A Warm Reception
1L law firm reception season has been in full swing for several weeks, and I have yet to venture out for a free food/booze/smooze extravaganza. The reviews are, for the most part, positive--the beer and wine are of much better quality than debt-shocked law students can usually afford, and who can resist a nice cheese tray, anyway?
Well, I have, so far. I really don’t want to work for a BigFirm, and I don’t want to get sucked in by the receptions that probably cost more to host than your average janitor gets paid in four months. And, I know, most law students come to law school saying that they don’t want to work for The Man, and they end up in a BigFirm anyway to fend off the specter of crushing law school debt…but it would probably be a lot easier to avoid working at those firms if one didn’t go to every reception offered, giving the corporate lawyers a chance to expound on the virtues of corporate lawyerness.
Anyway, those receptions do look tempting. They’re at trendy bars and restaurants--places I’d never go otherwise. And the thought of spending an evening out with my section-mates is enticing. So, when I get the emails from the BigFirm announcing an upcoming reception, I always check out their website, hoping that they’ll be something other than what I assume BigFirms are.
But alas. The BigFirms are all, purportedly, cutting-edge, forward-looking international leaders in corporate law. They also boast about…well, here are some self-reported examples of their accomplishments.
Defending firearm manufacturers!
Helping corporations engage in outsourcing!
Providing advice to companies “regarding the maintenance of nonunion status”!
Defending corporations against charges of the illegal disposal of hazardous wastes! And conspiracy! And air contamination! And wire fraud! (Really, wire fraud?)
Ensuring injunctive relief from boycotts!
Serving as defense counsel in the national breast implant litigation!
One BigFirm even advertises how it helped a mineral company obtain a moratorium on environmental law enforcement for twenty years, since their mines just couldn’t comply with the African nation’s existing law.
Umm…congratulations?
Well, I have, so far. I really don’t want to work for a BigFirm, and I don’t want to get sucked in by the receptions that probably cost more to host than your average janitor gets paid in four months. And, I know, most law students come to law school saying that they don’t want to work for The Man, and they end up in a BigFirm anyway to fend off the specter of crushing law school debt…but it would probably be a lot easier to avoid working at those firms if one didn’t go to every reception offered, giving the corporate lawyers a chance to expound on the virtues of corporate lawyerness.
Anyway, those receptions do look tempting. They’re at trendy bars and restaurants--places I’d never go otherwise. And the thought of spending an evening out with my section-mates is enticing. So, when I get the emails from the BigFirm announcing an upcoming reception, I always check out their website, hoping that they’ll be something other than what I assume BigFirms are.
But alas. The BigFirms are all, purportedly, cutting-edge, forward-looking international leaders in corporate law. They also boast about…well, here are some self-reported examples of their accomplishments.
Defending firearm manufacturers!
Helping corporations engage in outsourcing!
Providing advice to companies “regarding the maintenance of nonunion status”!
Defending corporations against charges of the illegal disposal of hazardous wastes! And conspiracy! And air contamination! And wire fraud! (Really, wire fraud?)
Ensuring injunctive relief from boycotts!
Serving as defense counsel in the national breast implant litigation!
One BigFirm even advertises how it helped a mineral company obtain a moratorium on environmental law enforcement for twenty years, since their mines just couldn’t comply with the African nation’s existing law.
Umm…congratulations?
posted by LB at 2/24/2006 08:37:00 PM
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