Hello,
I am a young attorney, with just over a year since being licensed in California. I do civil litigation, Plaintiff's work. I think my salary is quite solid for working in a firm with just 4 attorneys (150k, plus bonuses per settlement). With that said, I personally handle 110 client files. That of course requires me going to hearings at least 3 times a week, attending and taking depositions, drafting multiple sets of discovery, doing all the motion work that inevitably arises (especially in the more disputed liability matters--which tends to be often once a case gets to lit), speaking and negotiating with opposing counsel and adjusters, and of course keeping the client informed (which can be rather tedious, long and difficult to explain the "progress" when as I am sure you all know, is slow and grueling in lit). Yes, there is support staff, but the only thing they really do is propound the initial set of written discovery and respond to requests. There also is an office manager who handles the calendaring, who I might add is a difficult person to work with.
My supervisor is one of the partners who I do really like, but he is usually oblivious to my day to day strides on cases, because well, he probably rather be a business owner than an attorney. With that said, I have been thrown in the deep end since I first became an attorney, and have learned a lot, and I am very grateful for what I have seen and done. I have personally settled nearly 1.5 million dollars worth of cases this year alone, which in this particular situation, is about 20 cases settled roughly.
Can someone tell me whether I am being over-worked or if this is normal for an associate under my circumstances?