r/paralegal

I worked really hard to get my first paralegal job and I’m not loving it. I’m in a certificate program and adore the classes and have done well in them. the head of the program even offered to write me a recommendation letter.

however every Sunday I feel sick to my stomach and dread going to work at my firm. I feel like I get a lot of work dumped on my desk with little to no training, and I was told I’d be doing more litigation work but really most of the time I’m requesting medical records that the pre litigation team didn’t feel like requesting.

the medical records requests are so frustrating to me since there’s no universal directory for where everything goes and I feel like I’m guessing. the files come to me and are a mess and missing things they tell me they have or they will tell me they ARE missing something, and it’s right in the file. I just hate doing it overall

the work environment has drama in it. also everyone else has hybrid work schedules and I am in office every day commuting 4 hours every day. I pay for my own commute and it’s $34 a day and I make $22 an hour on a 38 hour workweek in a high cost of living area. I’m the only person fully in the office

I spent about $700 on public transportation to get to work last month

the partner is nice sometimes but he will be a little demeaning and like over explain the simplest things to me like looking up a client in the system, but yet I have no training in the actual work like getting the medical records or how the hospitals are set up.

they also make me be the receptionist when the receptionist isn’t there and the other paralegals refuse to take intakes so I end up doing all of the intakes and then it interrupts my actual work. they also have a chaotic system for managing costs. the receptionist job is to be done at the same time as the other work, but yet involves scanning and sorting hundreds of faxes as they come in and answering all of the calls.

an invoice comes in and then you put it in the system and have to manually request a check and send a note to a username called costs. the invoice goes in the messy S drive. is it normal for a paralegal to have to manage the costs?

i basically just do the medical records and bookkeeping and I was hired to do litigation work

overall is this just a firm specific problem or am I just a bad fit for the industry?

since today is Sunday I’m feeling absolutely miserable. any advice is welcome

Calling out to the void to ask if anyone's firm is hiring? **😭😭**I literally send out over 20 online job applications (file clerk, calendar clerk, entry-level positions) every day and never hear back and/or get rejected - literally nothingburger. Just a month into post-grad and I feel useless I just want a job in the legal field for these gap years 😭

(btw im based in LA and have legal experience... so many firms yet no one is hiring at this point should i just start dropping by in person)

Not sure if this is the right place to post this. I'm legal assistant in "regulations". I had been debating on law school before I landed this job, and after a year into this position it makes me want to rethink law.

The head of our department is nice and somewhat laid-back, but just a terrible boss all around. They don't hire competent attorneys and that causes more work for us legal assistants in having to babysit and train these attorneys in order for their cases to move forward. We were also given very little training ourselves. If the cases don't move forward, we get the blame for it no matter how many times we sit and walk it through with the attorneys to get them to review drafts. Some of the attorneys have been there for a while and will straight up throw other assistants under the bus for drafts they haven't looked at in weeks.

To be fair, we do have it better than most private law sectors, but in terms of training or communication the office is a complete mess. This job also offers no flexibility. We are in the office 40 hours a week and we are not exempt, no remote days. The person in charge of the legal assistants also wants out of the job and acknowledges all the issues but they're not willing to demand changes for our positions.

I used to be so set on becoming a lawyer but this job has turned me off to it entirely. I work with some great people -at the end of the day we can make a great team and get things done when we have to but my position in the department is the most draining. Not sure what to do, but I'm definitely planning on quitting at the end of the year and rethinking if law is right for me. I'm good at law. I love finance and business and the art of contracts. I loved reading. But this job has kind of sucked all the wonder of being a lawyer out of me. I'm not sure if becoming a lawyer is still a good idea and legal assistants just get the shitty end of the stick or if this truly is what all jobs in law are like... am I over indexing the experience of being a lawyer with my experience of being a legal assistant? I have no idea.

Buckle up, people.

I started my career in the mailroom of a boutique law firm with about 60 employees. One of the associates, who later became a partner, was known as “The Assistant Killer.” No one could live up to his expectations.

I was best friends with a woman (let’s call her Jane) who was assigned to be The Assistant Killer’s assistant and shortly thereafter she went off the deep end. She started drinking Four Locos in the bathroom at the office, showing up high, losing touch with reality. Witnessing her downward spiral was, in all seriousness, traumatic.

