Law in Contemporary Society

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RafaelMirandaSecondEssay 9 - 23 Apr 2024 - Main.RafaelMiranda
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It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

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 -- By RafaelMiranda - 17 Apr 2024
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As I conclude my second year of law school, there is one item that ought to be discussed with more disdain to the extent that it should frankly be removed as an option for the 1L Summer: the private sector 1L summer associate.
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As I conclude my second year of law school, there is one item that ought to be discussed with more disdain: the private sector 1L summer associate offerings.
 

Background:

To preface, I worked at a law firm before I started law school for around 3.5 years. Graduating from UC Berkeley in 2019. The firm I worked at focused on complex commercial litigation and white-collar defense (interestingly it was founded by the former lead prosecutor of the Enron Case, John Hueston). I chose the firm because the type of work they did sounded interesting to me (and they offered me a job before the other 2 places got back to me). While the details of the job were somewhat non-transferable, I received a phenomenal insight into the daily lives of low level big law associates.

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I felt the firm hired a variety of personalities, there were neurotic meddlers, "nice guys", passive-aggressive types and others who were united in that they were drawn to a boutique litigation firm after working or clerking somewhere else first. My observations that most of the work they did was highly uninspiring and many quit after working for just one year (part of their hiring model for annual recruitment one partner quipped to me). Thus I came into law school pretty unamused with the "BigLaw" career as a substantive category.
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I felt the firm hired a variety of personalities, there were neurotic meddlers, "nice guys", passive-aggressive types and others who were united in that they were drawn to a boutique litigation firm after working or clerking somewhere else first. Most of them practiced work which they felt was highly uninspiring and many quit after working for just one year (part of their hiring model for annual recruitment one partner quipped to me). Thus I came into law school pretty unamused with the "BigLaw" career as a substantive category.
 
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The Private Sector Dynamic in Morningside Heights: The Vault 10 Draft

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The Private Sector Dynamic in Morningside Heights

 While It would be naive for me to say that coming to Columbia it was unexpected that there was a high amount of institutional reverence to the "BigLaw" legal industry, I was rightly shocked by the amount of people coming into 1L with standing offers from firms they worked at over the summer.

Too Soon?

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One of my issues with this practice is the speed. Students just started learning the fundamentals but if you are already locked in for a job the coming summer—there could be a tendency to lose incentive to really engage for the sake of it. To use the terminology from the class, these sort of dynamics speed up the "tuna-canning process"
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One of my issues with this practice is the speed. Students just started learning the fundamentals but if you are already locked in for a job the coming summer—there could be a tendency to lose incentive to really engage for the sake of it. To use the terminology from the class, I believe this dynamic only speeds up the "tuna-canning process", at what point do we start applying to law firms along with law school admission applications?
 
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My Future & Conflicts:

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Institutional Issue:

If students come into law school with outstanding offers, what exactly is the point of a 3 year education? Furthermore why is it inappropriate to question why the move towards an earlier and even earlier summer associate hiring process should be seen as a bit odd as opposed to an "opportunity". I've asked several associates & partners at firms how they feel about how much earlier the EIP process is compared to when they were in school and most generally responses don't generally think about any un-intended effects of this system over the course of the next 10-20 years.
 
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Dishonesty

The final issue I was surprised by was the amount of dishonesty displayed across the board. Phrases and words like "Collegial","respectful of your vacation days", "respectful" become buzzwords as if any of JD candidates haven't come in already at least somewhat aware of the relentlessness of the majority of "BigLaw" summer associates. Perhaps what's equally concerning is the dishonesty I have with myself. On one hand, I can confidently I wouldn't outwardly choose to work in "BigLaw" at as it exists right now. On the other hand, even an adjusted pay rate of $60/hour seems enticing at least for enough time to pay off loans and acquire some savings. However therein lies the dishonesty that I've come to struggle with...we've discussed how money functions similarly to addictive drugs in our brain which is why it's conflicting to think deeply and tell myself "Yes Rafael its only 3 years and then you'll exit and then you can pursue what it is that you wanted to pursue". Of course, the question of thinking on what I actually want to pursue is either so implied that it is buried or never really explored (because in either case, those paths could be done after a stint at Paul, Weiss).

