Fifteen years ago this week, David Lat, who then ran Above the Law, asked me, a veteran big-firm partner who had recently gone in-house, if I’d write a column for this online publication.
I agreed. This link to my first column shows how I started back in 2010.
Originally, I wrote two columns every week. And I wrote almost exclusively about life as an in-house lawyer or things I had learned in my previous life at a large firm.
I wrote about “How to Drive Clients Nuts!” Once you come up with an idea, you might as well fill a few Mondays with it. So I also cranked out, “What Drives Partners Nuts!” And, fair being fair, “How to Drive Associates Nuts!”
I used myself as a case study in developing a legal practice at a large firm. Since I was no longer in the game, I could afford to be mercilessly honest.
I had started a blog when I was at a law firm. I wrote about blogging as a business development tool. Again, since I had nothing at stake, I could afford to be honest. (After I moved in-house, my co-blogger kept the experiment alive. He’s still at it now, with help from others, 20 years after we started that puppy.)
Very occasionally, I veered off topic onto other subjects. In 15 years at Above the Law, I stand by this as the cutest column I’ve ever written, even though it touches on the law only tangentially. Perhaps this one is a close second, and it’s more legally relevant.
In 2012, the company that I worked for moved its headquarters (and me) overseas to London. I reduced my writing schedule from two columns per week to one. When you live in London, weekends are made for Paris, not cranking out columns for Above the Law.
After my move to the U.K., I poked fun at the Brits. I took a lot of grief for that one.
At about the same time, I decided to collect some of my columns in a book. (Here’s the link to the book at Amazon, but the book is now out of print, so you couldn’t buy a copy if you wanted to. Happily, my other book, “The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law,” is a bigger seller, so you can still grab a copy (affiliate link) if you’re interested.)
Long-time readers will remember that Above the Law originally permitted folks to click on an icon and post comments about every column. The comments ranged from vicious to insightful to vicious to intelligent to vicious to hysterically funny to vicious. My book reproduced both some my columns and some of my readers’ comments, because I accept wisdom, humor, and insights from all sources, and even viciousness can be revealing.
When I started writing this column, I had to give it a name, which was included every week along with a subtitle hinting at the subject of that particular column. Above the Law believed that naming a column was important for branding purposes. (The branding exercise stopped many years ago.) My column was originally titled “Inside Straight.” When the time came to name my book, I wrote a column explaining that the title of my book would start with the name of the column, “Inside Straight,” but would then have a colon and a short, snappy, subtitle. I asked readers to suggest subtitles in the comments. As you might imagine, I received a variety of suggestions. One of my favorites was from the commenter who proposed: “Inside Straight: The Annoying Ramblings of an Uber Douche.” I confess that I used a different title when the book was actually published.
Many subjects are static; they just don’t advance quickly, and you eventually exhaust what you have to say. Life as an in-house lawyer is that way. But two subjects change all the time: Sports (with a game every night) and politics (basically the same). I bet that’s why you see so many columns about sports and politics. After Donald Trump was elected president and I returned to the United States, I shifted the subject of my column from “life as an in-house lawyer” to “how could we have elected that clown?” (although I occasionally gave Trump his due — eliminating the penny, for example, was a good idea). By then, I had no more to say about in-house life and, with Trump as president, the lure was irresistible.
My columns became more widely read when I started writing political opinion. My single most widely read column ruminated on how Trump might react to being indicted. But I thought this column was OK, too, posing a few questions to my Trump-supporting friends. Judging from the reaction to that column, my Trump-supporting friends don’t like being questioned.
Years ago, I published annual columns celebrating each anniversary of my time at Above the Law. I titled most of those columns, “Happy Birthday to Me!” But the statistics showed that nobody read those columns. One year, I tried to sucker people into reading my anniversary celebration. That didn’t work either.
I gave up the tradition.
But today, on my 15th anniversary at Above the Law, I’m reverting to form and noting the occasion out loud. I guarantee you that I’ll no longer be writing these columns in 2040, so you won’t be seeing any 30th anniversary post from me. Once in a lifetime is enough.
For a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, let’s celebrate.
Break out the cake. Light the candles. Cut yourself a slice.
Happy birthday to me!
And thanks for having come along for the ride.
Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.
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