The Dow gyrates, law associates panic and law students toil away wondering if there is a light at the end of the tunnel.   Elie Mystal, the editor of Above the Law, took a break from the news to share his insights about law firms, law school and, the legal profession.   

Elie began sharing a lesson from his experience:   avoid “the path of least resistance.”    Everyone leaves college clueless.   Many undergraduates, Elie included, have no idea what to do with life after college. Summer internships rarely instill a love of corporate America. Business school requires a “certain set of stones and experiences.”   A PhD is “eight years of school to stay in school.” Law school is “the risk adverse option” and the default choice for many people.    Yet you may be better out figuring out why law school before deciding whether to go since “the sooner you can figure out why you want to be at law school, the better the experience will be for you.”  Fortunately for Above the Law, he did not take his advice and took the path of least resistance.

Three years and a pile of crushing debt later, the kind bankers at Citibank subtly directed Elie to America Big Law.   Even a good firm like Debevoise & Plimton cannot make you love legal work if you lack the interest. After a couple years he knew “this wasn’t what I wanted to do with my entire life” and that “pretty soon I would wake up the day after my 30^th birthday and then the day after my 35^th birthday.”    Elie left big law, traveled for a bit and began writing.   He worked for City Hall magazine and became addicted to Above the Law during the drama of bonus season.    When Above the Law unveiled Debevoise’s 2007 bonuses, he began to intensely question his recent career move.  Soon, however, everything worked out as Elie took his place at Above the Law thanks to his insightful musings as Sophist.   His winding career path serves as a heartening cautionary tale.   Don’t just jump into law school or big law because it is the inevitable next step: figure out why law school and what you want to do, but don’t worry too much because Elie’s story shows you can radically change directions.

 Elie then relayed a sobering story about the law firm world where “every day it looks worse.” The obscene money is disappearing.   Bonuses imitate the freefall of the Dow, and the complete story remains untold.   Top firms like Simpson Thacher and Cravath, Swaine & Moore already significantly cut their bonuses for 2008. Even Skadden cut their bonuses substantially.    Firms further down the Vault 100 might not offer any bonus.   Layoffs and ‘stealth layoffs’ unfold continuously.   Firms execute ‘stealth layoffs’ by firing a couple of associates here and there.   Over the course of six months, 20 associates can be cut while avoiding the negative publicity of massive layoffs. Elie believes these stealth layoffs are occurring and will continue until the economy turns around.    During this turmoil, firms are forced to keep up a public image saying, “it is so bright we are wearing shades,” while at the same time trying to accurately forecast the uncertainty they are facing. Firms depend on corporate America, like the big three automakers, for business.  Bankruptcies or downsizing among these companies destabilize any future projections of compensation and workload.   The trickle of bonus announcement highlights the uncertainty.   Last year Cravath led and 14 firms followed with five days; this year only two firms followed Skadden’s announcement. Elie says that, “firms are waiting to see what clients will survive” before they project bonuses.

 

 

However, at Above the Law, things are so bright that they should ‘wear shades’. Bad news attracts interest.   As Elie adjusts to the fervent speed of blogging, where one day old news is ancient, all of Above the Law’s numbers, like unique visitors and page hits, have increased.  He continues to learn everything and anything he can from the David Lat who sits “hitting distance” away from him. Through this entire crisis, he remains committed to exposing the workings of legal America with a splash of levity.