What do you think?
Rate this book
Anonymous Lawyer
A wickedly funny debut novel about a high-powered lawyer whose shockingly candid blog about life inside his firm threatens to destroy him
He's a hiring partner at one of the world's largest law firms. Brilliant yet ruthless, he has little patience for associates who leave the office before midnight or steal candy from the bowl on his secretary's desk. He hates holidays and paralegals. And he's just started a weblog to tell the world about what life is really like at the top of his profession.
Meet Anonymous Lawyer --corner office, granite desk, and a billable rate of $675 an hour. The summer is about to start, and he's got a new crop of law school interns who will soon sign away their lives for a six-figure salary at the firm. But he's also got a few problems that require his attention. There's The Jerk, his bitter rival at the firm, who is determined to do whatever it takes to beat him out for the chairman's job. There's Anonymous Wife, who is spending his money as fast as he can make it. And there's that secret blog he's writing, which is a perverse bit of fun until he gets an e-mail from someone inside the firm who knows he's its author.
Written in the form of a blog, Anonymous Lawyer is a spectacularly entertaining debut that rips away the bland façade of corporate law and offers a telling glimpse inside a frightening world. Hilarious and fiendishly clever, Jeremy Blachman's tale of a lawyer who lives a lie and posts the truth is sure to be one of the year's most talked-about novels.
He's a hiring partner at one of the world's largest law firms. Brilliant yet ruthless, he has little patience for associates who leave the office before midnight or steal candy from the bowl on his secretary's desk. He hates holidays and paralegals. And he's just started a weblog to tell the world about what life is really like at the top of his profession.
Meet Anonymous Lawyer --corner office, granite desk, and a billable rate of $675 an hour. The summer is about to start, and he's got a new crop of law school interns who will soon sign away their lives for a six-figure salary at the firm. But he's also got a few problems that require his attention. There's The Jerk, his bitter rival at the firm, who is determined to do whatever it takes to beat him out for the chairman's job. There's Anonymous Wife, who is spending his money as fast as he can make it. And there's that secret blog he's writing, which is a perverse bit of fun until he gets an e-mail from someone inside the firm who knows he's its author.
Written in the form of a blog, Anonymous Lawyer is a spectacularly entertaining debut that rips away the bland façade of corporate law and offers a telling glimpse inside a frightening world. Hilarious and fiendishly clever, Jeremy Blachman's tale of a lawyer who lives a lie and posts the truth is sure to be one of the year's most talked-about novels.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published July 25, 2006
35 people are currently reading
886 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 182 reviews
August 28, 2022
Warning: do not drink hot coffee whilst reading this book. Snorking and dirty clothes will result.
How many stars? 27! At least! for being the funniest of all possible books about lawyers. It's the sort of book you pass on to all your friends. However, something very odd, although my son and his law student friends enjoyed it, neither of the lawyers I sold it to did. Perhaps they felt it was a bit like a mirror and it wasn't the one which told them that yes, they were the fairest of them all. Pure and lily-white they ain't, no more than Mr. Anonymous.
This is office politics taken to the absolute limit and ten paces past that too. And then another ten. OMG how far, you think, reading it, can he go... further, further, further.
I actually read this years ago, but it was about time it got more than a one line review, because it really is one of the funniest, pee-yer-panties books I have ever read.
How many stars? 27! At least! for being the funniest of all possible books about lawyers. It's the sort of book you pass on to all your friends. However, something very odd, although my son and his law student friends enjoyed it, neither of the lawyers I sold it to did. Perhaps they felt it was a bit like a mirror and it wasn't the one which told them that yes, they were the fairest of them all. Pure and lily-white they ain't, no more than Mr. Anonymous.
This is office politics taken to the absolute limit and ten paces past that too. And then another ten. OMG how far, you think, reading it, can he go... further, further, further.
I actually read this years ago, but it was about time it got more than a one line review, because it really is one of the funniest, pee-yer-panties books I have ever read.
May 16, 2021
Mildly amusing, but after 40 - 50 pages it appeared that this would just be 100 ways of telling the same joke: The author is a heartless bastard. Okay. We get it.
Maybe there's some development occurring further along, but I grew impatient.
Maybe there's some development occurring further along, but I grew impatient.
December 31, 2009
Based on a real blog (still extant) by the no longer anonymous lawyer at a large firm, the novel is in the form of a series of emails and blog postings from the Hiring Partner to his niece, an aspiring lawyer, but not of the same ilk as her uncle.
Our partner despises Daylight Savings Time because instantly a full sixty minutes of billable hours are lost and no one bothers to make it up in the fall, instead, just sleeping in. He hates holidays, why should we celebrate Memorial Day when we could all be earning money and still wearing little flags in the lapels? He considers himself quite reasonable honoring Jewish associates by scheduling their meetings in between services or over the phone. And why would anyone want Easter off? Jesus would surely be better honored by increasing the client's bill.
There is a very funny scene in which the Chairman is suffering a heart attack while simultaneously sending an email about his attack and how to take over the case and not lose any billable hours. As Anonymous Lawyer says, this is the only time you want to have your secretary like you, as otherwise she might delay just a little in calling 911. Otherwise, secretaries are only there to bring in food. Immediately his blog gets email from lawyers all over the country insisting they know who he is because numerous firms had Chairmen who had suffered heart attacks or strokes that very day.
