Thursday Feb 19, 2009
I was a big Star Trek fan (aka "Trekkie") growing up. One of my favorite things to do with my dad was to watch the old Star Trek episodes (you know, the *real* Star Trek, with Captain Kirk and Spock). I also liked Next Generation (I just *loved* Picard, and Data was fun), although I never really got into Deep Space Nine. For me it was a lot like the "Island of Misfit Toys" in Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. Voyager was good, but not great. I loved all of the Star Trek movies, but "Wrath of Khan" had to be my favorite.
Who knows - maybe this was early evidence of my fascination with technology and my desire to be an in-house technology lawyer? Had I known then what I know now, things would have been a lot easier. 
In any event, I often make analogies to things on Star Trek. I was talking to a colleague yesterday and made such an analogy, which gave me the idea for today's blog.
In our legal department we have an internal wiki. If you're not familiar with a wiki, it's a wonderful tool with a collection of web pages where everyone can add their content and knowledge, and everyone else can access it (think Wikipedia). When talking with my colleague yesterday, I compared our wiki to the Borg on Star Trek - only in a good way. No need for the clunky face hardware. And "assimilation" is a *good* thing.
We used to have information, policies, processes, templates, and the like used by many different people located in lots of different places - people's filing cabinets, individual home directories, separate web pages, shared servers, email folders, laptops, car trunks, etc. all over the world - making it very difficult for others to find and access, especially people in other groups who didn't have the hidden treasure map or someone in a remote location. This could result in the old, ineffective "sneaker network" - walking down the hall and asking people "Do you know where I can find the template for the [fill in the blank] agreement?" (Or its telephonic or email equivalent.) Or worse, reinventing things that already existed. Fortunately, the wiki has changed all of that!
Now, each of the groups within our legal department has added their crown jewels such as policies, processes, templates, guidelines, org charts, and other valuable information to the wiki, making it a cinch for everyone to locate. Some groups have also included additional information about their client groups, technology, products, and other topics, making that information easily accessible as well. Anyone can add to or edit anyone else's content, so we can all build on what's already there (we're a trusting bunch ). The wiki is a living, breathing tool.
To me, the potential of the wiki is amazing. Imagine if all the attorneys at Sun were connected like the Borg and we all had access to everyone else's legal knowledge and expertise - the power would be truly awesome. The wiki is like that - the more people add to it, the more others can share and benefit from it and the more powerful it becomes. In today's collaboration age, resistance may be "futile" (as the Borg are known for proclaiming), but why would you want to resist something so compelling?
The other alternative, I suppose, is a Vulcan mind meld. 
Friday Feb 13, 2009
Wow! I can't believe so much time has gone by since my last post! Things here at Sun have been incredibly busy. I have lots of great ideas for my blog, so keep your eyes peeled!
I recently had a conversation with my brother-in-law, who has three feisty cats, but who would really love to get a dog. He not so secretly covets my other sister's Greyhound, Kanga, who was rescued from almost certain doom in the racing world, having never won a single race in 3 years. Kanga is a beautiful dog, gentle as can be, and lightning fast. If she ever got out of the yard, you'd get to spend the day driving around trying to catch her, and she'd think it was a really fun game.
My brother-in-law said the problem was that he and my sister both work too far away to run home at lunch and let the dog out for a bit. I asked him if either he or my sister were allowed to bring dogs to work, and he said no, and looked at me like I was from another planet. I told him that at Sun we're allowed to bring pets to work (assuming they are well-behaved) and he thought that was really cool. Well, it *is* really cool. 
We have several dogs that are part of our legal team here at Sun. They are:
Katy and Spencer. My Golden Retrievers, named for Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. (I'm a sap for old movies like Adam's Rib. I also have two lovebirds named Fred and Ginger.) Katy and Spencer just LOVE to come to the office because they get so much extra TLC. They are love sponges and can never get enough attention. I would love to bring them more often, but they aren't particularly good about sitting through multi-hour meetings in conference rooms, or in my office alone where they would chew up everything in sight. When they come in with me, they walk into people's offices and look at them like, "Well, aren't you going to worship me?" If I am ever reincarnated, I want to come back as a spoiled rotten Golden Retriever.
My black Lab, Maggie, can't come to the office. We tried it once, and she barked at everyone who came near my office, and the hair on the back of her neck stood up. She is very protective of me, and I understood that she was trying to save me from all those "evil" colleagues who were "threatening" me. Ah, Maggie. I guess it's the thought that counts. My little dog, Lucky, who is a Schnoodle (designer mutt), really doesn't like to come to the office. She is so shy that she seems to want to burrow under the carpet anytime anyone comes near.
