The One Upgrade Peloton Needs to Make Before its IPO
Warning: Before reading this article, you should know that this may be some sort of personal hangup that I have, not a gripe or *itch session per se. But, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
This started it all.
The very first sentence is where things go awry for me…right around the part where it says, “4+ years of experience at a top law firm or in-house practice.” It just sorta got me wondering. What constitutes a “top law firm?” Well, since I didn’t know, I figured I’d go to that almighty crystal ball called “Google.” It knows everything. And with that…down the rabbit hole I went.
Above The Law had a list, along with Forbes (which used the same source),U.S. News (which loves lists), and more. For those of you who are interested, you could spend days just looking at who makes these lists and how they determine the eligibility for inclusion on these lists. But I digress. I ended up at The Vault. I think it’s the mommy and daddy for making law firm lists.
The award goes to…
According to The Vault, the top, or one of the top depending on which year you look at, is Cravath, Swaine, and Moore, and in order for me to make my case, I’m going to pick on them. Of course, I really could have just said, “Cravath,” and the attorneys in the room would likely know who I was talking about.
From Google, I clicked on Cravath, looked around…and whoa?!!!
This law firm has been around 200 years. I mean, I knew it had been a while, but…check it out on the website.
So, let me stop here for a moment so that you can use your cell phone to see when they opened those doors. Yep…that’d be around 1819.
I can trace my ancestors back to about 1830…to Arsa Norris. I think that’s kinda close to 1819, in the grand scheme of things.
1819 was the year of The Panic of 1819, sometimes referred to as the first financial crisis or first major depression in the United States. It was also the year Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia and the year Alabama became the 22nd state admitted to the Union.
But back to the whole “top law firm” label. I’m asking the question, why is this language needed in advertisements for counsel positions.
Further down in the advertisement for the position, it lists the qualifications. I bolded (yep, I used that as a verb) the qualifications that should really matter. I’m pretty sure I know a couple of attorneys who check the box on most of these, and they didn’t work at a 200-year old law firm. But they did go to a law school that was founded in 1845.
Wait…pull out those cell phones again, and do the math.
That’s 174 years. That’s the law school I went to. I’m thinking that should count for something. I mean…it’s pretty close to 200, just about a quarter of a century off.
THE QUALIFICATIONS (from the Peloton Website 06/14/2019)
- 4+ years’ experience at a top law firm or in-house role, with a focus on commercial or corporate transactional practice, with secondment or in-house experience strongly preferred
- Competency in drafting and negotiating commercial contracts; particular experience in information technology and marketing agreements and/or supply chain agreements is strongly preferred
- Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills
- Strong business acumen and ability to advise on business-related legal issues
- Must be an independent and strategic thinker who is a strong team player (no job is too small or too large) and willing to take on additional responsibilities
- Superb organizational skills
- Enjoy working in a fast-paced, disruptive business
- Knowledge about the consumer tech world, familiarity with online issues such as privacy and data security preferred
- Member in good standing of the NY Bar
So here’s how you upgrade, and fly first class with your advertisement…but a brief discussion first.
Your “top law firm” language…well, take a look at Cravath’s website. Yes, their history is filled with their support and advocacy for the rights of others and with making this country the best that it could be. But that service is also tied to a history that for a very long time denied blacks and women access to the opportunities that allowed “top law firms” to build the very legacy that you now value.
What you are saying when you use “top law firms” is that you want someone who is tied to that legacy and heritage because it means something. The size of the firm matters to you, it’s standing in the legal community, where the firm’s members went to law school, their contacts and networks, who they’ve represented, the power and the players they have access to, who they clerked for. These are stand-ins and proxies for what you believe will be a hire who will fit in, knows how to do the work, and will do the work well. But, I’m pretty sure you could get that without having to ever say “top law firms.”
But I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt for five seconds. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
People who read advertisements with that language self-select themselves right out of applying, even when they have the years of experience and meet the other qualifications. But that’s what you want, right. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have included it.
In conclusion, ’cause I want to take this opportunity to sound like a lawyer, the language works to chill the applicant pool, and it is not based on any necessary component of the job or the responsibilities of what the applicant would be doing in the job.
So, Peloton, do me a favor…make this one upgrade.
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Shelia A. Huggins is a North Carolina licensed attorney and graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law. She thinks it’s a pretty decent school.
