How do I deal with a passive-aggressive paralegal as a third year associate? I work with a paralegal who is about 10 years older than me with a JD but no license (failed the bar). She talks down to me and oversteps boundaries daily (sends letters under my signature without my approval, responds to my emails, and calls my clients without authority). When I confront her, she cries and says she’s trying to be “helpful,” so nothing changes. How do I better set boundaries or expectations?

Sending letters and emails under your name is a firable offense. I’d take that to her supervisor immediately and demand she never be staffed on one of my cases again.

Seriously, she should be fired. This isn’t a management issue that can be worked through.

First and foremost, while both of you have gone through the pain of law school – YOU are the one who stands to lose the most as you are the one who passed the bar. Remember that. Support staff should always defer to attorney preference as it is their name on the signature line. Doesn’t matter if it’s stupid and they are Team Two Spaces After Periods or Team Anti-Oxford Comma. Their license, their rules.

Secondly, you need to escalate this to a partner. Before the meeting, make sure you’ve saved/pdf’d everything that she’s done out of turn to be able to provide examples, should they ask for it. It could honestly just take a come to Jesus talk where you (or the partner) tell her that it’s professional, not personal – you’re not criticizing her effort, you’re just setting expectations for workflow and responsibility – for her to realize she’s setting you (and the firm) up for issues. Be fully prepared for the Partner to question why you haven’t brought this to them before.

Thirdly, those who make their points about this being beneficial are correct to a degree but UPL is UPL.

A good paralegal is proactive, not reactive, but should always know the lines that they’re ethically allowed to color in. I’m in a similar boat as OP’s paralegal, but I know that I’m limited in my capacity as I’ve not graduated law school and that the training wheels don't come off until I pass the bar.

Oh, opposing counsel emailed asking for an extension and you know your attorney will say yes? Shoot your attorney a quick text/call and ask before responding. Knowing letters, such as a demand letter or a good faith letter, need to be drafted means that you can draft them ahead of time but send them for attorney approval before hand. It's literally that simple to wait for attorney approval. Sure, it's annoying to have to follow up on tasks but it's part of the job.

Lastly, take this as a learning moment for the future. You now know to grow your communication skills and to be more proactive by letting new paralegals/legal assistants assigned to you know attorney expectations/tasks. We can’t do our jobs without you and you would have to call the clerks, format and file things, or chase after clients for delinquent discovery on your own so it’s teamwork.

tl;dr get the partner involved asap because upl is upl and the paralegal should know better

Woah—sending letters without permission is a huge no no. I only act on things that have been expressly told to me that I can act on without a prior blessing. Hmm. I’d try to meet with her one last time. Then go to her boss if it keeps happening.

Tell her you want to start using a wet signature for all letters, so stop the letter thing in its tracks.

After that, dealing with snarky paralegals is part of the job. Most of them have personalities. Just placate her and get on the same team.

Sounds like your para is trying to be the attorney on the case. That’s problematic. Showing Initiative is fine but she should always be checking with you before anything goes out. If you really value the initiative and want to keep her around, I’d approach it like this:

Hey Karen (sounds appropriate) I really appreciate you’re showing initiative in getting things done and helping me. I really value this and I’m happy to work with you to give you meaningful projects and participation in the cases, however, nothing can go out without me reviewing it. Even if you do a stellar job, it’s always best to have two sets of eyes looking at things before they go out. Further, if something goes wrong, it’s me who’s getting sued for malpractice, not you, so things need to go through me even if it seems inefficient or unnecessary.

If you’ve already had a similar talk with her about this, escalate it because as others have said, sending things with your signature without your approval calls for termination. If she wants to be an attorney so bad, she can go sit for the bar again.

I agree with both sides of the argument here. This seems like a terminable offense, but also very helpful.

She Cries??? Oh that is Manipulation 101! And sending letters and signing them as you is an ethical time bomb. SHE NEEDS TO GO! However be careful how she is let go because manipulators like that are artful in the ways of making others look bad..(I still can't believe she cries!)

I suspect the underlying issue here is you lack confidence in her competency. As such you want to at the very least review work before it is executed. This is not unreasonable… to a point. Executing letters in your name is definitely something people have different levels of comfort with so at the minimum you can ask to review them before they go out.

This is a dream, but set boundaries as mentioned above.

You are responsible for what she does and the consequences.

After taking necessary measures to set boundaries, maybe you can encourage her to take the bar so she can be an attorney herself, if that is why you suspect she is behaving this way.

Your paralegal sounds horrible. First, don’t let her talk down to you. You’re the attorney. You’re the leader in this team. Respect is foremost. Second, you need to tell her she needs to get your approval on anything she sends out to OPC or client. That’s not negotiable. If she can’t do that, then she’s off the team. You don’t need additional stress or problems that may come up because of mistakes that result in her carelessness. Whatever her issue with you or the firm, that’s her problem. She can’t take the client with her in a downward spiral to loserville.

You best get her fired before she gets YOU fired !!!

Speak to her openly and kindly.

One she can be an incredible asset. Two in the eyes of the firm she likely is more valuable in a lot of regards(depending on tenure and size of firm). Three she likely has more experience than you and the firm may have strategically paired you with her because of this.

First thank her for everything she is doing right. Proactive client calls are a blessing many firms would hire her on the spot just for that.

The overstepping part is sending letters with your signature that haven’t been reviewed or responding to your email as you.

But, have you properly delegated and trained her on a system or systems you want applied?

There are a ton of great email delegations systems that can be applied. You have to study apply and delegate and train her on what you want.

Sounds like a great conversation is the way forward and she will be your biggest asset.

People will treat you how you let them. There should be a mutual respect for one another. It is not uncommon for paralegals to send out correspondence on the attorney's behalf. It may be what she is use to doing. If she's crying then perhaps it is your approach...The supervisor will more than likely suggest you talk with her first but since you did that maybe there needs to be a meeting. Good luck.

Send her a copy of this post from anonymous. She may quit

You can remind her she did not pass the bar; she should be the best paralegal and leave the practice to you, the boss who is licensed to PRACTICE. Yes, she is trying to help, but she should still show a better respect for you as a "colleague" only because of the JD, but professionally and positionally, you are the practicing attorney and her boss or employer. The alternative is...........

I guess stop accepting referrals from Biden.

OP, what’s the update on this?