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Infamous Emails Don't Always Kill Careers
Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes "Those oft-forwarded email gaffes don't always lead to career meltdowns for the ashamed senders, Jared Sandberg writes in the Wall Street Journal. In some corners of the business world, preserving a reputation can be less important than acquiring one in the first place. For instance, the 2003 legal summer associate who accidentally emailed 40 colleagues to announce he was 'busy doing jack' ended up getting a job at the firm. More recently, the young woman who told off a lawyer offering her a job -- and saw her email forwarded worldwide -- is quite confident that the notoriety can't hurt, and might even help, her career."
The wildly successful in this world make their own rules. The rest of us timidly kiss our superiors asses to pay the bills.
IANAL, but I'm starting law school in the fall. Folks, being a forceful advocate for one's client does not necessitate being a jackass - which seems a reasonable description of Ms. Abadala, based upon TFA. One can be persuasive, dedicated and hard-working without blowing people off - and it's a good idea to do so. Eventually, you *will* screw up a memo, or miss a deadline, or something like that. Whether you have a reputation for being a good, solid sort after that can determine what happens next.
I would also point out that judges do *not* like arrogant, condescending lawyers.
Frankly, I have all the sympathy in the world for the guy Ms. Abadala walked out on. It seems like he made a strong effort to be professional and courteous, and she made every possible effort to push his buttons for the hell of it.
Let me close on this point: This woman was *not* acting like a lawyer, and what she was doing was not what being a lawyer is about. She was being a twit.
I'm the stranger...posting to
this is my authoritative view.