Anyway, one day Jane came into the office drunk and high and started yelling at her boss about wanting a raise. Jane’s boss told her to go home and get her shit together (not in those words). Then Jane’s boss asked me to go outside and check on her because they knew Jane and I were BFFs. So I went outside and found Jane crying and ranting. Then, Jane pulled a chef’s knife out of her bag and said she was going to “merk everyone in the office.” I said “merk?” and she said “it means kill.” And then she said “I’m going to merk [The Assistant Killer] and turn him into a birdbath.”

Now, Jane had previously told me she was going to turn The Assistant Killer (and various other people) into a birdbath, but it’s such a ridiculous statement that I never even considered it a legitimate threat. But there she was, standing in front of me with a giant knife, saying delusional things, and I was like, “Oh my god, she might be serious.”

So, Jane left and I went back into the office and I was SHOOK. I had to report the threats directed towards the staff and, in particular, The Assistant Killer.

And, oh man, did shit hit the fan. Police were involved, we had an impromptu, mandatory firm-wide meeting where everyone was told what to do if they saw Jane or if Jane tried to contact them. I was advised that I shouldn’t go home because Jane knew where I lived. It was insane.

Fast forward, I was promoted to legal assistant and assigned to support The Assistant Killer. But by that point, I had (potentially) saved The Assistant Killer’s life so he and I got along quite well.

The end.

Hello.

I've been applying to paralegal/legal assistant positions since January of this year, and graduated this May. I've heard back from one law firm, after getting a single interview. They that told me I'm accomplished; set a high bar for other applicants; and would be an amazing addition to their team, but due to my inexperience, I would not be a good fit for their firm.

I have two years of work experience handling low-level student offenses. I lost this job because it was a student position and I graduated this spring.

Personal grievances aside, I ask just one thing: IF WE FOLLOW THE ADVICE THAT SAYS "DO NOT GET A PARALEGAL CERTIFICATE," HOW ARE RECENT GRADS SUPPOSED TO GET A JOB WHEN THEY ARE REJECTED ON THE BASIS OF INEXPERIENCE?

I know a certificate program does not secure a job, but it acts as a step in the right direction. If resolving low level offenses and resolving court referrals wont help me get a paralegal position, how would a certificate program be a step in the Wrong direction? or is this just bad advice?

Anyone else having to work the 4th of July substitute? Courts are closed near and my entire family is off work but my attorney wants me to work because he’s working…. #feelingsalty

I’ve been a paralegal for three years, and I still don’t feel confident about my billing.

My practice area involves a lot of small tasks for many different clients throughout the day. On most days, I work on 15+ client matters, with lots of .1 and .2 time entries for responding to emails and quickly reviewing documents. I also have anxiety and attention issues, which definitely make tracking billable time more difficult.

I’ve tried timing myself throughout the day, and it helps a little. The problem is that I inevitably forget to stop/start the timer when a new email comes in and I get distracted. Sometimes I also go too far down the rabbit hole researching an issue or overthinking while editing emails. When that happens, I feel guilty billing the client for all of that time. For example, if I spend 15 minutes overthinking an email that should have taken about 5 minutes, I can’t bring myself to bill .3 hours for it.

Even when I use timers all day, I end up with about half the hours I need to hit my billable requirement. The problem isn’t a lack of work. I have more than enough billable work and constantly feel behind on my tasks.

I’d appreciate any and all advice from people who have struggled with this. Does anyone relate?

My attorney told me I can notify a provider that we were sent the wrong persons records so I sent this letter on firm letterhead “ We have received records responsive to a different patient/client than the one identified in our request. Please review and provide the correct records for our client as set forth in the original request. For your convenience, the original request is enclosed for reference. thank you for your cooperation in this matter and if you respond via fax heres the firm fax number.” Is this okay? He directed me to send a letter over our phone call but didn’t ask to review it or specify what to say other than that we were sent the wrong ones and need the right ones. I sent on firm letterhead since that’s how they want the initial request sent

however now I’m worried I did something wrong and unauthorized - am I okay?

I (25/F) have worked at a small law firm for two years. This was my first job out of college. I entered the position deeply insecure about my education, and willing to over work myself to no end to let them keep me there.

Over the past two years, the team of three partners and their chief of staff pseudo HR person have been deeply bipolar towards me. Always expecting me to overwork myself, have me train everybody at the firm, expect me to learn new procedure every month when they can’t even agree on what the procedure is, publicly berate me for every mistake I make, and just in general treat me poorly.

