Unbearable Blood-Sucking Agencies

Tom: I have come to understand a great deal about the ultimate motives, agenda of some of those who come into an equity role at some of the major legal temporary agencies. Attorneys have to recognize that in most instances these folks are not your friends or career advisors invested in your professional development and success. All too often many of us are bought off with a slice of Pizza or a free sandwhich or in the case of that Scott Krowitz guy at Lexolution, some chummy b.s seminar about "Careers in Coding." Behind the scenes some slimebag middle management profiteer is all too happy to add a layer of profit in between you and the law firm employer.

Consider the case of one Robert Singer, who formerly served as an Executive Director at Weil Gotshal and Manages and Finance Director at Cravath. Roles which were primarily financial and devoid of any human component. His role has been principally to teach law firms how to be more profitable. He took his former fat paychecks and in late 2005 bought into the partnership at DeNovo legal. Since that time, he has changed the face of that agency, mostly for the worse. His motives are purely profit oriented, primarily for himself and those in his inner circle. Most temps go to work on DeNovo projects because of Sean Curtin. In fact, a friend of mine is a partner at a firm and he mentioned being pitched by Singer and the guy did not know the first thing about the data retrieval process critical to the management and staffing of a major case but tried to schmooze him about how DeNovo Legal was a full service Trial Preparation Firm. The Partner told me that a bean counter who knew jack shit about his business was essentially trying to jack him off because he saw DeNovo as no different from any other temp agency.

I worked on a project there in 2005 mostly because it had a reputation as one of the better enviornments to work in. They, however, are out of touch with people who have to work 60 hours or more a week doing mind-numbing work to pay their bills. We have to endure Update like staffers like this Evelyn Louie chic, who has the worst interpersonal skills. Friends on a project there tell me that she periodically rises from her hole like its Groundhog day to make another announcement about the conditioning of expense reimbursements but largely the temps have no idea whether the project will last for a week, a few more days or months. Sure, they give out free pizza and the like but those that built what was a more uniquely personal and professional agency get pushed aside and what these people are replaced with is a Nazi like efficiency. They sit around with calculators all day long trying to figure out ways to extend the work day, eliminate breaks or reimbursements for meals or cars. That is the word on the street. Fortunately or unfortunately I was staffed on something else at the time, and am actually working for an agency I hate right now but it pays the bills. Agencies are increasingly becoming "UPDATE" like with no regard to ones professional development and long term job security. If we have to deal with people like Update's Leslie Firtell, Eileen Lamboy or Evelyn Louie and Robert Singer at DeNovo Legal, most will likely go someplace else.

The further lesson in all of this, is that in this modern era in America we increasingly find those at the top of the food chain sucking more and more $$ out of the business while the proletariat professional classes have to rationalize getting less. It will work for a time but ultimately bankrupt souls like Robert Singer will be dumped on the scrap heap of business history.