« The Dawn of an Urban Legend? |
Main
| The Last 2008 Presidential Election Roundup »
Even Biglaw Attorneys May Be Entirely Self-Made
When you think of top law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, adjectives like "white shoe," "blue chip" or "elite" come to mind. What you may not realize, however, is that Joe Flom, Skadden's first associate and now name partner, was anything but. Flom hailed from New York's Garment District and, following law school graduation, was shunned by upper crust firms.
So what accounts for Flom's success? Sociology, argues Malcolm Gladwell, author of the new book "Outliers: The Story of Success," reviewed at the site Through Your Body. Flom is one of the rags-to-riches success stories profiled in Gladwell's book to support his premise that circumstance, rather than status, propels success. In Flom's case, his circumstances -- exclusion from other major law firms and an upbringing that valued hard work -- forced him to explore a new field like hostile corporate takeovers, and gave him the tenacity to stick with it.
There are multiple other stories like Flom's, about scrappy lawyers who overcame their circumstances to build great practices. But from what I can tell, most of those lawyers travel predominantly in the solo and small firm world. Is there a place in big law for people like Flom who have been rejected by the conventional elite?
Posted by Carolyn Elefant on November 4, 2008 at 11:36 AM | Permalink
| Comments (0)