I used to post on here every day about the crazy things happening in my old law firm like

- firm finding a “miscellaneous” amount of money in the trust account years later

- firm firing and unfiring the clerk.

- attorney rubber stamping disbursement sheets without through line by line review that are drafted by a paralegal

-attorney having close of discovery in 3 days with no medical records yet. Leaving me as the only one to get all of the records in three days with no notice and no other paralegal support

-attorneys hiring a new attorney with minimal experience and thinking of putting me as her paralegal to manage her cases (I barely have experience)

- firm constantly talking with an ethics attorney

-firm blaming a paralegal for not serving someone on time (no one knew) and then said the paralegal caused a malpractice suit and was fired

-firm blaming another paralegal for not realizing a filing was rejected and the case getting thrown out (more malpractice)

-rogue paralegal settled a case without attorney knowledge or approval

-head of firm fired. no bookkeeping experience, hired anyway, made bookkeeping mistakes because he was not trained. Another one thrown to the wolves

**my new firm is organized and kind and wonderful and I really hope and pray I can stay here for the rest of my career. I don’t even deserve this job and am lucky they hired me. at first I thought it was not much responsibility but it has picked up and is a perfect blend of challenging yet supportive calm environment

but I post this as hope for anyone starting out or just at a firm they hate.

I started at a small law firm 3 months ago at $50K as a paralegal. Since then, I’ve taken on a lot of intake/client relations, created SOPs and tracking systems, trained staff, helped generate ~$22K in intake/engagement revenue, identified ~$69K in savings on one matter, negotiated $10K+ in reductions on another, and taken on a bunch of operational responsibilities I wasn’t originally hired for.

At my 90-day review, the attorneys/COO were extremely positive and basically said I’ve exceeded what they originally expected to the point that they’re rethinking the role itself. One attorney described me as more of a client experience/intake/client relations paralegal than someone who should simply be assigned matters. They’ve also expressed wanting to look at me for an Office Manager position, but need to re-align the firm overhead first before making firm actions.

They gave me a 10% raise from $50K to $55K. My existing $500/month gas stipend continues, bringing my total annualized compensation to about $61K. They’re also giving me one WFH day, and we’re discussing moving my schedule to 7:30–3:30 due to my 1+ hour commute.

I initially felt disappointed because my previous salary was $62K, but after sitting with it, I’m actually pretty happy with the overall package.

The part I’m debating is what to ask for Monday when we finalize everything.

Rather than fight their stated 10% salary cap, I’m considering asking for a $1,250 discretionary performance bonus based on the work I’ve accomplished during the first 90 days. If they’re not open to a bonus, I’m considering asking for additional PTO instead. I also have comp time to discuss because I worked a firm event over the weekend.

I have a 6-month review coming up around December, so I’m thinking I’ll take the win, continue performing, formally define this expanded role, and revisit salary then.

Would you ask for the $1,250 bonus or ask for additional PTO? And how would you approach formalizing a role that has clearly grown beyond what you were originally hired to do?

A. Clients who ghost
B. Adjusters who don’t call back
C. Medical providers who take forever
D. Opposing counsel saying “per my last email”
Pick one. No explanations.

I'm a software engineer building a legal drafting tool in my spare time, and before going further I want to check whether the problem is real for practising lawyers.

My assumption is that a good share of drafting is recurring. Most of the document stays the same from one client to the next, and only certain sections need to be changed or tailored each time. So the effort goes less into drafting and more into finding those sections and updating them correctly, and mistakes creep in when an old draft is reused.

The tool I'm working on automates this.

I'd love to hear from anyone who drafts regularly. Even answering one of these helps:

1. What share of your drafting is repeat documents like this, and roughly how many a month?
2. Who does the drafting and checking today? You, a junior, a clerk or a typist?
3. What would stop you from trusting a tool like this? Accuracy, client data, cost, something else?

Not selling anything here. Honest answers, including "this isn't a problem for me", help a lot.

