As a general rule, we don’t mention many law firms by name on this
blog. On the rare occasions that we do, it’s usually because they’ve
done something stupid, or illegal, or they’ve gone out of business and
it’s plastered all over the main stream news sites and the rest of the
blawgosphere. As a very specific, and very self-preserving rule, we
NEVER mention our own firms by name. No one wants an irate CMO as their
mortal nemesis.
But once in a great while (never before
that I can recall), a firm does something so positive, so remarkable,
so worthy of praise, that to not acknowledge it publicly would be to
invite karmic retribution to rival the ire of any CMO. And when that
firm is my own, the sense of pride I feel is strong enough to empower
the breaking of even the most long-standing of taboos.
On Tuesday night, March 18th, the UK organization Music in Offices held
the finals of it’s biennial Office Choir of the Year competition. OCOTY
is the “March Madness” of office choir competitions. Beginning in early
February more than 20 office choirs compete in “heats” leading to a
semi-final performance in late February and ultimately the finals in
mid-March. This year’s final four office choirs were from Deloitte, Dunnhumby, BNP Paribas, and Norton Rose Fulbright.
I
am extremely proud to report that Norton Rose Fulbright won the 2014
competition! Our choir, and the competition, is based in London and I’m
in New York, so sadly my contribution was limited to cheering on friends
and colleagues from afar and watching Twitter anxiously for the
results. While I am thrilled that NRF won the competition, and I am very
proud of my fellow NRF musicians, I am most excited to see professional
services organizations, including banks, accountants, marketing, and,
most happily, law firms supporting the arts within their organizations.
Large corporate donations to professional arts organizations are great,
but supporting your fellow employees who want to sing, or play, or
create together, is a potentially transformational act. We expect law
firms to have talented lawyers, but when employees are encouraged to
express their artistic talents it can give your firm a tremendous boost
to creativity and morale.
I have written before that The Arts Create Future Geeks,
which is my way of saying creative, intelligent, focused, and capable
people. Thank you to Music in Offices for surfacing the latent or hidden artistic talents in the corporate world.
And congratulations to the Norton Rose Fulbright 2014 Office Choir of the Year!