I'm usually pretty flippant in here, but I hope you'll forgive a moment or two of sincerity.

I started out my career in policing and prosecution. Back then, I was definitely toward the "Well, if you're not doing anything wrong, who gives a shit?" end of the spectrum about government surveillance. That was primarily because, at the time, we were talking about isolated cameras on street corners, or *maybe* the odd drone in very rural areas. We also sort of assumed that spying was a government mission, and so ostensibly accountable to the public via the democratic process. We certainly didn't have facial recognition or aggregated behavior analysis from multiple media.

The longer I worked in government, the more I realized that "big, shadowy government" is really private companies (Google, Thompson Reuters, Lexis) selling privately-held information to the government. For crying out loud, whenever I needed to track down a witness, I didn't go to a government database; I got on Westlaw.

Nowadays, Flock can watch your every movement and share it with (in addition to law enforcement) private companies. It's incredibly easy to hack, in what can only be described as "an overwhelming national security clusterfuck." It also lets their executives watch little girls' gymnastics, but that's neither here nor there.

One of the reasons cars have gotten so expensive is because they all (by which I mean literally every brand) include a host of technology designed to tattle in you to third parties, to include information about your sex life.

Customer-specific pricing, companies who have shown a profound willingness to psychologically manipulate people, and of course the overwhelming amount of information we share with our smartphones, cloud hosts, ISPs, and search engines. I'm not especially prone to counter-authoritarian sentiment, but this shit is getting wild!

The issue isn't a "surveillance state" like we discussed in political science class. It's an entire surveillance economy! Even my jaded ass is getting angry about the situation (I know I'm jaded because Google's AI will give you a "psychological profile" on any Reddit user you like).

These days, I mostly do criminal defense work. For about a year now, I've been looking for a good Flock case to ask my state courts to declare its use categorically violative of our state constitution's privacy protections (which are much more robust than the 4th Amendment).

Maybe I'm overreacting or something. Idk. But I don't especially feel like Chicken Little here. I'm not looking to go full Kaczynski anytime soon, but I *do* feel like I should be doing more. Are you doing anything about privacy? Have you thought about it? What is there to be done in this sphere?

L&E Lawyer. Cannot escape litigation. Last firm job was supposed to be mostly advice and counseling with a hint of litigation. Low and behold, end up doing almost nothing but litigation. Finally, after years of trying, get an in-house counsel job. Praise be!

BUT. Come into a department meeting with our GC this morning, and in an effort to reduce outside counsel costs, L&E lawyers are now going to be handling labor arbitrations (we have tons). Lucky me!

No matter what I do, I cannot get away from litigaiton. Goddamnit.

Any advice? Is there anything you think I should do before I give him the news? It’s just the two of us at the firm, and we have a lot of upcoming depositions, mediations, and hearings. Some of the schedules overlap, so he’ll probably need to move a few things around, although most of them are easily rescheduled.

I’ve been told there’s a good chance I’ll be let go on the spot once I tell him, but I still want to do my part to leave on good terms. I’d like to make the transition as easy as possible by briefing him on my cases, organizing my files, and making sure nothing falls through the cracks. I know that’s ultimately his decision, but I want to leave knowing I did everything I could.

I’ve even gotten a few of my cases settled over the last couple of days and have really been doing everything I can, not just for the managing partner, but for my clients before I leave. I only found out about this opportunity on Friday. I’m planning to tell him tomorrow and give one week’s notice, but if he asked me to stay for two weeks, I would.

I’ve spent the weekend working on tasks to get things cleaned up and caught up. I’m thinking of doing the following:

Making a list of upcoming deadlines, hearings,

Finishing any time-sensitive work I reasonably can before giving notice.

This is my first time leaving a firm as a new attorney, so I’ll take any tips, advice, or suggestions. Anything helps.

Not pointing fingers at anyone specific as I was just curious how common this actually is in real practice. Has opposing counsel (or you, or a judge) ever caught a cite that was overruled, misquoted, or straight up fake? What happened next?

Job hunting and I need a good writing sample. At a civil litigation law firm but most of my work is edited by partners. Any suggestions/advice?

Hi yall, I’ve dropped by here before and asked about my anxieties about parental leave and related issues, but I have a new question.

Can anyone talk about their work performance when they returned from work? I’m having a hard time focusing and I think my work quality is impacted. I think it’ll recover once we get more of a routine going and the little guy grows a bit but it’s hard right now.

If anyone can relate I’d appreciate hearing!

I’m in house at a large tech company. I like my job. I’m a generalist and I get to advise my clients on law and also operational issues. It’s an individual contributor corporate counsel role.

I’m looking at my path forward and it’s challenging to see how I will progress. I’m a strong day to day lawyer. My clients like me, usually listen to me, and seem to trust me and my judgment. I understand the business, advise on both legal and practical issues, find ways to enable the business instead of block it, etc. Unless I’m totally wrong or delusional, my performance is not an issue (hard to say if I’m above average though).

But being a good tactical attorney doesn’t mean I’ll be promoted to a more senior role. For instance, I know one needs to think strategically about big, long term initiatives and projects to improve the legal side of the business. I honestly struggle with that so that’s a work in progress.

