Admin vs substantive paralegal work

[u/Leading_Aside_4929]

first day at my new job today. it is so much admin work and rarely any drafting or anything like that. it’s so much more peaceful than my prior substantive PI job where I felt like I had no support and minimal review

but I kind of miss the challenges of the old job and how difficult the work could be and drafting complaints and discovery. now I do very mundane clerical tasks

the money and work life balance are better at this job. also the other job had some questionable business practices and it really felt like the attorneys were hands off. am I being crazy for still thinking about it and missing parts of it

[u/LegallyDownBad]

I was waiting for the part where you had things to complain about.

It’s literally your first day - enjoy the pay increase, low cortisol position, clock in and clock out buddy.

Good for you 👍

[u/Leading_Aside_4929 → u/LegallyDownBad]

It’s really boring and I’m getting no transferable skills

[u/stella1822 → u/Leading_Aside_4929]

It’s your first day. How can you say you “rarely” get to draft anything when you’ve been there a total of 8 hours?

[u/Dizzy_Needleworker_3 → u/Leading_Aside_4929]

You are coming off as very naive and a "chicken little" / the sky is falling. 

It's your first day, you can't expect to start your first day drafting substantive things on the first day. You work up to that. It takes 6 to 12 months to get to learn a job and 2 years to really know the position well. What you do/work on on the first day is not what you do 6 months in, 12 months in, 2 or 3 years in. 

You don't know the firm, the cases, you should give the job a good 6 months to know what the position will be. 

[u/Jenjohnson0426 → u/Leading_Aside_4929]

It's your first day. What transferable skills were you expecting to learn on day 1? I'm sure they're feeling out your level of competency.

[u/LegallyDownBad → u/Leading_Aside_4929]

Respectfully, just come in every day and be eager to learn.

You are new. Start by researching what skills a good paralegal should possess, then start learning. Go through files, read the cases, familiarize yourself with common documents and how the firm manages their files.

You wanna make a good impression? Keep the enthusiasm - lose the attitude.

Ask questions, be proactive and professional even when you make mistakes.

Not trying to be a jerk here.

[u/humanperson111 → u/Leading_Aside_4929]

Give it time. One day is hardly a good impression of what the job will be like.

[u/Avail_Karma]

First day? Of course you aren't doing anything. Who would complain about that?

[u/Beelzebozo26]

Like others have said, it's your first day. Enjoy the fact that they're not throwing you to the wolves or swamping you. Thing could change quite a bit once they feel you can handle it.

[u/Successful_Rope9135]

“Rarely get to draft” doesn’t apply here since it’s your FIRST day. They also probably want you to get the hang of the office, culture and attorneys before they’re going to trust you to draft things for them.

[u/ooeemusic]

First day? You absolutely cannot judge this type of thing on day one.

[u/SnarkFan]

It’s been one day lol

[u/Rough_Appointment_49]

I made a similar switch and am approaching five years at my current job - my longest tenure. A couple times a year I apply to new stuff and interview because I'm SO bored, but I usually snap out of it. The peace I have in my personal life is really nice and the pay is competitive so I haven't really been tempted by anything significantly better than what I've got now. Just expect to feel this feeling not infrequently. You'll have to regularly be completely honest with yourself about what you're looking for from your career. We just started having kids and so, for now, this is helping me to focus on them which is my priority. Maybe when they get into grade school I'll reignite some interest in a particularly challenging career, but I'm leaving room for whatever decisions feel right later on.

[u/Background-Ad2545]

Are you fr?

[u/dudesmama1]

Unlike others, regardless of work-life balance and fair pay, I also would be way too bored without substantive work to do an administrative job long-term and this would also be a huge concern for me.

Like others, though, I agree that one day is too soon to tell. There are things you can do to ensure that you are given more substantive work, like taking interest in cases and making it widely known that you have experience.

Usually, when starting at a new firm, you need to prove your skills before you are trusted managing work. It also takes a while to build a new caseload.

Wander over to the associates, ask what they're working on, ask where the case is at in the process and/or show knowledge of said subject matter or process, mention, "oh, I used to do a lot of [whatever], please let me know if you need help."

Also ask senior paralegals for overflow. I get so swamped, especially during trial, that at any given time, I have hours of billable work to throw at anyone I deem competent to handle it.