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I use my assistant pretty much exclusively for putting together transmittal letters, sending/receiving docs through FedEx and processing business expense reimbursements. That seems like a fairly typical relationship firmwide. Paralegals in our group are vital because they’re the ones they’re the ones who engage with CT Corp, so they’re always busy requesting copies of certified docs from the state, filing real property docs, etc. We went without a paralegal for a month or two and it was a living hell.
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Oct 13, 2021 16:16
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SV and Phil in particular have said it best, so I'll only add the following from someone who's not naturally predisposed to delegating: don't rob a competent person of the opportunity to participate. Just bite the bullet, and force yourself to give them things to do until it becomes more natural. You don't have to get the exact division of labor right on the first try. Also, recognize that if your time is worth $300 an hour, and theirs is worth $150, its pretty clear which one should be doing letters and stuff.
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Oct 13, 2021 16:26
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Soothing Vapors posted:My first 4 secretaries were awful and I basically never talked to them, but once you get a secretary that is actually good and competent it is lifechanging. With my fifth secretary I have become a helpless babe incapable of running any aspect of my life without being swaddled in her strong, safe arms. I don;t even have to ask her to do things, she has full access to my Outlook so she just reads all of my emails and then just anticipates my needs like some sort of loving djinn. Every time she even hints at retirement I threaten to Budd Dwyer myself in her cubicle my secretary interacts with firm systems like opening clients and giving me expense reimbursements and i have no idea what else she would do but good paralegals and juniors are loving essential
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Oct 13, 2021 16:55
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Yeah all I know is when you have a bad secretary, it’s annoying as gently caress and you really feel it. I had a secretary who really only knew how to stuff envelopes, copy things, and organize paper files…she claimed not to understand how to use a USB, how to burn a CD, how to fax something (“they moved to this electronic fax and I can’t figure it out”), how to read orders that came in and schedule them, how to download ECF pleadings, how to file on ECF, how to schedule depositions… It was insane. When I left that firm she asked me to write her a reference letter she could use if she ever had to get another job and because I didn’t give a gently caress I agreed to give her one. It said “[Lady] was my secretary for 8 months. She is a pleasant person and has a method of organizing paper files that works well for her.” That was it lol
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Oct 13, 2021 17:10
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Competent support staff would be so loving great. I spent a ton of time doing menial poo poo as a junior because (2/3) of our paralegals had mulch for brains and I couldn’t trust them to put together a closing set or clean up files or pretty much anything. The competent paralegal was constantly buried with requests and eventually quit for another firm lol.
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Oct 13, 2021 17:23
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Toona the Cat posted:Question for those of us who are first-generation lawyers. Do you feel uncomfortable asking support staff for help? Like my firm has a litigation assistant who was worried I didn't like her because I haven't asked her to do anything for me. The answer is that I just feel weird asking someone to do something I could easily do myself. I'm this way because my dad was a ringknocker. But I've slowly realized that this is the answer: blarzgh posted:SV and Phil in particular have said it best, so I'll only add the following from someone who's not naturally predisposed to delegating: don't rob a competent person of the opportunity to participate. Just bite the bullet, and force yourself to give them things to do until it becomes more natural. You don't have to get the exact division of labor right on the first try.
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Oct 13, 2021 22:54
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Also, and I’m sure everyone knows this but it bears repeating, tell people please and thank you. And when they do a good job, tell them they did a good job.
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Oct 13, 2021 23:07
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In my last gov office, we had 4 paralegals for 7-8 attorneys. One paralegal was bad, two were below average, and one was a superstar. I got to start there with the superstar, and it got to the point where I could just roll into court without having looked at any of my files in the least and be completely prepared, because she had crushed all the prepwork and written out a one-paragraph summary of what needed to be done and how. But then I was deemed too good, and got assigned the bad paralegal. When I took over the office, I got to assign who got matched with whom - tougher than you'd think, because you can't summarily match the worst/best together, lest the best leave the office out of frustration.
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Oct 14, 2021 05:44
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Toona the Cat posted:your av makes zero sense m8 It's a long story - I had a beautiful panda one with a "This is my suit, color it grey" caption from someone here, but then went and criticized the direction some early access game was going in in a separate thread, and a bunch of Goon-fans got angry and one of them gave me this one. I won because the game did suck; more important, I am too cheap to get a new one.
