How do you manage “everything is urgent” requests- no jokes pls I’m desperate

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Tell the partner or assigning attorney what else is on your plate and your other deadlines and ask the partner to help you prioritize. If they need to discuss amongst themselves who gets your attention first and in what order, that’s up to them. Just be upfront with what’s on your plate. You can do this by saying “I can certainly help with X, Y, Z. I currently have A, B, and C due on XXX date for such and such partner and would like to know which project I should prioritize.”

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I think it’s critical to develop an internal triage system. There is a hierarchy to all the ASAP emails you’re getting.

Talk to those around and above you, try and get a feel for who’s ASAP is more of an ASAP and who’s ASAP is actually a 3 day to one week ASAP.

And as you figure out the hierarchy, understand that the partners are just animals in the food chain too. Partner x knows PARTNER XXX his higher up. So when lil X hits you with the asap, know when to tell him you’re working on something for XXX and you will get less pushback than you think.

The people I’ve seen handle this job best play the hierarchy for what it is and create the space they need.

Not to say any of that is easy.

Good luck and remember that you’re mental health, your sleep, your eating habits etc need to fall into that hierarchy as well.

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Also it’s not just about who is the most important. Don’t blow through a senior associates real deadlines without communication just because a partner asked for something at the same time. We’re all ultimately responsible to the client and everyone has a boss, you don’t want to get in trouble with the partner x above senior associate because you missed a client deadline doing a non-urgent task for partner y.

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Let the senior person know what other time sensitive tasks you have and that you’ll get to the requested task after xyz. They’ll decide if they want/can wait or if they want to ask someone else/do it themselves. The main thing is to communicate.

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There’s also two types of fires- ones that you’re brought in off the street to solve; those that were someone else’s responsibility but on a deal you’re already involved with.

For the latter, I ascribe to what I call the “defensive driving” mindset. I expect others to botch tasks and it becoming my problem. So I keep tabs on those items. No different than making sure your boss gives you edits to a draft timely and not 5 min before a filing is due.

helpful

Honestly, at some point I just prioritize the stuff myself based on deadline, closing date, and when I know things are actually necessary.

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I self-prioritize and adjust if a partner creates greater urgency. I honestly don’t care anymore. Every partner wants their stuff done “now” but it’s not possible so I’ve stopped caring. I do what I can and let the chips fall where they may.

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