I’ve hit a low point in my professional life. Just recently I returned the book Earn What You’re Worth (another career guide) to the library. Why? Because all these ‘career’ books assume you have one thing I don’t have . . . a job.
So yesterday, it is with some trepidation, I went for a job interview at a firm which recruited me from the unemployment rolls.
Now, I’m a good little investigator, and I was suspicious, because jobs in the legal community are hard to come by and searching the unemployment rolls is certainly an ‘unorthodox’ method of recruitment.
And where there’s smoke . . . . Last Friday saw me running (ok, driving in start/stop traffic) from the West L.A. Public Library to the Beverly Hills Public Library, to Google, to blogs.
Long story short. In January a partner in the firm was arrested at home, charged with embezzling a half a million dollars from a client, and is also facing a malpractice suit as a result of the same case. With that kind of matter brewing, of course, the firm lost a lucrative worker’s compensation contract from the city (a controversial matter for another reason), and laid off most of it’s 28 employees. And, of course, it’s a minority firm, only adding to my embarrassment for them.
So, it’s with this knowledge that I face this interview with the surviving partner. In the first moments of the interview, of course, I was asked about the latest article in the state bar journal about minority ’success’ at large majority firms. But, of course, this woman having gone to Harvard (why do Harvard graduates feel the need to mention this in the first ten seconds of acquaintance?) knew that minority superstars in her class were doing well.
What I wondered as I looked at her office, drowning in paper, was how she saw herself? But enough analysis. Of course, they’re looking for hard workers (billing 2400 hours a year?!) who are willing to work for smallish (I assume) pay. Because they’re all working twice as hard . . . yada, yada, you know the drill.
Anyway, I’ll shoot off my thank you letter and writing sample. It all makes me sad for me, minority lawyers, the legal profession in general . . . .
