Unemployed Lawyers, Solo Practice University, the Last Time the Baby Boom Was Poor, and the Gig Economy
We need an open source solution to lawyer unemployment. If I had time for a post this morning, I'd write a great creative plea for an open source solution to lawyer unemployment. It's all right here in my head this morning. But I don't have time so here are my random thoughts with a plea to send me ideas and links, either by way of the comments section or via email.
Here goes:
the gig economy.
Solo Practice University.
the last time the baby boom was poor, it was also:
- entrepreneurial: candles, belts, "head" shops, collectives, free schools, credit unions based on affiliation (i.e., the Women's Federal Credit Union at a time when we still couldn't get credit cards in our own names); crash pads; food co-ops; the Diggers; "alternative" social service agencies funded by grants and existing federal program assistance (i.e., Vista volunteers; federal revenue sharing funds); "free" press . . . . more from my baby boomer readers please
- inventive - this category probably entirely overlaps with the first one
- largely unemployed or under-employed while pursuing greater interests
- expert at navigating federal benefits for medical services and dietary needs (food stamps)
- unashamed to:
- ask friends for help
- use local, state and federal benefits for the poor, knowing that we would eventually pay these back in taxes over a lifetime
- shop at Army-Navy stores
- generous with our resources; "yes you can"
- "crash at my pad"
- borrow a little "bread"
- have dinner at my place
- join my collective ("network")
- work at the co-op
- send your kids to our free school
- get a loan from our credit union
- industrious
- all this generosity meant that people who could do did
- those who were good at getting grants got them
- those with medical skills shared them
- those with organizational skills organized
- those with contacts shared them
- socially conscious
- we didn't envy those with more than us or look down on those with less than us
- we tapped the rich (please can you contribute) and provided services to the poor
- if we didn't like the way the government was doing something, we didn't just protest (a thousand documentaries on the sixties to the contrary) we got up in the morning and formed an alternative to the governmental or existing societal organizations that we believed were not serving the needs of ourselves and our communities
- we believed we were part of a tribe and we were loyal to it and to one another
- very very young
- we made a lot of mistakes (think: Jane Fonda: Hanoi)
- we were ridiculously overly optimistic about our own ability to change the world
- we were overly pessimistic about the good of the society we were born into
- we were arrogant
- we were brave
- we were not risk averse
- were were opininated
- we were fractious
OK. So now we're here. What are WE going to DO about it???????
Thoughts
- no lawyer should be "unemployed" PERIOD
- the "gig" economy: several streams of income
- F--k the "experts"
- the law isn't keeping up with the problems lawyers are experts at solving
- the adversarial system - 18th century dispute resolution technology - is not fast or flexible enough to efficiently and effectively solve 21st century conflicts ("conflict": a struggle over scarce resources and/or a struggle to impose control over the standards, values, rules, etc. of the society)
- when the times get weird, the weird turn pro
- find a way to help markets in need creative solutions to "legal" problems so they don't have to SUE THEIR MARKET (NEWSPAPERS) /1
- think like an entrepreneur not like an employee
- did I mention Solo Practice University? it's not just for solo practitioners; it's for the new wave of lawyers whose task is to re-structure the system so that it works for all of us
- you did it when you were, oh, 16, 20, 25, 30 . . . do it now
- Network!!!
More later. I have a gig.
_______________
1/ "Who reads newspapers, mom?"
"Bloggers, honey."
Comments (5)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endSusan Cartier Liebel - March 2, 2009 10:56 AM
That is a definite 'Call to Action'...
Everything you say is true. When times are good we segment into our own little groups, socializing and working with those 'like us' and protecting what is ours. When the monuments to our society crumble all that's left is everyone on the same playing field.
And the Amish Barn Building begins. It is no different with those who lose their jobs and have to start over, again. The way society rebuilds is through a collective mentality and through sharing.
"Rising waters lift all boats". Now is not the time for a scarcity mentality. Help others and by doing so you help yourself.
Networking and generosity have never been more important then they are now. What have you done lately to help others and by doing so helped yourself?
If you can't think of anything...get started today!!!
Jennifer - March 2, 2009 4:46 PM
I read your post this morning and didn't have any comment at the time, but I have come back to it because something about it stayed with me.
While I appreciate the spirit and feeling behind your post, I can't help but say that I am massively uninterested in anything the "Baby Boom" generation might have to say, as a generation. Not only uninterested, but repulsed, really. The spirit and action to which you refer helped kick off our modern-day war between the "60s liberals" and the "conservatives", or whatever the labels are nowadays (and don't get me wrong - I'm the most liberal person I know). I'm so sick of hearing about it all. I'm just done with it.
All of the baby-boomer 60s nostalgia stuff that you bring up in your post puts that bad taste right back in my mouth, which completely overwhelms the call to action I think you intended. I think of the baby boomer generation as the one that has been in economic power for so many years, and the one that I (as a member of a younger generation) am going to have to help support in their old age because of the horrid economic conditions that they helped create. Forget about my own retirement - people of my generation generally don't believe they will get Social Security, much less any other form of retirement supports, largely because of the baby boomer generation. We will be taking care of the baby boomers and of our own children. Our children, in turn, will be paying off the enormous debt and will be worse off economically because of this last baby boomer who was in power.
So if you'd like to address lawyer unemployment and what to do about it - a great topic - please don't turn it into a baby-boomer generational thing and use baby-boomer generational buzzwords. You'll get all sorts of support from the nostalgic baby boomers and drive everyone else away.
Vickie - March 2, 2009 8:58 PM
Jennifer,
I feel your pain. Truly. We too (the "sandwich" generation) are supporting children AND parents. We too railed against the problems our parents generation left us to deal with. We too were sick to death of hearing about the Great War and the Depression.
Each generation solves some problems and creates others. Being dual natured, each of us and each group of us, are good and bad, selfish and generous, self-centered and other-directed, brave and cowardly.
I AM sad that our particular Baby Boomer human frailties are so profound that they go all the way to "repulsive" on the Jennifer scale of generational failings.
I'd remind you of some of the GOOD things we accomplished but I don't think that would alleviate the bad taste that the mere mention of the BB generation leaves in your mouth.
For better and worse, I write from my own perspective based on my own history, about which, alas, I am as sentimental as the next person.
Despite the language in which this "call to action" is couched, I hope that its central message -- that we must band together or sink alone -- will not be too muffled.
All best,
Vickie
Cathy Scott - March 5, 2009 5:55 AM
Remember the free clinic in San Diego's Mission Beach? I think we went there once together, as I recall. It was, indeed, free.
Greg Rinckey - March 17, 2009 12:32 PM
I am hiring lawyers in our K Street office (Washington DC)! If you need a job send me your resume, writing sample, and whether you have any portable business (if not, what is your business plan to get business so you are never unemployed again)