After the weekend’s hiatus, this morning we have a round-up of
Coudert post-mortems. Astonishingly, and unforgivably, The
New York Times has yet to take note. Unless they’re
saving up their ammo for a behind-the-scenes feature, the reaction
can only be: What up?!?
The Financial Times, always a favorite (think The
Wall Street Journal with cheek), observes drily that "the
firm’s recent history makes poor reading."
The Lawyer comes to bat with no less than two stories
and an editorial. First it tallies
up who’s probably going where, from
which offices, as well as providing a
timeline of low points over the past five years and describing
the final three-and-a-half hour partnership conference call, in
the words of one there, as "sad and gloomy."
But I have indeed saved for last the best, or at least the most
scathing (bordering on vituperative—Coudert fans, you have
been warned): Caitlin Griffith’s roundhouse
punch at the
woebegone firm:
- "couldn’t bear very much reality;"
- "high farce;"
- "euphemism after euphemism;"
- "Come off it! ‘Strengths of the firm?’"
The woes clearly go back a decade or more, and unless one can
excavate lessons from Coudert’s grave, one can only observe with
sadness and gloom.