CJ. An outgoing, friendly yellow Lab who often comes in on Wednesdays and Fridays. CJ is very well-behaved and gets lots of attention and treats from our entire legal group. He's so happy when he's hear you can hear his tail thumping against the wall. I actually keep a box of dog biscuits in my office for all our canine visitors. CJ knows that I make him shake with each paw and then turn around before I give him his treat, so now he does it before I even ask him to. Smart puppy. Maybe we can start giving him some agreements to review.
Kimber. A very sweet, somewhat shy German Shorthaired Pointer. She will not leave her owner's side even if the office door is open all day (unlike Katy, Spencer, or CJ, who would go gallivanting through the halls to see what food, adventures and attention they could find). Kimber is so quiet and well-behaved that sometimes you don't even know she's here.
Brogan. An adorable reddish Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He is always so excited to be here that his tongue and nose don't stop moving the entire time. Brogan always makes a beeline for my office, because he knows that's where the treats are.
Gunner and Ramsey. HUGE Golden Retrievers (around 90 lbs.) who make occasional appearances at the office and at our fun events, such as picnics. They are always big hits.
Roxy. A tiny (maybe 5 lbs.?) white Maltipoo (another designer mutt) who will melt your heart. She looks more like a little stuffed animal than an actual dog. I have to break up the dog biscuits for her because they are too big for her to get her mouth around. She will chase a ball and bring it back to you all day.
Hapa and Joey. Hapa is the most recent addition to our legal canine team. She is an adorable Australian Shepherd with one blue eye and one brown eye. She is as fluffy and soft as cotton. Her brother Joey is a very cute Australian cattledog mix with freckles on his nose, and he is keeping a watchful eye over his little sis.
Bonnie. Another Australian Shepherd. She was recently skunked, and our colleague/her owner took on some of the vile scent while trying to clean her off. He still smelled like skunk after taking several showers and changing clothes. He then had to attend a negotiation meeting and explain why he smelled so terrible. We thought it might actually be a great negotiating tactic - "I've got all day to sit here and negotiate with my eau de skunk cologne filling the room - are you going to agree or not?" Surprisingly, the other side was very understanding. I let my colleague know about Nature's Miracle, which I've used pretty successfully to de-skunk my dogs when necessary - which seems to happen more often than it should.
Like other aspects of in-house culture that I've mentioned, it's hard for me to imagine people bringing their dogs to work at a law firm (or even at most other companies). But I think part of it is also the unique Sun culture. I knew Sun was a very special place when I first worked here as a "rental" lawyer from a law firm several years ago. Then I saw an engineer's office that was pitch black (in the middle of the day) - the office resident had used some special outerspace-type material to block out all light from the windows. The office contained one of the largest, most elaborate Habitrail mazes I have ever seen, and I grew up with all sorts of pets and pet habitats. And in the middle of the gargantuan Habitrail was one very happy hamster. I remember wondering how (or if) the office resident cleaned the Habitrail, and then decided I really didn't want to know.
So why on earth would you ever want to bring a dog to work, you may ask. I do it for fun, but also because of the number of people who will stop by my office to talk. On most days, people will go about their business and do their work as usual (unless it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day or there's some other special event). There's always some social interaction, of course - as people see each other in the hallway or going to get lunch. But when there's a dog in the office everyone perks up and wants to go take a look and say hi. People who I might not normally cross paths with during a normal day will come by, see my dog, say hi and I make a connection with them. As I've mentioned before, those connections are so valuable, both within and outside of a company. Networking is crucial. A dog just makes it a little easier.
I may bring my African Grey parrot in soon. I'll let you know how that goes.
Thursday Jan 15, 2009
Here in Silicon Valley we've been experiencing a heat wave. We've had record high temperatures for this time of year - mid-70s and even 80s a bit further inland. And it's the middle of January! In the middle of winter! We've shattered decades-old high temperature records each day for about a week now. Trees that shouldn't be awake for another couple of months are in full bloom. And while this is supposed to be our rainy season, we haven't had a drop of rain for weeks.
While it's hard not to enjoy the sunny, warm, clear weather, it also gives me grave concern. Concern for the climate, melting ice caps, changing animal habitats and migration patterns, our environment, my children, our planet's future, the future of endangered species whose irrevocable path to extinction is already mapped. It makes me wonder if we really can do anything to help fix global warming, or if done is done?
I also have to stop and laugh at myself with my hybrid, CFL lightbulbs, and big recycling bin, and wonder if I really am making a difference. But, as Lyle Lovett would say, "What would you be if you didn't even try? You have to try." And so we all pitch in and try, and hope it will make a difference.
Wednesday Jan 14, 2009
Very cool!
