You would think law firm management would have learned by now to stop writing stupid and overbearing memos. They all end up on the Internet; hell, Above the Law is making a cottage industry out of posting moronic memoranda for public ridicule.
Which brings us to Morrison & Foerster.
ATL has a memo from New York Managing Partner Charles Kerr, berating the children (to judge from the tone) for not showing up on time, preferably for 8 a.m. jumping jacks in the lobby. Big Law is already famous for consuming as much of a lawyer's life as it can, with no respect for evenings and weekends (and, yes, pretty good money in exchange). These days, terror of layoffs is everywhere, and few firms have enough work to go around. Great time to make sure everyone's in early to rearrange their Post-It notes by size and shape.
Interestingly, if you google "Charles Kerr" and "mofo," already the memo post is the top hit. Just google his name and you get "The Ultimate Temple of Charles Kerr Hatred," but we were disappointed to discover it's apparently some other Chuck Kerr in New York. Though someone in Mofo's IT department may be developing a competing side project as we speak.
-- Brian McDonough
More nonsense from the entitled children. All he's asking is that people try to show up by 9:30 am, and he even gives latitude for practice groups to make exceptions to that. I hardly think this is a "stupid overbearing" memo. Showing up for work at the regular time your boss requests of you is just how the world works.
Posted by: jane smith | June 03, 2009 at 06:38 AM
Harumph, indeed. This issue is so generational; "In my day, we had to do it, so I don't see why you lazy kids can't do it too" (even if work conditions have changed to the point that it's pointless to get in at a certain hour if not one extra item gets accomplished thereby). Just because Jane Smith and this Charles Kerr are morning people, they are trying to force that habit on everyone else when there is no need. Haven't they ever heard of the second shift? As long as you put in the daily hours, who cares when they are done? When these up-before-dawn types are putting on their Victorian nightcaps and crawling into bed at 8:30 pm after a hot brandy, the rest of us are just getting started. If the dinosaurs want their firms to survive, *they* are the ones who need to adapt.
Posted by: RustyT | June 03, 2009 at 08:31 AM
Work conditions have changed? Yeah, try finding a job if you can't follow simple rules. Look the normal work day is still 9-5. That's when client's and other lawyers expect to find you at work. And, the boss is the boss is the boss. Employees don't get to decide when to come to work or when the imaginary "second shift" starts. If the boss wants you at work at 9 then get there by 9. If you can't even perform that simple task then find another job (if you can).
Posted by: Paul J | June 03, 2009 at 12:38 PM