I got fired from Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP Forum

[Anonymous User]

A while back, I came across this blog post: http://www.rosestreet.net/?p=28

I didn't write it, but I did work for Davis Polk, and I know some of the people he mentions in the story - it certainly rings true. I don't think it's really damning of either the writer or the firm, but it's an extremely interesting look at what (sometimes) happens on the other end of the biglaw world. That might be interesting perspective for people going through recruiting (or even considering law school) at the moment -but I've never seen the story linked or posted on TLS before.

Keep in mind this was 2009 - a much less stable time for firms financially.

[Anonymous User]

Why did you quit, anonymous TLSer? Were things as bad as he made it seem or were there other reasons for your exit - hours and the like?

[Anonymous User]

Wow. I'm at a very different place than DPW, but this describes me in so many ways. And if I stay here for 3 years I'll probably get fired too.

[Mack.Hambleton]

well that was depressing

[First Offense]

Sounds like an entitled brat to me.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

The idea of leaving a big law firm at 4pm on a weekday to go home and read a novel is not a good one.

[papercut]

This is really too sparse on details to be interesting. The writer has no problem naming names, so I'm not sure why he'd speak in such broad generalities about the experiences that precipitated his feelings about the work/firm and the firing.

[papercut]

^ That's me. Accidental anon.

[dixiecupdrinking]

I don't love my job but I can't at all relate to what would make someone describe it like this:

The job had made me miserable, made me cry; it destroyed my confidence, and it made me do hurtful things to people I had no intention of hurting. It was a horrible job, a terrible place to work. It fucked with your head, made you lie to yourself, killed ideals and bred cowardly, rationalizing reptilian human beings – in short, it turned you into a stereotypical lawyer.

[dixiecupdrinking]

I don't love my job but I can't at all relate to what would make someone describe it like this:

The job had made me miserable, made me cry; it destroyed my confidence, and it made me do hurtful things to people I had no intention of hurting. It was a horrible job, a terrible place to work. It fucked with your head, made you lie to yourself, killed ideals and bred cowardly, rationalizing reptilian human beings – in short, it turned you into a stereotypical lawyer.

Except the destroying confidence part, actually.

[CanadianWolf]

He certainly writes well.

[First Offense]

He certainly writes well.

Really? Ya think so?

[A. Nony Mouse]

Sounds like an entitled brat to me.

Really? I didn't take it that way. Why?

[cookiejar1]

He certainly writes well.

Really? Ya think so?

Ya, seriously, I've seen buzzfeed articles written better than this.

[A. Nony Mouse]

He certainly writes well.

Really? Ya think so?

Ya, seriously, I've seen buzzfeed articles written better than this.

Eh, it's perfectly well written. Leans toward longer sentences, but that doesn't make it bad.

[Anonymous User]

I've never seen a buzzfeed article, or many other articles, for that matter, half as well-written as this.

[anyriotgirl]

its just knock off modernism its not that exciting jesus

[Anonymous User]

I think he did a great job describing what was going through his head, his motivations, etc. He definitely didn't come off as an entitled brat; he was perfectly aware he wasn't supposed to be going home at 4 to read a book, he was perfectly aware he deserved to be fired.

[First Offense]

I think he did a great job describing what was going through his head, his motivations, etc. He definitely didn't come off as an entitled brat; he was perfectly aware he wasn't supposed to be going home at 4 to read a book, he was perfectly aware he deserved to be fired.

Which is why he whined at the end about no mention of economic reasons and one particular partner's personal dislike.

And the writing is long-winded and pretentious. Dostoyevsky? Really? Fuck off you lazy Fuck.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I think he did a great job describing what was going through his head, his motivations, etc. He definitely didn't come off as an entitled brat; he was perfectly aware he wasn't supposed to be going home at 4 to read a book, he was perfectly aware he deserved to be fired.

Which is why he whined at the end about no mention of economic reasons and one particular partner's personal dislike.

And the writing is long-winded and pretentious. Dostoyevsky? Really? Fuck off you lazy Fuck.

So you're saying that getting laid off in 2009 had nothing to do with economic reasons, and that when a firm is deciding who to lay off, one partner's dislike won't tip the balance? And that if you got laid off and those things were in the mix, you wouldn't want them acknowledged?

He's also not making an argument for not being fired - he's documenting what went through his head throughout the process. It all rang pretty true to me.

[ymmv]

I think he did a great job describing what was going through his head, his motivations, etc. He definitely didn't come off as an entitled brat; he was perfectly aware he wasn't supposed to be going home at 4 to read a book, he was perfectly aware he deserved to be fired.

Which is why he whined at the end about no mention of economic reasons and one particular partner's personal dislike.

Didn't seem clear to me whether he was going home out of laziness or because he literally had no work to do. Economic comments make me think the latter.

And the writing is long-winded and pretentious. Dostoyevsky? Really? Fuck off you lazy Fuck.

He's trying for a style. It's not super effective. Long-winded, sure, but I don't see how that's pretentious.

[First Offense]

I think if by your own admission you were doing the bare minimum and taking no initiative to ensure you have any work, and if you were so clearly loathing your job that pays (by third year with bonus) over 200k a year, blaming the economy exemplifies an entitled attitude.

[los blancos]

I don't love my job but I can't at all relate to what would make someone describe it like this:

The job had made me miserable, made me cry; it destroyed my confidence, and it made me do hurtful things to people I had no intention of hurting. It was a horrible job, a terrible place to work. It fucked with your head, made you lie to yourself, killed ideals and bred cowardly, rationalizing reptilian human beings – in short, it turned you into a stereotypical lawyer.

I think this is actually a pretty normal reaction to spending 3 years of your life doing meaningless paper pushing.

[Anonymous User]

I think if by your own admission you were doing the bare minimum and taking no initiative to ensure you have any work, and if you were so clearly loathing your job that pays (by third year with bonus) over 200k a year, blaming the economy exemplifies an entitled attitude.

You misunderstood him, then. He never blamed the economy. He knew he deserved to go. He wanted the partners to at least have the decency to blame the economy; he also knew that if the economy wasn't in the gutter he'd probably have lasted longer. He was describing his thought process, not reality.

[bearsfan23]

Am I the only one who doesn't understand the OP?

OP makes a thread about getting "fired" from DPW, then just links to someone else's blog.

OP did you also get fired? Did you quit? I'm curious as to what your story is and what you think of DPW as a firm.

Should we be telling rising 2L's to avoid DPW like we tell them to avoid K&L Gates?