And the way to save money is to have the annual associate thank you luncheon on Yom Kippur (at the firm of course) and serve a roast pig.
A brilliant satire that most lawyers will want to read in a brown paper wrapper. My only complaint is the ending. Abrupt doesn't begin to describe it. The other issue I have is that the book highlights some very real issues in these law firms that need to be addressed. Clients are routinely screwed. And it's not funny in the long run.
Sample from a very recent entry to the blog:
"I've been following the news this morning about the Ropes & Gray associate accused of insider trading as part of an investigation into the Galleon Group hedge fund.
Ropes & Gray released a statement, saying in part: "We are deeply disappointed about this situation, which suggests an extreme breach of this person's duty of trust to our clients and to the firm."
Well, no kidding. It's damn well a breach of the duty of trust to the firm. If an associate here found out some insider information we could use to make a killing, they better not be keeping it to themselves. They ought to tell a partner, tell the whole executive committee, give us all a chance to get in on it. If we can't trust our associates to bring us valuable opportunities to increase our own personal wealth, what do we really need them around for? I've spent years digging through client paperwork looking for information that I could use to make better investment decisions. And for an associate-- not even a partner-- for an associate to be running with this, without making the opportunity available to his superiors.... Well, it was a pretty easy decision to fire him. And it should serve as a warning to everyone else at the firm-- you find a good deal, you bring it up the chain of command and let us all have a piece.
Hey, it's not like I don't tell my associates when I go to mortgage foreclosure auctions and try to feast on the corpses of evicted homeowners. They're welcome to come along and join the fun.
As long as their work is done.
And they carry my briefcase. I hate carrying my own briefcase."
Our partner despises Daylight Savings Time because instantly a full sixty minutes of billable hours are lost and no one bothers to make it up in the fall, instead, just sleeping in. He hates holidays, why should we celebrate Memorial Day when we could all be earning money and still wearing little flags in the lapels? He considers himself quite reasonable honoring Jewish associates by scheduling their meetings in between services or over the phone. And why would anyone want Easter off? Jesus would surely be better honored by increasing the client's bill.
There is a very funny scene in which the Chairman is suffering a heart attack while simultaneously sending an email about his attack and how to take over the case and not lose any billable hours. As Anonymous Lawyer says, this is the only time you want to have your secretary like you, as otherwise she might delay just a little in calling 911. Otherwise, secretaries are only there to bring in food. Immediately his blog gets email from lawyers all over the country insisting they know who he is because numerous firms had Chairmen who had suffered heart attacks or strokes that very day.
And the way to save money is to have the annual associate thank you luncheon on Yom Kippur (at the firm of course) and serve a roast pig.
A brilliant satire that most lawyers will want to read in a brown paper wrapper. My only complaint is the ending. Abrupt doesn't begin to describe it. The other issue I have is that the book highlights some very real issues in these law firms that need to be addressed. Clients are routinely screwed. And it's not funny in the long run.
Sample from a very recent entry to the blog:
"I've been following the news this morning about the Ropes & Gray associate accused of insider trading as part of an investigation into the Galleon Group hedge fund.
Ropes & Gray released a statement, saying in part: "We are deeply disappointed about this situation, which suggests an extreme breach of this person's duty of trust to our clients and to the firm."
Well, no kidding. It's damn well a breach of the duty of trust to the firm. If an associate here found out some insider information we could use to make a killing, they better not be keeping it to themselves. They ought to tell a partner, tell the whole executive committee, give us all a chance to get in on it. If we can't trust our associates to bring us valuable opportunities to increase our own personal wealth, what do we really need them around for? I've spent years digging through client paperwork looking for information that I could use to make better investment decisions. And for an associate-- not even a partner-- for an associate to be running with this, without making the opportunity available to his superiors.... Well, it was a pretty easy decision to fire him. And it should serve as a warning to everyone else at the firm-- you find a good deal, you bring it up the chain of command and let us all have a piece.
Hey, it's not like I don't tell my associates when I go to mortgage foreclosure auctions and try to feast on the corpses of evicted homeowners. They're welcome to come along and join the fun.
As long as their work is done.
And they carry my briefcase. I hate carrying my own briefcase."
August 21, 2022
A humorous parody of a law firm partner. I recommend Legal Confidential: Adventures of an Indian Lawyer for a more realistic view of the dirty cesspools of law in India, 10 Judgements That Changed India to know about the times that the Supreme Court of India restored the common man's faith in the judiciary & The Cases That India Forgot to lose faith in the Indian judiciary.
November 5, 2012
This is one of the funniest books I've read this year. Sure, the whole "partner-who-wants-to-be-chairman" storyline of the book was a good one--but what kept me glued to the pages of ANONYMOUS LAWYER for four straight hours was the fact that I couldn't stop laughing.
