Q: One of my firm’s largest clients spreads its work around at multiple firms in town to keep the quality of work high and the fees competitive. But here’s the weird part: every year, the client throws a Halloween costume party at its headquarters and invites the attorneys from all of its different firms, including my practice group of six lawyers. What’s weirder is that the competition among the firms to keep this client’s legal business has somehow transformed this party into a yearly costume competition, and every year the stakes increase. It’s become a very bizarre situation. Imagine a king demanding the court jesters to make fools of themselves for his entertainment—that’s this Halloween party. But I have no pride left, so I really don’t give a shit. My question to you is what should my practice group do for costumes? Every year we get bulldozed by the other firms, and we’ve decided that this will be our year. But so far, we haven’t found that perfect idea.