Tuesday Jan 13, 2009
Happy New Year everyone! I hope all the students had a good break, and had a chance to "check out" and rest their brains.
I had a vacation, of sorts, in Colorado with my 4 pre-teen kids (all are 11 years old, 2 girls and 2 boys). Although, as I am fond of saying, a vacation with my kids is no vacation. We did go skiing, sledding and tubing, which was loads of fun. But there was also the requisite, "She looked at me!" and "He touched me!" and "I had that first!" My favorite argument was over a brown couch pillow two of the kids were wrestling over. I picked up an identical brown pillow and threw it into the fray and said, "Here you go, now you can each have one!" Well, that just wasn't good enough! Then they were fighting over who saw the other one first, why they had to have that one, why the other one wasn't good enough, etc. I was ready to throw them naked and head-first out into a 3 ft. snowdrift.
The benefit during family vacations, though, is that I only have one full-time job. The rest of the time, I have two - being a mom (which is more like a 24x7 job) and my job as an in-house attorney at Sun. It can be quite a challenging balancing act. As a working mom, you are always on call, and you never know what might come your way. Here are some of my banner days as a working mom:
The disappearing quarter. I arrived at work, still fairly new to Sun. I had a full day of meetings on my calendar. I had only been at work for about 30 minutes when I got a call from my son's school. My son had swallowed a quarter because he didn't want the teacher to see that he had it. The teacher said that he was still breathing (well, thank god!) but he kept gagging so the quarter must be "stuck." In a complete state of shock, I walked out to my assistant, handed her my calendar, told her to cancel everything, and drove to the school to pick up my son. We spent the entire day in the ER until they could remove the quarter from his esophagus (which took about 5 minutes). We still have the quarter in a little plastic cup.
Umbrella guilt. We were racing out of the house to get to school on time, and I would have forgotten my head if it wasn't attached. I remembered on the way to school that the kids were supposed to have an "umbrella parade" at school that day and were each supposed to bring an umbrella. I had only one umbrella in the car and 4 kids (which adds up to a big battle), so I thought "Well, I won't give any of them an umbrella and maybe they won't remember." After all, it wasn't raining or anything. As we were walking up to the school with only seconds to spare, the kids said "Mama, we forgot our umbrellas! I can't believe we won't have umbrellas for the parade!" ALL of the other kids we saw had umbrellas. I felt queasy and faint. I went to work feeling completely guilty and felt like a terrible mom all day. When I picked the kids up and asked them how their day was they said it was great except that they didn't have an umbrella for the parade, and that they had to hold up a silly piece of folded paper instead. For YEARS after that one of my sons would say, every time he saw an umbrella, "Mama, remember that time we didn't have umbrellas for the umbrella parade?"
The Leprechaun Catcher. One of my sons had an assignment to build a leprechaun catcher for school for St. Patrick's Day. I had asked my husband to help him build it, but somehow it didn't get done in time. I didn't realize this until we got to school and his teacher said that he was the only one who hadn't turned in his leprechaun catcher, and the kids in the class wouldn't get pizza if he didn't get it in before lunch. Just great. So I went to the office to see what I could use to cobble together a green elf trap. I got an industrial-sized soup can from the cafeteria trash, washed it out, and covered it with green paper. I had this colorful stuffed bird in my office that we got from the zoo not too long before (a lorikeet) and I taped that on top. (Leprechauns like colorful and shiny things, you see.) I then threw in a huge handful of pennies, and some cotton balls from the first aid kit to make it comfy. I raced back to the school and turned the blasted thing in at 11:45. The teacher thought it was great. At least the kids got pizza, and I didn't have to have leprechaun guilt along with umbrella guilt for years afterwards.
The "Clean" Dress. My daughter came downstairs "ready" for school in the morning wearing a dress that I could swear she was wearing the day before (Sunday) to play outside in, while digging in the mud for bugs. I asked her if she was wearing the same dress and she said no. I asked her if she was sure, because I could swear I saw her wearing that dress yesterday. She said that Papa had washed it for her the night before, so it was clean now. (It must have looked clean from the front when she put it on.) I said "Ok, but you better not be wearing dirty clothes." She then turned around, and there was a big, round splotch of mud on the back of the dress, precisely where she had been sitting in the yard digging for bugs the day before. I then told her (while trying not to laugh at the evidence) that I knew she was lying to me about the dress. She seem surprised that I knew, until I told her to turn around and look in the mirror.
Thus began a running battle over which clothes can be worn to school and which cannot - a battle we fight every day with all 4 kids. Forget easing into the day with a nice cup of java and the paper - our day starts with someone yelling, "I can't find any socks!" even though they were supposed to locate and set out all of their clothes the night before.
