostly quiet and out of sight, but every so often rose silently and blew a poison dart into the discussion before slinking away. Those outside of the firm would never have guessed at the internal dysfunction.