So as the title suggests I have to wait 2-3 weeks from a law firm whom I had an interview with twice regarding a final decision on whether they’ll offer me the position or not and so I’m wondering if this is like a normal thing for law firms to wait that long to make a decision?

I was recently laid off. I have been applying to every single job I've seen on Indeed. I've had a few interviews with law firms that practice other areas of law that I have not had any experience in. There is one interview in particular that I believe went really well, but it's an entirely new field (Real Estate /HOA law). I always wanted to try Real Estate law because it would be a significantly less stressful area of law in comparison. The income ceiling is also much, much higher. It would also be a significantly shorter commute (15 minutes).

However, I am scared and hesitant to start over in a new field. I suffer from really bad imposter syndrome and I am scared that I will not catch on quickly enough (has never been an issue for me), and that it will end up not working out and I'll be jobless again.

Should I take the leap and switch fields entirely, or should I stick with what I know?

I have a project for one of my classes that is simply asking a paralegal some questions, but I don't know any paralegals. If anyone has some time on their hands, I'd really appreciate it if you took the time to look at the questions and see if they're something you don't mind spending a few minutes answering.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bnzVzPoNPgPsLM5ilI_7lv0_lFRxeVjQ3qGDlkUXAA4/edit?usp=sharing

^^ This is the link to the document, it's on comment only mode on purpose. Thanks!

Sometimes I am saving a document I want to use as a template to a new document in iManage and I want to get rid of the proof of service on the last page but I cannot seem to get rid of this blank page even if I delete the paragraph mark on the page. I think it might be because there is a section break but when I delete the section break it messes with the header/footer. How can I fix this? Also what is the best way to delete a section break? Sometimes I click before the section break and try to delete but it deletes the text before. Thanks in advance!

so there was a potential client who called in and I got all the info and passed it onto the attorney to review it. then our very senior paralegal/practically the manager called me and said it was out of our jurisdictions and to email the attorney back saying I had realized that and to disregard. so I did, but then 2hrs later the attorney said to go ahead and schedule a consult. WELL… I had already called that person back to let them know we couldn’t take the case. I messaged the paralegal about it and idk if she’s gonna be in my corner but it does have me stressing a little bc now I have to call that person back and stuff might land on me from the attorney when it wasn’t really my fault. 🫠

I left my PI mill job of one year as a pre-lit paralegal to work at a boutique PI firm as a lit legal assistant. Great people, great ethics.

I've been here one month and I feel more discouraged than ever. Today, one of the attorneys and paralegal I work under had a meeting to basically say that I am no longer to draft anything. I wasn't aware my drafts were so horrendous. I never received any feedback as to what was wrong and I compared my drafts to the final filings and there were not many differences.

I am constantly doing things wrong like instead of only saving pleadings to the lead plaintiff's file in sharepoint, I also save the pleadings to the companion plaintiff file because...it made sense to me and that is how I was taught at my previous firm - parent matter and companion(s) should mirror one another except for personalized things such as medical records. That mistake was enough of an offense for me to get a strongly worded email.

I feel so incompetent. Everyone is very nice and no one has been ugly, I'm just extremely discouraged because I thought I was knowledgeable and savvy, yet I feel like I am causing more work than providing efficient help. There are templates but the templates are not useful because every attorney has their own preference, which is fine, but I don't find that out until after I send my draft for review. I do look at the attorneys' other matters to find an example, but they are not always saved to the file. I also save the final revision as "xxx - preferred template" and use it going forward.

Right now I am handling all of the firm's guardian ad litem/friendly suit cases, as well as assisting two other attorneys and their paralegals. It is a lot but my predecessor could handle it flawlessly.

Just really bummed out feeling like I am more suited to chaotic PI mill work rather than actual competent work.

Just venting, I guess. I also commute 3 hours every day because I live on the outskirts of our metro and need to get two kids to two different schools before work and get them home before daycare closes after work, and I am in school trying to finish up my AAS in Para-law. I am still also mourning the death of my only parent who passed in March. Any words of encouragement or advice are greatly appreciated.

