What is the scale and the composition of law firms in the U.S.? What
are the different roles a lawyer might play?
Colaianni:At our D.C. office, we have over 320 lawyers. At the same
time, we also employ secretaries, private investigators and administrative
staff. If we include the lawyers and paralegals in our regional offices,
it would total approximately one thousand employees. However, we are by no
means the largest law firm in the US.
I initially started working as a judge. I ended my career as a judge at
the Federal Appellate Court. I decided to work for the private sector when
my three children were about to begin college. I couldn't afford to pay
their tuition based on my salary as a judge.
Although most law firms are private corporations, a great many take the
form of a partnership. Partners, thereby become the Board of Directors, and
profits are divided among them. The major difference here from corporations
is that a Director is also a practicing attorney himself/herself. Thus,
he/she wears two hats.. Attorneys who are not partners, bill their time
based on how many hours they worked on each case.
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Although many lawyers act as a corporate employee, is there any role for law firms to play in society?
Colaianni:Recently, Microsoft has been being sued by the government for
violating the Anti-Monopoly Act. Although Bill Gates is considered one of
the richest man in the world, some believe that his father, who is the
Operations Director and head of the in-house legal affairs department,
actually runs Microsoft. For instance, while Bill Gates was still a
student, his father determined the necessity to act with a lawyer to protect
the intellectual property of his son's software development. Thus,
Microsoft, with three dozen lawyers at its disposal, is able to gain and
protect optimal use of intellectual property rights whether it be in America
or abroad. Another example is the case of Mitsubishi Motors America and
their sexual harassment case. This case exemplifies the necessity to
maintain a force of lawyers who specialize in different fields. Thus, there
are lawyers for variety of issues: labor disputes, compensation, sexual
harassment, human resources, and stockholder matters. Additionally, it is
necessary for lawyers to spend their well time to analyze the new
legislation, its impact and to provide counter-measure planning for future
scenarios.
This is totally different situation from law firms. For instance,
Microsoft has outsourced their present legal problems to the two of the best
law firms in the U.S. Without saying so, the legal department is involved,
but their expertise is an essential component of the team on technical
issues rather than on normal legal procedures. The merit of having an
internal legal department is that costs can be substantially decreased.
When we take on a client, we bill the client approximately $400 to $500 per
hour. However, if a corporation employs a lawyer based on an annual salary,
it significantly decreases their hourly cost. Also, it is important to know
the ins and outs of the company. In looking back at the last decade, the
number of lawyers employed by the blue chip companies has increased. As a
result, we might be at a point at which law firms need to be cautious of
some of these new types of pseudo-law firms.
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We often hear the word 'globalization' for corporate activities and
negotiations between nations but what is your opinion on the Japan-U.S.
relationship? How do you see it changing?
Colaianni:Japan does not have a legal profession which can stand up
against us. First of all, private corporations do not have legal
departments or lawyers on staff. I hate to say this but as long as the
international norm is based upon Western commerce and military supremacy,
the judicial system will be ruled by Pax-Britannia and Pax-Americana.
Moreover, proceedings are held in English. I guess, in Japan, without
having any in-house legal professionals in the government or private
institutions, they need employ an outside gun, to compete and work with us.
I will repeat: to fight against the external pressure, it is necessary to
have the appropriate knowledge and expertise both in English and in the law.
I do not understand how Japanese corporations intend to compete with us,
without nurturing a staff of their own. According to your explanation, the
Japanese government regulates the number of people who will pass the bar
exam per year, about only 800. Eight hundred is not even one-tenth of the
lawyers in the U.S. Department of Justice. In our society, whether a person
wants to be a lawyer is based upon the freedom to choose one's occupation.
The government is responsible for providing certain standards and criteria,
but it should not be regulate the number. Instead, the profession should
depend on market supply and demand. In my view, it is suicidal to fight
against the West on legal matters without sufficient lawyers on hand.
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