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HoangTruong-FirstPaper 5 - 23 May 2008 - Main.HoangTruong
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< | Two Situations in Disarray: How fixing the NBA can fix the Legal Profession
-- By HoangTruong - 14 Feb 2008 | | | | |
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> | Fixing the Legal Profession
-- By HoangTruong? - 14 Feb 2008 | | | | |
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< | I.Intro
At first glance, such a comparison of two more ill fitted entities would be difficult to find. The differences between the two are endless, and the similarities uncommon. Law is a war using words and ideas; basketball is war using muscle and agility. Law has always required a higher level of education of its combatants; basketball simply requires two arms and two legs (and not even that at times). Law is dominated by the privileged class, often Caucasians with a smattering of color here and there. Basketball is dominated by the genetically gifted, often African Americans with a smattering of “high basketball IQ” players whom according to stereotype simply can’t jump. | >
> | I.Intro | | | | |
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< | On second glance however some similarities might present itself. Both are highly regarded professions | >
> | The horrendous attrition rates of big law firms in recent years have been well chronicled and documented. The big law firm business model, the argument goes, depends on this attrition rate to keep profits per partner high and the overall success of the firm itself. However, with Generation Y’s increasingly disparate emphasis on work/life balance rather than traditional measures of a law firm job like prestige or salary, law firms must adapt in order to remain successful enterprises. | | | | |
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- I can think of no definition of the "professions" that includes laboring at games. Basketball players, like other compensated athletes, are sweated workers who are paid high wages.
to outsiders, and both have employees that are reviled for being overpaid. Both recruit new top tier talent with ferocity only to lose their prospect a few years down the road to a higher paying/more competitive competing firm or team. Both are professions where the most cold hearted and driven succeed, while both also requires such success to come with many sacrifices. Finally, both are currently in a state that can be characterized as dismal. | >
> | II. Work and Hours | | | | |
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> | The most common complaint of associates is the length of their work day coupled with work that seems meaningless to them. As with all occupations and professions, professional satisfaction for lawyers often comes from engaging in meaningful work that they enjoy, rather than from their bi-monthly check that pays the bills and for the nice things in life. Thus, the first step in improving quality of life for associates is to simply delegate more meaningful work from the partner’s desk to incoming associates. By hiring less associates and investing in a more intensified on the job training program, law firms will be able to lower their attrition rate and produce better lawyers. Thus, by taking away the feeling of helplessness and uselessness that many incoming associates feel, law firms can increase the level of work satisfaction amongst its employees. | | | | |
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- No, the labor markets are not alike. Schoolyards are full of poor children falsely believing that they have a chance to become highly-paid, short-lived athletic stars. They are not full of poor children studying hard in order to become lawyers. The primary source of the deception is societal over-interest in athletics. Such as the interest you are showing now, which is helping others behind you not to follow you on the road to law school.
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> | Likewise, if law firms reduced the amount of hours worked by associates, the worker satisfaction would increase tenfold. Worker burnout would occur less frequently and thus would help reduce the trend of high turnover rates at large law firms. To reduce amount of hours, firms should do away with the billable hour requirements and instead provide graduated bonuses for the lawyers that work more than others. By replacing a minimum billable hour requirement to qualify for a set bonus with a graduated system, associates would be rewarded proportionally to their effort and time spent. This would likely create a much more satisfactory working environment in even the most cutthroat firms. | | | | |
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> | III. Hiring the Right Students in the First Place | | | | |
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> | The next step that would help law firms retain more associates is to just use different criteria in hiring them in the first place. Drastically reducing the amount of emphasis on law school grades while similarly focusing on social interaction skills, personality types, and general ability to relate with clients would make incoming classes much more useful to the firm. By hiring these associates based on a wider variety of factors, a law firm can recruit a more diverse class of incoming associates. Similarly, if all law firms would agree structure their summer programs simply a preview of what’s to come rather than an extended vacation, students would be able to discern for ourselves where we actually want to work. With so little effort being made on both sides to find a true fit, it is no wonder that law students often end up jumping from firm to firm, and from practice area to practice area. | | | | |
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< | II. What is wrong with the NBA?
