Major Law Firms Are Shrinking

One of the interesting aspects of the current recession is the blood bath occurring at many major law firms - enterprises once viewed as largely recession proof. Of course, as large numbers of lawyers find themselves suddenly unemployed, they either find positions at smaller firms or exit the legal industry. That's not to say the malaise of the economic times aren't likewise trickling down towards smaller firms as well. One local divorce attorney said that even in that realm of practice business has slowed as couples are staying together - not necessarily happily - so as to not have to sell homes in a stagnant market. Foreclosure and bankruptcy firms are the only ones that seem to be prospering. The New York Times has a piece today that looks at the turmoil at a firm that has long been a bastion of power and influence in New York:

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In his two years as chairman of White & Case, the venerable Wall Street law firm, Mr. Verrier had already laid off 70 young lawyers and shuttered offices in Bangkok, Dresden and Milan. He had watched top partners flee to competitors and suffered a depressive 2008 holiday party. . .

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Now Mr. Verrier, who had worked exclusively at the century-old firm since leaving Harvard Law School in 1982, sat in his office high above 44th Street and Avenue of the Americas, considering the e-mail message he was about to send. It announced that 200 more lawyers would lose their jobs, nearly 1 in 10 at the firm over all — and not just young associates with everything in front of them, but some million-dollar-a-year ones like himself, the ones with twin mortgages, kids in private school and no Plan B.

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“People are shellshocked,” said one top partner at the firm who, like many of its current and former lawyers, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. “If they survived the first two rounds, they’re happy to have a job, but are still very nervous. And if their phones don’t ring, if their work doesn’t come back with a vengeance, they fear they aren’t long for this world.”

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A few top firms, like Thatcher, Proffitt & Wood, established before the Civil War broke out, have already gone under in the flood; the carnage of layoffs has touched even sterling names like Proskauer Rose, Dewey & LeBoeuf and Clifford Chance.

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In the first quarter of 2009, demand for legal services in New York decreased by nearly 10 percent over 2008, according to the Hildebrandt International Peer Monitor Index. At least 10,000 employees at major firms across the country have lost their jobs so far this year, according to the macabre but wildly popular “Layoff Tracker” run by another blog, lawshucks.com.

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While the legal industry is hardly battling the existential threat that is facing, say, the newspaper trade, Big Law — especially in competitive New York — is facing a potential paradigm shift as fundamental as the one that has hit investment banks and the auto industry. Big, as a business model (let alone as an expression of the national mood), seems bound for obsolescence.

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Jerry Kowalski, a legal consultant who tracks the New York market, said that “the mood at White & Case — and at probably 15 or 20 more firms in New York — is kind of like sitting at a deathbed and watching a close relative wither away. It’s like you’re right there in the I.C.U. with the patient and you know that the condition is terminal.”

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“For the first time in their lives, people feel sort of useless. All of a sudden, you can go to lunch for two and a half hours and really not be missed. It’s a blow to the ego. You’re talking about people who have never really failed.” At White & Case, the tensions have become so fierce that some people now fear staying home even if they are sick. Market forces have replaced “the social contract,” a top partner there said: camaraderie is “not terribly strong,” because “people are very scared.”

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As a profession, the law is harsh and brutal - one therapist I spoke with recently affiliated with the Virginia Bar noted that attorneys have among the highest suicide rate of any profession. After 32 years in the profession, I understand why. My advise to would be lawyers? Think twice about the law as a career. And for those who are already in the industry - find a way to get out, if possible.

More Monday Male Beauty

Coming Out Travails

I have often advocated for LGBT Americans to come out and help force typical Americans to face the fact that they know gay Americans who may in fact be their neighbors, their children, their parents, their relatives or their friends and come to the realization that we are people just like they are. That said, it is not an easy journey to come out and, yes, I stayed in the closet for many, many years - far longer than I probably should have in retrospect. My journey coming out in mid-life has been anything but easy and as regular readers know, I certainly have my moments of sadness and despair as aspects of the divorce continue to play out. On the other hand, the rewards of living out and proud are beyond measure. Andrew Sullivan has a post that reminds us that timing can be critical in deciding when to come out. Here are some highlights from one of Andrew's readers:

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I wanted to respond to your post regarding the necessity of coming out. I came out to my mom during my first year of law school after falling in love with a wonderful man. Being from a Catholic and Latin American background, she did not take it very well. She wanted to put me in reparative therapy and was extremely verbally abusive until I was finally forced to move out of my home during my final week of exams.

