…. I don’t know if it’s like this in every city, but HERE, the legal world is like high school. Except with jail and bar complaints.
Seriously – right now I’m sitting in my office, diligently working updating my blog. In the office next door, OddFellow is gleefully gossiping with TrafficGuy, and other independent attorney who works down the hall from us. This happens at least two or three times a week – they run in slightly different circles, so they both always have GREAT gossip for each other. Who has switched firms, who totally *bleeped* up, who’s boinking their secretary, who’s breaking up with their wife/husband/mistress…. it goes on and on and on.
The courthouse is just as bad – cliques and alliances form over lunches, and if you don’t have the support of your clique, you just don’t get as far. It’s *essential* to make friends, schoomze, hobnob, and go out to bars every once in a while. That’s where all the connections are made – forms are traded, clients are referred, and alliances are made.
It’s like high school, only real people’s lives are at stake. It would be funny if it wasn’t so utterly astonishing.
E. McPan Said:
on September 17, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Wow – I wish I could convince my students to do CALI. Or maybe they just think I’m so awesome at teaching that they don’t need to do them. Unlikely, but it could happen.
E. McPan Said:
on September 17, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Whoops. This whole wordpress comment placement screwed me up. Clearly, the previous comment belongs to the previous post. Sorry.
Parad0x Said:
on December 15, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Hate to necromance this post but let me tell you – I work for a F500 company in the non-legal department and this is exactly how it is.
I suspect crony-ism and cliques are human nature and to expect life to be any different than high school is folly.