Let's say you've been offered a job. Unfortunately, some of the terms have been changed from what you originally told. So, on the Friday night, before Super Bowl Sunday, and prior to the Monday you're supposed to start, you send an email backing out of the job.

From: Dianna Abdala
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 9:23 PM
To: William A. Korman
Subject: Thank you

Dear Attorney Korman,

At this time, I am writing to inform you that I will not be accepting your offer.

After careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that the pay you are offering would neither fulfill me nor support the lifestyle I am living in light of the work I would be doing for you. I have decided instead to work for myself, and reap 100% of the benefits that I sew.

Thank you for the interviews.

Dianna L. Abdala, Esq.

Her spelling could be better, too.

Apparently, according to one story, Will Korman tried to work this out, but she wouldn't make direct contact. In spite of the somewhat arrogant tone, she apparently wouldn't directly interact to discuss the situation. She received this response on Monday:

From: William A. Korman
To: 'Dianna Abdala'
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 12:15 PM
Subject: RE: Thank you

Dianna -

Given that you had two interviews, were offered and accepted the job (indeed, you had a definite start date), I am surprised that you chose an e-mail and a 9:30 PM voicemail message to convey this information to me. It smacks of immaturity and is quite unprofessional. Indeed, I did rely upon your acceptance by ordering stationary and business cards with your name, reformatting a computer and setting up both internal and external e-mails for you here at the office. While I do not quarrel with your reasoning, I am extremely disappointed in the way this played out. I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

- Will Korman

Now, being the seasoned "trust fund baby" (as she called herself in this Boston Globe story) she is, she just had to respond with something snide and superior:

From: Dianna Abdala
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:01 PM
To: William A. Korman
Subject: Re: Thank you

A real lawyer would have put the contract into writing and not exercised any such reliance until he did so.

Again, thank you.

What in the world was the purpose of that response?

Anyhow, this apparently does start to irritate Will Korman a little bit, as we see in his response, only slightly attempting to put her in her place (he still seems pretty controlled to me):

From: William A. Korman
To: 'Dianna Abdala'
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:18 PM
Subject: RE: Thank you

Thank you for the refresher course on contracts. This is not a bar exam question. You need to realize that this is a very small legal community, especially the criminal defense bar. Do you really want to start pissing off more experienced lawyers at this early stage of your career?

And finally, oneonce again demonstrating her keen English skills, Dianna responds in kind:

From: Dianna Abdala
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:29 PM
To: William A. Korman
Subject: Re: Thank you

bla bla bla

Heh.

Read the Globe article for the best insight into what she's like.

And now, what a legacy she's got to live down. "Aren't you the person who...?"

I think the entire situation smacks of immaturity on the part of the prospective employee and nothing less than poor judgment on the part of the prospective employer. Perhaps Mr. Korman had every right to become irritated after it appeared Ms. Abdala would accept the job. But to forward the email to a third party and advising that third party to forward his emails containing HER remarks was not very smart on his part. The Bar Association can take enough hits without this kind of high school drama taking center stage.

Apparently Korman manipulated Abdala's e-mail to misspell that term. That is why none of the press or websites are printing that part of the e-mail anymore. Check out AOL news. No one points out that he misspelled "stationery" Instead, he wrote "stationary" which means something that stands still, not moving. Check out this site and drop your bias.

http://boston.craigslist.org/rnr/134982859.html

I have been practicing law for more than 25 years. I have been an employee and and employer. I have never had or given a contract of employment. It's just not the custom or practice. I think Mr. Korman was very gracious in his initial response. Ms. Abdala comes across as a spoiled brat with her comment about him not being a "real lawyer." He knew she was not going to work for him and he wished her luck. Her response was totally uncalled for.

Ultimately, spats happen, and unfortunately, email will repeat these spats verbatim. A better practice would be to keep these conversations out of the public sphere by using security software that prevents unauthorized forwarding of email. If you're going to have a little "back and forth" you should do your best to keep it private.

Particularly within the legal community, these days, they should know better. The following is an article about email misdirection: http://www.essentialsecurity.com/Documents/article9.htm

What a little brat! That girl deserves a swift smack on the head.
She doesn't deserve to be arrogant as she is from Suffolk Law School which is a fifth-rate school in Boston. Lawyers, and I use that term very loosely, from this place usually only can get jobs locally since most outside of Boston wouldn't touch them with a ten foot gavel. Sorry if I offend anyone with these comments but I am quite familiar with Suffolk and have some friends who went there...only because nobody else would accept them. I think anyone who is realistic and honest would agree that the place is a marginal school and she is likely no legal eagle. So for her to act this way amazes me and she deserves everything that comes her way. How embarassing for her dad who is a lawyer as well.

I know some *very* successful Suffolk graduates. Perhaps you should walk inside the school before you judge.

It's the most technologically advanced law school in the country.

Her dad probably made her that way. He deserves a little egg on his face.

1. Only a fool (and an insecure fool, at that) looks down on another professional (especially in a profession as reliant on independent study as Law) based on the respective reputations of their alma maters. If she'd gone to HLS or the Fletcher School, she'd still be a troll.

2. Publishing inflammatory email is not an ethics violation; it's a public service to any of Ms. Abdala's potential colleagues or clients.

The funniest part of all this was Korman's first response. Translation: I am amazed by your lack of style, I suggest you grow some, I'll thank you for fucking off now. Bravo, sir.

We don't know whether it's her (dianna's) father who spoiled her rotten - mothers tend to have more influence, and ol' man Abdala may just have been inept in his choice of wife.

5th rate law school? What moron wrote that? Get over yourself, because when you make comments like that, you are no better than she is. Not everyone is a trust fund baby who can have daddy donate our way into Harvard law.

As Dianna Abdala sows, so shall she reap! I think the "trust fund baby" is going to find out in short order that the world can be a pretty tough place once you are out from under daddy's watchful wallet. She's now officially the Paris Hilton of the Boston legal community. Kudos to Mr. Korman for putting her in her place. It's probably the first time that it's happened. Let's hope it is not the last. Her attidude is offensive to everyone who worked hard to go through school, balancing a job, classes and studying to earn top grades.

Sorry. But if you side with Abdala, you're just plain wrong. Period.

As an individual who has just graduated law school, she has no right (and is in no position) to speak like that to a professional in her field.

People need to understand that when you just start out (no matter how good you think you are), you get paid less than those with more experience-- regardless of your "lifestyle". There is seldom an exception to this rule.

Thats FINE if you don't want to accept that level of pay. It's also fine to decline the offer. But what's not fine is ACCEPTING a position, turning it down the night before (cowardly) and then verbally harassing someone who not only is "higher" on the ladder than you, but who was nice enough to give an entry level person (KID) a position.

I think Mr. Korman's actions in sharing the message with his colleagues was exactly what this spoiled little brat needed. It is what ANY professional would do in this situation. If you come across a bad apple, especially one with a baseless ego, you WARN your colleagues. She has too large of an ego to serve, and now the world knows. She will most likely never get hired by anyone...

What's sad however, is that she will never learn a lesson from this. Whether or not she is employed, her mommy and daddy will surely give her whatever she wants anyway.

See how far spoiling your kids gets you?