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foibles
So, there's this one dude I work for sometimes in a practice area different from mine. I do some specialty shit for him* and he speaks highly of me. Which is good, because he is kind of a BSD. Anyway, I get this call a month or two ago from this guy who claims to be his buddy and who claims he recommended me, to do some work for this guy. We'll call him asshole.
After I agree to help asshole out with some minor shit, he bait and switches me, and I'm stuck doing a bunch of other shit I don't really do, don't really enjoy doing, and don't really know how to do. Then it turns out that Asshole isn't even BSD's friend, that I wasn't recommended by BSD, and that Asshole has a reputation for this shit. He also has a reputation as a bad lawyer who made partner during a boom time and has just coasted through for the last few years.
Fast forward a month or so: Asshole never copies me on e-mails, and just expects me to know when shit is going on. I mean, dude has even not told me about a meeting or a mark-up and then asked me where I was or how the review was coming. I also hear that he was badmouthing me to other higher-ups, all of whom defended me and told me that he is an asshole and that no one listens to him.
Anyway, Client is getting pissed about some shit involving Asshole and how he's handled and negotiated some stuff. He tends to give stuff away and then say "These are the terms we have, and we have to deal with them. Let's just figure it out."
Another partner I don't know called me to discuss the clients' complaints. I can demonstrate that none of this stuff is my fault, that I didn't think it should have been handled this way, and all that. I can probably do so without sounding like I'm blaming him for all the problems, even though I do. Now, even though he is an asshole, I might be inclined to do this, just to not stick out my nose to get it cut off, or whatever the metaphor is. But, it seems that he is trying to blame some of this stuff on me, and that's why the other partner is sniffing around.
Given that Asshole has no political capital at the firm, but it's not like he's going to get fired, should I just tell the truth? Or should I slant it against him? Or should I just protect him, because the partners don't want to hear that some uppity associate is blaming something on one of them, even if they all really (wink wink) know that he is a bad lawyer and at fault, if I can just say "the situation is bad, but it's not really the Firm's fault."??
* softball!
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