Thank you for reading Off The Record. My name is Alex Su, and I’m a lawyer who works at the intersection of law, technology, and new media. Years ago, I left the practice of law to help startups sell software to law firms and legal departments. Somewhere along the way I ended up building a large audience of legal professionals on social media. All of that has given me a a unique vantage point to see how the entire legal ecosystem is evolving.

Off The Record covers three important topics:

• Unspoken Rules. So much of how the legal world works remains hidden. There’s often a nice-sounding story that’s told to outsiders. But underneath that story, there’s an intricate web of cultural values, incentives, and power dynamics that shed light on how things really work. You must understand these unspoken rules to succeed in this world. Related:

  • Profitable misery - The billable hour, the prevalence of shitwork, why Biglaw associates are so unhappy, and the existence of "unicorn jobs"

  • Stop obsessing about credentials - The legal profession's extreme emphasis on proxies for success, and why it keeps lawyers unhappy
    

• Sales. The ability to sell has become increasingly important. It’s because the old guard at establishment firms is holding on to power and resisting change. If you’re an up and comer who wants to have a meaningful impact, you will struggle within these confines. But if you know how to sell, ie. acquiring new clients and/or persuading internal stakeholders—the sky’s the limit. This applies to both lawyers and innovators. Related:

  • What’s a unicorn job like? - Thoughts about roles where you're paid well to do meaningful work

  • How to sell to lawyers - Some insights from my five years successfully carrying a sales quota on behalf of legal tech startups
    

• Technology. Legal services delivery is evolving. The legal industry has been dominated by incumbents that make absurd profits from what I call shitwork. Tech adoption has advanced quickly in recent years (e.g. cloud, AI) and alternative business models (e.g. freelance, marketplace) will create new winners. I’ll discuss some of these developments, the companies behind them, and what it all means for you. Related:

  • Why I left e-discovery for contracts - My thought process back in 2019 when I made the jump

  • What I learned at CLOC - Summary of my experience attending the premier legal operations conference in May 2022
    

My observations will be based on personal experience and “off the record” conversations I have with people working on the front lines. If any of these topics are interesting, you should follow along!