✏️ Legal Pad
Nobody Is Bigger Than the Building
The meltdown currently unfolding at 60 Minutes is fascinating from a legal perspective because it highlights a reality that exists in every profession, from television newsrooms to law firms to Fortune 500 boardrooms:
Nobody is bigger than the building.
The Wall Street Journal recently detailed the chaos surrounding CBS News and 60 Minutes, including the firing of longtime correspondent Scott Pelley after a heated confrontation with management. Pelley had spent 37 years at CBS and was one of the most recognizable faces in television journalism. Yet within hours of publicly criticizing network leadership, he found himself out of a job.
Whether you agree with management's decision is beside the point.
The legal lesson is much more universal.
People often assume that exceptional performers operate under a different set of rules. Sometimes they do for a while. Rainmakers. Star athletes. Top salespeople. Celebrity journalists. The person who consistently produces results often receives latitude that others don't.
Until they don't.
Every organization eventually reaches a point where leadership decides that no amount of talent justifies behavior it views as incompatible with its goals. That's when the collision occurs between individual value and institutional authority.
History is littered with examples of who usually wins that fight.
The institution.
The article repeatedly references the internal tension over the future direction of 60 Minutes. Some viewed the changes as necessary modernization. Others viewed them as an attack on the show's identity. But what ultimately stands out is that even a journalist with nearly four decades at the network discovered that tenure and reputation have limits. Lawyers should pay attention to that lesson.
Whether you're in a courtroom, a law firm, a corporation, or a newsroom, credibility is earned over years but can be tested in a single moment.
And no matter how important you think you are, somebody owns the building.
💡 Sidebar
Lawyer Trick #102: Learn the Scut Work
Every lawyer wants to learn how to try cases. Nobody wants to learn how to fix the copier.
That's a mistake.
One of the most underrated skills a lawyer can possess is knowing how to do all the little things that support staff usually handle.
- Learn how to send a fax.
- Learn how to e-file your own motions.
- Learn how to schedule a court reporter.
- Learn how to issue a subpoena.
- Learn how to assemble exhibits.
- Learn how to unjam a copier that has suddenly decided it no longer believes in paper.
Because someday it's going to be Saturday. Or a holiday. Or 9:45 p.m. on the eve of trial.
And all the competent people will have gone home.
At that moment, your framed diplomas aren't going to help much if you can't figure out how to make a photocopy.
Being a good lawyer means understanding every aspect of the machine from the ground up. It's no different than a chef learning to wash dishes. Nobody starts at the top. The people who become truly good at their craft understand every job that contributes to the final product.
And besides, there's something deeply humbling about standing in front of a copier with a couple of law licenses to your name and losing an argument to a machine manufactured in 2009.
Trust me.
⚖️ Closing Arguments
For those law students not sitting for the bar exam, it’s summer law clerk season.
Across the country, law students are showing up at firms for the first time, eager to impress the lawyers around them, learn the profession, and enjoy a string of free happy hours while still avoiding any career-ending social mistake.
Having observed this process from both sides now, I’ve decided to offer the single most important piece of advice I can give: don’t be weird.
That’s it. That’s the article. You can stop reading now.
The truth is that most firms don't expect summer clerks to know much. Law school teaches you how to think about practicing law. It does not teach you how to practice law. Everyone knows that. That’s why clerkships exist- these three months are where the real learning takes place.
Firms don’t expect you to know much, but they do expect you to behave like a normal person. Show up on time. Wear clean clothes (including socks). Don’t reheat last night’s salmon in the communal microwave.
Ask questions. But don’t ask weird questions. Asking how to file something with the Clerk’s office is ok. Asking the paralegal if she wants to see pictures of your pet ferret is not.
Be helpful. Find someone who has an interesting caseload and offer to help in any way needed. Do not annoy that person by word vomiting half-baked opinions about the case. Make copies, organize folders- go on a coffee run.
When somebody gives you an assignment, write down the instructions rather than relying on the same memory that forgot where you parked that morning. If a lawyer takes the time to explain something, listen. If a paralegal takes the time to explain something, really listen.
And perhaps most importantly, remember that every interaction in the office is part of the interview. I have never once heard a partner say, "You know, that clerk was a little odd, but his Rule Against Perpetuities analysis was outstanding."
Conversely, I have heard several variations of: "She was pleasant, worked hard, asked good questions, and everybody liked having her around."
That's the entire game.
The legal profession has a remarkable tendency to overcomplicate things. We turn straightforward concepts into law review articles and ordinary conversations into CLE presentations. But having a successful summer clerkship is actually pretty simple. Work hard, listen well, and don’t act too good for the scut work.
And above all else, don't become a story. Because somewhere, in law firms all across America, there is a lawyer telling a cautionary tale that begins with the phrase: "We had this summer clerk one time..."
And for the love of God, wear socks, seriously.
Court is in recess- see you next Friday.