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As you can imagine, I did terribly that semester. I had to sleep in my car and on friends’ couches until I was able to figure out whether to stay in law school or quit. I decided to finish school, and I recently graduated.

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I urge young people that are in still reliant on their parents to hold off coming out until they become financially independent. Unless you have family support, the consequences of coming out can be devastating. I was fortunate to have friends and a great boyfriend that gave me the support I needed to finish school and figure out who I was. I can only imagine where I would be without them.

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I am glad that I am out and I am proud to be gay. I do not regret one bit my decision, but I wish I had not been in such a vulnerable situation. I just speak from my own personal experience that often the price of being honest at a young age may be too high a price for some of us to pay.

Supreme Court and Obama Uphold Don't Ask Don't Tell

In yet another example of Barack Obama flipping the finger to LGBT Americans, the Obama administration successfully defended and convinced the the U.S Supreme Court to refuse to review Don't Ask Don't Tell ("DADT") by arguing in court paper that the appeals court had ruled correctly in this case when it found that “don’t ask, don’t tell” is “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.” I hate to say it, but after this Obama looks like a cynical bigot who used LGBT Americans to win election and who has now thrown us all under the bus. I am beyond disgusted and increasingly view Obama with contempt. I have no use for liars and Obama looks increasingly like a liar when it comes to meaning anything he said during last fall's campaign in respect to the struggle for LGBT equality under the civil laws. The fact that felons, those without high school diplomas and other undesirables are welcome in the military while gays are not just adds insult to injury. Here are some highlights from 365gay.com:

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The Supreme Court on Monday agreed with the Obama administration and refused to review Pentagon policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. The court said it will not hear an appeal from former Army Capt. James Pietrangelo II, who was dismissed under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

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The federal appeals court in Boston earlier threw out a lawsuit filed by Pietrangelo and 11 other veterans. He was the only member of that group who asked the high court to rule that the Clinton-era policy is unconstitutional.

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“I think this decision is an absolute travesty of justice and I think every judge on this court should be ashamed of themselves,” said Pietrangelo, who served six years in the Army, seven years in the Vermont National Guard and fought in Iraq in 1991. “It’s nothing short of rubber stamping legalized discrimination, the same way Nazi Germany legalized discrimination against Jews. “The Supreme Court is not infallible, they get things wrong, and they got it wrong this time,” he said.

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In court papers, the administration said the appeals court ruled correctly in this case when it found that “don’t ask, don’t tell” is “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman referred requests for comment to the Justice Department, but said the military policy “implements the law.”

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“What it’s going to take is 30 million gay Americans getting off their butts and standing in front of the White House demanding gay quality,” said Pietrangelo, who has since moved back to his native Ohio.

Monday Male Beauty

Limited Posting

EDITOR NOTE: Just a note to readers that due to a crazy work schedule today that requires me to leave the house very early, some personal matters to attend to and a Legends Committee meeting this evening, I will most likely be doing very little posting today. I should be back more on a usual note tomorrow.

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The photo is one the my son took on the Sea to Sky Highway in British Columbia.

A Letter to the ELCA

In August of this year the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA") will be taking up two action items that - if approved - could make the ELCA one of the most gay affirming mainline denominations. One item is a social statement on human sexuality that would recognize gay relationships even if not granting the title :marriage." The second issue is that of allowing partnered gays to be rostered clergy. The committees formulating the two policy changes recommend them for approval, but there's no telling how voting members at the Assembly will vote. Since I am sure that the opponents of gay rights within the ELCA will be vocal in their opposition, I wrote a letter to the voting members who will be attending from the Virginia Synod. I hope others in the ELCA who seek full membership for LGBT members will do likewise. Here is the text of my letter:

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I am writing you because it is my understanding that you will be a voting member at the August, 2009, Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (“ELCA”) where two of the action items have special significance to me. One concerns the proposed modification of Ministry Policies and would allow partnered gays to be rostered clergy. The other deals with approval of the social statement “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.” As a gay member of First Lutheran Church Norfolk I want to share my prospective on why approval of both action items is so very important. Indeed, I believe that approval of these items is a tremendously necessary step toward ending what I see as the spiritual murder of gays and lesbians by Christian denominations.

