On the one hand, this seems like shabby, Scrooge-like treatment. On the other hand, this is an associate that knew full well what (s)he was getting into when joining Skadden, and is getting paid at a sufficiently princely rate for the bitching to bit just a bit unseemly. It also seems to me that it is not easy to spend $45 bucks at Houlihan's without having a few drinks, which makes the tale of Holiday Hardship ("Given the temperature that day and my belief that time was of the essence in order to get my work done") a little less convincing. Plenty of people get by on a sandwich, and plenty more make do with a Snicker's bar and a bag of Andy Capp Pub Fries from the vending machine.

oooh, poor baby. Facing starvation in Times Square.

I know for a fact that there are at least thirty Chinese takeouts within a ten-block radius. Probably many, many more.

Dude- it was christmas- s/he should be able to order whatever s/he wants

Actually, most chain restaurants in the TS area (Friday's, et al), charge quite a premium over their midwestern counterparts. I once got a large party to decamp from the Houlihan's on Third in favor of Brasserie, because it would be cheaper. Look at it this way (Riese site doesn't provide prices), using my best recollection: $14.95 for entree, $5.95 for dessert, $6.95 for appetizer, $5 for an iced tea + coffee, plus tax and a 20% tip, total nets to $42.67. So Bitchy Associate threw in two extra bucks for a nice Christmas Day tip, or maybe had a draft beer instead of iced tea to drown their holiday sorrows. You might be right about the people and the place, but your math ain't so hot.

If you've never worked at a large law firm, on Christmas Day, in Times Square, you don't know of which you speak.

Agreed. It seems Bill was never/has forgotten what it's like to be an associate working in a big firm-- whether its working on X-Mass day, New Years Day or Thanksgiving because a partner/Of Counsel/Senior Associate e-mailed or called at 7 p.m. the night before asking if "you had time" to help "put out a fire" - a fire that requires you to live in the office but surprisingly allows the Partner/Of Counsel/Senior Associate to go home to enjoy the holiday- so that two days later when they actually review your work (some emergency) and you later learn from someone completely different who wasn't even working on that project that your work wasn't actually needed/used/read by the client-- while it's true that you should know what you're getting into selling out to a big firm for the paycheck-- it's also true that if you work on these days you should be able to eat what you want, from wherever-- as long as it's w/in the firm's spending limit (and $45 is w/in the limits for a meal for most firms- perhaps slightly over- but anyone with a pulse should allow slight deviation on a holiday- or at least only ask him/her to cover the difference).

What jackassery. I'm sure this wad also loves to brag about his busy big-time attorney gig at Skadden. You know how you eat wherever you want on Xmas? Don't work at a firm! You don't want to be jerked around by accounting office "functionaries"? Don't work at a firm! You want sympathy and understanding? Don't work at an effing firm! You want the bloated salary? You want "support staff" to grovel when you snap your fingers for $45 that'll just be billed back to your client anyway? You want to impress your friends and neighbors? Then work at a firm and suck it up off the plate. Lick it clean. A law degree doesn't have to mean a life of indentured servitude. If that's the path you take after school, it's your choice. Nobody has the right to be pissy to other people (who are just doing their jobs) because they're angry about their own dumb decisions. Fool.

But seriously, what kind of self-respecting New Yorker eats at a chain restaurant anyway?

I might be able to forgive the person for working at Skadden, or for leaving a ten block radius (assuming that radius was actually violated--there's a Houlihan's at 49th and 7th, only 8 blocks from Skadden's main office at 41st and 7th). Or even for spending $45 on lunch.

But there's NEVER an excuse for choosing crappy mass-produced franchise food when you're in New York. Even on Christmas. It should be a matter of principle for anybody in this city.

It's hard to feel bad for Mr. Moneybags when I don't get reimbursed for ANY travel expenses when I make court appearances in the 5 boroughs and Long Island. Can anyone estimate how many thousands of dollars a year one can spend on gas, tolls, parking and a metrocard? And this is all on company time, for company purposes and shold be billed to the client. Let's just say that with school loans, car payments and a shit little salary, I'm lucky I've got a roof over my head (granted, it's not even mine).

Em is a fucking tool. Serves 'em right for working on Christmas. Plus, if em would have just said "Yes they were delivered it would be over.

It's possible, of course, that this associate picked up lunch for a few people that day. Which makes $43 downright reasonable.

you're complaining about car payments and gas when you own a car in new york city? that's dumber than working at a firm that makes you be there on christmas.

No doubt these expense rules were made very clear in the "fine print" of Skadden's expense policy.

Does anyone else find it ironic that this Associate was no doubt very busy that Christmas Day holding another party accountable for "fine print?" You are a lawyer - live by the rules, die by the rules (and get reimbursed and paid by the rules!)

Can't they just bill this all to their clients?

I mean seriously, this is a big time law firm.

What about the children, though?! Who will think of them?

Hmm... folks seem to be missing the real point, ie: Mister Fucking Arrogant Dickhead Lawyer decided to take his anger out on an admistrative assistant who, in all likelihood, does not make policy, but has to work hard at her shitty job to enforce it. And then she gets to be treated like shit.