This of course is a fairly typical mind path for many people in law school, especially at Columbia.

My Future (Hopeful)

Long Term:

I knew coming into law school that I wanted to do litigation. In an ideal world, I engage primarily in civil litigation involving police brutality lawsuits and wrongful conviction lawsuits while also maintaining a smaller criminal defense practice. I plan to become a prosecutor first, primarily for the trial experience and secondarily for the credibility for issues related to civil suits against government actors (such as police officers, security guards etc.). Perhaps one of the biggest reasons I desire to embark on this path is the delicate focus on person to person interactions. I agree with the sentiment that lawyering is a people centered category of work and I feel plaintiff side civil litigation is notably even more based around client interactions.

Short Term:

Money, loans, income, the ability to live in NYC. I believe this is where the confusion starts. Confusion is the short way of saying, it is very difficult from a logistics perspective to hash out how I could manage a life in NYC while doing work that may pay very little while I work towards gaining more trial experience. My concern for starting a career in BigLaw can't be emphasized enough yet it feels evermore intoxicating as even an adjusted salary of $60/hr (taxes and accounting for hours worked as discussed in class) feels reasonable.

 
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I knew coming into law school that I wanted to do litigation. In an ideal world, I engage primarily in civil litigation involving police brutality lawsuits and wrongful conviction lawsuits while also maintaining a smaller criminal defense practice. Of course, I feel like to get there I'd like to become a prosecutor first, primarily for the trial experience and secondarily for the credibility for issues related to civil suits against government actors (such as police officers, security guards etc.).
 

RafaelMirandaSecondEssay 8 - 23 Apr 2024 - Main.RafaelMiranda
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META TOPICPARENT name="SecondEssay"

It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

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 While It would be naive for me to say that coming to Columbia it was unexpected that there was a high amount of institutional reverence to the "BigLaw" legal industry, I was rightly shocked by the amount of people coming into 1L with standing offers from firms they worked at over the summer.
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Too Soon?

 
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One of my issues with this practice is the speed. Students just started learning the fundamentals but if you are already locked in for a job the coming summer—there could be a tendency to lose incentive to really engage for the sake of it. To use the terminology from the class, these sort of dynamics speed up the "tuna-canning process"

My Future & Conflicts:

I knew coming into law school that I wanted to do litigation. In an ideal world, I engage primarily in civil litigation involving police brutality lawsuits and wrongful conviction lawsuits while also maintaining a smaller criminal defense practice. Of course, I feel like to get there I'd like to become a prosecutor first, primarily for the trial experience and secondarily for the credibility for issues related to civil suits against government actors (such as police officers, security guards etc.).

 

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Why is it bad? Can it really be defined as bad or good?

 

RafaelMirandaSecondEssay 7 - 23 Apr 2024 - Main.RafaelMiranda
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META TOPICPARENT name="SecondEssay"

It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

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Engagement Farming & Lawyers

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Dear Fall 1L Me,

 -- By RafaelMiranda - 17 Apr 2024
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As I conclude my second year of law school, there is one item that ought to be discussed with more disdain to the extent that it should frankly be removed as an option for the 1L Summer: the private sector 1L summer associate.
 
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What is Engagement Farming?

