The tricky part about the deluge of gossip and information we encounter is in the analysis - where's the wheat and where is the chaff? Good Lawcruiters – or at the very least those folks who have been studying the law firm market for long enough to understand the ebbs and flows of this business – are rarely be surprised about major reported news stories - such as mergers, failed mergers, and failing firms. The rest of us are sometimes left guessing. Or maybe, there is a reason that we are just guessing since it seems that the efforts of our law firm clients to disseminate and manage information (or "spin" bad publicity) still seems so surprisingly ad hoc.
For instance, one might make the case, despite all that has been reported about how Aaron Charney may have been the source of a confidential Sullivan & Cromwell memo as to management-level anxiety about associate attrition, that Sullivan & Cromwell were content to have that information out on the street since, ultimately, it shows the firm – which is rumored to be a fairly cold place to work - as trying to be responsive to associate discontent. Likewise, I would like to believe that there is a cadre of Sullivan & Cromwell partners who view the current deluge of news about the Aaron Charney litigation as a blessing in disguise on the principal that any publicity is good publicity, and also in that, once more, this seemingly aloof, remote, and magisterial firm has been given an opportunity to show that they are just as human (and can be just as responsive to associate needs) as any other (read: softer and fuzzier - sort of...) law firm on Manhattan Island. (It might also be that Sullivan & Cromwell has no P.R. strategy at all - or else that their efforts are so ad-hoc that I am being generous for giving them any benefit of the doubt....)
So why is gossip important? Any why must it be studied and understood by Lawcruiters and recruitment coordinators everywhere? Because in a world where rumor, half-truths and misinformation can spread like wildfire via e-mail, blogs and message boards - and where unchecked misinformation flows can maim and kill associate recruitment efforts on the vine (just ask Cadwalader) – the firms that learn how best to assimilate and manage this information - and then respond agressively and positively - will, in my opinion, be the firms who are the most successful in attracting and retaining the best associate talent.
