I love mornings here. Nobody on my floor but me is in here this early (and a couple of the IP guys but they're pretty odd anyway) and it's quiet and sunny and I can crank right through the morning's work and feel like I have my act together by the time my assistant and the other associates get in. This place doesn't really start going until 9:30; some partners don't come in until 10 or later. I've always been a morning person and I think that has helped me out in my career because most of the deals we're involved with, maybe three-quarters, have some party who's on the east coast or who uses an east coast lawyer. So they start calling here at the crack of dawn and sending emails that they expect a response to on New York time. The partners I work with like it that I'm here and up and so they can kind of relax about that stuff so when they show up to the office and find fourteen emails and voicemails about some problem with the latest version of the P&S they find a fifteenth email from me taking care of it, or at least telling the East Coasters when they can expect a response.

Anyway I think word got out among the partners that if you were working on a deal with me you could drive your kids in to school or get a morning workout in or have an after-breakfast quickie with your wife and things would still be under control when you got in, you wouldn't need to be on your Blackberry the whole time. So I think I got pulled into some deals because of that and it's turned out pretty good for me -- I was working on stuff that six-years weren't getting when I was three, four years out. I didn't realize when I was starting out how much political positioning shit goes on at these firms, who gets the good work and how you stay friendly with the other associates even while you're sort of hoping you, not they, get on the hot deals. I mean we're friendly too but it's more competitive than they tell you starting out.
- posted by Blogger @ 7:12 AM