A LinkedIn? "influencer" published a short story on his page:
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Background:

 
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There was a story about an associate and a partner at a large law firm in Manhattan—the associate constantly used the delayed delivery feature on Microsoft Outlook, setting it so certain emails would send off at 10pm or later. The effect was intended to make him appear to be working harder than other people around him. In reality he wasn't always awake at 1am sending emails as much as it looked like. The effect went unnoticed until he sent an email to a newly elected partner. Interestingly, the partner set up his Microsoft Outlook to auto-reply any emails from associates sent after 10pm with the sentence "Please see me in the morning thx.". The associate woke up to the email and endured one of the most stressful mornings of his year. To the associate's unfortunate surprise, the partner had no idea why this associate was outside his door. If you liked this story, please follow me on Linkedin and comment down below.
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To preface, I worked at a law firm before I started law school for around 3.5 years. Graduating from UC Berkeley in 2019. The firm I worked at focused on complex commercial litigation and white-collar defense (interestingly it was founded by the former lead prosecutor of the Enron Case, John Hueston). I chose the firm because the type of work they did sounded interesting to me (and they offered me a job before the other 2 places got back to me). While the details of the job were somewhat non-transferable, I received a phenomenal insight into the daily lives of low level big law associates. I felt the firm hired a variety of personalities, there were neurotic meddlers, "nice guys", passive-aggressive types and others who were united in that they were drawn to a boutique litigation firm after working or clerking somewhere else first. My observations that most of the work they did was highly uninspiring and many quit after working for just one year (part of their hiring model for annual recruitment one partner quipped to me). Thus I came into law school pretty unamused with the "BigLaw" career as a substantive category.
 
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The influencer's post received over a thousand likes and countless views. By some statistics the post was successful simply because the story gained attention (source needed). In modern terms, this type of action is called "engagement farming". Put succinctly, engagement farming is a blanket term for the techniques entities use to steal your attention in the context of social media usage. Engagement farming is difficult to define because the boundaries that separate posting information in good faith and publishing "content" for the sake of exposure are difficult to identify if you're unaware that your attention is being mined.
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The Private Sector Dynamic in Morningside Heights: The Vault 10 Draft

 
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Engagement farming is separate from the relatively older phenomenons of click-farming and content farming as its usage is narrowed to the creating engagement on social media. Click farm creates simulated traffic for pay-per-click web pages and content farming deals more directly with the creation of content to create ad revenue.
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While It would be naive for me to say that coming to Columbia it was unexpected that there was a high amount of institutional reverence to the "BigLaw" legal industry, I was rightly shocked by the amount of people coming into 1L with standing offers from firms they worked at over the summer.
 
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Why is it bad? Can it really be defined as bad or good?

Framing the discussion on whether engagement farming is good or bad is difficult because the aims of engagement farming lie in "farming one's attention". On the one hand, its easy to say the practice of engagement farming is harmful because it deceives internet users and robs them of their attention—as Johnathan Haidt has articulated. On the other hand, how do we approach the concept of attention as a quasi-tangible object, one that if treated a certain way should be or could be met with government regulation?

Haidt mentions attention can be thought of as a "public good", which

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Subsection B

 
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Subsub 2

Section II

Subsection A

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Why is it bad? Can it really be defined as bad or good?

 
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Subsection B

 



RafaelMirandaSecondEssay 6 - 20 Apr 2024 - Main.RafaelMiranda
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META TOPICPARENT name="SecondEssay"

It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

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What is Engagement Farming?

A LinkedIn? "influencer" published a short story on his page:
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There was a story about an associate and a partner at a large law firm in Manhattan—the associate constantly used the delayed delivery feature on Microsoft Outlook, setting it so certain emails would send off at 10pm or later. The effect was intended to make him appear to be working harder than other people around him. In reality he wasn't always awake at 1am sending emails as much as it looked like. The effect went unnoticed until he sent an email to a newly elected partner. Interestingly, the partner set up his Microsoft Outlook to auto-reply any emails from associates sent after 10pm with the sentence "Please see me in the morning thx.". The associate woke up to the email and endured one of the most stressful mornings of his year. To the associate's unfortunate surprise, the partner had no idea why this associate was outside his door.
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There was a story about an associate and a partner at a large law firm in Manhattan—the associate constantly used the delayed delivery feature on Microsoft Outlook, setting it so certain emails would send off at 10pm or later. The effect was intended to make him appear to be working harder than other people around him. In reality he wasn't always awake at 1am sending emails as much as it looked like. The effect went unnoticed until he sent an email to a newly elected partner. Interestingly, the partner set up his Microsoft Outlook to auto-reply any emails from associates sent after 10pm with the sentence "Please see me in the morning thx.". The associate woke up to the email and endured one of the most stressful mornings of his year. To the associate's unfortunate surprise, the partner had no idea why this associate was outside his door. If you liked this story, please follow me on Linkedin and comment down below.
 
