Related Posts
What are the best Sales books y’all read?
Friday count down... 3
Enthusiast
Love to see Duke lose
Enthusiast
What are common easy to pick up side hustles?
Rising Star
Additional Posts in Paralegals
Do small law firms have paralegal managers?
Have a great weekend Paralegals ✌️
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Honestly, it’s your livelihood. Do what you need to do to make money to put food on your table, clothes on your back, and a roof over your head. Tolerate what you can, if you can afford to. When the job becomes incompatible with your own interests, then move on.
very well said! I agree 100% I work off the clock too sometimes (unpaid) but I am salaried, If it is expected of you to work off the clock to keep things afloat you should be paid OT. If you are doing it because you want like a mental control thing and You want to make sure nothing falls through the cracks that is okay too! As long as you aren't overworking yourself to the point of burn out. The name of the game is to find balance where you can.
I’ve been in that position a lot. It feels like you’re caught between wanting to help and not wanting to disappoint anyone. But honestly, we deserve time off without worrying about work. It’s okay to set boundaries and be clear about what’s reasonable for you. If you're not being paid for extra hours, don’t feel like you have to answer emails after hours unless it’s urgent.
^^This^^
If you are not salaried, you SHOULD be charging them for your time and billing clients for it. If your attorneys don’t want to pay the OT, then they’ll stop expecting after hours work. You don’t work for free and the law firm could be put in a vulnerable wage/labor position if you are working off the clock like that.
Subject Expert
Don’t work for free. If you’re spending time reviewing and responding to emails then make sure you add this to your time card and billable time. I know some people frown on it but 0.1 is an acceptable amount of time to allocate to reviewing and responding to correspondence.
That’s great advice. And if you’re not salaried, you should be earning overtime for when you’re “off the clock”!
Well, just because it’s the law doesn’t mean it make it right.
Do not work off the clock make sure you are getting paid overtime. Even if you feel guilty and want to be available you should still make sure you are getting paid overtime. I used to feel like I needed to be available and it caused me to burnout. Now I have boundaries, if an important deadline is coming up I will help out, but the attorney should never expect me to work without getting paid. Clients can wait and if they can’t then the attorney can respond.
In my experience, the clients will always appreciate you, but you do not have to work after hours. If they become used to it, some will expect it because you have set your working standard. You need to stop at clocking out and forget about work to decompress. You will be a better and more productive worker if you leave work at work, etc.
The one thing you need to be cautious about is that you may be perceived as someone who cannot handle the workload during work hours and that is dangerous. It is all a matter of learning how to instill time management and organizational skills.
Where you work and the type of practice is important also. Slower paced would be a job in Probate -- litigation is like working with your hair on fire and you never get to stop and take a breath and if you do not enjoy multi-tasking at a fast-paced, always urgent work environment, then walk away. You have to have apassion for procedure, know everything, plus more to support every case, and it will be soul sucking if you work for jerks.
Forget family law if you do not have the specialization down. It is highly intricate and unexplainable. Its like no other.
Working for an insurance company for defense would be a good job and a way to hone your skills.
Truth. This is truth.
Rule of thumb-the more you do then more becomes expected. I responded to emails & clients after hours for years. That "free" time adds up quickly. Seldom do the bosses appreciate the effort. In most cases, it becomes expected especially when you've done it without complaint for months or years.