"The Partner Track," Published in 2013 - How Realistic Will That Expose on Big Law Be As Netflix Series?

The expose novel  "The Partner Track" by Helen Wan will be coming to Netflix on August 26th. It supposedly looks under the hood of the career as a lawyer in a prestigious firm and jumping through hoops for partnership. A subtext is diversity. The protagonist is Asian-American.

On Subreddit Big Law, they is already buzzing about how the book will play out as a Netflix series. So far there are 21 comments. Here is the thread. The major question is if the series will be realistic about what the life of a junior lawyer is like in a larger elite law firm.

I have doubts about the realism. After all the book had been published in 2013. Big Law has changed much since then. Heck, the world of work has changed much since then.

For example, the career path in Big Law currently is more about leveraging a few years of experience into a credential to land something less stressful and with more reasonable hours. Not chasing partnership. 

On Subreddit Big Law many of those posting ask about which firm should they choose as the first job in terms of which will be the best option for their exit strategy in a few years. They refer to both experience and branding. In addition, it is so out there that being partner does not necessarily lessen the negative aspects of lawyering in the extreme big time. 

Also, associates are more assertive. At least right now when overall demand for them continues to be high. The lateral market remains strong. There will also probably be a lag between the economic slowdown and the impacts on a law firm.

In an interview with Insider, Paul Weiss Chairperson Brad Karp mentioned that in town hall meetings associates will actually bring up "issues" such as the cost of soda in the law firm cafeteria. At one time probably they wouldn't have even spoken up in that kind of public forum. 

However there could be a dramatic shift in power back to management if the decline in demand for transactional services triggers reductions-in-force as well as stealth layoffs. Litigation, though, has bounced back strong. This generation of junior lawyers has never experienced a down market. They really don't know how it is to be out on the street looking for work in a glut market.

In addition, diversity has become a top concern throughout the legal sector. Interestingly, there is in the works a paternal rights lawsuit against Jones Day. That's "Savignac, et al. v Jones Day," filed by married couple Mark Savignac and Julia Skeketoff. Now, men have gotten into the gender-rights issue. In the novel, of course, the issue focuses on an Asian-American identity. That's not an anchronism in law firm cultures dominated by the White Men Who Golf ethos.

The tone and content of the Netflix series could be stuck back in a time that has passed. The deal of taking a job in Big Law has become very different from when it was about envisiong the prize of  partnership. That was done with great fear of the powers-that-be and magical thinking that they were special enough to make it.

Now, as Subreddit Bigl Law showcases, young lawyers have a deep understanding of the game.

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