I never stood up for myself because I always thought this is what law firms were just like. But as we hired more staff overtime I met people who had worked in the industry telling me how the way our firms runs is unheard of and telling me I am being mistreated.

TLDR: they recently fired the only other competent person at work, and are about to give me all of her cases. I no longer want to work here and I really need to figure out how I’m gonna do this on Monday.

My bosses are toxic and narcissistic. The HR person actively makes up lies to make it seem like the employees themselves are always the problem. They told an experienced paralegal who they fired that they will sue her if she filed for unemployment. They are allegedly well connected and I do not want them to bad mouth me and put me in a position where I cannot find work after this.

Please give me any tips on how to effectively quit this job in the most professional way possible. I know I cannot control their response, but I want to ensure I’m doing as best as I could on my end.

Note: thank you so much to everyone for your messages. I am so grateful I’m not being crazy.

Hi all! I’m a rising midlevel atty who recently transitioned from gov’t to private practice (same practice area, just never been client-facing) who is lucky enough to be adopted by a younger paralegal who has honestly trained me - and served as a sounding board/sanity check in emergencies - as much as my managing partner.

As such, I’d like to get something for her birthday, which is at the end of the month, although I’d like to keep it <$30 or so. Our senses of humor are weird enough to pull off a “World’s Best Paralegal” mug or something, but I’d like less of a novelty gift as it is meant to be a sincere gesture of appreciation (plus others at the firm have given novelty gifts already).

In this situation, what would you want to receive as a token of gratitude and acknowledgment from the baby atty you’ve spent the past year corralling? Please don’t say a thoughtful card as that’s my default and accompanies every gift I give. Thanks for any suggestions!!

Also, shoutout to all y’all making sure that your attorneys can properly file the motions they stayed up until 11:52pm writing that’s due before midnight, affirm their proposed counteroffer as reasonable and what the boss would do, and tag-team clients who are fraying both of your last nerves. For every atty treating you like crap, please know there’s a million of us who thank God you work down the hall and know how to lawyer.

EDIT: LONG POST

Despite my new job as a baby litigation paralegal at a small local firm going really well, there's been a few red flags I was kind of willing to work around.

There's a requirement of 1850 hours of billing annually. But the secretaries are mostly useless so we have to do non billable tasks anyways? Overtime is consistently denied.

The senior paralegals who are supposed to be training / mentoring me and the other new paralegal are getting in trouble for training us because the office administrator and the firms CEO refuse to allocate funding towards training... So it eats into their billable time. I'm certainly not an expert and I need their help until I'm more confident. But apparently they're not allowed to help me anymore.

I found out that the senior paralegals often and consistently work for free. Staying late most days until 8 or 9 PM and coming in early... And working on weekends! So I asked them if they got OT for that and they said no, that's how they choose to spend their time. What the fuck?

I was told I'd be expected to work outside of my hours for free if I was needed and I'm like lol no...if you're not paying me then I'm not replying to emails and doing work after 5 PM.

Firm is smallish like 25 or so people. Split 50/50 with liberal and conservative views. Owner and main partner is conservative head honcho. He is a nice guy regardless of his conservative and religious views I just don't bring that stuff up at work.

Anyways, I've been trying my best to be taken seriously and I actually don't hate working here. I appreciate that they've given me the opportunity to be a paralegal and get experience. I even have my own office. HOWEVER:

I was working on a task another paralegal gave me so I can get more hands on experience with document review and creating case chronologies. All case docs have the initials of the partner, assigned associate and paralegal on the case. I kept noticing the initials of an associate I didn't recognize. Couldn't find anyone's name who had the same initials on the HR platform, not on the firm website, not even a saved email.

So I pop into my secretary's office and ask her whose initials they are and she makes a face and tells me to go talk to my coworker about it (other paralegal, cool guy).

So he gives me the details. Owner/Partner of the firm hired a convicted felon who raped someone in 2004. Lost his license to practice in the state and was disbarred. He was supposed to get 8 years of prison but somehow got just a few months and a slap on the wrist. Coworker tells me that the owner basically doesn't believe that this unlicensed attorney should have his life forever ruined from a mistake, says he is brilliant yada yada, has turned his life around, is married with kids. I'm fucking horrified. Apparently 90% of the office is pissed about it but the owner doesn't care.

