About a month ago, April 5th to be exact, the Globe and Mail ran
a piece about Big Law cuts in response to Covid-19. The article
concentrated on the wage rollbacks, noting a few Big Law firms that
have cut ‘non-partner salaries' by 10-15 percent. A
concerned Globe reader from Thunder Bay (shout out to Geoff Lee)
drolely noted in a letter to the Globe editor, “Lawyers?
Cutting salaries? Truly the end is nigh.”
Indeed.
Geoffrey's well-played joke is naturally based on a
stereotype of lawyers as pernicious, greedy and self-centered.
Obviously, neither the Globe or Geoff are spokesmen for the
entire profession, but where there is smoke there is sometimes
fire. And a big chunk of the stereotypes about lawyers are likely
driven by the average client's view of Big Law. This opinion
bears some examination.