Two paralegals chatting incessantly? Easy solution--punch one of the them in the face. Anonymous Daughter getting fat? Easy enough to solve--let Anonymous Wife take her in for liposuction. My favorite scene from the entire book, though, has to be this one:
"We had a student (intern) last summer who kept kosher. Or at least that's what she said. But anytime she got offered lunch at someplace exceptional, suddenly she wasn't kosher anymore. You asked her to go to a cheap Indian place down the street, oh, she can't, she's kosher. But if you wanted to drive up the coast for a long lunch at Nobu in Malibu, perfect, she'd eat anything. She'd eat raw shrimp wrapped in bacon with a glass of milk, off the naked stomach of a Palestinian, on Yom Kippur, if you told her it was expensive."
And it's lines like that that make the fictional blog of Anonymous Lawyer at the heart of the story both funny, realistic, sarcastic, and brutally honest. Oh, and the fact that the author, Jeremy Blachman, really does write the anonymous lawyer blog (http://anonymouslawyer.blogspot.com).
Wonderful read!
Two paralegals chatting incessantly? Easy solution--punch one of the them in the face. Anonymous Daughter getting fat? Easy enough to solve--let Anonymous Wife take her in for liposuction. My favorite scene from the entire book, though, has to be this one:
"We had a student (intern) last summer who kept kosher. Or at least that's what she said. But anytime she got offered lunch at someplace exceptional, suddenly she wasn't kosher anymore. You asked her to go to a cheap Indian place down the street, oh, she can't, she's kosher. But if you wanted to drive up the coast for a long lunch at Nobu in Malibu, perfect, she'd eat anything. She'd eat raw shrimp wrapped in bacon with a glass of milk, off the naked stomach of a Palestinian, on Yom Kippur, if you told her it was expensive."
And it's lines like that that make the fictional blog of Anonymous Lawyer at the heart of the story both funny, realistic, sarcastic, and brutally honest. Oh, and the fact that the author, Jeremy Blachman, really does write the anonymous lawyer blog (http://anonymouslawyer.blogspot.com).
Wonderful read!
March 28, 2008
Quick read and at times scathingly funny, but I bet I'd have liked it better if I was a lawyer... the ending was slightly satisfying...
September 14, 2012
This book is hysterically funny and I would recommend it to anyone who has ever worked in the legal profession.
March 6, 2016
The epistolary novel was a huge tradition back when the novel was first becoming big. I love that blogs have breathed new life into this form. Anonymous Lawyer, based on a blog of the same name, is the somewhat-fabricated record of the hiring partner at a corporate law firm. He shares his views on summer students, employee management, how to get to the top, and family matters. In this character Jeremy Blachman conveys a perfect, supercilious parody of the shark-like, soulless attorney as we know them from popular culture. In so doing he captures some of the truth, gives us a good laugh, and reminds us that the legal profession, like so many others, is riling from a century of accelerated change.
I hate trying to describe why something else is funny, so here’s a sample:
It’s funny because it’s (kind of) true. Lawyers do bill by the hour, tend to be very expensive, and much of one’s success in a law firm is measured in terms of those billable hours. What Blachman does is take that caricature and turn it up to eleven: Anonymous Lawyer says what we think lawyers say to each other behind closed doors.
I like to think Blachman is drawing attention to another, important issue here: the way in which work has changed over the twentieth century. Anonymous Lawyer makes fun of lawyers who expect work–life balance (you can have “one thing” outside of work, whether it’s reading, exercising, spending time with your kids, or—hah hah—sleeping, and anything else is greedy). He also loves how smartphones allow the office to reach associates anywhere and everywhere. He says this all in the most outrageous ways, of course, but beneath this humour is valid social commentary. Many of us, in many professions, are feeling more constrained by our always-on connections. Combine this with the way mass production has extended to colleges and universities, and you become expendable. Don’t want to work seventy- or eighty-hour weeks? No problem! You’re fired. There are twenty-two people waiting in the wings who are just as qualified as you, if not more, and are eager and willing to work that much. Don’t let security taser you on the way out—and have a nice day.
Insert rant about capitalism turning us into capital here—oh wait, been there, did that.
Anonymous Lawyer also provides a fantastic example of an unlikable, and frankly even unsympathetic, protagonist. You’re supposed to hate this guy: he’s self-centred, bigoted, sexist, and overly judgemental. Yet in a kind of feat of literary Stockholm Syndrome, you almost start rooting for him. Even if you want him to fail in the end, you nevertheless come to sympathize with his hatred of the Jerk. It’s a symptom of the blog being from Anonymous Lawyer’s perspective, of course—for all we know, other than his embezzling tendencies, maybe the Jerk is actually a nice guy. This book also gives us a textbook unreliable narrator, right down to the ending that diverges from reality.
This was a very quick read for me—literally read it in a night. So I’m surprised that, a few days later, I can still recall a lot about the characters. Blachman isn’t big on names, using the anonymous conceit to give people monikers like The Tax Guy, The Musician, and The Bombshell. Yet it works—we get to know them by their personalities and actions, or at least what Anonymous Lawyer tells us about their personalities and actions. I appreciate, too, that Blachman develops a plot throughout the novel. What begins as somewhat random observations from Anonymous Lawyer transform into machinations to become the next Chairman. I’m pleased that I predicted the identity of Associate X, and the final few blog posts/emails were a great conclusion to the story.
Read this if you like legal humour and, in particular, want to see the blog-as-novel form done right.
