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I’d imagine it comes with experience, but won’t completely go away. Back when I was a mechanic, I was always anxious I forgot to put the oil drain plug back in. This eventually got better with time, but I’d still have moments of anxiety over it several years later. For the record, I never forgot lol
Pro
I haven’t waited tables for 11 years and I still have nightmares that I forgot the mustard to table 13.
I used to clerk for a state court civil judge. You would be shocked by the amount of lawyers who file deficient motions, submit a certification for the wrong motion, blatantly disregard court rules, etc. Mistakes happen. And at least as a former law clerk, I only remember the attorneys who did it over and over, clearly didn’t care, and were rude about it. You clearly care - do your best and try not to beat yourself up. Like others have said, most filings are fixable. Things will be ok 👍
I've been doing this for 20+ years and I still worry when filing things for my attorney. It is a good habit to have honestly. That means you care about your product and your client. For what it's worth, if it makes you feel less doomsdayish.... most filings can be amended or supplemented or even withdrawn - if needed.
You’ll probably always have a bit of that, which isn’t bad since it reminds you to double check and be careful. But, around a year in you should start to be more confident (less if you’re filing often).
Remember that it’s rarely just you preparing and filing something if it’s very important and most filings/issues are fixable (especially for small issues).
As long as it’s not a late habeas corpus petition to the Supreme Court for a death row inmate, you’re probably fine!
Once you actually make a material mistake that is caught, you’ll see that the moment passes and you move on from it. Mistakes are part of your development.
A year? That’s how long I started chilling in this job. Everyone is diff tho
Never
a little bit of this is healthy and useful and will stay with you. the useless negative part will abate as you experience things not going wrong more and more.
My heart pounds so hard every time I file something on ECF, and I’ve been practicing 8 years. This is totally normal.
Thanks for sharing your feelings! I feel this also, one year and I feel this way when turning over completed documents to clients.
Rising Star
I never had a problem with it, and never really had a choice. Back in the day I was Debtors’ counsel in a lot of cases and when we took a company into chapter 11, once the first-day motions were finalized by the partner in charge (with adjustments from other lead lawyers on the case) the paralegals who did the filings had all of our log in information and would just file stuff. Whether I individually looked at what was being filed or not. I mean I went home and filings kept coming in under my login. But I never had a problem with it.
It goes away. You do it & you do it & you really know your stuff & one day you’re the mentor. You’ve written the articles. You’ve tried the cases. It will come. Work hard. Read everything & keep up with the law. Surround yourself with good attorneys. Get old:)
Rising Star
Nothing smiley about getting old! I am fighting it every step of the way.
Do you have supervisors or a secretary that does a final check before you file? Or do you file everything on your own?
I do but even after they say it’s good to file, I still get the feeling after I click “send” haha.
Neverrrr