The kicker? He's not an official employee, he's labelled as a contractor so they don't have to publicize they have a rapist working for us. They are withholding his name from the clients whose cases he works on. He is the only remote worker who isn't allowed in the office and doesn't go to firm events. That's why everyone's pissed but complacent I guess? But apparently most people think if the clients found out they'd withdraw from the firm and tank the business.

I'm so fucking conflicted. I think it's foul and disgusting and as a woman who's been assaulted just fucking no way I could ever support that. But the owner believes in second chances bullshit. I don't fucking know. I'm pissed that nobody told me this before I accepted the position. I'm not sure if I should quit out of complete disgust and rage or grit my teeth and take the experience for a reference and move on. I lost all respect for the owner.

Any backup career plans?

Mine is to move into a van and live off the grid maybe out West.

Everywhere wants experience. Even Legal Assistant and """""Entry Level"""""" I can't get a job. I applied to over 70 places in 3 different states with no luck. My undergraduate degree was a double major in Legal Studies and Sociology. Since I couldn't get a job, I did a Paralegal Studies Certification programs online through Boston University. Still no luck. It hasn't been long since i completed the certification program so I have just recently been able to add that to my resume. The only internships I can find are for current undergraduate students. The whole "3-5 years of experience" is making me so frustrated. How is one expected to get experience if no one will hire without any??? I'm frustrated, tired, and depressed. I'm working in the restaurant industry again and it feels like all the debt and time i spent in college was for absolutely nothing. I'm in my mid/late 20's and still unable to get a career going.

Out of curiosity, how many billable hours are you expected to hit each month?

My firm has never explicitly given us a requirement, but everyone knows they'd like us to bill 100+ hours a month. I'm curious what your firm's expectation is and what you're actually billing.

I'm also very pregnant, and my billing has definitely been slipping lately. Seeing exactly how productive (or unproductive) I've been each month has been... discouraging. I've been billing around 80–90 hours a month the past few months, and I feel like a failure. 🥲

I just got my first job as a paralegal in April. I love it. I love the company, I love the pace, I love my coworkers, my attorney is awesome but I have one complaint.

My senior paralegal talks WAY. TOO. MUCH. Every question I have turns into a 2-5 minutes response. He will give me the answer but in between so many words. Then he will give me numerous examples of hypotheticals and examples of what others have done. This would be so helpful but there are too many words. There's too much talking, I get so lost in alllll of the information he gives me.

I am frequently so confused and have to replay the response in my head to find the answer I need. He is soooooo so so FANTASTIC at his job, but sometimes I feel 1000x more confused with answer than my question.

I'm doing well and I'm grasping everything, but sometimes I'm more confused after the answer than I was to begin with.

**DEEP SIGH*** thanks for letting me get this out.

EDIT: wow, I only got 5 comments on this but holy shit, y'all are SO HELPFUL. I never considered looking at it from the lense of, I will likely need to know that weird and seemingly random scenario, for later. Thank you guys so much. I really really want to learn, it's just hard because I don't know what I don't know 😅 so sometimes alllll or the info being thrown at me, is confusing. But being able to see it from the perspectives y'all have all talked about, wow. World of difference. Thank you.