I hate trying to describe why something else is funny, so here’s a sample:
I overheard one of the associates say, "The dog really brings some life into this place. I don't feel so alone." I gave her some more work to do after I heard that. She's supposed to feel alone. This isn't just a regular business, where people can go into their co-workers' offices and chat about the weather or the stock market or their "relationship issues." It's a law firm. Time is billable. Time is money. Small talk doesn't pay the bills. Every minute you're talking to a co-worker is a minute the firm isn't making any money off your presence….
It’s funny because it’s (kind of) true. Lawyers do bill by the hour, tend to be very expensive, and much of one’s success in a law firm is measured in terms of those billable hours. What Blachman does is take that caricature and turn it up to eleven: Anonymous Lawyer says what we think lawyers say to each other behind closed doors.
I like to think Blachman is drawing attention to another, important issue here: the way in which work has changed over the twentieth century. Anonymous Lawyer makes fun of lawyers who expect work–life balance (you can have “one thing” outside of work, whether it’s reading, exercising, spending time with your kids, or—hah hah—sleeping, and anything else is greedy). He also loves how smartphones allow the office to reach associates anywhere and everywhere. He says this all in the most outrageous ways, of course, but beneath this humour is valid social commentary. Many of us, in many professions, are feeling more constrained by our always-on connections. Combine this with the way mass production has extended to colleges and universities, and you become expendable. Don’t want to work seventy- or eighty-hour weeks? No problem! You’re fired. There are twenty-two people waiting in the wings who are just as qualified as you, if not more, and are eager and willing to work that much. Don’t let security taser you on the way out—and have a nice day.
Insert rant about capitalism turning us into capital here—oh wait, been there, did that.
Anonymous Lawyer also provides a fantastic example of an unlikable, and frankly even unsympathetic, protagonist. You’re supposed to hate this guy: he’s self-centred, bigoted, sexist, and overly judgemental. Yet in a kind of feat of literary Stockholm Syndrome, you almost start rooting for him. Even if you want him to fail in the end, you nevertheless come to sympathize with his hatred of the Jerk. It’s a symptom of the blog being from Anonymous Lawyer’s perspective, of course—for all we know, other than his embezzling tendencies, maybe the Jerk is actually a nice guy. This book also gives us a textbook unreliable narrator, right down to the ending that diverges from reality.
This was a very quick read for me—literally read it in a night. So I’m surprised that, a few days later, I can still recall a lot about the characters. Blachman isn’t big on names, using the anonymous conceit to give people monikers like The Tax Guy, The Musician, and The Bombshell. Yet it works—we get to know them by their personalities and actions, or at least what Anonymous Lawyer tells us about their personalities and actions. I appreciate, too, that Blachman develops a plot throughout the novel. What begins as somewhat random observations from Anonymous Lawyer transform into machinations to become the next Chairman. I’m pleased that I predicted the identity of Associate X, and the final few blog posts/emails were a great conclusion to the story.
Read this if you like legal humour and, in particular, want to see the blog-as-novel form done right.
September 5, 2016
This was pure wicked, witty fun. I highly recommend it to anyone who gets a kick from satire with little or no regard for PC boundaries. And if you are familiar with big law-firm culture like I am, you will even get extra kicks from all the BILLABLE PENCIL-PUSHING...
I bill the time I think about these sorts of things. I call it “research.” The clients never question it. “Research” is code for surfing the Internet, “drafting” is code for eating in your office, “misc. legal forms” is code for ordering gifts online, and “preparing for meeting” is code for taking a crap. Everyone knows. It’s no big deal.
OFFICE PET PEEVES...
AND STOP STEALING MY CANDY. And stop stealing my stapler, too. I shouldn’t have to go wandering the halls looking for a stapler. I’m a partner at a half-billion-dollar law firm. Staplers should be lining up at my desk, begging for me to use them. So should the young lawyers who think I know their names. The Short One, The Dumb One, The One With The Limp, The One Who’s Never Getting Married, The One Who Missed Her Kid’s Funeral—
PETTY HIERARCHY SQUABBLES...
A few years later, The Jerk and I both got corner offices. One time, emboldened by the satisfaction of having made the longest paper clip chain I’d ever constructed, I snuck in and measured. Mine’s seven square feet bigger. That’s fifty-two extra paper clips in each direction. I’ve always taken that to be a sign. Seven square feet. I’m that much more valuable.
Oh, and the INSENSITIVITY...
I can’t have people missing events or not participating, even if they’re pregnant. They need to set a good example for the summer associates. Her e-mail: “I just gave birth to a daughter, [name], this morning at 4: 13 AM. Unfortunately, due to complications, I will not be in the office today. I expect to be back at work tomorrow at the latest. I will, of course, be checking my BlackBerry throughout the day, so feel free to let me know if you need anything. Thanks. I apologize for the inconvenience.” I sent her a research request, urgent. Just for fun.
My dark sense of humor had a ball! :-D
I bill the time I think about these sorts of things. I call it “research.” The clients never question it. “Research” is code for surfing the Internet, “drafting” is code for eating in your office, “misc. legal forms” is code for ordering gifts online, and “preparing for meeting” is code for taking a crap. Everyone knows. It’s no big deal.
OFFICE PET PEEVES...
