He Wrote The Book On Being a Miserable Lawyer

Well, he hasn't written the book yet.  But Anonymous Lawyer writes the nasty, satirical truth/fiction(?) about BIGLAW life on his blog, and his readers chime in in the comments with a mixture of awful meanness and spite, and, at moments, raw honest confessions from their own professional lives.  I read the weblog weekly.  I find that AL makes me laugh, and sometimes the comments of his readers make me cringe.  The contrast between AL's voice -- bitter, sarcastic, but honest and funny, with an eye for authentic detail -- and the tone of those who comment on the site makes me admire AL himself more than I might otherwise.  After all, the guy and the life he describes is a picture of the worst kind of credential snobbery, relentless materialism, and disregard for family and real relationships -- almost a caricature of the worst parts of the legal profession.  But there's enough glimmer of humanity -- AL's clearly not happy, and at times reflects on his choices with a real vulnerability -- to keep it from being a caricature.  The readers who chime in don't have quite the skill or depth, generally, although their voices corroborate the truth AL is describing. 

Anyway, Evan Schaeffer wants to help AL write a book, and asked me to help.  Not help with the writing, but help connect AL to a publisher.  Heck if I know any publishers, or how to write a book from a blog.  Do you? 

Comments

[Yeoman Lawyer]

Very astute observations.

Evan included this observation; "One of the ironies of The Anonymous Lawyer is that even if the weblog is entirely fictional, it reads as if it might be true.", which I think helps explain its initial popularity. It often reads as though it is true, and if that portion of it, satire (presumably) turned into a book, could be done, it would be a pretty good book.

Those who comment there, however, seem to have taken a turn towards being nastier and nastire in the last couple of months. There were always a few, but now they compete to have the rudest comments. It's hard for me to understand why AL puts up with that, as it seems to me that most of the more careful readers no longer post, and perhaps no longer read it as much. Some editing of that site would help it.

Well, I hope he does publish. An expose on firm life, indeed, law life, is overdue.

[SF Librarian]

When I'm feeling remorse about giving up my six-figure salary at BIGLAW, I read a few entries of Anonymous Lawyer, including the hateful comments section. Even though it's satirical, there are enough kernels of truth about BIGLAW to make me extremely happy that I left.

[Salutor]

AL could take the route that Andy Kessler first took with Wall Street Meat and publish on his own using Lulu (or some equivalent route--I'm biased).

On a related note, a while back I corresponded with an anonymous lawyer who had written a terrific (and frightening) fictionalized memoir about his life as an incompetant lawyer and published it on Lulu.com (see: Fallen: Confessions of a Disbarred Lawyer). The trouble was that the author never typeset or edited the book properly--he seemed to give up on it before really finishing it properly. But I thought it had great potential.

[NZ lawyer]

AL is revealed: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1309367/posts

[Anonymous]

I am the author of Falen: Confessions of a Disbarred Lawyer. The book is not fictionalized, but is an autobiographical retelling of the unraveling of my law practice, leading to my ultimate disbarment. Well, that only really begins to tell it. Unraveling of my law practice? How about the unraveling of my life, and so on. Anyway, the comments here are appreciated. The book I think does have great potential, but I did sort of give up on it. So much work and so much time! But I would like to distribute it broadly. 1,000,000 lawyers in the US alone! Any thoughts from anyone?

[fargobond]

I was Disbarred in 2005, after resigning with an OH and Crack addiction ((and sex addiction)) in 2003. By 2002 I had the 4 houses, Jag, Mercedes, Trucks, Harley's, making $5000/day, lost 20 year marriage, and so on. Throughout, there were Women. I mean exceptional, brutally sexual, sweet, dangerous and only striking women. One 3 to 5 encounters. Daily. On the floor, boardroom table, at the house where I kept 4 or 5, and so on. I hired an "expert" to teach me how to do it "the right way". It varies, a tad, by race, actually. I took perhaps 300 photo's. The parties, the provocative poses, the frankly raw sex, the motorcycle excursions with suspect (I am told) groups. And a video or 2. I still see some of these girls. Some are dead, or missing. I went to China, after 2003, & Chicago, stayed "connected" with a core group of businessmen. It is said I took over $600,000. And it is reported that I paid back ALL of it, before any Bar investigation. I have a son. Perhaps that is why it is important to make amends. Today I run a trucking company, consult, date quite well, have a Great Son, get along well with all of my (living) ex's, work out, box a bit, and do "extra" bits/model (God knows people have strange taste...). I am writing "Lawyer, Dumbass, Whore: The Myth of Duct Tape as Consent". Illustrated. When I get stuck for words, there are the pictures....

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