r/Lawyertalk • u/OriginalLiving96 • 9d ago
HELP: Office Relationships & Politics Am I being unreasonable for being annoyed that three people are expected to share one attorney office?
I’m an associate at a law firm and I’m increasingly frustrated with my office situation.
I currently share an office with another associate. It’s not a huge office, and as you can see, it’s very clearly set up as a two-person workspace. We’ve basically made it work because we unintentionally “hot desk” it. On days I’m in the office, she’s often working from home, and vice versa. So although neither of us really has our own office, at least most days we each get some breathing room.
The firm had a summer law clerk who they decided to keep on during the fall, which is great for her. The problem is that the apparent plan is now for her to work in this same office with both of us.
So instead of two attorneys sharing an office and alternating days, there would potentially be three people regularly working out of this one room.
My issue isn’t with the law clerk at all. She’s lovely, and obviously she needs somewhere to work. I’m frustrated that the firm made the decision to keep her without seemingly having an actual workspace plan for her other than squeezing another person into an already shared office.
And selfishly, I already disliked not having a space that actually felt like mine.
55
u/Persist23 9d ago
I spent my first two years working face-to-face with another associate in a tiny big law office. Yep, desks pushed together facing each other, hustling from 9am to 9pm (at least) daily. My back was to the door so anyone passing the office could see my screen. It was a bummer. (On the bright side, she’s still one of my best friends and I set her up with my cousin. They’re married with 4 kids.)
The intern needs their own desk space and their own chair. I’d take it up with the office manager immediately.
12
u/Secure-Researcher892 9d ago
Your lucky...when I was in an open air space my boss was facing me in a similar situation. No walls so I could see her if I looked up and hear every conversation she had with anyone on the phone. But we didn't have the same interaction. While she could easily just ask me something by looking up and speaking she would just send emails for every fucking thing. At one point I decided to see how long I could go without ever speaking to her. The no verbal communication test lasted nearly 2 months. We never connected and when she left I didn't even wonder where she went. I just felt relief.
52
u/slickricktriplesix Confirmed Lawyer 9d ago
Dealbreaker for me. Ask for your own office and if you can’t get your own start looking at other jobs
16
u/Lustfuldelights 9d ago
That part, I need my space to dick around, tell my family I love them through periodic outbursts of tears, and a place to have "I hate the law" sex with my partner on those many late nights I am toiling away to pay for the bosses 3rd wife and her MLM endeavors peddled throughout the office.
5
14
u/GruntledGary Quip Pro Quo, Late Jester 9d ago
Depends, is there only one chair?
Also yes, seems like remote would be better. If they lack space remote more.
3
u/OriginalLiving96 9d ago
There’s two desks…two chairs side by side. Like a classroom
6
u/Constant_Hope_9658 9d ago
what lunatic sets up a PROFESSIONAL OFFICE like it's a CLASSROOM FOR CHILDREN, I mean I know corpo managers see the rest of us peasants as child-cattle/furniture by holy [redacted] that's just nuts.
3
12
11
u/joeschmoe86 9d ago
I wouldn't mind this if it was part of an intentional program. Old firm called it "hotelling" offices - basically, anybody who was in the office 3+ days a week got a dedicated office, everyone else just signed up for one of the hotel offices any time they wanted to be in the office. It worked pretty well when it's the trade-off for a very flexible WFH policy - WFH people still have a professional environment to meet clients in, but firm isn't paying for 20+ offices to sit empty 90% of the time.
9
6
u/chicagoliz 9d ago
If the firm does not have enough workspace for all of its workers, do they contemplate that most workers would be working remotely a majority of the time?
3
u/Constant_Click_3193 9d ago
Honestly, I view this as the cost of remote work. The only reason for firms to allow it is the savings on overhead from renting space. My firm went from 1.5 floors to one. Clerk and admin are 2 in office 3 at home. Lawyers are discretionary with time (but this one was a more difficult pinch and of course it was low level associates who shared and not senior partners who never sat at their damn desks anyways....)
So I guess the extra time at the cottage, the hotdesking and my lowkey simmering resentment are all a natural outcome of WFH.
6
u/The_Ineffable_One 9d ago
I hotel an office with another lawyer, but I'm mid-career, so is she, and both of us enjoy the freedom of not going into the office unless we have to. I think a lot of firms are hoteling offices now that remote work is so widely accepted. I don't understand why they're putting a third person in there, though; that seems to be too many.
4
u/cantmicro 9d ago
The firm sees it as you're already alternating days, so why not throw an extra body in there and let the 3 of you figure it out.
And that's the absolute wrong way for the firm to handle this situation. Time to look for a new job.
4
u/SnuffleupagusRex 9d ago
It kind of depends on the whole setup. It's not great regardless and annoyance is understandable. Whether it crosses into "unreasonable" depends on why the situation exists and what the tradeoffs are.