At its peak, the NBA enjoyed enormous growth under the great rivalries of the 80’s between the dynasties in LA and Boston and the perceived individual dominance by Jordan in the 90’s. It was at this time when the league’s popularity was peaking, taking its place as America’s favorite sport. | >
> | IV. What is Needed for Real Industry-wide Reform | | | | |
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< | Flash forward a decade later and NFL football has easily taken over the claim of America’s most favorite sport. The decline of the NBA has been attributed to many things from the lack of high scoring games to the lack of truly dominating teams. However, there are a few things about the NBA model that is empirically flawed that makes it be in a state of disarray. | >
> | After all this however, the most important thing law firms need to do in taking a step in the right direction is structure a comprehensive and clear strategic plan acknowledging that there is an inherent problem with the way the current business model is ran. By acknowledging the flaws in the plan, the firm can signal to its partners, associates, and incoming graduating law students that the firm recognizes that the current model for big law firms isn’t the only successful business plan. | | | | |
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< | The first problem with today’s NBA is the control that officials have upon the games. Officiating has always been a bane of all sports with mishaps like the recent Seahawk-Steelers Superbowl or the Miami Heat-Dallas Mavericks Finals leaving a poor taste for any fan. However, the NBA has instituted rule changes that have essentially guaranteed a wider variation of standards of calling its games. With a bias towards the offensive perimeter players, the NBA has allowed referees to basically decide the flow of the entire game by giving the licensee to call any kind of contact a foul. The consequences of such deference to a referee’s judgment and preference for perimeter offensive players leads to a less genuine product where defenders can be seen jumping away from incoming players than actually challenging them. With incentives to not compete and also to fake physical contact by falling to the floor, the authenticity of athletic competition is diminished. This lack of control of over the outcome is one of the pivotal reasons why a fan or a player would become frustrated by the current state of the NBA. | >
> | However, in order for a real industry wide reform to occur, both law firms and the law students they covet must agree in principle to further the quality of the lives of lawyers. If firm A decides to cut its required hours and at the same time lowers starting salaries to compensate for the loss of income, then the presence of other firms that pay a much higher starting salary will undermine Firm A’s effort to improve the quality of life for its associates. Likewise, if given a choice between a slightly higher paying job with long unmanageable hours and a slightly lower paying job with manageable hours, law students should find it in themselves to make the personal choice that would actually given them satisfaction with their job. | | | | |
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< | Another aspect of the NBA’s model that is inherently flawed is its arduous and somewhat tediously lengthy schedule. By having a season of 82 regular season games spread over a six month period, the significance of each game is diminished by both players and fans. Without much stake in the regular season, players and fans could care less about a particular game in January. The length of the schedule also has its effects on the NBA’s highly paid employees in the high occurrence of physical injuries and wearing down the body in general. | >
> | Since the natural nature of both law students and law firms is competitive, it very difficult to imagine a cooperative, uniform effort to lower both revenue and starting salaries to improve the prospects of the legal profession in the long run. Thus, unless a mandate by the ABA or some similar national organization forces the hand of law firms and law students alike, it is quite realistic to expect that the legal profession would stay in its current model of doing business; increasing attrition rates and the big law firms’ attempts at keeping associates by increasing starting salaries seem to be here to stay. | | | | |
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< | The last flawed aspect of the NBA’s model is the tendency to sell us “stars” prepackaged before they even accomplish anything on the court (and sometimes before they even get on it). The culture of praising everything a star does while turning a blind eye to the flaws in his game is both insulting to intelligent fans and players alike. By telling us what to like and admire instead of letting us figure it out for ourselves, the NBA has given us a prepackaged product for us to take in that is really just a lie. | | | | |
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< | III. How can fixing these problems fix the legal profession?
In fixing the feeling of helplessness that both players and fans feel alike in the power of officials to determine games, the NBA can go a long way to truly establishing credibility. In a similar way, by having young associates actually take their part in meaningful work, big law firms can salvage a great deal of work satisfaction amongst lawyers. Taking away that feeling of helplessness and uselessness is pivotal in fixing the problems in both situations. | | | | |
<
< | By shortening the lengthy NBA schedule, regular season games would hold much more significance and priority. Also, the chance of injury to players would be drastically reduced while their overall state of health would improve. Likewise, if law firms reduced the amount of hours worked by associates, the worker satisfaction would increase tenfold. Worker burnout would occur less frequently and thus would help reduce the trend of high turnover rates at large law firms. | | | | |
<
< | By letting us choose for ourselves who we think are the superstars of the league, the NBA would be less like a prepackaged entertainment product and more like a sport. This would also lead to less people anointing the next “savior” of their franchise before they realize it was really an illusion helped along by marketing. Similarly, if all law firms would agree structure their summer programs simply a preview of what’s to come rather than an extended vacation, students would be able to discern for ourselves where we actually want to work. | >
> |
- I can think of no definition of the "professions" that includes laboring at games. Basketball players, like other compensated athletes, are sweated workers who are paid high wages.
