#howrey

Having gotten into the genre of fictionalized retellings of mental illnesses I tried to find other books like this. And one I loved as a teen was I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Hannah Green. I don’t remember too much of the plot, but I do remember that I found Green’s account of schizophrenia and mental hospitals a lot less relatable and very very frightening. I might pick this one up again sometime, just to see if it holds up to the years that have passed and if I still find it as interesting as I did then…

Matt Ruff’s Set this House in Order is something different when it comes to dealing with mental health. He – true to himself – combines this topic with a dose of humour. The main character in this novel has dissociative identity disorder, which is pictured as many personalities living in the main characters head/house. Wonderfully done and definitely to be taken seriously – if with a pinch of salt!

Having read a few accounts like Green’s and Kaysen’s I kept looking for the topic of mental health in novels and I still feel drawn to the topic today. Two newer novels that I absolutely loved were Helen Oyeyemi’s White is for Witching and Meg Howrey’s The Cranes Dance. White is for Witching is not a typical account of mental illness, it is in some parts mysterious and very gothic going on magical. It deals with death in the family, with sisterhood, and eating disorders but there is so much more to it. Even after finishing it I was not entirely sure what happened to the characters and what the house was a metaphor for. It was confusing, unsettling and beautiful. Sisterhood is also a theme in Howrey’s novel and as it deals with professional ballerinas it’s almost obvious that it also deals with eating disorders. I have written a full review for The Cranes Dance here.

All of these books were great and all of them have been important to me at one time in my life. Some of them still are. That’s why they are my favourites.

Why law firms must innovate before they disintegrate

            Wise consumers never accept a car mechanic’s first quote. This month, there were a variety of sales on sets of four tires for those interested in shopping around. At Firestone, buy three tires, and the fourth was free. With Continental, buy four passenger tires and win a Flip video camera. Incentive-based marketing, alongside gadget giveaways and creative pricing, has been alive and well in the automobile industry for decades. That’s why it’s so surprising that the second oldest market for great salesmen—law practice—has been relatively slow to adapt to today’s more mobile, technology-inclined customers. It’s especially ironic that one of the nation’s premier intellectual property law firms—focused exclusively on the defense of new ideas—has just blamed market innovation for its demise.

            The dissolution of Howrey LLP is not unanticipated. The firm did not unexpectedly drive over a nail, it disintegrated from within. Over the course of one year, seventy of its managing partners have resigned.[1] Last month, eleven Howrey lawyers fled to Morgan Lewis & Bockius in just two days.[2] And recently, the Wall Street Journal scathing reported that “Winston & Strawn has abandoned efforts to merge with Howrey, in favor of plucking Howrey lawyers one by one.”[3]  So on Tuesday, Chief Executive Robert Ruyak said it’s time for existing partners to hold “a series of votes” to determine the future of the firm.

Quintessential biglaw (but not too big to fail), Howrey has over 700 attorneys and is frequently listed as a “Global 50” firm.[4] It’s close could very well be the first Lehman-esque legal casualty of the economic recession. Who or what is to blame? According to its Chief Executive, Howrey is the latest victim of the market. Alternative billing and contingency arrangements, in tandem with growing industry competition, are the reasons, according to Ruyak, the firm has reached rock bottom as opposed to its bottom line.

            It’s no secret that billing practice and the legal industry in general have changed since 2007. In terms of the number of lawsuits, there’s no better time than an economic downturn. Discrimination suits are on the rise due to the myriad recent lay offs. Credit card companies are seeking debt recovery for amounts between $3,000 and $15,000 at an increasing rate, by at least 25 percent in some States.[5] Even hedge funds have seized the opportunity to invest in the growing litigation market. A British hedge fund hired a former litigator to invest $100 million in European legal disputes, according to a 2008 New York Times article.[6]

            Simultaneously, the once limitless funds of Fortune 500 companies have contracted with declines in public spending. Pocket books and portfolios of litigious clients are shrinking, giving them less disposable income to risk suing a neighbor or ill-behaved step children. To keep pace and meet demand, law firms began drafting creative contingency contracts and negotiating fees based on the success of their case. Like a good 50,000 mile warranty, law firms offered a service guarantee.

            If there’s one lesson an intellectual property firm should have learned by now, it’s that innovation has a high return on investment. And during a cold, wintery economic climate, balding old business practices, like tires, will send a firm into a dangerous tailspin. Howrey serves to warn the litigious world that it’s time to reexamine client billing systems and engagement agreement strategy to meet new industry demand.

[1]http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704132204576190554103993400.html?KEYWORDS=ruyak

[2] http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blog/jeff-blumenthal/2011/02/morgan-lewis-adds-12-lawyers-in-2-days.html

[3] http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/02/01/report-winston-strawn-extends-hand-to-majority-of-howrey-partners/

[4] http://www.howrey.com/news/newsdetail.aspx?news=24316

[5] http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/12/recession_causing_rise_in_cred.html