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Words cannot adequately express the fear and often terrible self-hatred that one experiences growing up and coming to the realization that you are homosexual in our sexual orientation. For years I wondered why God has cursed me so and I tried prayer and other means to “change” myself to no avail. Yes, you can try to repress and deny the reality – and I did this for literally decades – but the truth is that one cannot change one’s sexual orientation, a fact now recognized by all of the legitimate medical and mental health associations in the United States but still ignored by the majority of Christian denominations. To be told that you are sinful and until recently criminalized takes a tremendous toll on one’s life and can lead to a life filled with unhappiness. In fact, I know of several gay men personally who committed suicide because they could not “change” and live in accord with what their churches taught them. One was a Lutheran. Then there are others I know who have been enrolled in bogus “ex-gay ministries” – often by their families - and come out still gay, but severely emotionally damaged. A few I know have become alcoholics as a result and others have felt no recourse but to walk away from a faith tradition that only condemns them.

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In my own case, I married a woman and fathered three wonderful children. However, in the process I always maintained a “glass wall” between myself and my former wife, my children, and virtually everyone in my live. I lived as an actor on perpetual stage so than no one would learn of my terrible secret. The result was that I wasn’t the husband and father I should have been and I lived a life of constant fear of discovery and emotional isolation and self hate. Eventually I reached a point where I had to either face who/what I really was or end my life (something I have tried to do on two occasions, once almost succeeding). At this point in my life, I have (i) ended my marriage in a horrific divorce where I was treated exceedingly harshly due to my sexual orientation and (ii) finally come to terms with and accepted my sexual orientation. I am now in a committed loving relationship with a wonderful man who is one of the kindest, most compassionate, and most Christian acting in his actions towards others people I have ever met. I truly do not believe that God looks harshly on our love and relationship.
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By approving the new social statement on human sexuality and the revision of the Ministry Policies, the ELCA will be sending a long overdue message to gay Lutherans and other gay Christians that they are not cursed by God and that they are children of God as well. Selective parsing of the Bible or fear of change should not be used to perpetuate a message of shame and hate against gays and lesbians and the transgendered. Unless and until partnered gay clergy are allowed by the ELCA, the continued message to gay/lesbian members will be that they are not truly welcomed or considered as equal members of the Church. You can help stop the spiritual murder of so many.

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I urge you from the bottom of my heart to vote for approval of both of these measures.

Sunday Male Beauty

"Protecting Marriage" Idiocy

This cartoon in nutshell shows the idiocy of the anti-gay marriage crowd and its disingenuous bloviating about the need to "protect Marriage" by denying it to same sex couples. From my years living in the straight world and supposedly perfect suburban neighborhoods, gays getting married was the least of the threats facing married couples who were struggling financially, pressed for quality time together, and often trapped in unhappy marriages because of financial and child rearing issues. Of course, our opponents on the Religious Right do nothing to address these problems - instead they blame it all on LGBT citizens. It is such bullshit

When Religion Becomes Evil

Wake Forest religion professor Charles Kimball has a new book that sounds like it will make for interesting reading. The title is "When Religion Becomes Evil: Five Warning Signs." While the book is not limited in its focus on Christianity, the five warning signs that seem to be custom designed for the anti-gay Christianist and professional Christian crowd. What makes Kimball an interesting commentator is that he is a Baptist minister with a doctorate in the history of religions from Harvard. Kimball believes that it is urgent for us all to be aware of these signs. Here are the five warning signs that a religious tradition is going toxic and becoming a force for evil:

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Whenever a religion emphasizes that it holds the absolute truth-the one path to God or the only correct way of reading a sacred text-to the exclusion of the truth claims of all other religions and cultures, that religion is becoming evil. Other warning signs include blind obedience to religious leaders, apocalyptic belief that the end time will occur through a particular religion, the use of malevolent ends to achieve religious goals (e.g., the Crusades) and the declaration of holy war.

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Personally, it sounds like Kimball had James Dobson, Tony Perkins, the men at Concerned Women for America and Pope Benedict XVI among others in mind when he prepared that list of warning signs. Hat trick to Bob Felton at Civil Commotion.