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Assigning people to practice areas or forcing them to choose a month after you take the bar is a tremendous dick move.
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Aug 6, 2012 19:22
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Feces Starship posted:I know employment is the firm's most important section. Go with employment, no question. Litigation departments have one of the worst work-life ratios, and in a few years you will be thankful to be in the employment department - especially if you have a family. You said that employment is the firm's most important section. That tells me that the employment department will be more stable in the long-run, because marketing and business developing will make sure to feed it. It probably also means that there is more work to go around. It's also good to be in your firm's best department because that means your resume looks great. In terms of long-term career growth, it's better to be in a strong department than a weak department.
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Aug 6, 2012 20:10
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You guys own. Any more advice would be appreciated though. I'm heavily beginning to just lean towards staying mum and riding this because I think it's the right call, but any other opinions?
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Aug 6, 2012 20:57
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Feces Starship posted:You guys own. Any more advice would be appreciated though. I'm heavily beginning to just lean towards staying mum and riding this because I think it's the right call, but any other opinions? Relax and enjoy employment. Employment is one of the most portable practices ever, because companies always want boots on the ground where the claims come from (unlike, say, patent litigation, where NY/SF + a local covers practically everything, even if all the cases weren't filed in Marshall or Wilmington anyway).
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Aug 6, 2012 21:15
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FWIW, a friend of mine did biglaw employment. Two years of billable requirements drove her batshit crazy, but she was marketable as in-house counsel. She shifted in-house into one of her larger corporate clients, and works a 9-5 while her old biglaw firm does the heavy lifting. She loves getting discovery requests on Friday, emailing it over to her old firm and saying "seeya Monday!".
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Aug 6, 2012 21:22
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Feces Starship posted:words Do whatever it is you prefer to do. This is YOUR career, don't let the firm bully you into doing a practice you don't want to do. Trust me, those people you "stiff" will get over it in 5 seconds. Lawyers come and go. That said, personally I'd rather do Employment because it'll be easier to transfer your skills to another position once you tire of the firm.
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Aug 6, 2012 21:23
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Feces Starship posted:You guys own. Any more advice would be appreciated though. I'm heavily beginning to just lean towards staying mum and riding this because I think it's the right call, but any other opinions? Does the employment group not do litigation?
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Aug 6, 2012 22:12
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True litigation is criminal litigation, which I assume isn't what your firm's litigation group does. So yeah, employment.
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Aug 6, 2012 22:25
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So does the date that Google gives as the date of a website in its search results count as an admission of prior art against Google as an assignee? Inquiring minds want to know.
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Aug 6, 2012 22:29
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If you dream of spending your career in an amlaw 50/100 type place, I would say general litigation. There is generally quite a bit of downward rate pressure in employment litigation, and it seems pretty tough to maintain a viable employment practice at a top firm.
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Aug 6, 2012 23:14
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gvibes posted:There is generally quite a bit of downward rate pressure in employment litigation, and it seems pretty tough to maintain a viable employment practice at a top firm.
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Aug 7, 2012 00:00
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prussian advisor posted:True litigation is criminal litigation, which I assume isn't what your firm's litigation group does. So yeah, employment. No zealot like a swampland convert, eh? Civil lit owns compel arbitration in international contracts all day every day.
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Aug 7, 2012 01:00
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Feces Starship posted:You guys own. Any more advice would be appreciated though. I'm heavily beginning to just lean towards staying mum and riding this because I think it's the right call, but any other opinions? What kind of stuff does the employment group do? If it's exec comp & benefits work that's deal-driven, doing it will pretty much foreclose any litigation dreams that you have.
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Aug 7, 2012 01:01
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Napoleon I posted:Assigning people to practice areas or forcing them to choose a month after you take the bar is a tremendous dick move. Yeah this confused me too. Our firm gives us a full year to decide and actually expects you to drift around for at least six months before getting comfortable anywhere. FWIW, putting aside your thoughts on the substance of the work, it's probably a good idea to get a strong grasp on the market for employment lawyers in your area. For example, in SoCal, employment people are a dime a dozen and it's considered a tough practice for young associates to enter into because 1. it's hard to get a niche and 2. there's lots of competition from mid-sized places that charge a lot less. And I say you screw your courage to the post and ask for litigation if that's what you want. Better to risk ruffling feathers now than being locked into something you're iffy about.