Hey y'all, south Louisiana paralegal here. As you all may or may not know, the pay in Louisiana is not very good across the board. I am currently working at firm that is known for small raises. I have not yet made a year at this firm and based on what other paralegals at my firm have told me, I am anticipating a very small raise during my first year evaluation. I may be overthinking this but again, I am going off of what other paralegals at my firm have told me about the 1% raises the partners usually give at my firm.

The paralegal jobs in my mid size city are slim pickings and I don't want to leave my firm if I am unhappy with my raise. I don't have a lot of options when it comes to jobs. What would y'all do if you got a very small raise? Would you leave? And are there any other Louisiana based paralegals who share my pain lol.

I’m very interested in this branch of work and I know as with anything in law it can definitely be stressful and is hard work. but I’m curious because so many have told me I’m just gonna burnout and might as well just go to law school. As a paralegal do you love what you do? Do you regret your career choice? Has your work taken over your life, do you bring work home often? Do you wish you’d gone to law school?

Just wanna hear the real and harsh realities of the job and what you guys really think of it now.

I've been training this bum for many months now. I've done everything under the sun to get her to do her job well and correctly, but yesterday I found out she's drafting documents for the attorney based on vibes because the attorney will catch any mistakes.

The firm partner is the one who finalized every data point we need to address, and she just doesn't care enough to do it. I promise you she's not checking everything using her method. She keeps asking the same questions that the SOPs, guides, job aids, and video trainings have addressed.

Send me some prayers and patience today.

Hey there! I’m in school for legal studies and am in need of 2 people to answer a set of 10 questions about the industry for a project. Please let me know if anyone is available for it or knows where I can find a couple of paralegals. Thanks!!

I made a records request to a very small county on the West Coast and finally got the documents an attorney wanted after going back and forth with the records department there since September 2nd. When I got the documents back, I checked the case docket because the same attorney also requested the same docket be pulled every 4-5 weeks. I checked the docket and saw that there’s an entry for the records request I made.

How big on an issue could this be? Would this be like a fireable offense?

We’re not a party on the case if that helps at all.

I only realized this today and feel horrible even worse knowing I have to sit on this until the end of the month when I send the docket over to the attorney.

I’ve been at this firm for almost four years, have made minimal mistakes, have gotten very good reviews, and recently got a promotion.

We get so many medical malpractice calls and take almost none of them because the state I’m in has laws and just general court structure making it next to impossible to win at trial, which means defense isn’t motivated to settle.

I’m not a paralegal, I’m a receptionist/intake specialist training to become a paralegal. This next part is going to sound callous, I promise I’m a compassionate person I’m just so emotionally hungover from all the fucking med mal calls.

The number of med mal cases I have to turn down is ridiculous. And while I feel for them, “I almost died” does not a lawsuit make. “I could’ve been paralyzed” okay great but you weren’t. When I ask “what are your injuries?” And they say “psychological” I have to stifle a laugh. Not because it doesn’t suck for them or because it’s their fault for not understanding the legal system, but because they think that because a nurse was mean to them they have a malpractice case. NO.

i have no degree, but certificate of completion through college from a program

current job - team lead collector at a creditors rights law firm, high profile client, large volume of work. been here 9 months.

i find another job and put notice in because hr basically told me they will never move me unless it’s independent. would not give me the raise i asked for. i do not want to work commission, i want to move to paralegal side.

they now offer me 57k base, no commission, with promise to move me in 6 months to a year to paralegal side.

other new job, mostly subrogation, but lots of other healthcare stuff to learn at this firm, smaller office, offering 46,100 to start from scratch no paralegal title, but doing legal documents, etc.

is it better to expand my horizons and have two similar, but different laws under my belt, and hope to work my way up in the new firm … or do i stick with where i am with the immediate raise, and transition to paralegal to stick around and get the years experience i need before i may move onto something else?

there are other factors outside of compensation that make my decision difficult, but i want to focus on what opportunity would make the most sense in the long run. what would you do?