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< | IV. Conclusion
In conclusion, although they are separate things that have little in common, fixing some of the problems with the NBA today can be analogously helpful in fixing the dismal state of the legal profession. | >
> |
- No, the labor markets are not alike. Schoolyards are full of poor children falsely believing that they have a chance to become highly-paid, short-lived athletic stars. They are not full of poor children studying hard in order to become lawyers. The primary source of the deception is societal over-interest in athletics. Such as the interest you are showing now, which is helping others behind you not to follow you on the road to law school.
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- This comparison is literally puerile. Analogy's purpose is to find deep similarities that illuminate mechanism, not to provide superficial correspondences. If you had something to say about how to reorganize law firms you wouldn't need to waste four hundred words on how the very different businesses that are basketball teams in a league should be governed. Fan radio ranting has no role to play here. The route to improvement is to start again without the analogy and develop the idea concerning the primary subject of inquiry.
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HoangTruong-FirstPaper 4 - 23 Mar 2008 - Main.EbenMoglen
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper%25" |
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| | | I.Intro
At first glance, such a comparison of two more ill fitted entities would be difficult to find. The differences between the two are endless, and the similarities uncommon. Law is a war using words and ideas; basketball is war using muscle and agility. Law has always required a higher level of education of its combatants; basketball simply requires two arms and two legs (and not even that at times). Law is dominated by the privileged class, often Caucasians with a smattering of color here and there. Basketball is dominated by the genetically gifted, often African Americans with a smattering of “high basketball IQ” players whom according to stereotype simply can’t jump. | |
<
< | On second glance however some similarities might present itself. Both are highly regarded professions to outsiders, and both have employees that are reviled for being overpaid. Both recruit new top tier talent with ferocity only to lose their prospect a few years down the road to a higher paying/more competitive competing firm or team. Both are professions where the most cold hearted and driven succeed, while both also requires such success to come with many sacrifices. Finally, both are currently in a state that can be characterized as dismal. | >
> | On second glance however some similarities might present itself. Both are highly regarded professions
- I can think of no definition of the "professions" that includes laboring at games. Basketball players, like other compensated athletes, are sweated workers who are paid high wages.
to outsiders, and both have employees that are reviled for being overpaid. Both recruit new top tier talent with ferocity only to lose their prospect a few years down the road to a higher paying/more competitive competing firm or team. Both are professions where the most cold hearted and driven succeed, while both also requires such success to come with many sacrifices. Finally, both are currently in a state that can be characterized as dismal.
- No, the labor markets are not alike. Schoolyards are full of poor children falsely believing that they have a chance to become highly-paid, short-lived athletic stars. They are not full of poor children studying hard in order to become lawyers. The primary source of the deception is societal over-interest in athletics. Such as the interest you are showing now, which is helping others behind you not to follow you on the road to law school.
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II. What is wrong with the NBA? | | | In conclusion, although they are separate things that have little in common, fixing some of the problems with the NBA today can be analogously helpful in fixing the dismal state of the legal profession. | |
>
> |
- This comparison is literally puerile. Analogy's purpose is to find deep similarities that illuminate mechanism, not to provide superficial correspondences. If you had something to say about how to reorganize law firms you wouldn't need to waste four hundred words on how the very different businesses that are basketball teams in a league should be governed. Fan radio ranting has no role to play here. The route to improvement is to start again without the analogy and develop the idea concerning the primary subject of inquiry.
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You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. |
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HoangTruong-FirstPaper 3 - 18 Mar 2008 - Main.IanSullivan
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HoangTruong-FirstPaper 2 - 05 Mar 2008 - Main.IanSullivan
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HoangTruong-FirstPaper 1 - 14 Feb 2008 - Main.HoangTruong
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Two Situations in Disarray: How fixing the NBA can fix the Legal Profession
-- By HoangTruong - 14 Feb 2008
I.Intro
At first glance, such a comparison of two more ill fitted entities would be difficult to find. The differences between the two are endless, and the similarities uncommon. Law is a war using words and ideas; basketball is war using muscle and agility. Law has always required a higher level of education of its combatants; basketball simply requires two arms and two legs (and not even that at times). Law is dominated by the privileged class, often Caucasians with a smattering of color here and there. Basketball is dominated by the genetically gifted, often African Americans with a smattering of “high basketball IQ” players whom according to stereotype simply can’t jump.