Get a fucking clue you elitist bastards.

Seems like this is one of the 98% of lawyers that give the other 2% a bad name.

Have a little sympathy, people. He's not asking for your tears; he's simply making the point, completely true, that big firms think that it's okay to treat young lawyers like shit. Much his screaming might be distasteful, remember that there are hundreds of big firm associates who are quietly taking their lumps. But that they suffer in silence doesn't make the structure of the legal profession okay. Firms nonchalantly destroy the lives of young associates b/c they know that there will be another unsuspecting crop of new lawyers to screw over next year. There is a basic cultural problem with these firms, and we should be concerned, not dismissive. These are good minds that the firms are exploiting. What about our society and our profession is causing this to happen?

I think that the real problem is with the law schools, which make very few efforts to tell students just how bad these places are. It really comes as a surprise to a lot of new associates just how bad the work is; they figure it'll be worse than the summer associate position, but they don't know that it'll be infinitely worse. Only the law schools can be trusted to really drive the point home, but they are afraid of losing precious endowments from firms, so they mostly avoid the subject. Sure, many people would still go to firms, anyway, but there ought to be more warning.

A good article-- ATTORNEY WELL-BEING IN LARGE FIRMS: CHOICES FACING YOUNG LAWYERS: On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession, 52 Vand. L. Rev. 871 (1999).

I wanted what I viewed as the best legal education available. I paid a handsome some. More in fact than a lot of people pay for their first homes. I still drive the same car I did in college. I live modestly. I work in a "big firm" because it is the price I must pay to for that education. I knew what I was getting into and have little sympathy for others who whine. Still, there is something fundamentally troubling about not being reimbursed for a meal when being forced to work on Christmas. It's total bullshit. Even at my firm, I can't imagine being required to work on Christmas unless it was an ABSOLUTE emergency. And I can guarantee you that someone would find enough flexibility in the rules to see that I had a reasonably nice dinner without having to pay for it myself. In fact, the partner I was working for would have seen to it, even if it required dipping into her own pocket. But my firm is not Skadden. Skadden and its partners do not do that. Accordingly, Skadden sucks.

"I wanted what I viewed as the best legal education available. I paid a handsome some."

As a well-edumacated lawyer, I believe "res ipsa" would "sum" up my thoughts on your posting.

I left a big firm 6 months ago and these types of issues are not far from my memory. Yes, he worked on Christmas. I also bet he bitched about it to everyone who would listen. He will likely continue to do so for years to come only now he can insert the inevitable "to add insult to injury" portion of the story associated with his meal. Here's the scoop on folks like him. He was one of the people from your law school class who blathered on and on about how much time he was spending studying during the weeks leading up to finals. He may have even grown a beard or stopped showering just so his misery would not be lost on anyone within ear/eye/nose shot. He is ALSO one of the people who would, after the conclusion of said final, play the "who studied less for the final" game. He would likely win that game by saying that he had reviewed the syllabus in the car on the way to the final and had studied less than an hour. The truth about his studying habits it totally irrelevant. My point is, however, that some people just like getting attention for being martyrs! He is obviously a total asshole (see the crappy way he addresses a member of the admin staff who likely makes 1/8 of what he does and probably works damn hard for it)and he reaps the most rewarding benefits from his job by relaying tales of woe to unsuspecting co-workers/contemporaries. I knew a bunch of guys at my last firm would routinely elect to not fly back to whatever square state they came from to stay in town over the holidays (I live in a warm climate). They would then go into the office on xmas day to send emails to higher-ups in the firm and clients, just to show they were there. Much of what these idiots do is self-imposed and they get out of it more than they put in. Its all for the shock value. Again, I know that there are plently of folks out there who work like dogs for large firms. I did! But I was not a dumb dog. I had a family that I wanted to see regularly so I made it work until I found something that would be a better natural fit. Everyone has the ability to regulate such things to some extent. If you cannot do so in your current position, leave! If you stay in an uncomfortable position, its your own damn fault and you deserve to pay for your own $45 meal. Good grief! This guy lives in NYC and he eats at chains!

Three words.
Boo. Fucking. Hoo.

The Skadden associate has a total right to complain. Once upon a time, the law was a dignified, scholarly profession. Now, there is no difference between being a junior associate and working in any faceless corporation. 40 years ago, the ABA recommended lawyers bill no more than 1300 hours per year and big-firm partnership was a three-year track. Now partners require 2000-plus hours and an 8 year partnership track. Profits are made on the backs of young lawyers who eventually leave the profession because of the abuse. One day, Skadden and every other big firm will cease to exist. Associates just won't take it anymore.

I learned in property class today that shit rolls downhill (Mitchell v. Houstle 142 A.2d 556) and it appears that it's as true in the corporate world as it is for easements. Yeah, this Skadden associate was shat upon, a little by having to pay for 1 of his 2 non-complying meals. He immediately shits on those downhill from him, using inappropriate language from his second email on. Do I feel sorry for him? Not a whole lot. Do I feel sorry for the people who have work downhill from him. A lot!