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Aug 7, 2012 01:26
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The Warszawa posted:No zealot like a swampland convert, eh? arbitation /= litigation civil lit:crim lit :: getting ready to go on a date:having sex Litigation is more interesting, engaging, varied and more like what you went to law school for. On the other hand, as entris pointed out, your law/life balance ... won't. If you just liked the litigation section more than the employment law section, that probably isn't enough to justify rocking the boat. If litigation anywhere was what you saw yourself doing, and not employment law, try to jump to the litigation section. joat mon fucked around with this message at 03:58 on Aug 7, 2012 |
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Aug 7, 2012 03:39
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joat mon posted:arbitation /= litigation Compelling arbitration is litigation, I just don't give a poo poo about it once it gets to arbitration merits.
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Aug 7, 2012 03:56
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sigmachiev posted:Yeah this confused me too. Our firm gives us a full year to decide and actually expects you to drift around for at least six months before getting comfortable anywhere.
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Aug 7, 2012 04:09
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Many things that are common are still tremendous dick moves.
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Aug 7, 2012 06:36
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We had to rank preferences on our departure forms before our summer associateships finished, before we got offers. We'll apparently be told the spring before we start.
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Aug 7, 2012 07:33
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Just had a client tell me that it's his constitutional right to not work. I just nodded.
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Aug 7, 2012 19:31
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Athenry posted:Just had a client tell me that it's his constitutional right to not work.
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Aug 7, 2012 20:19
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gvibes posted:This is pretty rare as far as I know. IME, most firms will start you in one practice group and it's not easy to switch. Really? I think the opposite is true - it's more common that you're not really pegged to one practice group from the start. Some have you do rotations, some give you a year or two to find your own way, but I'm not sure any of my friends (and I wasn't) were locked into a group when you start. If so, that's just crazy - incoming associates usually have no idea what it is to work in a certain practice group.
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Aug 7, 2012 20:38
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Linguica posted:I mean, that's technically correct, right (at least since the 13th amendment (unless he was drafted I guess)) I think there was an implied "and get unemployment/disability" in there. Or some kind of payment for not working.
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Aug 7, 2012 21:24
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commish posted:Really? I think the opposite is true - it's more common that you're not really pegged to one practice group from the start. Some have you do rotations, some give you a year or two to find your own way, but I'm not sure any of my friends (and I wasn't) were locked into a group when you start. If so, that's just crazy - incoming associates usually have no idea what it is to work in a certain practice group. Maybe things are different in different markets. e: Yeah, after doing some skimming, seems like rotations are much more common in other markets. gvibes fucked around with this message at 21:47 on Aug 7, 2012 |
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Aug 7, 2012 21:45
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Finally told Mississippi College--the T4 I applied to in case my life sucked so much I wanted to go to school on a free ride, live with my parents, and have no possibility of employment afterwards--I wasn't going to be in school with them this year. They assumed that after I no showed on orientation, although I have not made any communication with them in four months since I got a job. I feel like a dick but I could've sworn there was a second deposit I had to pay in June/July in which my lack of payment was supposed to be notification I wasn't coming. Oh well, gently caress you lovely law school.
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Aug 8, 2012 00:30
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Employment is definitely the way to go. I was at the University of Texas but missed finals due to my intestines dying. Had a ten-day hospital visit, surgery, and a foot of intestines removed, plus some other bowel tissue and my appendix. They said "piss off", so now I'm taking an almost-free ride at Saint Mary's, a Tier Four hellhole in San Antonio. I'm livid to the point where I have forgotten proper comma use. Bright side, I'm employment so...screw firms, I'm workin' oil and gas in Houston once this ride is over. Thank you, family connections and an actual functioning legal economy somewhere in this god-forsaken field.
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Aug 8, 2012 00:43
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Baruch Obamawitz posted:So does the date that Google gives as the date of a website in its search results count as an admission of prior art against Google as an assignee? Inquiring minds want to know. Yes, because its late in the biweek. Get your drat counts. Also, I'd say probably.
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Aug 8, 2012 02:25
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wacko_- posted:Yes, because its late in the biweek. Get your drat counts. I actually turned that in Monday so I'm done for the biweek the rest of the week. 
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Aug 8, 2012 13:32
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Can any IP folks here recommend a date-tracking program for patents and the like? Ideally I'd like to set up a database for all our prosecution work that we can use to set up automated emails about maintenance/utility fees, since right now our firm does all that stuff manually.
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Aug 8, 2012 17:22
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crankdatbatman posted:Finally told Mississippi College--the T4 I applied to in case my life sucked so much I wanted to go to school on a free ride, live with my parents, and have no possibility of employment afterwards--I wasn't going to be in school with them this year. They assumed that after I no showed on orientation, although I have not made any communication with them in four months since I got a job. MC and Ole Miss are both pretty great T4 schools. If you want to stay in Mississippi. And possibly still be unemployed.
