First Thing We Do Let’s Fire All The Lawyers

by on March 2, 2005

No one ever said there wouldn’t be losers from the planned MCI-Verizon merger. Among the most hard-hit, apparently, will be lawyers. The Legal Times reported recently that the merged firm is expected to “slash” its legal team, which includes 357 in-house attorneys, plus countless others in outside firms. The carnage might not stop there, as the Times quotes one lawyer saying: “Every firm that has a telecom practice is going to get squeezed.”

One problem is that, in addition to the normal sort of legal work any firm has, telecom companies have long devoted enormous resources litigating and lobbying against each other. MCI has been especially lawyer-dependent, with much of its business plan since 1996 dependent upon regulatory largesse. With this year’s mergers, that industry civil war may be be over, or at least be less intense. That’s good news for consumers–as the industry may actually be able to focus on serving customers rather than legal papers.

The heart breaks, however, for the JD’s that might be left behind. Perhaps an EsquireAid concert could be organized…

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James Gattuso / James Gattuso is a Senior Research Fellow in Regulatory Policy in the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Gattuso also leads the Enterprise and Free Markets Initiative at Heritage, with responsiblity for a range of regulatory and market issues. Prior to joining Heritage, he served as Vice President for Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and also as Vice President for Policy Development with Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE). From 1990 to 1993, he was Deputy Chief of the Office of Plans and Policy at the Federal Communications Commission. From May 1991 to June 1992, he was detailed from the FCC to the office of Vice President Dan Quayle, where he served as Associate Director of the President's Council on Competitiveness. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife Dana, 8 year-old son, Peter (whom he relies upon to operate his VCR), and his four year-old daughter Lindsey (who does the DVD player.) He has no known hobbies, but is not nearly as boring as he seems.

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