Reply to Boomer outside counsel who insists on calling me incessantly, basically demanding I call him back

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]op here checking in after a day or two. curious what deputy GC and big law guy would do.

So I called him back yesterday and left a message, saying essentially 'thanks for checking in with me, but we are good, i'll reach out with updates, and fyi i'm in team meetings all day today, and trying to close several other deals before FYE (true) so things are VERY busy, but happy holidays, Bob! Thanks for everything!'

He called back immediately- I was in team meetings all afternoon for real so I didn't pick up and then he called AGAIN this AM. Both times sounding terse, and not providing any detail on why we was calling, just saying 'call me back Larla'.

Huh? I do think some cognitive decline may be at play, which also excuses some of his defensiveness over substantive work and some of his other inappropriate behaviors/comments, but he's also just damned rude IMO. I am not sure why he thinks he can dictate when we speak. He is the relationship partner so there is no one else for me to call, I just have to deal and get through this period. The business knows there is an issue, and we are watching our bills (I review, but the spend comes out of a different department). It is clear that no one wants a blow up though... [/quote]

Well, I'm Biglaw Guy I guess, and honestly I'm at a loss.  It's not normal behavior for a relationship manager.  How old is he, really?  You haven't said.  And he's not saying in his follow-up calls what exactly he's calling about?  Just "call me back?"  That's odd too because nothing sounds open ended.

I'd ignore the calls for now, I guess, and maybe consider reaching out to one of the more junior lawyers on his team at his firm and asking them if he's ok and for their thoughts on next steps?  I would try to do this in a "concerned" way, not in an "annoyed" way.  Plant the seed with the law firm and see what grows, I guess.

No law firm wants an 80 year old guy on a cognitive decline managing a major client.  You're doing the firm a favor.  Just don't be a dick about it.  Remember:  you're a team.[/quote]

Op here. Thanks for chiming in again. It’s a weird situation. I inherited this relationship- he’s been doing these type of deals with my co for years- and unfortunately there is never a junior associate involved. Which is problematic too. There was one for awhile on my watch - a female POC - but he marginalized her and then made rude comments about her behind her back (as I mentioned earlier, there’s misogyny there). Fwiw I debate whether using just one lawyer is all bad (more efficient and lower fees to work with just one senior partner, rather than a partner plus a junior team in training and their billables) but then there’s no bench and you can end up here.

Anyway, no one else to tell, I have to just try to be as graceful as possible but it’s stupidly taking up more time in my brain than it should. He did finally email yesterday and this time he has something slightly substantive to ask about- he is looking for payment by FYE on his November bills. A fair request but we’ve already discussed it with him, I’ve approved his bills, so has the business and, we’ve reached out to accounts payable to expedite (we are usually net 60). He knows all this and could have just emailed with a status update question. His November bills are relatively tiny fwiw [/quote]
This makes it seem like he needs the money to settle up with his firm before the end of the year. I would not necessarily use just one lawyer or even just one firm. We use several firms and don't rely on one person.[/quote]

Biglaw Guy again.  No it doesn't -- not at all.  Big Law lawyers are under tremendous pressure by firm management at virtually all firms to collect on all of their outstanding bills by the end of the fiscal year and regardless of their size so the firm can hit their budget.  It's a race to the finish line in every firm.  This is not unusual in the slightest.  OP, you did the guy a solid by expediting payment and I hope he appreciates it.  And now that he knows it's coming he might actually stop bothering you for a while![/quote]

Op again. I posted before I saw this. Why is it such a big push? You can book the revenue and then have an a/r. This is a tiny bill fwiw. [/quote]

That's not how Big Law operates. [b] If the money doesn't come in by the end of the fiscal year it's not counted in the firm's revenue for the year [/b]and therefore can't be included in calculating profits per partner.  Any A/Rs aren't counted as revenue until the year they're received.

It also doesn't matter how "tiny" the bill is.  As my firm's management is quick to say, no bill is too small not to collect.[/quote]

Hmmm as I said…. Lawyers are not good with accounting. Cash collection is not the same as revenue recognition. I’m 99.99 % sure your accounting is accrual based so yes, it does count as revenue. But you are probably right in terms of payout comp. An a/r won’t be factored in for cash payouts this year. So I see why he/the firm cares, but we have net 60 terms so there’s not much I can do. The business/me approved it in legal tracker immediately so it went on to the next step and that’s as far as I can take it. [/quote]

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