Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Asshole of the Week: I Would Never EatWork Here Anyway

In the throws of a job search myself, I get a peculiar and not entirely laudable pleasure from seeing other job-seekers in my field implode spectacularly. You may have heard about this, but let me quote certain aspects of the email exchange:
Korman was miffed that Abdala notified him by e-mail this month that, after tentatively agreeing to work at his law firm, she changed her mind. Her reason: ''The pay you are offering would neither fulfill me nor support the lifestyle I am living."

In his e-mail reply, Korman told Abdala that her decision not to have told him in person ''smacks of immaturity and is quite unprofessional," and noted that in anticipation of her arrival, he had ordered stationery and business cards for her, reformatted a computer, and set up an e-mail account. Nevertheless, he wrote, ''I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors."

Her curt retort: ''A real lawyer would have put the contract into writing and not exercised any such reliance until he did so."

(Closed-circuit to upcoming law graduates, you know nothing about practicing law yet. I don't think your hundred page Contracts outline is going to impress anybody. Sit down, shut up, stop thinking (bad for the team), and start reviewing documents in 6-minute intervals. That is all, back to your regularly scheduled rant.)
His: ''Thank you for the refresher course on contracts. This is not a bar exam question. You need to realize that this is a very small legal community, especially the criminal defense bar. Do you really want to start pissing off more experienced lawyers at this early stage of your career?"
A sensible question, though a certain degree of...brusqueness might be considered a good thing in a new attorney. However
Abdala's final three-word response: ''bla bla bla."
Too far, madam, you go too far.

Something about the whole incident makes me think of the Monty Python How Not to Be Seen sketch - "Ms. Abdala will you stand up please?" Which also allows me to gloat:




Abdala, a self-decribed "trust-fund baby" (of another Boston-area lawyer. I'm sure he'll take no shit at all from the local judiciary for the next few months: "I'm not sure how it happens in your house, Mr. Abdala, but we try to keep it civil in my courtroom,") is less than chastened:
I'm more worried about whether I've left my hair iron on than this little email exchange
Because that's what I'd want in an attorney - attention to the little things detail.

Update: In the comments, Frankie tries to let facts get in the way of a good smear.

3 comments:

Icepick said...

Damn stupid quizes:

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.


Oops, wrong thread! Let's try this again:

You are French!
You think the English are pigs and spend your time viciously taunting others. You like to hurl livestock and human waste: sick little monkey. “Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!”


I'm never going to hear the end of this at the NeoCon club....

Frankie said...

A couple of things:

1. Her father actually practices in Springfield, not Boston.

2. What Korman failed to tell the world was that he offered Abdala a salary that they agreed upon...and then rescinded the offer of the original salary and replaced it with a salary 1/3 less...and just assumed she would be ok with that. He didn't even approach her with the lower number and ask her if she would be ok with, or if she wanted to think about it. He just changed the number and assumed she would work for it anyway.

Now, I think she handled herself in an appalling manner, don't get me wrong. But he isn’t innocent either. They both suck. Oh, and I know all of this because one of my good friends prepared for the bar with her and knows her personally.

Anonymous said...

Uhhh...Pooh? It's "throes" (as in "death throes"), not "throws."

By the way, I'm Sir Lancelot.