AND STOP STEALING MY CANDY. And stop stealing my stapler, too. I shouldn’t have to go wandering the halls looking for a stapler. I’m a partner at a half-billion-dollar law firm. Staplers should be lining up at my desk, begging for me to use them. So should the young lawyers who think I know their names. The Short One, The Dumb One, The One With The Limp, The One Who’s Never Getting Married, The One Who Missed Her Kid’s Funeral—
PETTY HIERARCHY SQUABBLES...
A few years later, The Jerk and I both got corner offices. One time, emboldened by the satisfaction of having made the longest paper clip chain I’d ever constructed, I snuck in and measured. Mine’s seven square feet bigger. That’s fifty-two extra paper clips in each direction. I’ve always taken that to be a sign. Seven square feet. I’m that much more valuable.
Oh, and the INSENSITIVITY...
I can’t have people missing events or not participating, even if they’re pregnant. They need to set a good example for the summer associates. Her e-mail: “I just gave birth to a daughter, [name], this morning at 4: 13 AM. Unfortunately, due to complications, I will not be in the office today. I expect to be back at work tomorrow at the latest. I will, of course, be checking my BlackBerry throughout the day, so feel free to let me know if you need anything. Thanks. I apologize for the inconvenience.” I sent her a research request, urgent. Just for fun.
My dark sense of humor had a ball! :-D
April 9, 2010
My wife is lawyer. Well, a former lawyer. She enjoyed this book immensely, partly because it's a darn funny piece of writing, but also - I suspect - out of a powerful sense of schadenfreude - this is a particularly biting (read: horribly accurate) novel about life at the top of a top lawfirm; insane (and always billable) hours, political backbiting, substance abuse and the constant undermining of everyone around you. And now she doesn't have to do any of that.
As you can probably tell, it's a comedy. And a good one - I laughed out loud a number of times. One night I stayed up until midnight reading it.
The premise of the book is clever, the stylistic execution (utilising a combination of blog posts and emails to skate the line between the public and private lives of the protagonist) has been done before, but is nevertheless well realised here, and the characters - even the thoroughly dislikable 'anonymous lawyer' are all empathetic in their own ways.
All in all, a fun read.
As you can probably tell, it's a comedy. And a good one - I laughed out loud a number of times. One night I stayed up until midnight reading it.
The premise of the book is clever, the stylistic execution (utilising a combination of blog posts and emails to skate the line between the public and private lives of the protagonist) has been done before, but is nevertheless well realised here, and the characters - even the thoroughly dislikable 'anonymous lawyer' are all empathetic in their own ways.
All in all, a fun read.
October 4, 2020
3.7
Most of us know a narcissist or two.
Not my favorite personality to choose being around.
The anonymous lawyer who is writing the blogs happens to be the king of narcissism.
I disliked him immediately; as is the point. I did, however, see fleeting moments of his kinder side, which made no difference.
As Petra reminds us not to read while drinking hot coffee, there were many funny paragraph's throughout the book.
At points it became a little repetitive. Maybe the book could have been shorter to adjust for that.
He certainly is smart, and absolutely on the money of how office politics is played, especially when it becomes "partner" time. But-this guy who already is a partner wants to become the Chairman.
Ya still have to play the game if you are competitive.
This book says all the things one is thinking but can't say.
Most of us know a narcissist or two.
Not my favorite personality to choose being around.
The anonymous lawyer who is writing the blogs happens to be the king of narcissism.
I disliked him immediately; as is the point. I did, however, see fleeting moments of his kinder side, which made no difference.
As Petra reminds us not to read while drinking hot coffee, there were many funny paragraph's throughout the book.
At points it became a little repetitive. Maybe the book could have been shorter to adjust for that.
He certainly is smart, and absolutely on the money of how office politics is played, especially when it becomes "partner" time. But-this guy who already is a partner wants to become the Chairman.
Ya still have to play the game if you are competitive.
This book says all the things one is thinking but can't say.
October 7, 2008
So funny ... because it is true. I'm not saying every lawyer is like this (obviously, what would that say about me?) but we have all known someone like this. And more than likely, we have all worked for someone like this. I was disappointed Anonymous Lawyer never worked in his boxers at the office. Made me realize that the main character was fictional and not actually my old boss. For a while there I thought he was A.L.
April 10, 2008
This was the funniest book i have read in a long time. It is written by a real lawyer and is such a fun, entertaining read. It gives you stereotypical way of how we would view lawyers in the way they think but its written in a funny way.
March 5, 2009
Hilarious book! I actually laughed out loud at a number of points, and when I read parts to my husband, even he laughed. You don't have to be a "big law" lawyer to get this book - although a knowledge of the stereotypes helps. Overall, a wonderfully funny, light read that I couldn't put down!
July 15, 2020
Ok so some people may not like this because it insults them...I think it's hilarious because it's true. However, I thought the storyline on the actual blog was funnier because on the actual blog Anon Lawyer doesn't give a flip about ANYONE and is meaner to the support staff etc.
June 11, 2015
Loathesome, despicible, unconscionable fun.
March 14, 2020
I used to read Jeremy Blachman's Harvard Law School student blog regularly back in 2004. I remember the announcement he posted about being the author of another blog I never heard of at the time - the Anonymous Lawyer. Shortly after he confessed to be in the process of writing a book based on the blog.