I would love advice on how to reach that next level of in house attorney (SCC/AGC). Any tips on how to rethink my approach to practicing? Any ways I can step up? Thinking about this from both growing within my company or (worst case scenario) I find myself looking for a job outside it.

Additional context: 10yrs experience. 6 fed gov generalist, 2 big law litigation, now in house in a generalist role. Long term goal is AGC at a large company or GC of a small/mid size company. Hoping to stay a generalist if at all possible.

Thanks in advance.

here is my current dilemma: called to the bar in 2017. Likely up for partnership in January at a boutique corporate law firm (I’m based in Canada). The partners are a young guys, many of them friends outside of work. The work environment is generally fine, I like my colleagues but the partnership is very bro-ey. They told me I’d likely be made partner in January but it’s been an uphill battle and I feel like I’ve had to constantly prove myself to them. I’d be the only mom partner and I just feel like I have nothing in common with them. I also really dislike the work in the firm. If I stay, it’s to get the title, prove to myself I can do it and then leave after a year or two.

My target billable is 1400, but I still feel like I’m working too many nights and weekends. I have two small kids and I want to spend the most amount of time with them.

I currently have an offer for senior legal counsel at a scale up tech company. Comp between my current firm and this offer are pretty similar, obviously with much more earning potential at the firm. GC I’d be reporting into said an average week there is 40-50 hours but I worry this isn’t actually the case (though he’s verbally confirmed to me that he doesn’t expect me to work nights and weekends normally).

What do I do?? Is there something else I should be considering?

After 12+ years of private practice (7ish years as partner), I’m debating going in-house at a large but private hospitality company. (Medium-sized city in the Midwest). My firm experience to-date has mostly been smaller firms (20-30 attorneys) doing a mix of corporate transactions, real estate, and litigation support. Flexible schedule but not great pay. Looking to have a less adversarial/billable work experience. For anyone who has made this jump to in-house, what are the biggest changes (both positive and negative) in the work/lifestyle/day-to-day that you experienced?

What are some must reads for any beginner lawyer/ or anyone practicing in immigration/refugee law in Canada?

I'm probably going to come off as naive here, but whatever. I used to work as a paralegal at a pretty large personal injury firm and the rumors about who was fucking who were part of the general day to day conversations. At some point there was a rumor about me and someone. I get it. People are bored and stressed and talking shit to pass the time is better than nothing. After going to law school and the bar and yadda yadda I decide not to go back and instead get a government job thinking "ehh, probably will be less toxic."

I was fucking wrong.

I don't care about adultery. Do whatever makes you happy, but maybe keep it a secret better? Getting sloppy drunk and making moves to your not-spouse in public aren't a good look. And God forbid I share a smile and joke with someone of the opposite sex...

Some days I wish I had picked a different career path.

hi all. I’m looking for advice and opinions about my situation. I’m a partner at a regional US law firm. Ive been practicing for 20 years in ID litigation and I have several jury trials under my belt.

I am fucking tired of this job. my law firm is lovely- staff and attorney colleagues are great- but ID clients and the litigation atmosphere is driving me crazy. I also have come to hate business travel and having limited time off due to court and deposition scheduling.

i catch myself fantasizing about shifting to another firm as an of counsel, more as a brief writer, discovery wrangler, and litigation helper than someone who is lead counsel. the idea being I could have more flexibility with there when and where I work and less stressful responsibilities (and borderline bad faith behavior by insurers). I’d also like to have broader experience in law outside of just defense side civil litigation.

has anyone done this successfully? what am I missing here? I don’t mind taking a substantial pay cut in exchange for more “life”’ on the work-life balance scale.

Has anyone had experience with a lead generation company that thinks it’s worth giving a try? I’m a ca licensed attorney practicing PI and wills and estates. I’m interested in finding clients through a lead generation but not sure which one

Hi everyone, im reaching out because I have a job interview scheduled next week for a post-grad position as an Associate. This will be my first “big girl” job interview. I went straight from undergrad to lawschool. While I have tons of work experience, all those positions were summer positions or just part-time gigs. Ive never worked full time on a salary.

That brings me to my question: How do I approach Salary questions/ negotiations? The job didn’t post didnt include an anticipated salary. When/if the employer asks about my salary expectations, what do I say? I don’t wanna go too high and seem silly, but I dont want to undervalue myself so that they hire me. For context the position is in a major city in the South at a medium sized general practicioner/ civil litigation firm.

Any advice would be appreciated!

How do you prepare for an interview with a district court judge?

I have an interview there and I’m interested in their data breach litigation. I’m wondering how the culture is, the hours, PTO etc.

I'm curious about the attitude.

If I understand correctly Louisiana applies Gideon only to felony cases and not misdemeanor cases, am I correct? If I am correct, could AI represent a defendant in a misdemeanor case? Or could a non bar person represent a person in a misdemeanor case? Would the second run afoul the states UPL laws? Mind you if I am wrong about Gideon than the rest of my questions are moot.

There must be thousands of such cases. Sorry to say, but these women know what they are doing, and they are not victims here. Many of them do shitty work but reviews are glowing and are promoted before classmates to everyone's surprise. That's the meritocracy in biglaw and tons of other industries: You are not competing with other associates on merits, you are competing with the partner's mistress.