Random Thoughts About In-House Counsel
By Murray Gottheil | February 2, 2025 I never worked in-house. Of course, having no such experience is not going to stop me from spouting off about in-house counsel (“IHC”). So, here we go! CYA Some IHC strive to avoid personal risk. They may always hire Big Law as outside counsel, so that if something goes […]
Twenty-Four Hundred Hours
By Murray Gottheil | January 25, 2024 I spoke to two law firm partners this week: both told me that they were expected to put in 2,400 hours, consisting of 2,000 billable hours and 400 non-billable hours (administration, firm events, continuing education, business promotion, and mentoring) annually. I did some math to determine how many hours […]
Zero is the Loneliest Number
By Murray Gottheil | January 23, 2025 In law firms, more zeros are better than fewer zeros. For example, announcing, “Look at me! I just closed a $100,000,000 acquisition” impresses your colleagues more than saying, “I just did a deal worth $10,000,000.” A deal that was only worth $965,000 is not even worth mentioning. Frankly, it is almost […]
Big Law Does It Better
By Murray Gottheil | January 22, 2024 I am willing to bet that you did not expect this headline from me! And to be fair, I do not intend it as a general statement. What I am going to talk about is legal research, and it is a fact that Big Law does that better than the […]
Let’s Talk About Recruiters
By Murray Gottheil | January 15, 2025 Lawyers struggle to attract talent who are both capable and a good fit for a firm’s culture. If only there were consultants whom firms could retain and candidates could work with who understand the market, the culture in different firms and practice groups, the current salaries being paid by […]
Retirement For Young and Old Lawyers: Part Eight – The Final Chapter
By Murray Gottheil | January 6, 2025 I’m not sure I can say there is a clean line between me as an individual and me as a lawyer – Anita Hill Retiring may be difficult for many lawyers, because too often lawyering is not only what we do, but who we are. You cannot retire from […]
Retirement For Young and Old Lawyers: Part Seven
By Murray Gottheil | January 1, 2025 In Part Four, I wrote about the dread that some of us experience when we contemplate the fantasy number that we think we have to save to retire. Once I abandoned my original demented plan to work as long as it took to achieve my number, I asked my […]
Retirement For Young and Old Lawyers: Part Six
By Murray Gottheil | December 18, 2024 Husband: “Green Acres is the place to be . . . keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside.” Wife: “New York is where I’d rather stay. I get allergic smelling hay. I just adore a penthouse view. Dah-ling, I love you, but give me Park Avenue.” – Lyrics by Vic […]
Retirement For Young and Old Lawyers: Part Five
By Murray Gottheil | December 10, 2024 Way back in 1997, my firm had an existential crisis when our three largest rainmakers decided to ditch private practice to chase the really big money. And of course, they all wanted their capital back. At the same time. So, brilliant lawyer that I was, after surviving that crisis, […]
Retirement For Young and Old Lawyers: Part Four
By Murray Gottheil | December 9, 2024 This is Part Four of my series on retiring from the legal profession. In the first three parts, I did not even mention “the Number”. We all know what the Number is: the amount of investments that you supposedly require so that you can retire. I spent many years […]