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Oct 15, 2021 20:40
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evilweasel posted:ten years in i still have no real idea what on earth i would use my secretary for All interactions with the physical world in general and the mail / delivery systems in specific went through my secretary. Was the best thing ever.
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Oct 17, 2021 01:31
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I once used a secretary. But I had to redo all the letters she wrote, so I stopped using her. Other attorneys in my office share continued to employ her, so it was awkward.
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Oct 18, 2021 03:47
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Toona the Cat posted:Question for those of us who are first-generation lawyers. Do you feel uncomfortable asking support staff for help? Like my firm has a litigation assistant who was worried I didn't like her because I haven't asked her to do anything for me. The answer is that I just feel weird asking someone to do something I could easily do myself. yup. you'll probably get over it by year 5. you're a boss now. not in a cool way, but in a poo poo, "am I the baddie?" kind a way. the answer is yes, yes you are. don't be an rear end in a top hat. but delegate according to staff's capabilities. if you come across any staff who is above-average competent and gives a poo poo, do anything in your power to make them stay.
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Oct 19, 2021 06:55
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Toona the Cat posted:Question for those of us who are first-generation lawyers. Do you feel uncomfortable asking support staff for help? Like my firm has a litigation assistant who was worried I didn't like her because I haven't asked her to do anything for me. The answer is that I just feel weird asking someone to do something I could easily do myself. Not a first generation lawyer, but at the PD's office, no. gently caress if I was going to learn how to file things. At my current job, we have a pool which is super hit and miss with quality. I avoid asking for things beyond what is strictly required because of that. My dad's had the same secretary since I can remember (probably at least 25 years), which is loving wild, but I guess he hasn't driven her to quit or change attorneys, so that's something. Green Crayons posted:
nm fucked around with this message at 08:14 on Oct 19, 2021 |
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Oct 19, 2021 08:12
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evilweasel posted:ten years in i still have no real idea what on earth i would use my secretary for 10 years in and we still bone like we're cheating on each other WITH each other.
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Oct 24, 2021 04:24
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Hot Dog Day #91 posted:10 years in and we still bone like we're cheating on each other WITH each other. Needs a taint status report.
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Oct 25, 2021 13:53
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So hey, since I know you all love making fun of law students and recent law graduates who have bad things happen to them, let me tell you a story. During 3L winter I accepted an in-house associate counsel job for decent money. There was even talk about paid leave to study for the bar, although I wasn't holding my breath on that part. So that was great... ...And then the day before graduation the company decided they were no longer cool with hiring a new grad in a counsel role and "revised" the offer to a non-legal garbage title and a $40k pay cut. Were they just trying to get rid of me? Alas, no, they had the temerity to hound me for months after I declined. So anyway I don't work there.
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Oct 25, 2021 23:05
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That sucks. Did you get a job somewhere else?
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Oct 25, 2021 23:07
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Why weren’t you here for the last three years detailing your self-destructive tendencies and cataloging your terrible impulse control?
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Oct 26, 2021 02:36
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Hot Dog Day #91 posted:10 years in and we still bone like we're cheating on each other WITH each other. lmao
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Oct 26, 2021 03:03
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Phil Moscowitz posted:That sucks. No, but I haven't made any effort to do so. I decided to take some time to try to get right mentally after the whole pandemic law school and pandemic bar experience. Toona the Cat posted:Why weren’t you here for the last three years detailing your self-destructive tendencies and cataloging your terrible impulse control? I haven't physically seen my law school or classmates since February 2020, so...
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Oct 26, 2021 08:51
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Pinky Artichoke posted:No, but I haven't made any effort to do so. I decided to take some time to try to get right mentally after the whole pandemic law school and pandemic bar experience. What role were you supposed to play at the in-house gig?
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Oct 26, 2021 17:24
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When I graduated law school, the one thing that lawyers told me was "Now is the worst time to be a law school graduate, except for the time when I graduated." So I will say that now is probably the worst it's ever been, except for when I graduated from law school.
