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The 'Anonymous Lawyer' publishes a book based on a blog

St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, Aug 19, 2006 by Correy E. Stephenson

It's the 21st Century version of being discovered.

In March 2004, a new blog was launched from the perspective of a fictional hiring partner at a large law firm in a major city. Biting, sarcastic and at times painfully insightful about the life of a corporate lawyer, "The Anonymous Lawyer" (http:// anonymouslawyer.blogspot.com) was an instant hit with attorneys across the country.

But the anonymous lawyer wasn't even a lawyer - he was Jeremy Blachman, a second-year student at Harvard Law School. The "partner" who had yet set foot in a law firm was an overnight success. The site grew quickly, from 250 hits a day in its first week to its current peak at 4,000 hits a day.

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Blachman's future changed dramatically in December 2004, when he decided to reveal himself to a New York Times reporter.

The Anonymous Lawyer was anonymous no longer, and Blachman was deluged with book offers from seven agents and 36 publishers in the first week after his identity was revealed.

Although the thought of publishing a book had never even occurred to him, "It seemed like a nice idea."

So after graduating from Harvard in May 2005 and passing the New York state bar exam, Blachman wrote "Anonymous Lawyer: A Novel" which was released to positive reviews in late July.

Although Blachman has no current plans to practice, the twists of his young career have taught him to "never say never."

The transition from blog to novel was a "nerve-wracking" challenge, Blachman said.

"The nice thing about blogs is that you post something and get immediate, instant feedback, and if people don't like it, they forget about it as soon as you post the next thing," he explained. "But writing the book was a much more difficult process, because there wasn't that instantaneous feedback - I had to wait months before the book was in stores."

But the wait was worth it.

Blachman does an admirable job of taking a sexist ("Women partners. That's still kind of funny to type"), workaholic (Anonymous Lawyer hates daylight savings because the firm loses hundreds of billable hours), employee-abusing character ("My shoulder hurts from throwing a pair of scissors at my secretary last week") - and actually making him sympathetic and engaging.

And the book itself is laugh-out-loud funny - a great summer read for anyone who might appreciate an insightful satire about the life of a big-firm lawyer.

Blachman started a blog about his experiences as a Harvard law student, but after going through the interview process for summer associate positions, he decided to attempt to parody the seemingly indistinguishable lawyers who interviewed him.

"There was a similar type of person, and I thought it would be fun to write from that perspective for a few days," he said.

As a law student, Blachman wrote a weekly humor column for the school newspaper and also penned tunes for the school's parody show, experience which helped his satirical slant.

Blachman, who later worked at a New York law firm as a summer associate, began the blog without any experience in a law firm.

"I never expected to continue it for more than a few days, having never worked at a firm. But people found it pretty quickly and seemed to enjoy it," he said.

Blachman still maintains the Anonymous Lawyer blog and recently launched the Anonymous Law Firm site as well (http:// anonymouslawfirm.com), both of which he plans to continue for the foreseeable future with a few posts a week.

While he doesn't currently have plans to write another book, he is exploring other writing opportunities and has been talking with Sony and NBC about a television show based on the Anonymous Lawyer.

Because the blog was episodic, Blachman essentially started from scratch when he began the seven-month process of writing the book.

"The real trick was finding what the natural plot would be for the character to tell a story, instead of just stringing anecdotes together," he explained.

The book takes place over eight weeks, just before the most recent batch of summer associates begin work at the firm, and the plot revolves around the Anonymous Lawyer's battle with the Jerk, a rival partner in the fight to become the next chairman of the firm.

The Anonymous Lawyer's supporting cast includes the Anonymous family, from Anonymous Wife (who drags him to a life coach to strengthen their relationship), to Anonymous Son and Daughter, who he rarely spends time with, and Anonymous Niece, who is about to graduate from college and start law school in the fall. She is the only one who knows his true identity, as they exchange e-mails that often reveal more about the Anonymous Lawyer's regrets than about her future as a lawyer.

In addition, Blachman is able to mine any number of lawyer stereotypes with the other members of the firm, including associates and partners like the Bombshell, the Tax Guy and Lives With His Mom, as well as the prototypes of summer associates: the Suck-Up, the Musician (the wild card of the group), the Girl Who Dresses Like a Slut and That Foreign Dude.

The 'Anonymous Lawyer' publishes a book based on a blog

St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, Aug 19, 2006 by Correy E. Stephenson

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