From the Vada Pavs of Mumbai to the Kathi Rolls of Kolkata, there always will be the typical people you will see in every law firm. Here is DudeDiligence’s take on the people you meet at law firms:

(a) The Hot Dumbo: She has blue eyes, long flowing black hair, breasts to give Poonam Pandey a chase for her money. She is always in short skirts, tight salwars and deep neck tops. Apart from looking forward to the weekend, it is her clothes that you look forward to on a Friday dress down. But her mammary excesses are balanced with her intellectual scarcity. She searches for ‘section’ 13 of the Constitution. Competition act for her is the legislation governing beauty pageants and a memo is just momo wrongly spelt. But defying logic she is present at the most important client meetings, survives every assessment and even manages a better bonus each year. Banging her in the office loo remains your utopia.

(b) The Star Performer: He is always on time for meetings, work, lunch, office drinks. His brown shoes always match his brown belt, not to mention his yellow shirt and brown pants. He recalls rule 5 of the Mizoram Civil Service Rules, 2000 with the same ease that he rattles of an entire three page force majeure clause from a deal he did four years ago. He is always on the best deals, manages to keep up with all of his 8765 deals, never shouts on you for any typos and always ensures that he sees every bloody email that’s sent on a deal. He usually survives for days without food, water and air during closings and the only holiday he takes during the year is to nurse his swollen rectum caused due to excessive sitting on his chair. He would never be your friend in law school, you suck up to him now because that’s your only road to survive.

(c) The Cranky Bitch of a Partner: She has just had her second child (in vitro possibly). Between scolding the nanny, ensuring that the mix between milk powder and water is right, checking on her children’s homework, seeing if Prada has come out with its latest fall collection – she also manages to be a partner. When you walk into her room, you never know what to expect. She could scold you for your best work, she could praise you for a typo filled contract. When you send her an email at 7 in the evening, her replies usually come in at 4 am while breastfeeding her child. Your emotions for her usually oscillate between her being an incarnate of Mother Teresa to being the next Dolly Bindra. She could shout at you in front of a client and defend you in front of the BIG boss. She is exactly what you fear your girl friend will end up becoming.

(d) The Cool Dude: He is your best friend in office. Typically 12th ranked in law school. He plays awesome chess, discusses Sierra Leone with the same intensity as Sunny Leone and knows that Victor Ponta is the Prime Minister of Romania. He usually is the reason office parties are fun, he is the one to call for vodka shots on the table. His pictures from Raichur to Rwanda make him a star on Facebook. He could be the best associate in town, but he better makes the CEO of a tech company. He lacks attention to detail but the only reason he makes through his deals is because of his common sense rather than his ‘common law sense’.

(f) Me: Each day I wonder why I go to office. Each day I wish there was an earthquake and they declared a holiday. The only day I wake up at 6 am to check emails is on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi immersion to see if I could drink work from home. I am inevitably late to office every day. One day I actually bunked office on the pretext of a burglary at home. I try each day to see if there is some way to watch porn without hitting the firewall. I even Google for precedents for asset purchase agreements. I wish each year I had made an LLM application to get rid of my misery at the firm. I spend most of my day cursing that thought process which made me go to law school. The only friends I envy on Facebook are those cool ones who went on to live their dream to do cool things like being a DJ or leading a rock band. I spend more time liking and commenting on people pictures on Facebook than proofreading an offer document. Each year after an abysmal assessment I promise myself to work hard the next year. Sometimes I wonder if I am a real lawyer, I don’t even know how to get an injunction in a court.

I wish I could leave my job. I wish I could do something cool. I wish I could make it atleast to the gym everyday. I wish I could write this blog for a living. I wish I didn’t suck at everything I did. [Psst…did any one notice - I did not even get my numbering right on this post!]

[Dudediligence is a BigLaw certified asshole. He loves his beer, her b88bs and banter. He can be abused at diligencedude at gmail.com and is usually open to having beer anyday with hot women. Follow “Dudediligence1” on Twitter.]

Comments

Dudediligence fan 17 Jun 2012, 05:57
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Totally feel your pain, but I don't know which sucks more - to be trapped in monotonous dry mind-numbing work you can never associate deeply with, the bait being the security of a huge pay packet definitely coming in for the rest of your life - or making a living out of what you love, but also bracing yourself for uncertainty and frequent shocks to the boat of your survival - not knowing if your future will be any bigger ....

Nevertheless, great post as always! Fun :D
right.. 17 Jun 2012, 18:06
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so leave your job. you're young and able [in the loosest sense of the word anyway]. what a whiner..
dudediligence 17 Jun 2012, 19:02
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@#2 - Whining is my middle name. And if you dont understand humour maybe you should use "daft as a door" as your middle name!
Double D 18 Jun 2012, 12:28
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Bl**dy hilarious mate!! I always try and stay awy from (c)!!
Double D 18 Jun 2012, 12:28
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Bl**dy hilarious mate!! I always try and stay away from (c)!!
Prakhar 18 Jun 2012, 13:05
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Awesome post.. the advanced version of kinds of interns in a firm post you had earlier written ..
Converted 18 Jun 2012, 13:11
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Possibly the best blog entry I have ever read.. on legallyindia or otherwise! You really should write for a living or continue writing and venting out in the form of disguised sarcasm! Brilliant. Just brilliant.

