I Know What You (Don't) Want!

 
How cool is it that ESPN is using this great Busta Rhymes/Mariah Carey track to promo professional bowling?

Here's the original video:

In other news, the Intrepid One™ dissects the recent BigLaw exodus and explains the reasoning:

What is behind the recent Big Law exodus?

Legal experts say more attorneys are rejecting a career in Big Law for life as a solo or small-firm attorney. Their reasons include frustration with their inability to make partner, a desire for flexibility with fees and clients, a yen for more family time and an entrepreneurial spirit.

"The reality is there are fewer opportunities for associates to make partner today than there were 10 years ago, and that's because of the change in the marketplace in the new normal," said Bill Brennan, a law firm consultant with Philadelphia-based Brennan Strategy. "They may be reading the tea leaves and deciding they may as well go off on their own. Only 60 to 70 percent of associates are going to make partner these days."

The good news, according to Brennan, is that nearly all of those breaking away from big firms find success and happiness running their own firms.

"There's a period of intense anxiety but it's extremely rewarding," he said. "They say. 'I wish I did it sooner.' They love it."

"Success....happiness...extremely rewarding...loving your job."

Who knew?

Better Watch Those Dismissals Without Prejudice!

This is a fascinating opinion from Judge Cooke and a cautionary tale regarding what can happen when a client decides to no longer pursue a case after a dismissal without prejudice.

First American may be entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs only if it is recognized as the prevailing party. In Florida, a party is the “prevailing party” where it has been awarded relief on the merits of the claims at issue or where there is a judicial imprimatur on the change in the legal relationship between the parties. Smalbein v. City of Daytona Beach, 353 F.3d 901, 905 (11th Cir. 2003). Simply stated, there must be an adjudication on the merits. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), an involuntary dismissal “operates as an adjudication on the merits" unless a dismissal order states otherwise. Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b). In this case, both the Omnibus Order Granting Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss and the Final Order of Dismissal “state otherwise” in that they expressly state that the claims against First American are dismissed without prejudice. The Eleventh Circuit has recognized, however, that a dismissal without prejudice will “become a dismissal with prejudice when no timely amendment [is] filed and no request for an extension [is] submitted.” Hertz Corp. v. Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc., 16 F.3d 1126, 1128 n. 3 (11th Cir. 1994). Dependable Component failed to file a timely amendment and made not request for an extension of time to do so. Consistent with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the law in this Circuit, and to clarify any confusion from prior orders, the Final Order of Dismissal is a dismissal with prejudice as to Dependable Component’s claims for wrongful dishonor of letter of credit, fraud and goods sold, and is indeed an adjudication on the merits.

And, because there was a UCC claim, the defendants filed a motion for attorney fees seeking over $200,000!

Judge Cooke, however, discounted the hourly rate and fee request by 65%; here is what she said about that (disagreeing with defendants' fee expert and my pal Big Ed Moss):

However, despite the fact that the parties did not engage in discovery and First American did not take a single deposition, First American’s lawyers billed at total of 570.85 hours. Assuming First American has provided an accurate total, and assuming each lawyer billed an average of eight hours per day, the billed total accounts for 71.35 days of work. That, in turn, means that it took seven lawyers approximately 1.6 days to review documents and research case law for each page submitted to the Court in a run-of-the-mill wrongful dishonor of letter of credit action that requires no specialized knowledge or training. After a review of the submitted time sheets, I find the requested billable hours excessive.

In other words, a typical billing day at BigLaw!

Miami BigLaw Firm Turns Lawyer into Great Chef!

See, and you say nothing good can come from grinding it out day after day in the hallways of Brickell:

"I think I would be a lousy lawyer . . . Being in a kitchen and being in different countries and picking up ingredients and finding out what my style is, that's what I'm passionate about. It's a risky move. I had a chance to work for one of the biggest law firms here in Miami. I switched gears and I'm going for what I'm passionate about. It's the best decision ever I would have to say."

Even better, Lorena pursued her passion at our own Johnson & Wales University.

Gotta love feel-good stories on a Friday afternoon!

Death By A Thousand Small Cuts?