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Oct 26, 2021 20:10
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It is always getting worse because pay is always decreasing as workload increases. Twice a year, tens of thousands of new lawyers get admitted across the nation and gleefully fill up poo poo positions for poo poo pay because there is far more supply than demand.
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Oct 26, 2021 20:14
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The worst time to become a lawyer is tomorrow.
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Oct 26, 2021 20:30
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Nice piece of fish posted:The worst time to become a lawyer is tomorrow.  I always tell people the best time to become a lawyer was 50 years ago. If you can't manage that, shoot for 30 years ago. Barring that, 20 years ago was ok.
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Oct 26, 2021 20:35
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Nice piece of fish posted:The worst time to become a lawyer is tomorrow.
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Oct 26, 2021 20:36
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Mr. Nice! posted:
I hosed up and didn't get started till 15 years ago but it worked out ... ok ?
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Oct 26, 2021 20:36
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Mr. Nice! posted:
Becoming a lawyer is equivalent to buying property in Southern California. It was both affordable and cool 50-70 years ago. Now it's crowded, expensive, and everything smells like piss.
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Oct 26, 2021 20:48
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Nice piece of fish posted:The worst time to become a lawyer is tomorrow. Thread updated but I changed this to be a better honeypot
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Oct 26, 2021 21:03
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The future is bright. Limitless work.
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Oct 26, 2021 21:08
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Phil Moscowitz posted:Thread updated but I changed this to be a better honeypot Hi I'm not a lawyer but it sounds like I'll be getting in on the ground floor? What I'm hearing is that I should definitely trust the recently-changed title instead of all the info in the OP (incl. video "Don't be a Lawyer") and first-hand anecdotes from lawyer friend whose debt is not quite soul-crushing anymore but definitely still inescapable. Do I have it right?
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Oct 26, 2021 21:30
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CubicalSucrose posted:Hi I'm not a lawyer but it sounds like I'll be getting in on the ground floor? Yes! We’re working on updating the OP to reflect the realities of the legal profession. Things have changed my friend, things have changed.
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Oct 26, 2021 21:32
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SlyFrog posted:What role were you supposed to play at the in-house gig? Privacy. It's apparently not that unusual to hire someone who can understand the tech stack and has a grasp of privacy laws but needs training as a lawyer.
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Oct 26, 2021 21:39
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sullat posted:When I graduated law school, the one thing that lawyers told me was "Now is the worst time to be a law school graduate, except for the time when I graduated." So I will say that now is probably the worst it's ever been, except for when I graduated from law school. The demand for expendable bodies to grind into dust is actually quite high right now. Probably the highest it's been since pre-2008? Who knows how long that will last, though! Pinky Artichoke posted:No, but I haven't made any effort to do so. I decided to take some time to try to get right mentally after the whole pandemic law school and pandemic bar experience. See above. If you were previously on course for an in-house job right out of law school you can probably still land a firm gig. And it will of course suck a great deal. But you will probably get paid more than you would have in the in-house role. Vox Nihili fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Oct 27, 2021 |
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Oct 27, 2021 04:43
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Getting a practicing certificate again after surviving eight whole years outside the profession. I feel dirty.
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Oct 27, 2021 05:30
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Mr. Nice! posted:
20 years ago was quite terrible, in fact, and likely worse than any year before/since. Change it to 21 and I'll thumbs up that.
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Oct 27, 2021 06:11
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Phil Moscowitz posted:Thread updated but I changed this to be a better honeypot You've heard about Lawful Evil Now meet Phil Moscowitz, Evil Evil.
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Oct 27, 2021 06:35
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I got the receptionist to do something menial today that saved me like 30 minutes of cussing at the copier and I feel like a slave driver.
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Oct 27, 2021 07:26
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Go to law school, you fucks. HTH.
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Oct 27, 2021 09:33
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Go to law school, the profession is awesome and the selection methods developed by law firms over the decades have organically evolved to prevent anyone but the best people from staying in the field. No matter where you work and what you do in law, the work will be fantastic and fulfilling, and don't get me started on the awesome crew that you will inevitably be a part of!
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Oct 27, 2021 09:45
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