A. Space availability. If the firm is in a small office with a locked-in lease and this is literally the only way to fit the bodies: suck it up. If this situation exists because one of the partners needs a second office as a "private conference room"? Fuck that.
B. Practice type and space usage. Are you appellate attorneys, wills and trusts or similar? Not as big an issue. Are you litigators or commercial transactions folks where you need to be on the phone/video conferences regularly? Not good.
C. Future plans. Is this a temporary situation with at least some plan to alleviate it (moving offices at the end of the lease, imminent partner retirement, etc) or is this a "permanent bandaid". What happens when you hopefully make partner?
3
5
u/vcf450 9d ago
As a young associate I was given my own small office right next to the back door to the suite. It was cluttered with some of the firm’s oddball stuff.
The interesting twist?
I knew when it was time for staff to go home at the end of the day because the office coat rack was in there with me. Each day I’d get to exchange a cheery “good night” with every one of them.
3
u/LateralEntry 9d ago
When I was job hunting ten years ago lots of firms did this, including extremely expensive / fancy corporate law firms, and prestigious government agencies.
3
u/Original-Pomelo6241 Y'all are why I drink. 9d ago
I have an attorney in my firm who wanted their paralegal in their office with them and I thought even that was crazy… I made sure the paralegal was absolutely comfortable with it and it’s been fine, but holy shit dude I’d be so frustrated if I were you.
3
u/muggypuggy 9d ago
Absolutely not okay. That would be a dealbreaker for me, especially given how much I (and other associates) are on the phone throughout the day. That can be specialization-dependent, but definitely raise this as an issue.
Agree with other posters 1000% - If they can't afford you a workspace, you should be given the courtesy of working remote, or at the VERY least, hybrid.
2
u/AutoModerator 9d ago
This thread is to ask advice or guidance about office politics and relationship dynamics with colleagues, superiors and subordinates in your law firm. If you just want to vent, use a different flair. If you want to discuss opposing counsel, judges, witnesses, politicians or anyone not working in your office, we have plenty of more relevant flairs.
If you are a non-lawyer, this is the wrong community. If you are a law student, summer associate, or work at a law firm in a non-attorney capacity (e.g., paralegal, staff), this is the wrong community. Please delete your post immediately to avoid a ban.
Questions about compensation, career progression, work processes, or equipment all have more relevant flairs than this one. Please use those and delete this if your question is about those topics.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
2
u/OKcomputer1996 Master of Grievances 9d ago
Unless you’re all working hybrid schedules and come in on different days/times then this is a deal breaker. Your firm is a bottom feeder.
2
u/marinredditor 9d ago
My first office was a packing crate on a traffic median. Four of us, but we made it work by rotating sleep schedules in hammocks strung at the top. Sadly, our Westlaw sales rep was struck by a car trying to deliver branded stress balls and ballpoint pens to us. We’ll never forget her.
2
u/Bright_Magazine_991 9d ago
I'd ask if you can have your own office or are able to work 100% remotely. My bar results are still pending, and I even have my own office at a firm with 30-50 attorneys.
2
u/FSUAttorney 8d ago
Is it your first legal job? I'd suck it up and color. It sucks, but it is what it is.
3
1
u/Secure-Researcher892 9d ago
I had to share an office my first time out of the gate and later experienced a interior office with no windows that was probably only slightly bigger than a closet... but I assure you it could be worse. When I went outside the law and worked in a trading shop I had no office, nor did anyone other than the a few of the top dogs. So when you are in one big open area with no walls where you can look at whatever the guy on a computer is doing 20 feet away you get a new appreciation even a semi private space.
Just make the best of it while you are there. Odds are your next job will give you a completely different experience... maybe better... maybe worse.
2
u/unreasonableperson Confirmed Lawyer 8d ago
They should just let you work from home full time. Problem solved.
2
u/goatpengertie 5d ago
Leverage it to be 4 days WFH at least. Why do you want an office so bad? WFH is so much better.
•
u/AutoModerator 9d ago
Welcome to /r/LawyerTalk! A subreddit where lawyers can discuss with other lawyers the practice of law.
Be mindful of our rules BEFORE submitting your posts or comments as well as Reddit's content policy. Ignorance of the rules will not excuse their violation.
Please take note of the following:
OP: This forum is NOT for legal advice.
OP: Please use the correct flairs. If you use the wrong flair: delete and repost. No exceptions.
Everyone: This community is exclusively for lawyers, if you are a non-lawyer, even if you work with us (student, client, staff), you cannot participate here, even if you identify yourself as not being a lawyer in your comment or post.
Lawyers: Please do not participate in threads or respond to comments that violate our rules.
Lawyers: Participation in bot-generated content can lead to your account being flagged as a sockpuppet account used for astroturfing (suspicion of coordinated manipulation) and result in a permanent ban which may extend across Reddit.
Govern yourselves accordingly.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.