Wishing poll
 

What? I don't get you. You speak a different language.

First the stairs and now this?

Wishing poll
 

Saying you want to be miss america, combined with your flaming-gay avatar (NTTAWWT), led me to believe that you might be a guy who used to post over at infirm who called himself Toaster Man.

why people who work in lawfirms are pompous self-important asses who need to be shot
 

She got you to interrupt your light snack to do what she wanted you to do. Not bad for a lazy sack of pot-smoking shit.

Wishing poll
 

You might look like Hays, but you hit like shit.

why people who work in lawfirms are pompous self-important asses who need to be shot
 

You mean Nishat aka Michael Hopkins? The Indian tailor who talks entirely in cliches? I love that guy, but sadly I can no longer afford his clothes, being in-house and saddled with a mortgage.

foibles
 

So, there's this one dude I work for sometimes in a practice area different from mine. I do some specialty shit for him* and he speaks highly of me. Which is good, because he is kind of a BSD. Anyway, I get this call a month or two ago from this guy who claims to be his buddy and who claims he recommended me, to do some work for this guy. We'll call him asshole.

After I agree to help asshole out with some minor shit, he bait and switches me, and I'm stuck doing a bunch of other shit I don't really do, don't really enjoy doing, and don't really know how to do. Then it turns out that Asshole isn't even BSD's friend, that I wasn't recommended by BSD, and that Asshole has a reputation for this shit. He also has a reputation as a bad lawyer who made partner during a boom time and has just coasted through for the last few years.

Fast forward a month or so: Asshole never copies me on e-mails, and just expects me to know when shit is going on. I mean, dude has even not told me about a meeting or a mark-up and then asked me where I was or how the review was coming. I also hear that he was badmouthing me to other higher-ups, all of whom defended me and told me that he is an asshole and that no one listens to him.

Anyway, Client is getting pissed about some shit involving Asshole and how he's handled and negotiated some stuff. He tends to give stuff away and then say "These are the terms we have, and we have to deal with them. Let's just figure it out."

Another partner I don't know called me to discuss the clients' complaints. I can demonstrate that none of this stuff is my fault, that I didn't think it should have been handled this way, and all that. I can probably do so without sounding like I'm blaming him for all the problems, even though I do. Now, even though he is an asshole, I might be inclined to do this, just to not stick out my nose to get it cut off, or whatever the metaphor is. But, it seems that he is trying to blame some of this stuff on me, and that's why the other partner is sniffing around.

Given that Asshole has no political capital at the firm, but it's not like he's going to get fired, should I just tell the truth? Or should I slant it against him? Or should I just protect him, because the partners don't want to hear that some uppity associate is blaming something on one of them, even if they all really (wink wink) know that he is a bad lawyer and at fault, if I can just say "the situation is bad, but it's not really the Firm's fault."??

* softball!

Wishing poll
 

Oh, so you're throwing your "I've been around since blah blah blah days" now are you? (Sorry, had a Shifter moment).

And my avatar is not a flaming gay goddamnit. YOu're just jealous because he's hot. Next you'll accuse him of not having any friends because he's shy and hot.

Wishing poll
 

Depending upon how you define "kid" ---

(1) A date with Brooke Shields. Yeah, I know -- but we're both married now, so it would be platonic. Really. (Well, not by choice, but I am a realist.)

(2) Winning the seventh game of the Series. I'm still working on perfecting my knuckleball as we speak.

(3) Having my Great American Novel taught in every 11th grade American Lit class.

foibles
 

You poor mentorless sap. Let me help out since I feel responsible for you.

Don't fuck with this guy. He is in a better position to fuck your career up than you are to fuck up his. He may have made partner in a boom year and he may be coasting now, but he has enough juice to survive the useless-partner-cut over the pass few years.

Just finish this transaction for him, don't kill yourself and the next time he calls tell him you can't help him because you are swamped with work in your actual practice area.

TM

foibles
 

Tell the truth. Take blame for what is arguably your fault which will make it clear, without saying so, that the rest is NOT your fault. Try to paint asshole in "good" light but make it clear he is an asshole: "I apologize for missing the deadline. I have no excuse that would be acceptable to the client. What happened was that Asshole inadvertenly forgot to let me know about the deadline. I'm sure it was not intentional, but I did not know about it and therefore we missed it."

foibles
 

Take it from me: the partners don't want to hear that some uppity associate is blaming something on one of them. Keep your primary supervisor in the loop about what is going on, but don't -- at this point -- badmouth anyone to snooping partner.

But start documenting stuff about bad partner via email. And print them out.

Wishing poll
 

Here she is with Ironweed:

http://www.mikeonline.com/gallery/pics/shields.jpg

TM

foibles
 

All the "being too much of a badass stud to actually copy me on e-mails" shit is just him being stupid, and is unrelated to the current fuck-ups. Basically, now I am negotiating his agreement based on the LOI, and Client is all pissed he agree to these terms. For the most part, it's because he was careless and really didn't understand a few of the terms he agreed to and didn't consult a substantive specialist in the subject matter, which is what I am. And, I also have enough general experience that I can do the whole thing. Client knows I haven't fucked up. Other partner is sniffing around, and I think that he wants the answer to be "Asshole is a bad lawyer."

But I think the high road is "LOI is what it is. I wasn't involved at that point. I'm advising Client of risks of going forward and providing alternatives. It's true that Client may not do deal because of risks, but they're there whether or not I describe them and discuss them." That way it's clear Asshole fucked up, but I never say it.

foibles
 

Agree.

And I will add: pride is not a luxury many associates can afford to have. The partners will respect your "taking one for the team" and allowing the partner to save face *wink wink*.

As long as it's not an ethical violation, you need to sort of just suck it up, while not appearing totally incompentent.

Just say "There must've been some miscommunication between asshole, the client, and me. I'll do my best to get that cleared up and to make sure the rest of the transaction runs smoothly."

foibles
 

I've seen a technique work in this type of situation that I like to call the "let me check" defense. Where the blame is being aimed at you, a good way to answer the questions is to say "let me check." Then you go back to a document that supports you and say "ah, yes, hmmmm, here it is. Here's the e-mail I wrote to asshole noting that opposing counsel would probably give in to our demands regarding the indemnity provision. But I don't know why it was never changed. Here's the e-mail he wrote back saying he would bring it up in the next meeting." "The meeting on the 12th? Let me check. I have no record of being invited to a meeting on the 12th."

The technique sidesteps you being an asshole by letting the documents do the work. YOU aren't saying the guy's a lying sack of shit. But when you go back to check, that's what appears to be the case. This technique has only gotten better with the invention of e-mail. E-mail never dies.

It's passive agressive, but it can be fun.