Double Billing: A Young Lawyer's Tale of Greed, Sex, Lies, and the Pursuit of a Swivel Chair - Softcover

Stracher, Cameron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0688172229 ISBN 13: 9780688172220

Publisher: William Morrow, 1999

Synopsis

By turns hilarious and horrifying, Double Billing is a clever and sobering expose of the legal profession. Writing with wit and wisdom, Cameron Stracher describes the grueling rite of passage of an associate at a major New York law firm. As Stracher describes, Harvard Law School may have taught him to think like a lawyer, but it was his experience as an associate that taught him to behave--or misbehave--like one. Double Billing is a biting glimpse into the world of corporate law from the perspective of the low man on the totem pole.In Double Billing, Cameron Stracher reveals a shocking nonfiction account of the ordeal of a young associate at a major Wall Street law firm. Fresh out of Harvard Law School, Stracher landed a coveted position at a high-powered corporate law firm and thus began his grueling years as an associate, a dreaded rite of passage for every young attorney. Only about five percent survive long enough to achieve the Holy Grail of partnership in the firm.

As the author vividly describes, law school may teach you how to think like a lawyer, but it's being an associate that teaches you how to behave like one. Or misbehave. Stracher doesn't mince words about the duplicitous behavior and flagrant practices of many lawyers in his firm, which is one of the premier partnerships in America.

In a stylish and witty manner that has earned him comparison to an early Philip Roth, Stracher does for the legal profession what Michael Lewis's Liars' Poker did for the financial industry. The result is a tell-all glimpse into the cutthroat world of corporate law from the perspective of the low man on the totem pole.

In Double Billing, Cameron Stracher reveals a shocking nonfiction account of the ordeal of a young associate at a major Wall Street law firm. Fresh out of Harvard Law School, Stracher landed a coveted position at a high-powered corporate law firm and thus began his grueling years as an associate, a dreaded rite of passage for every young attorney. Only about five percent survive long enough to achieve the Holy Grail of partnership in the firm.

As the author vividly describes, law school may teach you how to think like a lawyer, but it's being an associate that teaches you how to behave like one. Or misbehave. Stracher doesn't mince words about the duplicitous behavior and flagrant practices of many lawyers in his firm, which is one of the premier partnerships in America.

In a stylish and witty manner that has earned him comparison to an early Philip Roth, Stracher does for the legal profession what Michael Lewis's Liars' Poker did for the financial industry. The result is a tell-all glimpse into the cutthroat world of corporate law from the perspective of the low man on the totem pole.

About this title

Review

"This is a wise, elegant, and quite wonderful book...'Bartleby the Serivener' is still read in law schools all over the country. "Double Billing should be too."--John Jay Osborn, "San Francisco Chronicle; author of "The Paper Chase"Stracher is a wonderful writer with a terrific eye and a voice of absolute grace. I can't remember when I enjoyed a book as much as this one."--Lisa Scottoline, author of "Mistaken Identity""Double Billingmay do for associates what Scott Turow's "One L did for elite law schools. Surely it will become necessary reading of the law students and young lawyers entering that world...The book is something else, too. It's a good read."--"The American Lawyer"Stracher's characterizations are vivid and humane, his criticisms are convincing and his observations of workaday lawyering are as sharp as the corners of a legal brief."--"Publishers Weekly"If you prefer your lawyering without criminally short skirts and workdays that culminate in impromptu bathroom-stall dance numbers, try this scathingly funny and grim portrait of the legal profession..."Double Billing should be required reading for the aspiring rich and shameless."--"Entertainment Weekly

From the Author

The worst $100,000 job I ever had.
Ever wonder whether you ought to feel sorry for a twenty-five year old making a hundred thousand dollars a year? For a hundred thousand dollars, most of us would endure almost any kind of misery. Or would we? After writing about it for two and half years (and living it for three), I've come to the conclusion that no amount of money can make a miserable job bearable. I know you won't believe me, and many of you will leap at the opportunity to be rich and miserable, while others will curse those with the opportunity, but remember -- I told you so. Read it here, first.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0688172229
• ISBN 13: 9780688172220
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240