The Vasquez Effect - Law Firm Industry Disrupted

 "Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez has been flooded with offers from Hollywood and is at the center of an ongoing bidding war between law firms that want her on their team following her victorious performance in the actor’s trial, sources told The Post." - New York Post, June 5, 2022.

What law firm and what TV Network/Cable Channel will land the talents of Vasquez? That will be the dominant narrative in legal, business, entertainment, and general media.

But the part of that story which should send an arctic chill through Silent Generation and Baby Boom partners is this: The torch has passed to a new generation. Vasquez is 37 years old. She is a Millennial. 

And the member of that Millennial generation who is the Top Twinkler is only an associate. Title has been decoupled from performance art. As in my field of communications, extreme talent wins out over lockstep procedures in rewards and upward mobility. Of course she will be hired at the partner rank. But that's not what counts. What's relevant is that she didn't need to jump through all the traditional hoops that have hardened into The Way in elite law firms. 

In itself that should be disrupting the tradition-bound law firm niche. Can the gerontology kind of partners dazzle like Vasquez? Now that she has established that model, clients in high-profile litigation can expect that. Old-line plodding in court might not cut it any more. 

Many will recall that it was Chairperson of Paul Weiss Brad Karp who correlated in Bloomberg Law the ability of a law firm to continue growing (a necessary dynamic in that industry) and its success in attracting, retaining, and motivating star power. That's exactly why lateral hiring has earned major coverage in legal media. 

Karp might have added that stars have to maintain their aura. As The Wall Street Journal documented partnership is no longer a job for life. Back in that brutal 2009 year Kirkland & Ellis, reported Abovethelaw, terminated 15 to 25 non-equity partners. 

If there is an economic downturn, not only the non-equity could go, so could the equity ones. Just like the OJ Simpson murder trial changed so much, so has the Johnny Depp defamation one. 

Yes, call it The Vasquez effect. 

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com. She helps businesses conjure up magic in their storytelling. One client said, "She makes shipping containers ‘sexy.’"

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