The Feigned Illness. One of my daughters is a complete drama queen. I fully expect to see her on the silver screen one day. She is great at pretending she is sick and I swear she can even fake a fever. She was in this streak of having the school call me to take her home because she was "sick," so then I could work at home and she could watch TV or play on the computer. Well, I got tired of this game really quick. So, I picked her up from school and when we got home I told her to put on her PJs and she was going to stay in her bed. She argued and pleaded - it's not dark yet, this is boring, I feel better now, etc. I told her that if she was so sick that I had to leave work to go pick her up and take her home, then she was sick enough to stay in bed. End of the feigned illness phenomenon.
The Enhanced Clothes. Warning: not for the squeamish! When the kids were very small, there was one very special morning when I arrived at work with vomit, spit, blood, pee and poop (all from the kids, of course) all over my clothes after a variety of unfortunate events. I then had to wear my workout clothes the rest of the day at work or be seen as a social pariah (lucky for me I had my gym bag with me!). After that day, I always kept a complete set of work attire in the trunk of my car for such occasions. Of course, I never needed it, but it was nice to know it was there, just in case.
Notwithstanding the extra work and challenges that come with being a mom (and especially a working mom), it's a job I wouldn't give up for anything in the world. I love my job as an in-house attorney at Sun, but nothing is more important to me than my job as a mom. I always watch that sappy movie It's a Wonderful Life over the holidays, where Jimmy Stewart gets to go back and see what things would be like if he had never been born. It always makes me wonder what things I'm doing now will matter in 50 years. The work I do at Sun is very important, but it's hard to imagine any agreement I'm working on still being in effect 50 years from now. Most agreements we entered into 10 years ago are obsolete by now. But my kids will be alive 50 years from now, and everything I've taught them, shared with them, and experienced with them will be there too. And they wouldn't have that stigma about umbrellas if it wasn't for me.
Thursday Dec 11, 2008
Congratulations to everyone who has completed (or will soon complete) their exams! Wahoo! Now for the winter break!
Sometimes I have conversations with law students about breaks. Winter break, spring break, and summer break - and the all important question: What should I do during my break? Should I do some advance reading for my upcoming classes? Memorize Gilbert's? Get a head start on my journal article? Figure out what I want to be when I grow up? Read up on the industry I'm interested in? Read all those cases I skipped during last semester, including the footnotes? Or maybe agonize over what I could have done better on my exams?
My advice is always the same: whatever else you do, you need to check out. Give your brain a break and do something fun! Take some "me" time and do things you enjoy doing that you don't have time for during the semester. Go see a movie. Read a (non-required) book. Go to a museum. Exercise. Get outside. Spend quality time with friends and family who hopefully still recognize you. Get reacquainted with your pets so your dog doesn't growl at you when you come home.
Checking out will enable you to come back and start fresh for the next semester, and you'll feel like you really got a break. I try to take a complete "check out" break every year, where I have absolutely no responsibilities - no work, no kids, no to-do list, no anything!
Here's one of my favorite examples of checking out. A couple of years ago I went on a horseback riding trip through the mountains north of Barcelona. The scenery was absolutely beautiful, and the trip had an artsy bent to it - we were in Salvador Dali country and were visiting the house he lived in, his wife's castle, his museum, etc. (Boy, was he odd!) The tour wasn't for wimps, though! Every day was very physically challenging - trying to stay on the horse while galloping around trees, going through shrubs, under branches (where you had to basically lie down on your horse to avoid being decapitated), down rocky hills, etc. It was also about 100 degrees out. You couldn't think about anything but survival and where the next bottle of (hopefully cold) water was coming from. (Believe it or not, I find this type of thing enjoyable.)
Anyway, we stayed at various B&B's (i.e., people's houses) with different folks from all over the world. I was chatting with this very nice couple from Sweden, and they both worked at high-tech companies there (one was IBM, the other might have been Ericsson). They asked me where I worked, and I drew a complete blank. I must have had that "deer in the headlights" look. For at least 30 seconds I could not think of the name "Sun" - then it came to me as we started talking about something else. THAT's when you know you have really checked out and gone off-line, when you can't even remember who signs your paycheck.
So, when you check out, you're not necessarily shooting for complete amnesia, but definitely reducing your stress level, taking time for yourself, recharging your batteries, spending time doing things that you enjoy, and getting ready for a fresh start. Your brain will thank you for it.
Thursday Dec 04, 2008
Found these interesting stats on the CA State Bar website while trying to figure out how to pay my membership dues online.
There's also a law student section on the CA State Bar website.
In case you were wondering, I did also figure out how to pay my dues online.
Wednesday Dec 03, 2008
This is interesting. More of this type of innovation and technology, and bailouts might not be necessary.