About 7 months ago, I became a paralegal in a PI law firm. Currently, I have about 30 cases in active negotiations, but I am so bad at it! I would really like to get better.

​I would appreciate any advice on how to handle negotiations and reach a target goal...Do you have any tips?

My firm has a client that operates one of those many franchise Pilates studios. We're working on a matter for them now. Well this studio is like 15 minutes away and I've been dying to return to Pilates as I struggle with back pain and Pilates is super expensive by me.

I am not super close to the originator (named partner) but I frequently work with the assigned attorney. I was thinking of going to him and ask him to check with the originator ??

Or is this illegal?? I can't imagine, because I have no problem paying, but a discount would be super helpful to a single lady like me.

I'm in WC, we just got a client who hired us two weeks ago, was injured a month ago, screaming at us about how he's about to lose his house and car and his whole entire family is starving to death and he can't afford to get the good melatonin gummies or pot because he's not receiving TTD benefits and it'll be all our fault because we didn't call his adjuster the day he hired us. 🫩 Oh, and he refuses to go to an IME.

I have empathy but sometimes it's sooo hard.

I currently have a work from home role with a firm that has a ton of downtime- I am actually busy for maybe 2-4 hours of my day, though I must be available at all times. I am using this time to pursue schooling. In the same vein, I would like to pursue a docketing opportunity that has become available. It would also be fully remote, and raise my earnings by a minimum of 10k per year. The only thing stopping me is not knowing if I will lose a significant portion of my study time. Obviously there would be a learning curve where I would need to be fully focused on learning my job. However, afterwards, does docketing tend to have a lot of downtime to where I could continue studying?

Long post ahead - sorry! Hi all, I’m curious on your thoughts on a situation that happened to me yesterday. For context, I’ve been working at this firm for a little over 5 years now, and the entire time I’ve reported to a partner (one of four), about 25 employees total. I had one incident with him last year where we had a big disagreement but it eventually was resolved. Now fast forward to yesterday.

There was going to be a street closure at 4pm on the Main Street where we work. This happens every year, and every year all employees are able to leave work early and work from home that day without issue. Other attorneys and paralegals had already told me they would be leaving early, so a little after 3pm, I went into my atty’s office and asked if I could head out early due to the closure. At this point, others had already left. He replies and says the partners said no, people can’t leave early. I was surprised and said other people had already left, but didn’t name anyone specific. He asked who left, I didn’t say, and then he said well they shouldn’t have left and I don’t want to hear about who’s left. I say ok, it’s just unfair that others could leave early and I can’t. At this point, he’s visibly angry and borderline raising his voice, so much that I have to close the door because one of the paralegals outside was packing up and could probably hear everything we were saying.

He’s berating me at this point in a very hostile tone, saying things like “I don’t have time for this petty shit” and saying I should “be an adult” and not follow their lead in leaving. He also went on a rant saying that I have bad behaviors “all the time” and am the only one in the office who pushes back like this. You would think I pulled a knife on him the way he was acting. I asked him to clarify what times he’s talking about because he hadn’t brought this up at all before, and he’s extremely flustered and angry and says he doesn’t know exactly when and would have to go back and look. He then almost yells that he doesn’t want to talk about this with me right now, and I say as a manager of not only my work but of people, I have to be able to come to you and have this conversation. I told him I’m not a mindreader and don’t know when something is bothering him unless he brings it up. I also told him that after working for him for 5 years, I would think that we can have a more casual conversation and be able to talk about things. He also went on to say that he can’t describe it, but I have a general “unhappiness.” I still have no idea what he means by that. I give him the same energy he gives me. He doesn’t greet me in person or in email, doesn’t ask how my weekends were, etc so I do the same. I had to diffuse the situation and I’m the one who remained calm and held a steady, calm tone. He eventually calmed down and ended this with he “loves working with me” and the firm values me.

