Legal News

Would You Dress Up Like Big Bird for $160,000 Year?

By Dan Slater

Litigators Michael Gardner, left, and Bill Brewer, right, are known for their dedication to traditional power dressing. Photo: Clark Perkins

What’s the effect of this era of law firm layoffs on office dress?

Apparently, power dressing is back in style. At law firm Bickel & Brewer, reports the WSJ’s Christina Binkley in her On Style column, even the mailroom clerks wear suits and ties.
As for the lawyers, name partner Bill Brewer says: “I think people expect high-powered lawyers to look like high-powered lawyers. Anything else is sending the wrong signal.”

Gretchen Neels, a Boston communications consultant who works with law firms and graduate schools, says: “In our economic times, you really want to have your game on. You can’t be too formal.” She added: “If they want you to dress up like Big Bird every day, for $160,000 a year, just do it!” Yikes.

There was a time, writes Binkley, when even Brewer’s confidence in power attire wavered. In the late 1990s, says Brewer, “we were doing work for people who were very high-profile in the new space — high tech. Many of them were business casual, or less than casual.” Brewer asked during a corporate retreat whether the firm should test business-casual for the summer.

“That’s ridiculous,” he says his partners countered. “That’s not Bickel & Brewer.”

LBers, let us know what you’re seeing. Has the recession brought back a level of austerity and formality to firms? Are associates donning more suits and ties?

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on February 05, 2009 (boomark / email).