I've wanted to read this book for years, but couldn't find it anywhere - finally managed to get it at archive.org. I was not disappointed. A quick but a fun read, and although of course I do realize the tongue-in-cheek nature of the book, there's no doubt in my mind there are people out there - CEOs, managers, partners, you name it - that are exactly like Blachman's made-up protagonist. We chuckle and tell ourselves this is just a satire, but looking around at the state of the world today, deep down we know this is nothing but real life.
I've wanted to read this book for years, but couldn't find it anywhere - finally managed to get it at archive.org. I was not disappointed. A quick but a fun read, and although of course I do realize the tongue-in-cheek nature of the book, there's no doubt in my mind there are people out there - CEOs, managers, partners, you name it - that are exactly like Blachman's made-up protagonist. We chuckle and tell ourselves this is just a satire, but looking around at the state of the world today, deep down we know this is nothing but real life.
December 17, 2023
I can only describe this book as "Gossip Girl meets Suits".
The character anonymous lawyer is despicable and still funny, through him you learn to love and hate the way U.S. law firms work.
It's a parody at its finest, poking fun at the system, while being stuck in that very system, right up to one's head.
The character anonymous lawyer is despicable and still funny, through him you learn to love and hate the way U.S. law firms work.
It's a parody at its finest, poking fun at the system, while being stuck in that very system, right up to one's head.
July 12, 2022
It's hilarious! A very fun read.
February 18, 2008
Praise the good lord for this book. At the time I picked it up, I was wallowing between jobs, and my mom was cranking up the pressure on me to attend an "open house" for the paralegal program at a local university.
I kept thinking, "I will design the shingle to hang outside the lawyer's office; I will design the business cards, the letterhead, the website. I will decorate the lawyer's office. But there's no way in hell I'm going to go to work EVERY DAY in that lawyer's office."
Still, it was a very very close call. Especially as I learned from my friend, Doug, that my long-ago scores on the LSATS would have gotten me into some quite decent law schools & then I was bitter that lawyers weren't in fact much smarter than me. Especially if they did so poorly on their LSATs. They might be quite average & boy, did Harvard really screw up my brain because I got my LSAT scores back & since they weren't PERFECT, I figured I was a loser.
Well, so I serendipitously read this book and the world of corporate law was revealed as worse than worse. It was revealed as a place I wanted nothing to do with. Then Doug read it and, due to him being on the brink of passing the Bar, confirmed everything in the book. And then I was free! Free at last. And then I got a job designing signs & business cards & letterheads & exhibitions & never gave the damn business another thought.
Anyway, the book: is hysterical. The main character is soooo unlikeable, you feel a little uncomfortable reveling in his evilness. I love all the inside details: how he keeps track of who goes to the bathroom too much (because they're cutting into billable hours), how at the yearly party the associates are allowed only on the back patio while the partners are in the front... It's all gloriously disgusting.
I ate it up until the end, and then I felt the writer may have not known quite how to end it. Perhaps another editing pass could have yielded a more satisfactory resolution-- though the actual resolution was inevitable. It could have been more effectively written, though Blah blah.
Oh! And when he feels sorry for the poor lawyers in Hurricane Katrina who might be without post-it notes! Glorious.
I kept thinking, "I will design the shingle to hang outside the lawyer's office; I will design the business cards, the letterhead, the website. I will decorate the lawyer's office. But there's no way in hell I'm going to go to work EVERY DAY in that lawyer's office."
Still, it was a very very close call. Especially as I learned from my friend, Doug, that my long-ago scores on the LSATS would have gotten me into some quite decent law schools & then I was bitter that lawyers weren't in fact much smarter than me. Especially if they did so poorly on their LSATs. They might be quite average & boy, did Harvard really screw up my brain because I got my LSAT scores back & since they weren't PERFECT, I figured I was a loser.
Well, so I serendipitously read this book and the world of corporate law was revealed as worse than worse. It was revealed as a place I wanted nothing to do with. Then Doug read it and, due to him being on the brink of passing the Bar, confirmed everything in the book. And then I was free! Free at last. And then I got a job designing signs & business cards & letterheads & exhibitions & never gave the damn business another thought.
Anyway, the book: is hysterical. The main character is soooo unlikeable, you feel a little uncomfortable reveling in his evilness. I love all the inside details: how he keeps track of who goes to the bathroom too much (because they're cutting into billable hours), how at the yearly party the associates are allowed only on the back patio while the partners are in the front... It's all gloriously disgusting.
I ate it up until the end, and then I felt the writer may have not known quite how to end it. Perhaps another editing pass could have yielded a more satisfactory resolution-- though the actual resolution was inevitable. It could have been more effectively written, though Blah blah.
Oh! And when he feels sorry for the poor lawyers in Hurricane Katrina who might be without post-it notes! Glorious.
June 14, 2013
(Reposting an old review -- circa 2007 -- uploaded in Multiply)
Once in a while we come across a book that strikes a chord or two in our lives. But there are those rarer occasions when that random chord striking reverberates into a virtual symphony.
This is what happened to me when I unassumingly picked up this book one evening at the Press Café in Fully Booked Power Plant. By the end of the second chapter, I knew I had to get my own copy.
