Your Unemployed Lawyer has just received the first big comment posted on the site. The poster is Anonymous and the comment is in response to today's posting, Miss Lonelyhearts. I'm giving this important milestone all the attention I can, so it gets its own seperate posting, rather than a simple comment reply. Here's a copy of the comment:

Do you think the "arrogance" and self pity that you see from the White & Case attorneys is indicative of most of the legal profession? Aren't most attorneys -- even those who are unemployed -- selfish, self-important and self-absorbed? Don't most lawyers have an overinflated sense of self-worth and entitlement? Until that changes will employed lawyers ever deign to help the unemployed lawyers? Will the employed lawyer who was the unemployed lawyer remember what that was like and help the unemployed lawyer? Perhaps saddest of all, will even unemployed lawyers help other unemployed lawyers? Of course, we speak in broad generalities. We know some attorneys very well (employed and unemployed) who are great people.

And when these W&C attorneys (or others like them) become our unemployed lawyers (which from some perspectives one hopes will not happen) will the Ice Cubes still deem themselves better than the rest of the unemployed lawyers? Will their new employment status become a "travesty" or "injustice" or some other excuse which does not reflect upon them but rather their uninformed or prejudicial or jealous partner/boss? Or, can humility be learned?

So many questions! Hard ones, too. Thank you!

My answer to your first question is a simple "no". Otherwise, I would not have found the actions that earned WC its award so remarkable. I would also like to clarify that it's not really "self pity" that I see from the complaining associates, but a sort of blindness, perhaps born of a sense of entitlement, as you suggest. I just can't believe they are not grateful for what they have and a little bit more sensitive to the fact that what they are getting in bonus money might have saved the jobs of many of their colleagues. Even ATL suggested that they should be happy with "seashells" and "trinkets".

As to question 2, I long to say that all of us are selfish, self-important, and self-absorbed at times, but that would be a trivial answer, even though I believe it. I also believe that the highly competitive nature of BigLaw practice causes many associates to think of life in the office as a sort of zero-sum game. Which it probably is. If that's the case and you're bent on winning, which most good lawyers are, then you'll likely pay attention only to your own score and worry only about how to improve it. In that sense, I believe that associate culture breeds job-related selfishness, and again, a certain sort of blindness. In the office, you just can't see beyond a certain point.

My answer to question 3 is no and yes.  No, I do not believe that most lawyers have an over-inflated sense of self-worth. Quite the contrary. From my own associate days I remember everybody being scared to death, all the time. Scared of typos, scared of being late, scared of being early, scared of missing a case citation, scared of going unnoticed, scared of being the subject of public ridicule, and most of all, SCARED  OF LOSING THEIR JOBS.

The partners are scared too. And with reason. To the best of my recollection, Sidley started it all about ten years ago by doing the then unthinkable. They began de-equitizing partners. Of course, that seems like a walk in the park by today's standards. Go ask forty people who used to work at Jenner.

It's more than that, though. As a partner, you're still scared to death. You have to have clients. You have to bring in business. It's your signature on the documents. It's your decisions that run the case. You're competing with your fellow partners for points and prestige. Where do you think this absurd contest over who can have the highest billing rate comes from?

So, no. I do not think all lawyers have an over-inflated sense of self-worth.  Like everybody else in this world, they try to hide their fear behind a façade. It's just that Shakespeare initiated a certain amount of bad feeling in Henry VI[1], and like a rolling stone, it has gathered no moss. We lawyers have been mocked and abused in every medium from time immemorial and yet I have never seen more than a couple lawyer movies that bear any resemblance to reality.

Entitlement, yes. Entitlement is inevitable when every BigLaw firm makes tremendous salary and opportunity promises. Entitlement is inevitable when those salaries and opportunities are broadcast wholesale across print media and over the internet. Entitlement is inevitable when one becomes accustomed to having things a certain way and stops feeling grateful for one's amazing good luck.

Question 4. I believe that those who have recovered from misfortune will, indeed, assist those still in trouble. I may be a cockeyed optimist[2], but I base this statement on personal experience. I have had some very bad times, but I have received and depended on an overwhelming amount of kindness, from strangers[3], friends and colleagues.

Question 5. All I can say is that unemployed lawyers had better help other unemployed lawyers. That's what this site is all about, if I can ever get to work. A cooperative effort. No zero-sum games.

Second paragraph. Nobody on earth hopes more strongly than I do that the "Ice Cubes" will keep their jobs. I'm all about people keeping their jobs. I have no reason to wish for an increase in the population of unemployed lawyers.

Next question. Everybody who gets fired thinks that it's an injustice. Even when you have the dubious comfort of being laid off for economic reasons. This is very painful to say, but face it; the guillotine firms kept some people and let other people go. How do you think they made their decisions? Find a better fit.

Finally. I can speak only for myself and you would have to ask those who know me to confirm (which, of course, you can't), but yes, humility can be learned. I will spare you the painful and boring explanation.

This is by far the longest post I have ever written, but I am very happy to talk about these issues with you. I am also happy that I interested you enough to make you write to me. Thank you once again for serious, well thought out issues to discuss. I hope someone else out there decides to chime in.
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[1] Henry VI, Part II, Act IV, scene 2.
[2] South Pacific, Magna Corp. 1958, directed by Joshua Logan, starring Mitzi Gaynor, Rossano Brazzi.
[3] See, A Streetcar Named Desire, Charles K. Feldman Group, 1951, starring Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh. "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."