The Practice of Law -- as not experienced by law firm associates.

I always have liked the idea of law practice -- that's why we call it law practice, I always say; Eventually we'll be perfect.

The life of an associate at a large law firm these days is anything but law practice or perfect. First, associates must locate themselves within the firm heirarchy. One might be closeted in a "war room" with other lawyers who may be "contract lawyers," "staff attorneys" or "counsel" but virtually never "partners." Then, associates must accustom themselves to being at or near the bottom rung of the ladder where the work is mind numbing. The role of the associate is to review cartons or databases of documents and try to associate documents with facts and people in a case. However, the associate is not privy to all of the documents or even all of the lawyers working on the case and must rely upon others to correctly line up the dramatis personnae with the operative facts of the matter under investigation. Then the associate must link the facts and the actors analytically to the documents that the associate is reviewing. I once did this in a criminal case in which the co-conspirators each had four different names and the associated documents and wiretap communications had to be linked with each street name, given name, religous name, and nickname. In the world of corporate fraud, the name issue is not quite so complicated and so it can be crushingly boring. If the firm has jettisoned the contract lawyers who do this type of document review day after day for 10 hours a day for a pittance and no hope of professional advancement, the real associates must do it.

Meanwhile, the associate must be up to date on the gossip within the firm and on the street about whether there might be layoffs and, if so, which level in the heirarchy may be affected. If the associate is responsible for feeding a family and paying a mortgage, the prospect of layoffs makes the associate adopt a "humble" demeanor and to be respectful to those ahead of the associate in the heirarchy. Complaints about the lack of windows in the war room, the lack of variety and stimulation of the work, and the paucity of guidance from the elders are never voiced. Thoughts of escape permeate the room and discussions ensue about alternative careers -- what they might do if they were not lawyers shackled to the war room. If one is lucky and without spouse, dependents, law school loans, or mortgages, one might save money for a life of travel and triumphantly announce "I QUIT!" to the amazement of fellow denizens of the war room who are more economically challenged. For others in the room, a breakout moment might be when, after briefing the counsel on the status of document review, the counsel agrees to take the associate along while the counsel briefs the partner. Face time with the partner is prized.

Of course, there is virtually no hope of ever becoming a partner since, in the up and out system, very few associates actually become partners. Instead, they are passed over, despite stellar credentials and years of hard labor, only to be told to find other employment. Those who do make partner are under pressure to produce "business" rather than "professional services." So, is it too late to go to medical school? To become an artist, starving or otherwise? How about a foodie? A sommelier? A lifeguard? A solo practitioner?

How do we investigate ourselves? We cannot ignore the record of torture at US secret prisons.

Yesterday the President and Attorney General announced their intention to not prosecute members of the intelligence community that may have participated in activities involving torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment as long as the activities were performed after being advised they were legal and were performed reasonably and in good faith. I believe that this decision did not adequately take into account United States' obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture which makes investigation and, if appropriate, prosecution of torture committed by their nationals required of any nation that has ratified the Convention. See the op-ed piece I wrote on this topic at www.legaltimes.com which should be online as of April 18, 2009.