Monday Dec 01, 2008
Speed Networking
I recently attended a "speed networking" event at Santa Clara University law school. The concept is similar to "speed dating." I met with each student for about 7 minutes, and answered whatever questions they had about working in-house, what I did as a lawyer, how to go about getting a job, what I thought of their resume, etc. It was interesting to see which students were prepared and had thought about what to ask, and which students were not at all prepared and sat down with a deer in the headlights look. The latter students definitely need to get out and network more.
If you aren't comfortable talking to complete strangers, you need to spend more time networking. As a professional, this skill will come in handy, believe me. You'll be talking to clients, outside counsel, lawyers and their clients on the other side of a case or transaction, and you need to be able to do it confidently and competently. This is something that I've really had to work at - deep inside I am a painfully shy person who would love to walk into a room, pick one person I know really well, and talk to that person the whole time. But you don't make a lot of important connections or a lot of progress that way!
You don't need to have an official speed networking event to benefit from this idea. Next time you are at a networking event, challenge yourself to meet everyone at the event (if it's relatively small) or a certain number of people (if it's larger). Don't just stand in one spot and talk to people you know and are comfortable with! Take advantage of breaks in the conversation and people moving from group to group as "transitions" to move from one contact to the next. It's a little harder than speed networking, because you don't have someone ringing a bell indicating that it's time to move to the next person - so you have to be cognizant of the time and not get bogged down in any one conversation. Think of it sort of as a square dance, where people are always shifting, moving, and changing partners. Write down names or collect business cards if you're not good at remembering names. It's amazing how important those contacts are!
Being Thankful
Over Thanksgiving I always ponder things I'm grateful for. I think it's especially important to focus on the positive when there's so much financial turmoil, terrorism, and emphasis on the negative. Here are some of the things I came up with, in no particular order:
My kids. Nothing can make me laugh more or harder. If I ever decide to write a book, I've got enough material for at least 3 good-sized volumes. More on this another day.
My dogs. They give me that same exuberant, slobbery greeting whether I've been gone 5 minutes or 5 days. Unconditional love at its best.
My job. It keeps my brain challenged, busy and happy, and I get to work with a lot of really cool and smart people.
My bike, my kayak, and my hiking boots. The best stress relievers ever.
The beauty of nature. Every time I witness Mother Nature's splendor, it makes me smile and reminds me to stop and smell the roses.
Political change on the horizon. It just has to get better.
A good novel. I just love reading a good book that lets you escape and travel somewhere else. It's like a $20 vacation without the hassle of the airport.
Chocolate. Enough said.
Tuesday Nov 11, 2008
Last night I attended our Intern Meet & Greet event in Menlo Park. It was a well-attended event, and it was great to meet so many smiling, enthusiastic law students. These events always make me a bit nostalgic, and make me reminisce about when I was in law school and considering "what I wanted to be when I grew up."
I actually started law school having worked at a large law firm as a paralegal doing corporate and securities work, much like one of the speakers the attendees heard last night. I worked on venture capital financings, IPOs, M&A transactions, and the like. After working at the firm for a year, I decided to go to law school (Santa Clara) and practice the same type of law in the same type of firm.
I attended law school in the evening, and continued to work full-time at the law firm during the day during my 4 years of law school. I wasn't eligible to have an internship the first summer as a part-time student, so I continued to work at the firm as a paralegal (and get a million hours of overtime $$). My post-graduation plans remained the same.
Then something interesting happened my second year of law school. I took copyright and patent classes because I thought they sounded interesting, and my whole view on my career changed for a couple of reasons. First, I just loved the IP classes - they were way more interesting to me than the hoary old securities laws from the Depression era - this was cutting edge stuff that was happening every day! You just can't beat the exploding yogurt shop case in Copyrights! And the controversy surrounding software and business method patents! Wow! Second, the IP licensing lawyer market was busting open, while the corporate attorney market was more or less saturated. I read the writing on the wall and decided I wanted to be an IP licensing lawyer.
I took a few more IP-related classes at SCU (they didn't have the certification program yet when I was there) and managed to finagle some IP licensing-related projects at the firm where I was still working as a paralegal. I was in heaven! I had found my niche!
After graduating from law school, I worked at a couple of large Silicon Valley law firms as a technology licensing lawyer before going in-house. You can read more about how that came about in my post "How do you get an in-house job?"
So, enough nostalgia. Last night's event was a great opportunity for the attendees to meet Sun attorneys, find out what they do, ask questions, and receive advice. Some of the great suggestions provided to the attendees were:
Try different things now. Explore and see what you might be interested in. There are many different areas of the law, and many different practice settings. As an intern, especially at a company like Sun, you can be exposed to many different practice groups, technologies, and legal issues, and see what interests you. That way, when you get out of law school, you'll have an idea of what you'd like to do (even if it changes along the way).
