Classic Summer Associate

[CoxlessPair]

I thought this was a fantastic story:


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So here's some good summer associate gossip. One of the girls I work with has a good friend who is a summer at Paul Hastings LA office and apparently witnessed this first hand. I think, though I'm not sure exactly, that this took place Tuesday night.


So they were having a firm sponsored happy hour. You know the drill. One of the summer associates apparently got out of his gourd wasted. He goes to USC (figures), and was reported to be a very quiet and polite Indian guy. Not this night though. A very well liked senior associate was there with his pretty, blonde, fiance. The summer associate starts to say really loudly and angrily about how he would like to F*** her. Everyone around, including the associate can hear this. He keeps going, despite people trying to shut him up and is extremely vulgar and profane. Eventually the associate whose fiance this is comes up to him and tells him that he understands that he is drunk, but he should really just keep it down because he's making a scene. Very nice way of dealing with the situation, considering. Instead of shutting up at this point, the summer associate goes off. Things along the line of "you don't F****ing know me you F****" and apparently threatened to stab the associate. Yeah.

So the next day he has the balls to show up at work, only to find that his desk has been cleared out, his carpets all freshly vacumed, etc. Done for.

I've heard of people not getting offers, but never straight up fired in the middle of the summer. Can you imagine? How will he ever work again? He's going to have to become a sole practicioner in Oklahoma...

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I came across this at http://beingawesome.blogspot.com/

[Highway]

Gee...how freaking hard is it for people to just NOT drink at these things? It's one freaking night of your life - learn some self control.

Then again, I don't drink at all, so I guess I wouldn't understand.

[Happy_Weasel]

Well, smart people can still drink moderately.

[jason1114]

You have to know whether you're the happy amicable drunk, or an a-hole and adjust accordingly. That guy deserves whatever karma has in store for him.

[gibbsale]

  You know, in that environment it is really best to drink VERY LITTLE. It reminds me of a get-together held at my professor's home when I was in undergrad; it was the last class of our senior seminar. I had two glasses of wine (very small glasses) but I was so tired from work and commuting (I was waking up at 5 each day to make it into town by 7:30 for class at 8, and was there each night until 8, and back home by about 9:30) that I was almost falling asleep during a presentation by a classmate. I thought that was bad.

 I have a rule with drinking in those kinds of settings: You either drink very little, and never hard alcohol, or you drink nothing at all. With friends and family it is never a problem if you get trashed and do something stupid; in a professional setting you have to be very, very careful.

[jacy85]

It's so easy to be social at these events, but not be drunk.  My rule of thumb is to have one drink, whatever I want be it wine, beer, a mixed drink, whatever.  I do stay away from cocktails like cosmos and things though.  I tend to drink slowly, so that's not a problem.

After having one drink, I order a diet coke or something and ask the bar tender to put a lime on the rim of the glass.  It looks like a mixed drink.  So I can stand with something that looks like alcohol in my hand, appear social, but remain sober.

[T. Durden]

jacy - you're beyond lame

[Italian2L]

Yeah, moderation is key, but I'm pretty sure I could consume enough liquor to die from alcohol poisoning before acting this stupid! A little (social) lubricant never hurt anyone, but it seems like this kid lathered up with the whole bottle.

And on a side-note, 5 drinks is the perfect amount for me in these situations. After that, depending on the vibe I'm getting and giving off, its water or juice or whatever else is around, not some fake-me-out coke with a lime on the rim. If you're really worried about what people will think of you based on what you're drinking I think you're much better off with water than running the risk of people finding out that you pretend to be drinking alcohol so that people will think you're cool.

[jacy85]

If you're really worried about what people will think of you based on what you're drinking I think you're much better off with water than running the risk of people finding out that you pretend to be drinking alcohol so that people will think you're cool.

Except that firm "social" events are NOT so people think you're cool.  If that were all it was, then I wouldn't care either, and I wouldn't drink.  I'm not a drinker. 

But in situations where every single thing you do is part of a 2 month long job interview, it's different.  If you're out and every other associate/partner is having some drinks (note "drinks", NOT "drink"), and you order one, and everyone else keeps ordering, the problem is NOT that you may be perceived as uncool.  We're just a little beyond grade school here, last I checked.  The problem is being perceived as unsocial.  A firm is all about going with the herd, being like the rest of the crowd.  The firm wants to see if you fit in with everyone else.  And one sober person in a large group of tipsy/drunk people doesn't fit in.  So I stand by my statement.  It's advice I received from other law students/alums that have gone through it.

[Italian2L]

...The problem is being perceived as unsocial. 

A firm is all about going with the herd, being like the rest of the crowd.

...to see if you fit in with everyone else. 

I don't know how you define 'cool' but I think you sum it up perfectly when you talk about being perceived as a social person who can go along with the herd, be like the rest of the crowd, and fit in.

The only difference between what you're talking about and the grade school cencept of being 'cool' is that being perceived in this way is a means to an end (i.e. getting an offer) rather than an end in itself (like in grade school).

Now, all I'm saying is that you can be perceived as being social and get people to like you without going drink for drink with them. There's absolutely nothing unrespectable about a person who has one drink and then stops because, well, they don't like to drink. On the other hand, there is something shady about a person who needs to deceive others about what they are drinking. If you feel the need to hide what is or is not in your drink, what else are you hiding?

If nobody realizes you're doing it, then fine, but I can't imagine it going over well if people found out. It's just a strange and deceptive thing to do and if it were me that was being fooled I would be offended because it would make me feel like you were assuming certain things about me (i.e. that I don't like people who don't drink) that are unflattering and untrue.