June 22, 2005
Rocking and Rolling in LA
I’m attending Legal Tech Los Angeles with the Juris team. Part of the time, you can find me in the Juris® booth with Lee Ann Herron, Juris Corporate VP of Sales, along with Frank Fong, Regional VP for the West Coast.
Being more used to tornadoes than earthquakes, I was a little apprehensive about this trip. The LA area had four big quakes last week and, of course, all the aftershocks that followed. That is one of the things that always bothered me. How do we know they are aftershocks? Could they be foreshocks?
I was in LA, staying at the Century City Plaza several years ago when a big one hit. The Plaza is built on rollers to protect the structure, but that just makes the movement of the building during an event even more startling. If I remember correctly, I was on the 16th floor. Stephen and I were sharing a suite. Lee Ann and Dianne Lacey were on a floor just above or below us.
It was still pitch black outside. I awoke to a strong up and down rolling motion and loud cracking sounds from the stress on the building, its walls, floors, etc. I was waiting on this mind of mine to tell me what was happening but one thing I knew for certain: The building is about to come down on top of me. Nothing could sway and oscillate like that and still stand. My mind said “It is impossible for the building to not be BROKEN!” Outside my windows, flashes were going off everywhere—transformers blowing up or wires shorting out. One tries to get the brain working. Then it hits—“It is an earthquake!” —WHAT DO YOU DO IN AN EARTHQUAKE? I headed for a doorjamb and braced myself holding on to the two sides. You have to be careful. If there is a door you don’t want to get your hand caught if the shaking causes the door to slam. The rolling and shaking finally stopped. By this time Stephen was in the room with me. We agreed to get the h–l out. I already had on shorts. I grabbed my sneakers and headed for the stairwell. All of humanity filled the stairs—there was someone on every step. It was strictly a “run away, run away” mind set.
In the meantime, Lee Ann woke up convinced there was a “man” in her room shaking the bed. Once she figured out that it was Mother Nature and not a “man”, she too was ready to bail. She met up with Dianne and they, also, hit the stairs. The hotel lobby looked a little like the bar scene from the original Star Wars movie—people with rollers in their hair, face-creamed faces, fuzzy (mules) slippers, PJs, robes and “did-you-really-sleep-in-that?” attire. Makeup was noticeably absent, making for some scary moments when you saw someone you thought you knew.
We held an executive meeting and decided the one thing we were not going to do was to go back to our rooms. We managed to locate our car and headed off down Santa Monica Boulevard to IHOP. With our courage up, we returned to the hotel about three hours later to dress for Legal Tech booth duty.
I had the TV on the local news as they discussed the quake. A second quake then hit the TV studio. The camera caught the action and the news reader got under his desk on camera!!! Seconds later, the same quake reached the hotel. I swear the second one was even stronger than the first. It was a lot scarier because now you have a new question: Was that an aftershock or were both of the quakes foreshocks for the “big one” that is on the way?
At any rate, #2 was enough. I had had it with the 16th floor and buildings on rollers. Lee Ann, Dianne and I checked out and relocated to Marina Del Rey—which, if you know anything about earthquakes, is the worst thing you can do since Marina Del Rey is built on “fill” sandy soil. I now know such soil is susceptible to liquefying in a quake. Stephen stayed put. Regan always stayed at the Century City Plaza when in LA because of how safe it is. Stephen figured if it was safe enough for the Secret Service, it was safe enough for him.
Those were the good ole days when the West Coast edition of Legal Tech was held in Century City. Now its venue is the Westin Bonaventure in downtown LA. Frankly, given a choice between the Bonaventure and an earthquake at the Plaza, give me an earthquake every time.
What does this have to do with More Partner Income? Earthquake city or not, the Legal Tech exhibit hall is full of vendors with products or services that can increase law firm productivity and income. Technology can set one law firm apart from another when it comes to partner income and the continuity of the business. Technology can be important in the development of a “one team” concept. Research has now clearly shown that the difference between firms that survive and those that fail is their culture. Firms that operate as a “unit”, as a team, with common goals and core beliefs are the survivors. Technology plays an important role in the transformation from an “eat what you kill” collection of attorneys to a team-oriented “business”.
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