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: Law Blog - WSJ.com

?Don?t Be a Time Optimist,? and Other Tips on Law-Firm Success

By Jamie Heller

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Remember Eric Reimer, the leveraged-finance guy out in Los Angeles who recently jumped from McDermott Will & Emery to Goodwin Procter? We had a chance last week to have lunch with him, and he shared some tales and tips on work/life balance. Here are highlights:

“Don’t be a time optimist.”
Quoting a partner who once shared the wisdom with him, Reimer said he tells associates “be good, do well and don’t make midweek dinner plans.”

Having a life outside of the law is all about managing expectations, Reimer says, not just your own but those of your friends and family. When one of his associates was bumming because he had to cancel on friends for a 7:30 dinner, Reimer gave him a dose of tough counsel: It’s better not to make midweek dinner plans at all, or to make plans for 9:30, than to make them for 7:30 and have to disappoint people. “If you’re disappointing people, that’s when it really hurts.”

Be willing to help junior colleagues.
Reimer says he demands commitment from his associates. But when their needs call, he tries to accommodate them, too. He recalls a time when an associate who participated in a big sister/little sister program wanted to attend the little sister’s high school graduation. Reimer told her to go, and he worked on the weekend and charged associate rates to finish the work. “There has to be commitment and there has to be compassion,” for colleagues, Reimer says.

If law-firm life isn’t right for you, that’s okay.
Reimer sees a lot of benefits to big firms (and he’s worked in several of them). There’s learning, camaraderie, and of course the money. But “the decision not to do it is a really valid decision, to take a different job,” he says. If you are at a big firm, it is a commitment. “You’re going to have to realize what the commitment is and make sure your circle of family and friends understands that too.”

* * *

Long-Haired Lawyers Club? We must admit, when we were trying to spot Reimer at the restaurant, we were expecting to meet a guy who looked like, well, a leveraged-finance lawyer. But Reimer was sporting the long-hair-and-suit combo. Is this lawyer-long-hair a California thing? Boston Brahmins at Goodwin, did you know what you were buying?

LB’ers, you recall our Moustache Society and Bow Tie club? Let’s see if we can get a long-haired lawyers club going. And this time it can be equal opportunity. We welcome women with, let’s say, below-the-shoulder hair. Please post nominations, with links to pics, below. And let’s keep it civil!