Does anyone feel like the expectation for them is perfection? How do you handle this? I’m a second year (class of 21), and approaching 1 year at this my current firm. I have one partner in particular who has a lot of complaints about my work to my supervising partner and that I’m not meeting her “expectations”. She is someone who doesn’t loop me into the details of the deal and expects me to read her mind on what the next steps are and how I can move things forward. In talking to my supervising

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Sounds like the wrong firm, or wrong group at a minimum.

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It is bias at play. That doesn’t make it okay, but now that you know, do your best and move on. Just be sure to push back (tactfully) in writing when she says something that isn’t true or exaggerates the situation. E.g for the doc with 2 typos, respond and say you went back and reviewed and you saw that there were two typos, state what those typos are, and say you’ve either fixed or will fixed in the next turn. Keep a paper trail so it’s not just your word against a Partner’s if something serious comes out of it.

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You will probably never meet her expectations (whatever that means). Accept that she probably sucks and don't let it phase you.

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Definitely possible she might be out to get you. Next time you work with said person, however, if you aren’t already confirming the assignment with an email right after the meeting, I would get in the habit of doing that. Specify what info she gave you and what the next steps as you understand them to be. And if anything isn’t clear, raise it immediately. It puts the onus on her Once complete if she says oh you didn’t do XYZ later on, you reply or forward that email chain and can indicate nicely that she confirmed that was in scope but that you’re happy to do it. It creates a paper trail.

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+1 to this. As a senior in-house manager, I still do this, even with people (legal or business) who are not difficult, since it helps avoid misalignment.

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ask and keep asking. Do it via email. When she complains of your incompetence you have instigated a huge paper trail. If it is really bad BCC a private email account “xfirmsketchy@gmail.com”

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A1, please don’t give out wrong and potentially career ending advice. As attorneys of color, we already have it hard enough. We need to be more mindful of the advice we give each other.

You should never copy a private email or forward any client-related work to a private email. IT will see it and you can be terminated immediately. That also doesn’t include potential ethics violations or bar issues.

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Partner he mentioned I had some typos on a draft document I sent him recently. I went back to review and I had exactly two. I guess he was trying to get me to see her point and accept his feedback or something. This is the only complaint he has had about me. Long story short, I don’t think I can hit the bar of perfection in this job. How does everyone else deal with it?

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Typos used to be an issue for me. If possible, I sleep on it before submitting

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Some people are terrible teachers and terrible at explaining things. Don’t let their issues affect you. Ask some people you trust about this partner and see what their intel is on their personality and if it’s you (unlikely as a first year) or them.

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Everyone else in my group says “she’s so great” but they’re all white folks talking about a white woman so I take it with a grain of salt

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