The spiral continues as the WSJ takes a look at how small and mid-sized firms are taking away business from the BigLaw dinosaurs:

John Quinn, a founder of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, LLP, a 400-lawyer business-litigation firm based in Los Angeles, acknowledges there's been something of a switch to small firms. But he says there are limits to what sorts of work corporations would pitch to previously untapped shops. "For the major cases, clients will still be looking for the most experienced firms, who have shown that they can handle this sort," he says. "I don't think that will change."

Still, some work is going to smaller firms. Hit hard by slumping auto sales, AutoNation Inc., the largest car-dealership chain in the U.S., has had to rein in spending. So the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., company recently handed the legal work for its move across town to Angelo & Banta PA, a South Florida firm of just seven lawyers.

Jon Ferrando, AutoNation's general counsel, says he typically would have hired a larger firm for such a matter. In this case, though, he sought a firm that knew the region well and charged less than a big firm.

AutoNation saved 20% to 25% on fees by retaining Angelo & Banta, Mr. Ferrando says. Angelo & Banta managing shareholder Tom Angelo says his firm charges $200-$495 an hour for work done by senior partners.

Hey, I know Tom!

Congrats buddy, but take my advice -- get a large retainer (we're talking about AutoNation here).

I have to agree with Guest Blogger, while there is undoubtedly some shifting going on, and I know anecdotally of several cases going to smaller firms that otherwise might have went to the big boys and girls, there is also some overstatement involved.

Certain businesses will always hire larger firms, in part because of a built-in conservatism that
causes decision-makers to be risk-adverse. It's hard to question the hire when things go wrong if you pick a large, established firm to defend you. On the other hand, you expose yourself to criticism if you pick a smaller firm and something does go awry.

That's just the corporate culture at work, and that will never change.

Of course, the South Florida legal market is slightly different, in that many well-established and successful litigators lead their own firms, or are part of smaller firms, where the risk of hire is less and the lawyer can craft a fee arrangement with more flexibility than, say, at White & Case.

BTW, our friends at Riptide lay out the SexyLexus emails here -- all I can say is these people could learn a few things from Mark Sanford.

Remember, if you are sexting with someone you lust, presume your love notes will be posted online eventually so please try to bring your 'A' game.

SFL Monday -- Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

Let's see, the roads are wet, it rained all weekend, and it's Monday again.

Haven't we been here before?

Well I hope you all had some quality time this weekend, before having some quality time this week, if this remarkable story about BigLaw from yesterday's NYT sounds at all familiar:

Type-A partners, once glued to their BlackBerrys, suddenly have time for
their spouses and their children; ladder-climbing junior lawyers linger over
lunch.

“People are shellshocked,” said one top partner at the firm who, like
many of its current and former lawyers, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear
of retribution. “If they survived the first two rounds, they’re happy to have a
job, but are still very nervous. And if their phones don’t ring, if their work
doesn’t come back with a vengeance, they fear they aren’t long for this
world.”

So folks at H&K, GT, H&W, SSD, is this true? Are you all enjoying longer lunches, actually attending your kids' soccer matches, and waiting and wondering when the next axe will fall?

Miami has always been a successful mid and small-firm market, and only over the last 15 years or so have national BigLaw firms been able to establish viable local offices. But the picture painted by this article is exceedingly bleak:

But the natural order of this world has been set on end by the economic
crisis and the possible disappearance of fixtures like the pyramid system (under
which associates are thrown en masse at certain cases, fattening the fees), and
the billable hour itself (increasingly replaced by flat rates or retainers in a
client’s market). The tectonic plates have begun to shift in a nauseating
manner, bringing fear, ambiguity and psychological scars.

“You used to feel the intensity in the office,” said a longtime partner at a big New York litigation firm. “When people walked to the bathroom, they would actually
scurry. Now it’s more of a stroll.

“For the first time in their lives, people feel sort of useless. All of a sudden, you can go to lunch for two and a half hours and really not be missed. It’s a blow to the ego. You’re talking about people who have never really failed.”

Personally this seems slighty overblown, or perhaps more true for firms with significant revenue generated by private-equity, structured finance, and M&A work.

Oh well, feel free to kill time on this crappy blog, and enjoy the weather!