The book is a satirical insider account of the inner workings of a law firm. The protagonist is the hiring partner in a prestigious Los Angeles law firm whose real name is never revealed. We only know him through his eponymous online pseudonym.
The story uniquely progresses through the Anonymous Lawyer’s blog entries, as well as e-mail exchanges with his niece (i.e. Anonymous Niece), other people working in the law firm and outsiders over whom the protagonist’s blog has created a following.
The plot is simple – a struggle for power in the upper echelon of an organization. But this plot is merely secondary to the wry, sarcastic writing, which I considered the book’s main selling point. Reading funny material is one thing. But if the same material pertains to something one can totally relate to, that’s the shiznit!
I found myself smiling with complicity after reading this excerpt on logging your hours –
“Research” is a code for surfing the Internt, “drafting” is code for eating in your office, “misc. legal forms” is code for ordering gifts online, and “preparing for a meeting” is code for taking a crap.
This excerpt confirmed my lingering suspicions of how associates are perceived –
“We’re a business. We’re trying to maximize profits. If that means each year we take fifty law school graduates and burn out forty-eight of them before they turn thirty-five, well, that’s what they’re signing up for.
I would recommend reading this book to anyone. But if you’re another associate slaving away in your own white-collar sweatshop, this is a must read.
Once in a while we come across a book that strikes a chord or two in our lives. But there are those rarer occasions when that random chord striking reverberates into a virtual symphony.
This is what happened to me when I unassumingly picked up this book one evening at the Press Café in Fully Booked Power Plant. By the end of the second chapter, I knew I had to get my own copy.
The book is a satirical insider account of the inner workings of a law firm. The protagonist is the hiring partner in a prestigious Los Angeles law firm whose real name is never revealed. We only know him through his eponymous online pseudonym.
The story uniquely progresses through the Anonymous Lawyer’s blog entries, as well as e-mail exchanges with his niece (i.e. Anonymous Niece), other people working in the law firm and outsiders over whom the protagonist’s blog has created a following.
The plot is simple – a struggle for power in the upper echelon of an organization. But this plot is merely secondary to the wry, sarcastic writing, which I considered the book’s main selling point. Reading funny material is one thing. But if the same material pertains to something one can totally relate to, that’s the shiznit!
I found myself smiling with complicity after reading this excerpt on logging your hours –
“Research” is a code for surfing the Internt, “drafting” is code for eating in your office, “misc. legal forms” is code for ordering gifts online, and “preparing for a meeting” is code for taking a crap.
This excerpt confirmed my lingering suspicions of how associates are perceived –
“We’re a business. We’re trying to maximize profits. If that means each year we take fifty law school graduates and burn out forty-eight of them before they turn thirty-five, well, that’s what they’re signing up for.
I would recommend reading this book to anyone. But if you’re another associate slaving away in your own white-collar sweatshop, this is a must read.
April 14, 2012
The novelization of a popular (and hilarious) blog, ostensibly by a hiring partner at a major LA law firm. The titular lawyer, whose obsessions with quality and power are much akin to the protagonist’s in American Psycho, is here made less venomous through a series of emails to his niece. At the firm, he vies for the Chairmanship with a rival he dubs “The jerk,” and worries after an associate finds out the blog is his. Thus a few plot conflicts are presented, and it climaxes when “Associate X” offers him dirt on The Jerk, which may (or may not) catapult him to the top.
It’s a pretty funny novel, but severely lacking in the truly nasty bits the blog offers (in the blog, AL evinces no empathy for cleaning crew, paralegals, or his wife, and delights in torturing them in small ways; that’s true here, but he’s a pale shadow of his online self, because the reader must sympathize with him over the course of a story). Also, a lot of the “plot” points are dropped along the way, as in the budding romance between the niece and an associate, or online flirting between AL and Associate X, which had no relevance to the main plot. And, I must admit, the final page is less than satisfying: AL is not only passed over as Chairman, he’s fired; but then he appears to be continuing to blog as if he became Chairman. I suppose he’s just keeping up the pretense, but it isn’t a very remarkable ending.
It’s a pretty funny novel, but severely lacking in the truly nasty bits the blog offers (in the blog, AL evinces no empathy for cleaning crew, paralegals, or his wife, and delights in torturing them in small ways; that’s true here, but he’s a pale shadow of his online self, because the reader must sympathize with him over the course of a story). Also, a lot of the “plot” points are dropped along the way, as in the budding romance between the niece and an associate, or online flirting between AL and Associate X, which had no relevance to the main plot. And, I must admit, the final page is less than satisfying: AL is not only passed over as Chairman, he’s fired; but then he appears to be continuing to blog as if he became Chairman. I suppose he’s just keeping up the pretense, but it isn’t a very remarkable ending.
February 7, 2017
Written in a modified epistolary format (blog posts rather than letters), an ambitious partner in a top-notch law firm spills the beans about his superiors, the associates, and abysmal treatment endured by the assortment of underlings required to make a busy law firm profitable and efficient.
Nasty to the point of schadenfreude, this book is definitely a "guilty pleasure". Sayings like, "Good guys win in the end," and, "Good things come to those who wait," or the idea of "just rewards" simply do not apply here: no one is especially good, just, or even civil, and EVERYONE needs to be careful what they wish for.