Find your niche. Find an area of practice that you like. You will be spending a lot of time working in that area, so the sooner you can find what you like, the better. It won't be fun to get stuck in an area of law you don't know anything about, only to find out later that you'd rather be doing almost anything else.
Find a good mentor. Whether it's through an official mentor program, or more of an informal relationship, finding a good mentor is important. Mentors can help you grow in many ways, especially early in your career.
Be a sponge. Learn as much as you can from your internship, whether it's at Sun, another company, or at a law firm. Think of yourself as a student no matter what setting you're in, and absorb as much as you can. What you learn during your internship can help you as you begin your legal career.
Set limits. As you begin your legal career, learn to set limits. Cell phones, laptops, PDAs, flexible work arrangements, etc. make it easy to be "always on" 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Decide when you're "on" and when you're "off," and make sure to make time for family, friends, hobbies, fun, life. At the very beginning of your career, it's important to balance these limits with making a good impression - you won't want to leave at 5 every day.
It was interesting to me how many of the students I spoke to who hadn't really considered working in-house until attending the Sun event. Many didn't realize working in-house was really an option. This is part of why I like these events so much - getting the word out that big law firms are not the only possible career path.
A final note - it was fun to hear how many students are reading my blog! Thanks for your comments and support. Please continue to send feedback and suggestions!
Friday Nov 07, 2008
Some law students have asked me to comment on the topic of lawyer jokes. First of all, here are some of my favorites:
Q: How was copper wire invented?
A: Two lawyers fighting over a penny.
Q: What do you call a bus full of lawyers going over a cliff, with one empty seat?
A: A missed opportunity.
Q: What do you call 10,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?
A: A good start.
Q: How can you tell when a lawyer is lying?
A: His lips are moving.
Q: What's the difference between a lawyer and a carp?
A: One's a slime-sucking bottom dweller, and the other's a fish.
Q: What's the difference between a dead snake in the middle of the road, and a dead lawyer in the middle of the road?
A: The snake has skid marks in front of it.
Once you become a lawyer, you will start hearing every lawyer joke in the book. You could write the book. Friends, relatives, and everyone you know will email them to you, call you to tell them to you, and send you links to them. Ha-ha, very funny. ROTFL.
I figure, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I generally start my presentations to clients with a lawyer joke or two. This does two things. First, it helps me feel less anxious (I've always had stage fright). Second, it shows the client that I can laugh at myself, and that I don't take myself too seriously. This is a great icebreaker, and clients just LOVE it.
Note that these are always "lawyer" jokes. They are never "attorney" jokes. My husband is also a lawyer, and is a litigator. He calls himself a "lawyer." On the other hand, he always refers to me as an "attorney." He says that what I do is too sophisticated for me to be called a "lawyer."
So what's the fascination with lawyer jokes? I've thought about this a lot and haven't really settled on an answer, but have some theories. First of all, people generally don't trust lawyers - they've all heard horror stories about lawyers keeping clients' money, robbing them blind, being non-responsive and ignoring their clients, and not complying with all of the rules of ethics and professional responsibility that good lawyers need to comply with. In other words, doing all the things that get lawyers disciplined, disbarred, and plastered on the front of the Wall Street Journal, wearing handcuffs and orange jumpsuits.
In addition, the law is a mystery to most people. Even after going to law school and practicing law for many years, some laws are still incomprehensible. People fear what they don't understand. People also fear lawyers, because they generally only need one when something has gone drastically wrong.
How do you deal with something you don't like, trust or understand? Make fun of it! Laugh at it! Belittle it! This is just human nature - it helps bring things down to a more manageable level where you can feel more comfortable with it. It's sort of the same approach as the the playground bully who makes fun of everyone else so he can feel better about himself. Except there are so many bad lawyers that live up to the reputations that the jokes portray that it's fuel for even more jokes.
Take a look at the number and type of disciplinary matters the State Bar of California dealt with in 2007 to see what I'm talking about here. Click on the 2007 Annual Discipline Report under "Reports" on the left side. Astonishing.
So, I strive to be different. I love working at Sun because it's such an ethical company, as I've discussed before. It's easy to do the right thing here. I work on being perceived as an "attorney" rather than a "lawyer." I love it when my clients say, "Wow - you don't SEEM like a lawyer!" And I laugh at the jokes along with everyone else.
