"He'd have been the same way if he were a doctor, an accountant, a scientist, or any other kind of professional. He thinks he's some sort of demi-god. There are a share of those in the law, to be sure, but not in any higher proportion than any other profession."
Wrong, years ago, when I was young, I worked for a variety of large law firms. Baker & McKenzie is a biggie. Many, not all, but I would say most, of the lawyers I worked with had giant ego's, were rude and arrogant, and demanding in a most unattractive way. I continued to work for them then because the pay was ok (they pay you to put up with these lawyers which isn't easy), plus I could get all the over-time in the world, as the law firms don't sleep at night.
One night I was there literally the whole night. Went back to the lawyer's home I was working for, for one hour's sleep and then both of us went back to the law firm (it was a big corporate case). Two day's later, having worked my derriere off on this case to help the lawyer I worked for, he proceeded to scream at me because in a document I typed up, I put an i where a t should have been. One typo. Believe me, there were many just like him, and the women lawyers weren't any better. (I will say that he brought me roses as an apology the day after he screamed at me, but I still couldn't believe he did it in the first place.)
Theae large law firms attract the "cream" of the crop from the law schools. So each of the little Poindexters come to the firms with their magna cum laude degrees, resumes with 10,000 extracurricular activities, and various lists of influential people touting their skills. It's a lot of who you know that helps them get the job. So, put all those "stars" from their respective campuses into one law firm, each one thinking how wonderful they are because they were big cheeses on their respective campuses grade-wise and in their school's law world, and you have a disaster in the making. The clash of ego's once in the firm was amazing to behold.
Even within the lawyers' ranks themselves, there was constant positioning going on, each of the younger lawyers trying to outdo the next, all with an eye to partnership which took about 6-7 years to get to. If you weren't perfect, your chances of getting the holy grail of partnership lessened. So, in turn, in seeking this perfection, if any of the support staff (secretaries, paralegals, clerks, copiers, etc.) screwed up at all, they would get it in the jugular as it would reflect on the junior lawyer's perfection. Once the lawyer achieved Partnerhood, many became even more arrogant and obnoxious, if that was possible. Then the Partners would vie for the corner offices with the speaker phones. Corner offices were the top status symbol. If you had one, you were the cream of the cream of the crop, or you played your office politics exceedingly well.
Mind you, I'm not saying all. There was the occasional good egg, and everyone was jealous of the lucky secretary who got to work for them. But the good egg was the exception, not the rule.
Now, saying that, I also worked for some lower down on the rung private lawyers, or for small firms, and there it was much more laid back and there was better attitude and reciprocation amongst all. But the big law firms are not a good place to work for unless you have a thick skin. I hung in there way past when I should have left because of the money, frankly. I will say, because of the perfectionism required in your end product, I learned a lot about writing, editing, proofing, doing research in the law library, tracking down information pertinent to a case, etc. I developed an investigative mindset. It stood me in good stead when I finally removed myself from having anything ever to do with law firms again (unless as a client which I hope will never happen). I went to work for a large University, worked my way up to a top administrative position in the system, and never looked back until I recently retired.
So, when reading this article about the spilled ketchup, I've been smiling and laughing with complete understanding as to what happened between the lawyer and the secretary. It is all too typical.
Your experience and analysis is 100% accurate. The smaller firms and solo practitioners are the only places where you may find decent folks who practice law. Every large firm is mostly filled with the despicable buttwipes that you experienced.
Well, I'd personally put real estate agents right up at the top of my most-disliked list, and many doctors, but your dissertation on big firms is right on target.
Many associates fail to realize that achieving their goal of making partner depends mostly on how other people perceive them, and how much business they can attract, rather than how they actually perform on a won-loss basis.
This guy clearly was out of touch with the most important factors for his advancement, and he'll serve as a lesson to others. But don't think for a minute that this sort of narcissistic behavior is more prevalent in law firm practice than other professions.
Great comment.
In my experience in the corporate world in-house attorneys were (with one exception) okay people. My explanation is that the CEOs were usually not lawyers and the lawyers had to work with other powerful executives (including me) who were also not lawyers but were competent and smart.
Baker and McK had a nasty reputation.