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Aug 8, 2012 18:22
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Ethics hypothetical: Judge passes client's criminal case for two weeks. The official court minute is entered as 'case dismissed, client ordered released from custody.' Nobody notices until client's counsel is prepping of the next court date and discoveres the dismissal. Client was actually released and cannot be located. What should counsel do? Client confidentiality [comment] Candor to the tribunal [comment] Preamble and Scope
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Aug 8, 2012 18:43
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Elotana posted:Can any IP folks here recommend a date-tracking program for patents and the like? Ideally I'd like to set up a database for all our prosecution work that we can use to set up automated emails about maintenance/utility fees, since right now our firm does all that stuff manually. I think we used CPI - Computer Packages Inc.
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Aug 8, 2012 18:44
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joat mon posted:Ethics hypothetical: Send a bill to the client for services rendered?
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Aug 8, 2012 18:46
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joat mon posted:Ethics hypothetical: No more training do you require. Already know you that which you need.
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Aug 8, 2012 20:04
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joat mon posted:Ethics hypothetical: I don't think counsel has an ethical duty to do anything, as the court's release of his client is not based on any (mis)representation of law or fact of the case by any party, but rather the court's own clerical error. Furthermore, correcting the clerical error is probably going to hurt his client's interests as the client would be thrown back in jail (this may happen anyways once the court discovers the error). The only real ethical duty I think of would be to make sure and try and notify the client that his case has not, in fact, been dismissed and ask how he/she wants to resolve the situation. Obviously, you may run into some problems there as apparently he cannot be located. As a practical matter, if it were me what I'd do next would depend a lot on the case. At some point, either the court or the DA is going to catch the error so it isn't as if this is a permanent resolution to the case. Is the case likely to go to trial or is it going to plead out (and what is the plea deal)? Did I file a speedy trial motion prior to the clerical error (and, depending on your state's law, will the client have a stronger motion to dismiss for speedy trial violation due to delay)? If we are going to trial, are there any defense or state witnesses or evidence that might be unavailable to testify/be introduced due to the delay? If the case is going to plead, does the DA seem like the type that's going to yank the plea offer? Is my client likely to use this Get Out of Jail free card to rack up more charges? GamingHyena fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Aug 8, 2012 |
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Aug 8, 2012 20:49
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gvibes posted:Holy hell, no software? We also use CPI.
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Aug 8, 2012 21:17
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gvibes posted:Holy hell, no software?  So you'll send him an email that you finished X thing and then get an email 36 hours later excoriating you for not having finished X yet.I'm trying to drag us into the 21st century but it's difficult because I am a young attorney and therefore always wrong about everything.
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Aug 8, 2012 22:40
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Elotana posted:My boss is one of those dinosaurs whose secretary is responsible for printing all of his emails, sending them home to him each night, and then transcribing his dictated responses the next day. I'm kinda surprised your firm can even get malpractice insurance (or at least not pay through the nose for it) for patent prosecution without having proper docketing software.
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Aug 9, 2012 00:17
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Elotana posted:My boss is one of those dinosaurs whose secretary is responsible for printing all of his emails, sending them home to him each night, and then transcribing his dictated responses the next day. Just show him how much time/money/client grief you'll save by implementing it. That tends to work.
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Aug 9, 2012 00:21
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Space law is going to keep all the fresh new law grads employed, right guys?quote:Surprisingly, it's not the legal profession's equivalent of a degree in fine arts. Far from it. Short of bumping into Alf, the final frontier for space law is extraterrestrial mining. Planetary Resources, the asteroid mining venture backed by filmmaker James Cameron and Googlers Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, is entering a legal gray area. “Outer space mining, in legal terms, is the Wild West,” Griffith tells Fast Company. Lawyer Michael Listner wrote an article on the topic that notes no one has truly figured out sovereignty laws for outer space and private, non-governmental exploration--the United States or China cannot claim sovereignty over an asteroid, but private corporations might. Planetary Resources, for their part, claims that asteroids do not count as “celestial bodies” regulated by the 1967 treaty because meteorites, which are asteroids that fell to earth, are not covered under it. If Planetary Resources really does succeed in starting up extraterrestrial mining operations, the value of the minerals it finds might pale in comparison to space lawyers' billable hours.
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Aug 9, 2012 00:50
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