I enjoyed the saltiness quite a lot...but that's me.
A fast, easy, and quick read; good for when there's nothing on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
Nasty to the point of schadenfreude, this book is definitely a "guilty pleasure". Sayings like, "Good guys win in the end," and, "Good things come to those who wait," or the idea of "just rewards" simply do not apply here: no one is especially good, just, or even civil, and EVERYONE needs to be careful what they wish for.
I enjoyed the saltiness quite a lot...but that's me.
A fast, easy, and quick read; good for when there's nothing on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
March 11, 2008
Every firm has such person. Everyone know such person and hates it to the bone. The blogging is curse and blessing of our age. The lawyer, who was tired of all deception of pretending his good graces everyday, turned to express his true self on the blog he wrote. He was a hiring partner of the great lawyer firm and he was nasty and mean to everybody, he hated associates who were not working to the point of collapse. The great enemy of his was lurking just behind his back THE JERK. The fight of two titans in suits started with all ferocity and it was described in the blog. But somebody from the firm knew about his secret vice and that person had no shame to use it against him. Frankly said. He deserved that full. It was a chilling book with great deal of dry humour.
July 4, 2010
I started reading Jeremy's eponymous law school blog sometime in 2003. In 2004, he started writing the Anonymous Lawyer blog (as "Anonymous Lawyer"). I read it for a while, but it got a bit repetitive and I stopped. A few months later, there was an article in the NY Times "outing" him as the writer behind AL. Fast forward: book deal, writing of book, publishing of book, optioning of book...
I really bought AL because of Jeremy’s personal blog, not the AL blog. I think AL the book is better than AL the blog. It has a plot. It's funny. And it's just long enough. It's a fluffy, quick read. I think it could make a funny TV series. I'd watch. The pilot, at least ;-)
I really bought AL because of Jeremy’s personal blog, not the AL blog. I think AL the book is better than AL the blog. It has a plot. It's funny. And it's just long enough. It's a fluffy, quick read. I think it could make a funny TV series. I'd watch. The pilot, at least ;-)
March 19, 2024
2024 Edit: I guess my humor has changed in the last 5 years because I did not find this as funny as the first time I read it. The MC is so cartoonishly horrible that his behavior did get a few shocked chuckles out of me; but I don't think I would still describe this book as 'hilarious'
*********************************************************
Despicably hilarious! I feel a little guilty enjoying this book as much as I did because the main character and his actions are truly awful. But I'd be lying if I said this book didn't give me genuine laughs the whole way through. This is a fun read.
*********************************************************
Despicably hilarious! I feel a little guilty enjoying this book as much as I did because the main character and his actions are truly awful. But I'd be lying if I said this book didn't give me genuine laughs the whole way through. This is a fun read.
September 27, 2007
I used to occasionally read bits of the blog "Anonymous Lawyer", and thought it was an amusing spoof on life in a big law firm. The book of the blog, however, is a bit awful, as I imagine most books-of-blogs are. It consists of blog entries and emails, with a pretty pathetic plot woven in between. While the over-the-top character who writes the blog entries is amusing, it doesn't work in the emails when the ott character is presented as a real person. Not believable at all, to the point where I became bored. Should have left it in blog form, I think.
January 27, 2008
Another blog-become-novel, Anonymous Lawyer follows an egomaniac, workaholic, and genuinely cruel lawyer as he starts a blog, gets found out, and proceeds to ruin his career. Hard to feel bad for the guy.
Although there are moments that I think we can all relate to in a workplace way, most of it is so foreign (summer interns billing out at $250/hr) that I just couldn't believe it was real.
Anyway, it's a quick read and an interesting peek into another world ... one you won't be sorry you don't live it.
Although there are moments that I think we can all relate to in a workplace way, most of it is so foreign (summer interns billing out at $250/hr) that I just couldn't believe it was real.
Anyway, it's a quick read and an interesting peek into another world ... one you won't be sorry you don't live it.
August 3, 2009
I had a hard time starting this - that was completely my fault- I kept seeing my law office and hearing all the people I work with. I kept thinking about who this person would be that stole the donut, etc... and I would need to stop cause I could literally just see it all- in parts of the book there's notes of other lawyers responding to his blog (it's written in the form of a blog) some of these responses accuse the author of being a partner at their firm- I could have done the same thing-- yes it is a little exaggerated- but not by much. Make me really want to quit again... shoot.
September 27, 2013
This is funny although a bit plain and bland on some parts..
Ive been into lawyers and the job they do since I was a kid, they are just so impressive, y'know men in suits looking very smart and stuffs.
Add SUITS to my apparent love for Law. I just feel like this book is a story that is real and based on a life of a true partner in a big law firm, story of how the good ones are being passed on, how their firms become the center of their lives. It's much like a diary of a real hiring partner.
Ive been into lawyers and the job they do since I was a kid, they are just so impressive, y'know men in suits looking very smart and stuffs.
Add SUITS to my apparent love for Law. I just feel like this book is a story that is real and based on a life of a true partner in a big law firm, story of how the good ones are being passed on, how their firms become the center of their lives. It's much like a diary of a real hiring partner.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 182 reviews