And you may ask yourself-well…how did I get here? – Talking Heads, “Once in a Lifetime”
That line played in my head a lot during my tour of the legal industry in Philadelphia. But never with more of a hook, or greater gravity, than during an odd moment where, for reasons I can’t explain, I found myself observing a local Trial Lawyer’s gala. In a situation like that, all I could do was shake my head, sip my drink and wonder, Seriously… How in the fuck did I get here?
For the past week of the promotion of the new Happy Hour is for Amateurs paperback, we’ve beaten up on the billable hour lawyers. Made fun of their out sized egos and myriad social dysfunctions, attacked their 18th century billing model… But that’s only half the story. This excerpt from the book covers their counterparts – the guys who file the lawsuits, otherwise known as “Plaintiffs” lawyers. I’d give you a little more but that might ruin the picture. Better to let the description do the talking. See if I haven’t nailed the funnier angles of the tribe:
Up Against the Wall Mother Fucker! PIZZA! PIZZA!
PL: This is the best part of that entry: “‘Assassinated’ poet Kenneth Koch (using blanks).”
Thank god DC’s not that flashy or grotesque. But you have nailed it. I thought Gene Simmons did an excellent plaintiffs atty in Extract.
PL: Certain of them are real “street” guys who desperately want respect. It’s quite amusing. They’re so overt about showing how ‘prosprus they are.
I’m probably about as leftist a person as you can find in America- not Obama-style liberal-centrist leftism, but real, European-style, “a maximum wage is a good idea” kind of leftism- but I couldn’t help but identify with the very last lines of the piece, although probably for different reasons. I cannot talk casually talk politics with another liberal for more than five minutes. I think it’s a reaction against the pointlessness of talking just to hear someone agreeing with you.
PL: It’s even worse when most of it’s totally fake – when they’re just buying into the ethos because they know liberal politicians feather their beds for them with plaintiff-friendly legislation.