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No Jerks Need Apply

By Alexandra Brown | Jun. 2, 2008
News

Law Office Management

Jun. 2, 2008

No Jerks Need Apply

Law firms try a number of strategies to remain jerk-free.


     
Stanford University professor Robert Sutton knew his blockbuster book about workplace jerks had struck a chord in the legal community when he got an email from an employee at a well-known San Francisco law firm.
      "I am a legal secretary who has worked with countless assholes my entire working life,' she wrote, enumerating "attorneys, upper management, and even staff and secretaries who demean and poison the workplace with their vindictiveness, competitiveness and general lack of respect for others."
      Sutton's book, The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't, is peppered with law-firm anecdotes, such as the one about a young female lawyer who turned down an offer to work with a renowned litigator after hearing that he was a "flaming asshole." The litigator later berated her for her decision, but perhaps she made the right choice: Marina Park (the author's wife) later became a managing partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.
      Then there is the lawyer in Baker & McKenzie's London office who resigned shortly after his email-hounding a secretary to pay the cleaning bill for a few splotches of ketchup she had spilled on his pants-came to light.
      Such tales certainly resonate with attorneys. After using the book to initiate dialogue about workplace conduct, Patrick J. Richard, litigation department head at Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliot in San Francisco, handed out copies of Sutton's 24-question "inner jerk" self-test to colleagues at a meeting. "Lawyers are paid to be vocal ... and give opinions," Richard says, but adds, "the things that work when you're negotiating or litigating may not be the best for your personal relationships in the office."
      Sutton, a professor of management science and engineering, may not have known that even before his bestseller was published last year, many firms had already put in place several of the "no jerk" policies he advocates in his book. For example, plenty of California law firms try to screen out jerks during the interview process.
      "We have a major jerk filter,' says Andrew Giacomini, managing partner of Hanson Bridgett in San Francisco. "The first metric we look for is human fit. It's before money, before practice areas. It's 'Will the person fit in with the people already working here? Are they going to be happy in our culture?' "
      Three years ago Baker & McKenzie made it policy that everyone-from the most junior associates to the principals-must be evaluated on three core qualities: "being good citizens, being diplomatic, and being nice."
      "It's the glue that holds us together,' says Cynthia L. Jackson, a partner in the firm's Palo Alto office. "We invest significant time, money, and resources to make sure that glue is there."
      At Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, an atypical free-market approach to assignments lets associates choose the projects they work on, motivating partners to act reasonably, mentor well-and not be jerks. "It attracts people who play well in the sandbox together,' says Steven Sletten, hiring committee chair and a veteran Los Angeles litigator. "If they don't work well together, they might be less likely to get the help they need."
      Still, many firms will continue to struggle at creating a no-jerk environment, says Sutton, as long as they continue to "rank people from best to worst and give them no incentive for cooperating or contributing to the whole."
      Many firms reward people for individual achievement through profits per partner, for example, he notes. "If you want to create an environment where there's a lot of nastiness," Sutton says, "that's a pretty effective way to do it."
     
     
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Alexandra Brown

Daily Journal Staff Writer

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