He's a little weasel. Wake up folks, this is the way it is. You think the Partners at the top got there by breezing through, working 40 hours a week and presto - Partner. No one has sympathy for this dork or any of us. This is a profession; you work like a dog and maybe, just maybe if you're good enough, you make it to the top. Why should any of us have it easy now. The clients are scrutnizing the bills, nickel and diming the firms and you expect to have an easy time of it? He knew the rules, perhaps he should have called this woman and her boss, made nice, and probably gotten his money. Since when does it take $45 to feed yourself? I work in the same area. He's the one full of shit. Most of the secretaries that he would require to work with him would only get $7-10 to feed themselves. Of course, he would complain "But you get overtime." I've heard this more than once. I always cringe when I hear this. Little weanie.

Cost/Benefit Analysis: Even a first year associate at Skadden is billed at about $250 per hour. That means that to waste 6 minutes on the phone trying to find a restaurant inside the 10 block radius (or even to waste 6 minutes arguing with a brainless expense clerk, for that matter) would be to waste $42 of billable time. It would have been cheaper for them to just reimburse the associate and get on with business. Too many billabe hours are wasted on petty expense rules.

Actually 6 minutes at $250/hour is $25, not $42. (Beware of calling clerks brainless: Murphy's law or Freudian guilt will cause you to make embarrassing errors almost immediately, as in the example above.) Anyway there are many good restaurants that deliver throughout Manhattan; even on a wintry Christmas Day, a fine feast can be called in for less than $30. Most of us have our favorites' numbers memorized, or on speed dial. I happen to work in the same neighborhood, though admittedly not on Christmas Day, and can't help feeling skeptical about the $45 Houlihan's tab. Methinks perhaps the associate doth protest too much, distracting attention from a related question: did he also bill the client for 30 minutes walking to and from Houlihan's; and, if so, did anyone object? (At $250/hour, and assuming 15 minutes walk in each direction to exceed the 10-block limit, that would cost the client $125 for delivery alone, not counting the cost of the meal.) No wonder the clients are scrutinizing the bills.

Boy oh Boy!!!! I did not think that many would actually agree with this jerk off using his status at the firm to verbally abuse the young lady who only by TITLE is beneath him and was just trying to do her job. Yes he was working on X-mas and yes he did need to eat but rules are rules. He should have already known this when he signed the contract to work for that firm.

Aren't they given Attorney Handbooks which in PLAIN ENGLISH lets them know what is acceptable and what is not? I know that when you go to work anywhere you are given an employee handbook, it should not be any different for them. If they do not bother to read this handbook then that is their problem. They want to act so surprised when they are told that this can not be reimbursed or that needs a receipt. You need to account for all time worked especially if you work at a law firm Enquiring clients minds need to know and you also have to be considerate to that client with what you want to get reimbursed and later bill to them.

NOT ALL- but many lawyers get away with billing their clients for frivolous things such as dinners where their spouse attends, tickets to concerts/ broadway shows, a day at the spa, manicure and pedicures, telephone calls made while they were on vacation that were supposedly made to the client, being in another state working for the client an having someone aside from yourself staying in the hotel room, trying to charge the client for the outrageous minibar bill.

-OHHHH YES!!! If you consider every meal you have Old Jack Daniels himself with pretzels- this is neither a meal or snack it is just alcoholism with a little something to settle your stomach.

If you are the one working for the client no one else should be in your room, not your wife/husband, your secretary, or your lover. YOU AND ONLY YOU. Then when the people at the firm, such as this young lady need to account for these expenses and asks questions, such as "Who else attended?", "Why are there two adults listed on your hotel bill, who was the person? Was this work related?", "Can you supply receipts/ credit card statements as proof of payment?"- AGAIN THEY FREAK.

I ask you, IS IT NOT the accounting departments job to keep accurate records for the firm as well as the client?

Everything needs a purpose, description, narrative. Who will be at fault if all of this data is not collected and done properly? NOT THE LAWYER- NOOOOO!!!! but the accounting assistant trying to get the job done.

Not many people realize that every little thing that is done on clients time has to be properly noted and receipts kept for proof not only for the client but for the IRS as well. Doesn't anyone watch T.V.? Look at all the scandal with the large corporations that screw people over.

AND YES I SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST- The only reason why many of you are throwing this person a pitty party is because they worked on Xmas- DOES THIS PERSON EVEN CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS?

Just think about it-

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO......Hmmmmmmm

I have sympathy for this person having to work on Christmas Day (though welcome to Skadden Arps, bubba...did you really think they gave you your obsecne salary for love?) but methinks s/he needs to get counselling/a kick in the pants for what is obviously a lot of pent-up rage. Why is it that support staff are seen as fair game? Even if "Lena" was not the brightest bulb on the Xmas tree, one part of being an adult is not yelling at someone who is just doing her job. But then. judging from my law school experience, most lawyers are just spoilt brats anyway!

all lawyers are thieves...

all lawyers are overpaid.

i want to get paid to be a scumbag... i should become a lawyer!