The American Bar Association

"Tom the Temp,

We’re updating the ABA Journal’s Blawg Directory. Currently we have you listed as an anonymous blogger. I’m double checking that that’s what you prefer. I’d also like to know if there’s more detail that we should add in our description in our directory.

Best,

Molly
abajournal.com"

With all due respect, I would prefer to remain anonymous. Frankly, I feel like an anonymous nothing in the eyes of the ABA anyway. The ABA is merely designed to protect the interests of biglaw partners and their buddies in academia and banking at the expense of everyone else. More jobs for professors who want cushy positions with little work, more profit for universities (for whom law schools are VERY profitable since they're so cheap to run), no oversight of law school fraudulent advertising, more indentured-for-life loan slaves for the financial people and agencies, and plenty of top 5 percenters to burn out in biglaw billing 3,000 hours per year.

During this recent credit crisis, the actions of the ABA have truly been disgraceful. The ruling this spring to allow for document review outsourcing is literally sucking thousands of jobs out of the country as we speak. In the same vein, "End of Esq." is now reporting that the ABA is setting it up in such a way that small town attorneys could now potentially be liable to clients for uninsured deposits in attorney escrow accounts. http://endofesq.com/?p=309

The American legal profession is now on its last legs. As a desperate attorney in Michigan recently wrote on a popular legal message board,

"My problem is that I have two more kids to go to college and the ID Law firm I was working at cut me and 4 others. They lost two ins company clients. I thought I was making partner. I'm now upside down on my home (75% drop in value and owe 80K on what was a $260K home) we’re living off savings and I'm making maybe 20 K this year. I'm 49 but will be 50 next week and setting up a competitive practice in Detroit would cost over 100 K. Two days ago I had lunch with a with a friend who is a partner of a firm and he couldn't have been sorrier but his firm is cutting 14 attorneys. Same with all my friends and contacts, there just isn't a position for me right now. Going to deer camp this weekend with seven attorneys (one of which posts here). Three of us are unemployed. First time that has happened. We've been camping together for 18 years. Found out last night that another friend, who has been a senior estate planning partner in a 50 + attorney firm has had his department closed. That’s another 5 attorneys out. I asked him if he was going to set-up his department as a firm and he said that the major clients have taken such a hit that he doesn't think the firm would make any money."