Changed:
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The influencer received a few thousand likes, and by some analyses they were successful simply because the story gained attention. In modern terms, this type of action is called "engagement farming". Put succinctly, engagement farming is a blanket term for the techniques entities use to steal your attention.
>
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The influencer's post received over a thousand likes and countless views. By some statistics the post was successful simply because the story gained attention (source needed). In modern terms, this type of action is called "engagement farming". Put succinctly, engagement farming is a blanket term for the techniques entities use to steal your attention in the context of social media usage. Engagement farming is difficult to define because the boundaries that separate posting information in good faith and publishing "content" for the sake of exposure are difficult to identify if you're unaware that your attention is being mined.
 
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Subsection A

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Engagement farming is separate from the relatively older phenomenons of click-farming and content farming as its usage is narrowed to the creating engagement on social media. Click farm creates simulated traffic for pay-per-click web pages and content farming deals more directly with the creation of content to create ad revenue.

Why is it bad? Can it really be defined as bad or good?

Framing the discussion on whether engagement farming is good or bad is difficult because the aims of engagement farming lie in "farming one's attention". On the one hand, its easy to say the practice of engagement farming is harmful because it deceives internet users and robs them of their attention—as Johnathan Haidt has articulated. On the other hand, how do we approach the concept of attention as a quasi-tangible object, one that if treated a certain way should be or could be met with government regulation?

Haidt mentions attention can be thought of as a "public good", which

 

Subsub 1


RafaelMirandaSecondEssay 5 - 20 Apr 2024 - Main.RafaelMiranda
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META TOPICPARENT name="SecondEssay"

It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

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 -- By RafaelMiranda - 17 Apr 2024
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Background

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What is Engagement Farming?

 A LinkedIn? "influencer" published a short story on his page:

There was a story about an associate and a partner at a large law firm in Manhattan—the associate constantly used the delayed delivery feature on Microsoft Outlook, setting it so certain emails would send off at 10pm or later. The effect was intended to make him appear to be working harder than other people around him. In reality he wasn't always awake at 1am sending emails as much as it looked like. The effect went unnoticed until he sent an email to a newly elected partner. Interestingly, the partner set up his Microsoft Outlook to auto-reply any emails from associates sent after 10pm with the sentence "Please see me in the morning thx.". The associate woke up to the email and endured one of the most stressful mornings of his year. To the associate's unfortunate surprise, the partner had no idea why this associate was outside his door.


RafaelMirandaSecondEssay 4 - 20 Apr 2024 - Main.RafaelMiranda
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META TOPICPARENT name="SecondEssay"

It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

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 There was a story about an associate and a partner at a large law firm in Manhattan—the associate constantly used the delayed delivery feature on Microsoft Outlook, setting it so certain emails would send off at 10pm or later. The effect was intended to make him appear to be working harder than other people around him. In reality he wasn't always awake at 1am sending emails as much as it looked like. The effect went unnoticed until he sent an email to a newly elected partner. Interestingly, the partner set up his Microsoft Outlook to auto-reply any emails from associates sent after 10pm with the sentence "Please see me in the morning thx.". The associate woke up to the email and endured one of the most stressful mornings of his year. To the associate's unfortunate surprise, the partner had no idea why this associate was outside his door.
Changed:
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The influencer received a few thousand likes, and by some analyses they were successful simply because the story gained attention. In modern terms, this type of action is called "engagement farming". Put succinctly, engagement farming is a blanket term for the techniques entities use to steal your attention. Interestingly, there is no wikipedia article for engagement farming yet (it is unclear if the term itself meets the notability requirements but i'd wager it does given Elon Musk just stated engagement farming is banned from his platform).
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The influencer received a few thousand likes, and by some analyses they were successful simply because the story gained attention. In modern terms, this type of action is called "engagement farming". Put succinctly, engagement farming is a blanket term for the techniques entities use to steal your attention.
 

