Small Firm Life: Office Humor

When I first started at my firm as a Summer Associate I was advised by one of the Senior Attorneys that the Managing Partner was concerned about hiring me because I was “too quiet”. I confronted him about this comment and he told me that did not feel that he could joke around with me. Being from the Northeast, I know am more reserved than many of my Miami counterparts, however, I was shocked when I realized that what I considered to be my professional demeanor was affecting my career.

In contrast, some of the Associates in my office have a very friendly joking relationship with the Managing Partner. The Managing Partner feels comfortable making fun of their weight, ex-boyfriends, children and sometimes even religion. In fact, the Managing Partner feels so comfortable that he will often make these jokes around clients, paralegals and attorneys from our other offices. As a result of this joking atmosphere the Associates sometimes retort with comments/jokes that the Managing Partner does not appreciate. When this occurs, the Associate will later get scolded that she is “too comfortable” or “unprofessional”. Naturally, the Managing Partner couches this criticism with an explanation that this is partially his fault because he needs to be more professional and that he sometimes forgets that he is the boss because thinks of us as his friends and family.

In fear of not getting an offer at the end of the summer, I tried to develop a more joking relationship with my boss and I have succeeded to some degree. However, since I witness on a daily basis the drawbacks associated with developing too comfortable of a relationship with the Managing Partner, I want to ensure that he continues to respect me as a professional.

Here are some tips for participating in office humor that I have picked up in the past few years:

Men feel very comfortable joking with each other and do not worry about making offensive comments but they are more cautious when making jokes towards women. You can establish your own boundaries by poking fun at yourself. This will let people know what they can feel comfortable teasing you about.

For example, I make fun of myself for reading all of the technology updates our IT Department sends us and now the Managing Partner makes fun of this as well.

Along the same lines, if your boss thinks it’s funny to make fun of you about something, and this topic does not offend you, let him know this by also making jokes about the topic.

For example, my boss thinks it’s funny to offer to buy me a hamburger since I am a vegetarian.  Although this joke has gotten old fast, he likes it, so I play along.

Make jokes about celebrities, athletes or difficult clients, it’s easy for people to bond over these topics and difficult to offend anyone.

On a Tightrope

In her New York Times piece, The Tightrope of Managing a Law Office, Anita J. Cicero discusses the challenges of being an office managing partner.

Watching management issues unfold each week is like watching TV when someone else controls the remote. One moment you’re watching a documentary, then — click! — it’s a thriller, then a drama, then the evening news. Switching among unfolding story lines, focusing on practical and fair solutions and trying to remember to prepare that agenda for a 4 p.m. teleconference make for stimulating and often exhausting days.

At 43, a relatively young partner at Drinker, Biddle & Reath, Cicero sought out advice and support from friends and nearby law firm managers.

The 50 Best Law Firms for Women - 2008

Click here to go straight to the list.

Flex-Time Lawyers and Working Mother Magazine have just released their 2008 ranking of "The 50 Best Law Firms for Women." You can download a PDF of the press release from www.flextimelawyers.com.

Ten Family-Friendly Firms (new ranking by law students)

The women's student group at my school has just release its second annual ranking of "the top ten family-friendly firms." I did not have any part in preparing these rankings... just passing them along. The press release is here.

According to Yale Law Women and co-sponsoring women's law groups at Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, Boalt, Northwestern, and Virginia, the top ten family-friendly firms of 2007 are...

[More after the jump]

The Firms Where You Are Most Likely to Make Partner

Working Mother Magazine didn't rank firms by how many of their partners are female, but I'll do it (using their data)! Of the fifty firms named "best for women" by WMM and Flex-Time Lawyers, which firms have the highest proportions of equity (profit-sharing) and nonequity partners?

The standouts are Folger Levin & Kahn (San Francisco), Ice Miller (Indianapolis), Armstrong Teasdale (St. Louis), and Katten Muchin Rosenman (Chicago).

[More after the jump]

The 50 Best Law Firms for Women

Click here to go straight to the list.

Flex-Time Lawyers and Working Mother Magazine have just released a ranking of "The 50 Best Law Firms for Women." It is the September cover story of WMM. You can download PDFs of the press release and two articles at Debbie Henry's website: Young, Gifted and Leaving, and Making Partner.

I wanted to get this news item posted for y'all ASAP, so I will be back to post some more when I have read through the methodology. Meanwhile, I have a couple of comments based on what Debbie has told me in the past few months.

This is a ranking of large firms with 100 50+ employees. As Susan Carter Liebel and Carolyn Elefant emphasize, please don't forget to consider the alternatives of putting up your own shingle in a solo practice or going to work at a smaller regional firm. That is another significant way to find a different quality of life as a lawyer in private practice.

[More after the jump]

Book ToDo: The Undomestic Goddess

Okay, so I'm calling this a "ToDo" instead of a "Review". First, I don't want to seem too serious about this. I'm no literary critic. Heck, I don't even read that much besides my law school textbooks these days. Second, I don't get any benefit from writing this ToDo. I had to purchase the book like anyone else but you could probably check it out from the library. Summer is approaching so I thought I'd pass on a fun book that I read last summer and thoroughly enjoyed.