On a side note, I'm sure you can come up with more stereotypes always found in a law firm. Please do write some more. Write a "5 more stereotypes you meet at every law firm" entry. Seriously, this was awesome.
Indian Princess 18 Jun 2012, 15:11
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Awesome post ... more ....
Dude and Diligence 18 Jun 2012, 15:27
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Emotions occilater from mother Teresa to dolly bindra- killer stuff. Hahaha. I just read and re-read the post 3 times in a row. Totally agree with 6 above
ULNG 19 Jun 2012, 06:22
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Simply superb writing........................
XYZ 19 Jun 2012, 08:48
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Fantastic! The hot dumbo is there in law school classes as well. Retarded to the core and getting cool grades at the same time ;-) A good sense of humour. You should consider blogging on the lines of Anonymous Lawyer.
dudediligence 19 Jun 2012, 16:09
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Thank you all for the appreciation. Suddenly what my girlfriend discarded as garbage is making sense to people.
Cranky bitch of a partner !! 21 Jun 2012, 11:49
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"The Cranky Bitch of a Partner" !!! You just described me !!!!! if it wasn't for the enviable command over the language I would have presumed that you were one of the troubled souls in my office !! Hilarious and refreshing to state the least !!
Anisha 21 Jun 2012, 12:32
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I am sorry but if your writing has to be sexist and stereo-type ridden, the least it could be is funny and witty. Which this most definitely is not.
Nupur 21 Jun 2012, 12:38
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Wooohooo you are back!!!!
Loved the post! Such a good break from the I-don't-understand-a-word agreement I'm (supposed to be) working on!!
Litman 21 Jun 2012, 15:58
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This is a piss poor excuse for an article. Interesting firm you work in though.
dudediligence 21 Jun 2012, 18:53
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@Cranky Bitch: Maybe I am one of those souls in your office! Please be nice to me!
@Anisha: Thank you for realizing that I indeed am sexist and monotonous. It would be worth your time not to read my posts! muaaah
@Nupur: Stop being bullied by the biggies. Get out and get yourself a nice chilled beer.
@Litman: I agree with you. The line between being intellectually challenging and intellectually challenged is thin. I am the latter.
Sitting in Office and reading posts 22 Jun 2012, 05:49
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one of the best posts I have read over a long time!!!
Unnati Divecha 22 Jun 2012, 05:52
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Impressively written article! Although you probably missed out on the 'ass-licking intern' and 'goody-two-shoes receptionist'! Most law firms have both of these two as well...

I don't know about leaving your job, doing something cool or going to the gym everyday, but writing blogs for a living isn't such a bad idea :)
misogynist much? 26 Jun 2012, 23:11
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You missed -
Creepy dude - sad sack who could never get a girl to talk to him at university. Now leers, hovers and sits extra close to young pretty women who are compelled to work under him. Particularly likes to go with them for meetings and DDs outside the office. Likes telling really bad, often inappropriate jokes to these young women so they have to turn their grimaces into something that passes for laughter.
Gasbag - Rushes around the office trying to look important and sound important. Sits such that you can see that he has a cool laptop or cool shoes. Pontificates about derivatives, the economic crisis or anything else that is in vogue. Depending on whether he thinks that swearing or being propah makes him look cooler, he punctuates all his sentences unimaginatively and loudly with his swear/ politely offensive word of choice (and interns will sometimes place bets on how many times he will use this word in a 5 minute monologue). He's also the sort who is always telling you how well he is doing, how much he is earning, how he just got a raise and how high profile partners/ clients love him. The gasbag is always a prolific name-dropper.
The Toad - This one is loserdom personified. His only skill is mastery of sucking up. He will go to the managing partners' office with an ingratiating smile, and often even offerings like his wife/ mother's handmade jalebis. He's always begging people for a 'chance'. He is always very bad at his work but very good at passing off interns/ junior associates' work as his own. He's rather good at surviving until he decides to back the wrong horse.
Fan 2 Jul 2012, 11:22
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I just came across this post today.. This is really good stuff! I can definitely identify the people in my firm (and other firms I've worked in before this) that fit these profiles. Might I suggest adding one more:
The Harried Senior - usually senior associate (or equivalent) level, this variety could be either male or female. He/she looks perpetually stressed out, but is never really seen to do any significant work. Favourite past time of this species includes whining about the juniors and the seniors. Has strong views on all management related issues and thinks he/she can run the firm much better than the current management. Also can be identified by the pricked up ears everytime he/she sees two partners or senior associates talking in low voices.
The Gossip - while lawyers gossip more than most other professionals, this person's visiting card should be re-printed to provide the correct credentials. From who is doing who or what in your firm or any other to who is getting hired/fired across the profession - this is your go-to guy (yes, usually this is guy). Obviously charming, this variety is usually also good looking and can have his way with anyone he wants news from.
joe banerjee 6 Jul 2012, 05:28
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Bloody Hilarious!!!!:D u have the right mix of sarcasm and wit..but i dont know why i am feeling that you can do much much better..that your playing down at the moment..would be on the look out for more from you..:D
Sam 11 Jul 2012, 15:27
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I hope they pay you royalty for this blog...for every single time ...they should pay you ...BTW u got (c) perfecto
Wasting your time man 3 Aug 2012, 12:27
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Dude. Quit your job. Like WTF. Write a book man. You are bloody hilarious. You're wasting your time at the firm boss. You can just sit and chill all day at home typing.
Suman 18 Aug 2012, 12:03
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Superlike !!!
Daddy 16 Jun 2014, 08:36
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Where have you vanished? Miss your posts.