Subsection A


RafaelMirandaSecondEssay 3 - 20 Apr 2024 - Main.RafaelMiranda
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META TOPICPARENT name="SecondEssay"

It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

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Engagement Farming & Internet Regulation

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Engagement Farming & Lawyers

 -- By RafaelMiranda - 17 Apr 2024

Background

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There is a story about an associate and a partner at a large law firm in Manhattan—the associate constantly used the delayed delivery feature on Microsoft Outlook, setting it so certain emails would send off at 10pm or later. The effect was intended to make him appear to be working harder than other people around him. In reality he wasn't always awake at 1am sending emails as much as it looked like. The effect went unnoticed until he sent an email to a newly elected partner. Interestingly, the partner set up his Microsoft Outlook to auto-reply any emails from associates sent after 10pm with the sentence "Please see me in the morning thx.". The associate woke up to the email and endured one of the most stressful mornings of his year. To the associate's unfortunate surprise, the partner had no idea why this associate was outside his door.
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A LinkedIn? "influencer" published a short story on his page:

There was a story about an associate and a partner at a large law firm in Manhattan—the associate constantly used the delayed delivery feature on Microsoft Outlook, setting it so certain emails would send off at 10pm or later. The effect was intended to make him appear to be working harder than other people around him. In reality he wasn't always awake at 1am sending emails as much as it looked like. The effect went unnoticed until he sent an email to a newly elected partner. Interestingly, the partner set up his Microsoft Outlook to auto-reply any emails from associates sent after 10pm with the sentence "Please see me in the morning thx.". The associate woke up to the email and endured one of the most stressful mornings of his year. To the associate's unfortunate surprise, the partner had no idea why this associate was outside his door.

The influencer received a few thousand likes, and by some analyses they were successful simply because the story gained attention. In modern terms, this type of action is called "engagement farming". Put succinctly, engagement farming is a blanket term for the techniques entities use to steal your attention. Interestingly, there is no wikipedia article for engagement farming yet (it is unclear if the term itself meets the notability requirements but i'd wager it does given Elon Musk just stated engagement farming is banned from his platform).

 

Subsection A


RafaelMirandaSecondEssay 2 - 20 Apr 2024 - Main.RafaelMiranda
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META TOPICPARENT name="SecondEssay"

It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

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Microsoft Outlook Delayed Delivery: an Arrested Development Theory of Summer Associates

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Engagement Farming & Internet Regulation

 -- By RafaelMiranda - 17 Apr 2024
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Background

There is a story about an associate and a partner at a large law firm in Manhattan—the associate constantly used the delayed delivery feature on Microsoft Outlook, setting it so certain emails would send off at 10pm or later. The effect was intended to make him appear to be working harder than other people around him. In reality he wasn't always awake at 1am sending emails as much as it looked like. The effect went unnoticed until he sent an email to a newly elected partner. Interestingly, the partner set up his Microsoft Outlook to auto-reply any emails from associates sent after 10pm with the sentence "Please see me in the morning thx.". The associate woke up to the email and endured one of the most stressful mornings of his year. To the associate's unfortunate surprise, the partner had no idea why this associate was outside his door.
 

Subsection A


RafaelMirandaSecondEssay 1 - 17 Apr 2024 - Main.RafaelMiranda
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META TOPICPARENT name="SecondEssay"
It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

Microsoft Outlook Delayed Delivery: an Arrested Development Theory of Summer Associates

-- By RafaelMiranda - 17 Apr 2024

Subsection A

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Subsection B

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Subsub 2

Section II

Subsection A

Subsection B


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