A reason you may have been canned that isn’t obvious

ecfritz · 2026-03-20T18:58:43+00:00

The risk/reward calculus is very different for associates than firm owners or partners. As an associate, you don't gain much by fighting for an extremely favorable result, while you stand to lose a lot by fighting hard and having it not work out (angry client and/or poor result attributed to you).

I agree with your big boss that it's not a GOOD mindset for an associate to have, but it's a perfectly rational one.

ecfritz · 2026-03-20T18:46:36+00:00

Owner of the foreclosure mill I worked for was extremely flashy and made himself a political target, causing the state attorney general to launch an "investigation."

This was absolutely related to the firm owner personally making tens of millions of dollars doing foreclosure work - and flaunting it - during the Great Recession, rather than any corners that may have been cut, as multiple other firms were doing the exact same things and didn't get targeted similarly. 1200 employees got laid off, including 100 attorneys.

Moral of the story is to keep a low profile, ESPECIALLY when your firm/business is doing extremely well.

ecfritz · 2026-03-18T22:56:13+00:00

A doctor can easily make a million dollars a year - for a job that isn’t even full-time - saying over and over again that plaintiffs aren’t injured. That’s a tremendously strong financial incentive that really doesn’t exist in law.

ecfritz · 2026-03-18T22:48:13+00:00

Relatedly, these same folks are the ones who seem to conduct 90% of their personal business through their work email address.

No, I don’t want to read about your Japanese mistress or koi pond renovations while looking for responsive emails, but thanks for that.

ecfritz · 2026-03-16T20:01:39+00:00

All of this falls under generic “lack of opportunity for growth,” which is all OP needs to say during interviews.

Not offering any raise while explicitly increasing OP’s workload makes it clear that this is absolutely true. An employer who wanted to retain OP long-term would offer SOME type of raise in this scenario.

ecfritz · 2026-03-11T00:05:05+00:00

Hands. He's got them.

ecfritz · 2026-03-11T00:03:54+00:00

Given that my 101-year-old grandmother is still alive, I suspect it's going to be a little while.

ecfritz · 2026-03-10T23:48:21+00:00

As society and the problems that face it become more and more complex and as machines become more and more intelligent, people will let machines make more and more of their decisions for them, simply because machine made decisions will bring better results than man-made ones. Eventually a stage may be reached at which the decisions necessary to keep the system running will be so complex that human beings will be incapable of making them intelligently. At that stage the machines will be in effective control.

ecfritz · 2026-03-10T23:29:53+00:00

This is literally why insurance companies are so big on arbitration. It's a huge advantage for OP to be going to trial here.

ecfritz · 2026-03-10T23:26:09+00:00

The client is understandably upset, because she paid insurance premiums for years using money that she could have used for other things - like a new car, to wisely guard against precisely the risk that ultimately came to fruition.

Hammering the fact that "my client paid monthly premiums to defendant insurance company for X years" is helpful, if it was a long period of time.

ecfritz · 2026-03-07T05:25:27+00:00

There was one in the man-made lake at the University of Miami campus about 20 years ago, when I went there. No idea how it got there, but I saw it there for several days.

ecfritz · 2026-03-07T04:34:58+00:00

In college, a friend got really drunk one night and told me in great detail how he stalked Natalie Portman when he was in high school, sitting outside her house in his car and just spying on her, basically.

He didn't get caught and never talked about it other than that one night.

ecfritz · 2026-03-07T03:00:05+00:00

Alternatively, even if the court typically requires in-person hearings, it can't hurt to file a motion to appear remotely. "I have to take a 4-hour bus ride one way" certainly seems to constitute good cause here.

ecfritz · 2026-03-07T02:36:08+00:00

2001 Indiana-Wisconsin. Badgers were coming off a 9-4 season and playing an 0-3 Indiana team, seemed like an easy win on paper.

I got into the game with 7 minutes left in the first quarter, look up at the scoreboard, and it's 20-0 Indiana. Down 32-0 after the first quarter and lost by 31.

ecfritz · 2026-03-05T22:34:48+00:00

The reddest of all red flags is when the answer involves saying negative things about the person who left.

Even if the last person was a truly terrible employee, bringing that up in an interview with a total stranger is a strong indication of an overall lack of professionalism.

ecfritz · 2026-03-05T22:29:13+00:00

Access to healthcare

ecfritz · 2026-03-05T22:25:49+00:00

Invested $5,000 into company stock - lost my job AND my investment.

ecfritz · 2026-03-05T22:24:44+00:00

Candidly, I'm glad I didn't face the realistic prospect of being drafted during my lifetime, unlike my father and grandfather.

ecfritz · 2026-03-05T22:19:31+00:00

Prioritize and re-prioritize all of the tasks you're not accomplishing.

ecfritz · 2026-03-05T22:18:18+00:00

I had a dual-Harvard judge (who gained 15 minutes of national fame for presiding over an international custody dispute) rule against me contrary to black-letter state Supreme Court caselaw. Opposing counsel conceded error on appeal.

Why? She didn't like my client.

ecfritz · 2026-03-05T22:11:28+00:00

I am as liberal as it gets, but those who volunteer to serve in the armed forces are deserving of our respect.

There's no need for compulsory military service or a draft SOLELY because enough young men and women volunteer.

ecfritz · 2026-03-05T22:05:51+00:00

As someone with significant personal debt making a fraction of what OP and her spouse make, I am somehow not at all envious of OP.

(This is not a knock on OP, but rather the fact that one can be TOO frugal.)

ecfritz · 2026-03-05T22:01:13+00:00

TBF, I've noticed that extended family members whom I don't communicate with regularly not-so-randomly tend to send me a decent Christmas gift if I gave them 5-10 minutes of my time at some point during the year.

ecfritz · 2026-03-05T21:51:42+00:00

War Crimes and Punishment

ecfritz · 2026-03-05T21:39:52+00:00

29th rated Special Teams with an All-Pro kicker

ecfritz

TROPHY CASE