Wednesday Oct 29, 2008
Law students frequently ask how in-house practice differs from working at a law firm. Although there are many differences, here are some of the main ones:
No billable hours. As a law student, you may not yet appreciate the benefit of not having to account for every 6 minutes (1/10th of an hour) of your working day. Not having to do time sheets and mark down every 6 minutes sets you free! No more feeling guilty about going to the restroom or getting a drink of water! You can focus on doing good work instead of billing time.
Quality of life. Many students have the mistaken impression that in-house counsel have cushy jobs with banker's hours. Not true. Yes, we may have more flexibility in when, how, and where we work (especially at Sun with our
Open Work program) and we may have more evenings and weekends free. However, we work hard, and I don't know anyone who works in-house who leaves at 5 everyday. Maybe government jobs?
Diversity of Work.Because in-house counsel only have one client (the company they work for), they may have less diversity of work than you'd get at a firm. When I was practicing at a large law firm, I got to work with all sorts of fun clients like video game developers, rock stars, book publishing companies, Internet start-up companies, clothing companies, financial services companies, medical device makers, golf course designers, and others. You'd never get this type of variety as an in-house attorney. That being said, at Sun you can get a lot of work diversity because of the number of products and business units we have - we have software (proprietary and open source), storage (tape and disk), servers (x64 and SPARC), and services (support, professional, managed, educational). Many companies would just have one of these business units - not all of them. And we have rock stars of a different type – they're just more geeky, like
James Gosling ("Father of Java").
Compensation structure. The compensation structure at a company is much different than at a law firm. At a firm, you generally get a higher salary with a bonus at the end of the year based, at least in part, on your billable hours. With an in-house position, you might get a smaller salary, but then you are generally eligible for quarterly bonuses, restricted stock units or options, 401(k), ESPP – which enable you to share more in the growth of the company. At a law firm, generally only the partners get to share in the upside growth of the firm. At a company, most everyone gets to share in the upside.
Knowledge of/involvement in business. Because you have one client as in-house counsel, you become very familiar with the business and the products/services of your company, and you can understand how your job and particular deals/projects fit into the big picture. You eat, live, and sleep the goals and objectives of your company. You have depth of knowledge of your company's business and products, its industry, and its competitors. No more practicing law in a vacuum - you get lots of business context! You get to work on deals from start to finish, rather than having a client just throw you something at the last minute and ask you to spend no more than 1 hour reviewing it for any “gotchas.” You get great depth of knowledge (quality) rather than knowing a little about a lot of different things (quantity).
Growth opportunities. As an example, there are plenty of growth opportunities at Sun, and rotations from group to group within our legal department are encouraged. When I first started at Sun, I was in the Global Sales legal group, where I negotiated outbound OEM software deals (for products like Java, Solaris, and StarOffice). After 4+ years in that group, I worked in the Marketing & Brands group (where I did a variety of trademark work and marketing deals for 2+ years), and now I'm in the Products & Technology Law group (where I do inbound technology licensing deals). In our legal department, we don't want people to be pigeonholed or stagnant and in the same job for 10 years. On the other hand, at many law firms you are required to stay within a single group, because the law firm doesn't want to have to invest more time training an associate, and starting over in a different area could adversely affect the associate's billing rate while their salary remains the same. Many times associates will change firms if they want to do something different because that's the only way to accomplish it.
Company resources aren't centered around the legal department. Everything in a law firm is centered around the attorney – resources, admins, the whole business, because attorneys generate the revenue. Not so for in-house counsel – we are part of the overhead. The company needs to develop and sell products in order to be profitable, and the legal department needs to facilitate and enable that, not get in the way. It's not all about us. Sometimes it's hard for attorneys from firms who go in-house to adjust to this - you won't have your own admin, word processing open 24 hours a day, redlining tools designed for lawyers, dinner served every night at 7 pm, etc. Flexibility and patience are good qualities to have as an in-house attorney.
In smaller companies, you can be more isolated from legal colleagues. In-house counsel at smaller companies (where they may be the only lawyer) may feel isolated. They may not be able to walk down the hall and talk to other legal colleagues and brainstorm. In these cases it's even more crucial to network! Join organizations like
ACC where you can get to know other attorneys who may be in the same boat and who you may be able to leverage.
Business partnering. Sun's in-house counsel is generally viewed as the "trusted advisor" - and part of the team rather than a checkpoint (or worse yet, a hurdle) at the end of the process. At Sun, being a business partner is an integral part of the in-house counsel role, and we work with clients to help them accomplish their business objectives. At law firms, generally only partners and senior associates get to fill the business partner role with clients.
Monday Oct 20, 2008
Law students in the Denver area are invited to the Sun Microsystems Legal and Compliance Organization Open House!
Hear from Sun's General Counsel, Mike Dillon. Enjoy a panel discussion and dinner with Sun attorneys.