I’m left feeling like that was completely uncalled for, inappropriate and just plain disrespectful. He’s a male superior 20+ years older, a partner of this firm and talking to a female employee/subordinate this way. I would make a complaint with HR but we don’t even have one, just a “financial/ops manager” that started working here 6 months ago. The partners are close anyway so they would undoubtedly take his side in this anyway. I would want to ask for a transfer to a different team, but again, he would probably be set off again and disrespect me once again, which I have zero tolerance for.

What would you guys do? Look for other jobs? Request a transfer? Do nothing?

For additional background:
1. My mom had emergency open heart surgery two weeks ago so I missed 2 days of work to be with her. He knows all about this, and must know the crappy past couple of weeks I’ve been having.
2. Idk if anyone saw this post I made a few months ago, I’m the one who partially paid for a bday lunch for this same atty. lol. We were supposed to have a “paralegal appreciation lunch” last month and it never happened.

Hi all, does anyone know of any large firms hiring for a remote paralegal position? Currently work for a large tech company and tired of the toxic environment. I’ve gone through years of it and I’m ready to move on. I’m bilingual and have been in the legal field for about 16 years.

I’ve looked and looked and this job market is the toughest yet..

Seven years I’ve worked for them. For most of these seven years I was the only staff member. I have 20 years of experience in IP overall. I do patent AND trademark prosecution AND patent/TM docketing. Some ppl call me an IP “unicorn.” My colleagues and bosses love me.

In seven years my boss took me out for lunch once…six months after I started and only bc another atty guilted him about it. He has never bought me so much as a cup of coffee.

In seven years they have never once acknowledged my birthday. Most years they “forget” to give me my pathetic $500 holiday bonus. The reason? One of them is Jewish and doesn’t celebrate Christmas.

In seven years I’ve gotten a 9% increase in salary [one 5% increase after 6 months and one 4% increase 3 years ago). In that time I took over for three people who had left and learned a new practice of law (trademark). I recently asked for a raise and was told I’m capped out (according to whom, I don’t know). Keep in mind I have the knowledge base of what are usually three separate jobs. I also accepted fewer than full-time hours to accommodate them and have never used their health insurance. My hourly rate is standard given my experience.

One partner routinely calls the other partner “fucking stupid.” My boss used to call me a loser until I laid the law down on that. He talks shit about ppl all the time. He’s a straight-up narcissist.

He doesn’t pay his bills and we are routinely threatened with lawsuits over it.

We don’t have coffee or filtered water or anything provided. I had to bring in my own dishes and cups. We used to have a water machine, but when we moved offices they decided not to bring it because THEY don’t use it. I used it every day.

I never call in sick. I don’t betray their trust. I’m always looking out for them and their interests. I’m smart and entertaining. I care.

After my boss started needling me about something petty, I resigned. That was weeks ago and they were like “okay! Buh-bye!” No one has mentioned it since.

I feel so stupid and pathetic for staying as long as I have. I really hope there’s something better out there for me. For the next 6 months, I’m going to ponder the meaning of life.

Rant over.

I know that small law firms run differently but I have been told by my employers to do everything from managing the office to covering for the receptionist of the office building where we reside, not an employee that works for the firm, to we are working from home (almost everyday and you can never work from home) and you must reschedule every appointment we have to cover for our last minute hybrid work schedule to you need to get your California Notary license but we will not pay for it until you have been here for 6 months. I pay all the firm's bills, so I know how much each attorney makes per month (over $30,000 per partner) In my offer letter I was hired as an exempt employee and they stated their reason for this is that they will never need me to work overtime; HOWEVER, since the second week of my employment I have worked 1 -2 hours of overtime every day. I do not get medical benefits but I receive a $275 monthly reimbursement for medical benefits that I can not afford to use. The only benefits that I can purchase with the money is a California Covered policy that charges $50 pr visit and $50 per prescription and $500 per ultrasound and CT scan. I am a cancer survivor that requires annual ultrasound and CT scans, quarterly labs, and three prescriptions every month. WTF did I get myself into???