On second glance however some similarities might present itself. Both are highly regarded professions to outsiders, and both have employees that are reviled for being overpaid. Both recruit new top tier talent with ferocity only to lose their prospect a few years down the road to a higher paying/more competitive competing firm or team. Both are professions where the most cold hearted and driven succeed, while both also requires such success to come with many sacrifices. Finally, both are currently in a state that can be characterized as dismal.
II. What is wrong with the NBA?
At its peak, the NBA enjoyed enormous growth under the great rivalries of the 80’s between the dynasties in LA and Boston and the perceived individual dominance by Jordan in the 90’s. It was at this time when the league’s popularity was peaking, taking its place as America’s favorite sport.
Flash forward a decade later and NFL football has easily taken over the claim of America’s most favorite sport. The decline of the NBA has been attributed to many things from the lack of high scoring games to the lack of truly dominating teams. However, there are a few things about the NBA model that is empirically flawed that makes it be in a state of disarray.
The first problem with today’s NBA is the control that officials have upon the games. Officiating has always been a bane of all sports with mishaps like the recent Seahawk-Steelers Superbowl or the Miami Heat-Dallas Mavericks Finals leaving a poor taste for any fan. However, the NBA has instituted rule changes that have essentially guaranteed a wider variation of standards of calling its games. With a bias towards the offensive perimeter players, the NBA has allowed referees to basically decide the flow of the entire game by giving the licensee to call any kind of contact a foul. The consequences of such deference to a referee’s judgment and preference for perimeter offensive players leads to a less genuine product where defenders can be seen jumping away from incoming players than actually challenging them. With incentives to not compete and also to fake physical contact by falling to the floor, the authenticity of athletic competition is diminished. This lack of control of over the outcome is one of the pivotal reasons why a fan or a player would become frustrated by the current state of the NBA.
Another aspect of the NBA’s model that is inherently flawed is its arduous and somewhat tediously lengthy schedule. By having a season of 82 regular season games spread over a six month period, the significance of each game is diminished by both players and fans. Without much stake in the regular season, players and fans could care less about a particular game in January. The length of the schedule also has its effects on the NBA’s highly paid employees in the high occurrence of physical injuries and wearing down the body in general.
The last flawed aspect of the NBA’s model is the tendency to sell us “stars” prepackaged before they even accomplish anything on the court (and sometimes before they even get on it). The culture of praising everything a star does while turning a blind eye to the flaws in his game is both insulting to intelligent fans and players alike. By telling us what to like and admire instead of letting us figure it out for ourselves, the NBA has given us a prepackaged product for us to take in that is really just a lie.
III. How can fixing these problems fix the legal profession?
In fixing the feeling of helplessness that both players and fans feel alike in the power of officials to determine games, the NBA can go a long way to truly establishing credibility. In a similar way, by having young associates actually take their part in meaningful work, big law firms can salvage a great deal of work satisfaction amongst lawyers. Taking away that feeling of helplessness and uselessness is pivotal in fixing the problems in both situations.
By shortening the lengthy NBA schedule, regular season games would hold much more significance and priority. Also, the chance of injury to players would be drastically reduced while their overall state of health would improve. Likewise, if law firms reduced the amount of hours worked by associates, the worker satisfaction would increase tenfold. Worker burnout would occur less frequently and thus would help reduce the trend of high turnover rates at large law firms.
By letting us choose for ourselves who we think are the superstars of the league, the NBA would be less like a prepackaged entertainment product and more like a sport. This would also lead to less people anointing the next “savior” of their franchise before they realize it was really an illusion helped along by marketing. Similarly, if all law firms would agree structure their summer programs simply a preview of what’s to come rather than an extended vacation, students would be able to discern for ourselves where we actually want to work.
IV. Conclusion
In conclusion, although they are separate things that have little in common, fixing some of the problems with the NBA today can be analogously helpful in fixing the dismal state of the legal profession.
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable.
To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" on the next line:
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Note: TWiki has strict formatting rules. Make sure you preserve the three spaces, asterisk, and extra space at the beginning of that line. If you wish to give access to any other users simply add them to the comma separated list |
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