I start my new job next Monday at a really good law firm. It’s an entry level job as a calendar clerk. I sign my offer letter ect ect… didn’t hear from them for a few weeks. Decided to wait till this week and if they didn’t email, I would email by Tuesday. Because of the holidays and the weekend coming up, I’m being very cautious. So instead of waiting till Wednesday, I reached out on Tuesday. Heard back from them she explained that they would reach out by the end of the week. Great. Yesterday I get this long ass email with so much. Firstly works supposed to start at 9 am as stated in the offer letter but they want me there at 9:30 am confused but well I’ll be following what the email says. My supervisor is the person who did my interview, hahahaha the more I learn about this damn guy, the more he freaks the hell out of me. Why? He’s like an award winning good lawyer or whatever. Fuck me. From my interview all that sticks out to me is don’t be late, and do your work properly if you don’t want any issues with me. And it was just the interview. From dress code polished and corporate. Hi best believe I’m sort of lost but I think I got it hopefully. My mind is going wild. I refuse to weird heels plus right now is not like I can afford any of this lmaooo I am the definition of broke right now lmaoooo. Thank god my partner and mom honestly. Even if I don’t have the best relationship with her. Hey mom is being supported. And I have to take headshots for my ID. Oh my god, you should see my hair. I don’t even know what the hell to do. Do I go to the post office or like a cvs or take it myself? Do I smile or ???? Makeup? And on top of that I have to write a bio about me. Oh my god. I know I’m complaining and ranting but fuck. It’s like lady why didn’t you send this email out on Monday so I can figure this shit out. Now I’m basically broke lmaaooo. Waiting on some money to be able to go to like cvs to take the headshots because I’m overweight and although I’ve lost so much weight my arms seem to not get the memo that they need to not be so fat lmaooo. Soooo no to blazer and button down. I’m going with like a nice elbow length short, high collar but not too high where I feel like I’m hot. Sooo yeah I spend a bit of money there, brought a bag because I was gifted two bags and brighter feel like they would do the job aka too small. A wallet because I started feeling self conscious after looking online when it comes to certain outfits or places. And shoes. My shoes cost like 20 dollars. All day I was think heels. I have heels but not appropriate for work. I seriously would die by mid day. Sooooo hopefully, and this is hoping and praying. I end up with 126, waste 20 on headshots or something like be that idk exactly how much they charge. End up with 106 dollars. My head worked and for transportation I ended buying my monthly ticket to the city and I have a 2 ride card that I hope it works. Breakfast lmaooo maybe get something that’s less than 15 dollars, and lunch I don’t even know. All I know is that by Monday afternoon if I end up with 50 dollars is a miracle.
And guess what that’s not even the worse part. My mom is supposed to help me this summer with babysitting my daughter. We agreed to pay her and she would live with us ect. Turns out my mom is basically backing down. She never told her jobs or anything and now she can basically only babysit her 3 times a week. I work from 9 to 5:30 pm. Like I have leave my house by 7 am to get to work. wtf am I supposed to do? I want to cry and just scream. My husband spoke with my daughter old babysitter. Explained the situation to her. Because my mom stayed over literally for one day and we ended up getting into an argument, then I got into an argument with my partner. So he saw that it wasn’t going to work out. I’m supposed to call her today. And I will soon. I was going to pay my mom 400 dollars a week, and she didn’t have to pay for anything. Literally just from 7 to 4 take care of the baby. Nothing else. Now I have to see what the babysitter tells me. And I’m so so tired and I’ve cried and I just want to scream because I’m literally days away and don’t have all of this figured out because my mom was one of the first person to find out I got the job, I applied for the job because she offered to help me and told me don’t worry. And here I am worrying days away. I’m so tired and angry and just sad.
How do others deal with similar issues if so?

(I’ve copied this post from another sub to have more responses)

As the title suggests, I’m not sure how to use my time. I really want a 6 months - year off to do nothing because of burnout and other life stresses, but am not sure if this will be questioned by a firm?

I want to spend a few months just hiking around the country to feel good.

Is this really stupid? I haven’t had a single part time job and really struggle finding one that meets my needs (I am legally blind).

Sorry for the rant-ish post, just really lost atm

Thanks

So I got excited and wanted to kind of share the love and excitement. I was running audits today on my files and doing a “here’s what you missed on glee” type email recapping our settled cases and the status of their settlements and as I’m going through I had the thought “I wonder how many cases we had vs how many we’ve closed” and y’all it might not seem like much but I’ve been here almost a year after switching firms and we had about 113 of cases in my department and I closed 28 of them in the span of a year and there’s about 21ish cases left that have settled and will be closed soon. Whoohoo!

Is it bad that things like that are what excite me now? Have I really eached that level of adulthood where little things like that give me joy 😆

Anyways it’s Friday y’all what are some moments that brought you joy and excitement while working.

If so, where are you located and how much is your parking? I live in west Palm beach, FL and just started at a new firm and they told me on my first day that they don’t cover parking…and it’s $180 a month. I was pretty shocked that this wasn’t disclosed with the offer because that’s a significant amount of money. And I came from another firm in WPB and never had to pay for parking. Curious how common it is for a firm to make employees pay for parking? FL in general doesn’t have great public transport so there isn’t really any other option besides driving … I would kind of understand it I guess for major cities with a lot of public transport available but I’ve never heard of it down here.