an attempt to uncover the truth about September 11th 2001

M.I.T., Rotch Visual Collections

2.2 THE LAWYER: HALE AND DORR

A large law firm usually has a number of seniority levels through which fledgling lawyers rise as they gain experience. Hale and Dorr prefers to hire new law school graduates and train them for several years as Associates. Those who demonstrate the best ability are offered junior partner status and share in the profits of the firm. Many eventually are promoted to the Senior Partnership, exercising managerial responsibilities and owning a percentage of the corporation.

Hale and Dorr specializes in corporate law, but offers its clientele a full range of legal services. As a businessman's law firm, they pursue a straightforward common-sense approach. The firm takes pride in retaining an organization which de-emphasizes hierarchy. The organization of Hale and Dorr is presented in Figure 2.5. A Senior Partner heads each of the operating divisions: Litigation (30% of the workload); Corporate Law (25%), Commercial Law (5%); Real Estate Law (15%); Probate, Tax, ad Estate Law (15%); and General Practice (15%). To assist the professional staff, Hale and Dorr employs approximately 225 legal assistants, secretaries and administrators in five service departments: Office Administration and Personnel, General Services, Filing and Mail, Accounting, and Data Processing. An Executive Committee, composed of the heads of the divisions, and the three managing partners, plays the central managerial role and sets top policy.

Although the firm supports more than one hundred lawyers, Hale and Dorr strives for a small firm approach. Partners develop their practice with a great deal of independence, attempting to render complete, personal service to their clients.

Prospective clients are steered toward the operating division best suited to their legal problem. One partner will act as the client's contact and team leader, assigning work to associates and enlisting the aid of other divisions should the scope of the work warrant. Division heads coordinate the personnel demands of their teams. The firm bills on a cost-per-hour basis, although most employees are salaried. Sixty State Street's legal work was supervised by John Hamilton, a partner in the Real Estate Division. Through him, Hale and Dorr exchaged numerous drafts of the Land Disposition Agreement with the BRA. The firm maintained a fairly steady but not heavy work load on the LDA over long periods of time. Although the LDA was in preparation for at least three different development proposals, Hale ad Dorr was able to make use of research and information collected in later drafts.

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