I am one of the people who is convinced Anonymous Lawyer is entirely fictitious, though I continue to meet people who disagree. If you haven't seen it, it purports to be the blog of an overpaid hiring partner at a large law firm.

Thing 1, the guy's personality encompasses every stereotypical element of the Lawyer Who is a Giant Asshole -- it's too good to be true. It suggests someone listed these fabled qualities and then made sure to work in evidence of each.

Thing 2, suppose the personality exists, because hey, stereotypes often arise out of some nugget of accuracy. Doing a blog is fully at odds with his personality type. I have met narcissists in positions of power. Believe me, a blog is not going to satisfy their yawning need for attention & approval, it's too one-sided. Narcissists also utterly lack the capacity for introspection that Anon Lawyer displays.

Though, there is a lot of detail that has the ring of truth. While it may be based on a real person, I think it's much more likely that it's perpetrated by an associate who is in the radius of an Anon Lawyer-type partner who writes the blog as a form of caricature. And of course, a cry to be noticed.

09 Dec 04