First time working with a paralegal who either doesn’t care about doing a good job or might just be bad at it. This is incredibly frustrating, but it also makes me extra grateful for the good paralegals I’ve worked with in the past.

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Some people just aren't cut out for the position. Is there a different job within the firm she might be better at? Have you discussed the issues with managing partners or paralegal manager? Have you asked her if she is struggling with aspects of the job? Is she just too dumb (yes, I said it, not everyone has the reasoning skills to handle the work)?

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I’ve taken a significant time since he started in April to ask questions about what is causing him to make the same kinds of mistakes over and over again and to offer some guidance (I’ve created/updated checklists for frequent tasks, given proofreading tips, made sure to make it clear I don’t want him to rush through things, etc.).

I don’t think he’s too dumb. The mistakes aren’t really “reasoning” mistakes: it’s stuff like getting party (or attorney) names wrong, inability to correctly prepare documents from a template (like a pro hac vice motion, for example).

I’ve talked it over with our managing paralegal but so far nothing’s come of it. I think I’ll have to escalate soon but part of me feels like a jerk even though I’m losing hours every week to correcting mistakes that should not be happening after nearly four months on the job.

I have a question about this. Is the position a hybrid secretary/paralegal position? It’s seems that smaller firms want to consolidate these roles to avoid hiring two people and just pay one (slightly higher) salary. There are people that are great with detail and there are people that are great with depth. It all depends on what you value. And I think that ALL attorneys should have to take secretary 101 and paralegal 101 before demanding that the “make this easy and right and now” button gets pushed.

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Huge fan if people knowing how to do the job before instructing it done.

This is when you realize it’s hard to find a good paralegal. Then you appreciate the ones that do a good job more. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Are they a young person? I’m 52 and our firm is highly disappointed with the work ethic of younger employees. Hopefully, they are just a “lemon” and you’ll have a better experience with your next encounter! Good luck!

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Likely will be a self-solving problem. No one will give the paralegal work so their billable hours will be too low.

I can do a better job

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