Details:
When: Monday, November 17, 2008 from 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Please arrive by 4:45pm to check in and receive visitor badges at the receptionist desk in the Building 1 Lobby
Where: Sun's Broomfield Campus
500 Eldorado Blvd., Broomfield, CO 80021
Wear: Casual Attire
RSVP: Please RSVP by Monday, November 10, 2008 to: Claire.Schulz@sun.com
Check out job postings periodically here. Under "Student Zone" on the right, click on "Search Jobs," and then click on "Administration" to search for legal intern positions.
Learn more about Sun here.
Friday Oct 17, 2008
Law students in the SF Bay Area are invited to Sun's Summer Intern Meet & Greet event!
We're looking for several new legal interns for this summer. Come and learn about our Legal & Compliance Organization's Summer Intern Program.
Hear from Mike Dillon and other Legal VPs about Sun and the types of work we do. Meet attorneys and current interns from our various legal practice groups.
Details:
When: Monday, November 10, 2009
Time: 6 - 8:30 pm PT
Where: Sun's Menlo Park campus (take the Willow Road exit heading east off of Highway 101 - Willow will end at the Sun campus). Go to the front desk of Building 10 and sign in. You will then be escorted to the event.
RSVP by November 3rd to reserve your spot: LCOmeetandgreet@sun.com
Check out job postings periodically here. Under "Student Zone" on the right, click on "Search Jobs," and then click on "Administration" to search for legal intern positions.
Thursday Oct 16, 2008
Recently, one of my colleagues and I were discussing one of our favorite topics - the million dollar comma. It's a perfect example of why we need to pay attention to the details - especially as in-house counsel where the word of the day is "pace."
What is "Pace"?
Pace means that innovation and business are happening at warp speed, and the legal department needs to find ways to work faster, smarter, and more efficiently to keep up with the company. As in-house counsel, we don't have the luxury of taking as much time as we'd like to complete a project, conduct legal research, or review a contract for the 15th time to make sure everything is perfect. For us, the "80% rule" prevails - focus on the high-risk areas and do the best job you can in the time you have, and then move on to the next project. Outside counsel has a built-in incentive to spend as much time as possible on any given project (billable hours). However, in-house counsel is motivated to move as quickly and efficiently as possible through projects to meet the needs of the business.
That's Some Expensive Punctuation
Back to the million dollar comma. You can read about the punctuation fiasco here and the follow-up here.
In a nutshell, Rogers Communications Inc. (a Canadian cable television provider) thought it had a 5-year agreement with Bell Aliant Inc. (a Canadian telephone company) relating to utility poles, and that pricing would be locked in for the initial 5-year term of the agreement. Much to Rogers' surprise, Aliant notified Rogers that it was terminating the agreement early, and raising the rates. Aliant argued that the agreement entitled it to terminate with one year's notice; Rogers disagreed.
The dispute was over this one sentence in the 14-page contract: “This agreement shall be effective from the date it is made and shall continue in force for a period of five (5) years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five (5) year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.” More specifically, the dispute was over the effect of the second comma in this sentence, and whether it entitled a party to terminate the agreement at any time with one year's notice.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) interpreted this sentence, and the second comma, to mean that the agreement could be terminated at any time with one year's notice - either during the initial 5-year term or during any subsequent 5-year renewal term. The result to Rogers was that they would end up having to pay at least $1 million more for use of the utility poles than they would have under the agreement. One punctuation mark in a 14 page agreement negated the primary result that Rogers had hoped to achieve under the agreement.
The moral of the story? Hopefully you paid attention in high school English class. Even more importantly, sweat the details on the things that matter. The termination provision and locking in the pricing were easily the two most critical issues in the agreement for Rogers, and it was worth spending extra time and effort to make sure those provisions were right and would accomplish the result that the company wanted. On the other hand, an extra comma in the notice or force majeure provisions might never have made a difference.
Balancing Details with Pace
As in-house counsel you can't apply an electron microscope level of scrutiny to every provision of every agreement you work on and maintain the pace necessary to keep up with a company's business needs. So what do you do? Look at the context of the deal, determine what's critical to the company, and then apply eagle eye scrutiny to those issues. Don't approach every deal the same, because no two are alike. In one deal maybe you want to lock in pricing (like Rogers), while in another deal you might want to be able to get out of the agreement at the drop of a hat (like Aliant). Make sure you understand the business priorities of the deal, and make sure the agreement reflects those priorities. Don't practice law in a vacuum - context is crucial.
Generally Speaking
In a technology license agreement, some provisions that generally harbor enough legal and business risk to warrant eagle eye scrutiny include: license grants and restrictions, IP ownership, limitations of liability, indemnification, and warranties and disclaimers.
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