u/left-turn3894

I am 6 months postpartum. I switched jobs a month after I got back from maternity leave (got 3 months). I had a pretty traumatic go with my first, emergency c section and other complications that almost took both me and my son out. We both spent a while in the hospital. Physically I feel I am still recovering. I gained a lot of weight during pregnancy and not much has come off despite walking, trying to adjust my diet, and starting a GLP-1 last month.

Starting this job has been great as far as the hours, it’s close to home, and it has much more flexibility. However, I am only a second year and switching practice areas has presented somewhat of a learning curve. I just feel like my brain is not working like it was before postpartum… so much so that I think it’s noticeable. I move a little slower and my attention span is much shorter right now. Our baby sleeps pretty well, so I think it’s just me and trying to manage the hormones and all of the changes to my body. I’m sure post partum is hard in this way for any working mom, but as a law mom, I feel like the challenge really presents itself because of how much our credibility is crucial in this profession. As much as I want to believe we have evolved as a society and in this profession, I have felt some hostility from staff members and others in my firm due to this vulnerability. Yes, I have told most that I have a 6 month old. When I first started this job, my son was knee deep in the 4 month sleep regression. And while it has been 2 months, I feel like I blinked and I still have so much to learn. Anyway, I feel like this has become somewhat of a vent session. Can anyone relate to this? Do I just need to suck it up?

Recently started as a junior associate at a creditor’s rights firm after two years of ID work. Long story short, had some developments in my personal life that required a step back from fast paced litigation (and I have questions about whether this was the right move, but that’s for another post). There are no billable requirements and so far, I really like the partners. Not sure if this is an industry standard but the firm is staffed much heavier and only has about 6 attorneys total (including partners) and there are only three associates in the office (including me).

The dynamic is bizarre. Both of the other junior associates were licensed at the same time as me (less than three years) so keep that in mind. One associate has been there since she was licensed and it was her first legal job outside of law school, we will call her Tammy. The other associate, we will call him Chad, started at the firm about nine months ago. Chad is ex-military, law is his second career, and he’s about 10 years older than me and the other associate. Before this firm, he worked as a prosecutor for a little while in a small county.

Since the firm is so small, partners tasked both junior associates with training me on significant portions of our case load. This puts me in a very vulnerable position, because I obviously have to learn standards and procedures from these associates that could make or break my work performance.

My fourth day at this firm, Chad comes into my office and closes my door and begins speaking negatively about Tammy, about her work product, her attitude, how she treats the staff, and even tells me that he has approached the managing partner with concerns about her. He advises me to keep my distance, says he doesn’t even interact with her, and moves on about his day. I keep my mouth shut, but I’m not going to lie, I noticed that Tammy was checked out because she was the first of the associates to sit down and have a “training session” with me. I vibed some issues with her competency and her tendency to throw the staff under the bus for issues that she should have taken accountability for.

Fast forward to my second week of employment at this firm, Tammy comes into my office, shuts the door, and begins speaking negatively about Chad, unprompted. She says he’s a performative overachiever and hustle culture enthusiast, always trying to get the attention of the partners and tends to manage people who he is not even in a position of authority to manage. Tammy goes on to say that she actually submitted her resignation from this firm because she could not handle how the staff were dropping the ball and was worried about her license, but was convinced to stay by the managing partner. She says nothing has improved but she stayed anyway (not sure why) and advises me to watch my back with the staff, because they can “really screw you over” given that this is a high volume practice and you can’t have your eyes on everything. She communicated that her case load is too large and that she was eager to switch much of it over to me now that I’ve started with the firm. After about a month with the firm, I have personally witnessed that Chad has the qualities described, that he is unnecessarily competitive, lives for recognition and I’ve vibed that maybe he’s trying to compete for power of some sort (whether that’s partnership or another leadership position within the firm). I have witnessed him being condescending and judgmental during training “sessions”, often talking over me or explaining things in the most complicated way possible, which I tend to think is purposeful to keep me beneath him.

All in all, this seems to be a comparison game with both Tammy and Chad, and I don’t want to play.

Basically, how do I cover myself in this situation? I just want to do my job and go home, that’s why I left ID. I am grateful we don’t have billables, but I am not a fan of the corporate-level drama. I don’t even know if I should go to my partners about this issue… Any advice?