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Since you are heading out the door anyway, you might as well stand up to him. Tell him he doesn’t get to speak to you that way and needs to treat you like a professional. What’s he going to do about it? Scream some more? Also, it tells you something about that firm that they brought you in to sacrifice to this monster.
I don't think you need to worry about the damage to your career, especially if you go back to the firm you were at before. Not every job is going to be a good fit and that's okay. I'm sorry you had to deal with such toxicity and it sounds like it'll be ending soon, which is good.
I agree. It’s not worth to stay in a toxic environment, you’ll be traumatized
I pulled the statute directly from Lexis and provided the answer. He was upset that I did not instead locate the firm’s internal practice document in iManage. There was no prior instruction that internal materials were preferred. The issue was framed as a competence problem rather than a workflow preference.
He has yelled at me. On one occasion he called four times in a row without a clear emergency. During a discussion, I was taking notes on a notepad to capture instructions, and he told me he never wants to see a notepad again. He also told me his six year old son can do things faster than I can.
I raised these concerns with the practice group chair and was told the partner would apologize. An apology occurred, but the comments have continued, just more subtly.
My legal assistant mentioned that the prior associate working under this partner also left because of him.
I understand BigLaw firms are demanding. I’m trying to determine whether this is normal adjustment friction or a pattern that is unlikely to improve.
My old firm has extended an offer to return so I am just waiting on the letter and I am out. Will I be doing more damage to my career by leaving this quickly? I have a feeling it’s only going to get worse.
I don’t understand what I could’ve done in two weeks to cause him to act this way towards me. Is this something to be concerned about? Or should I leave?
I wake up now with a tremendous amount of anxiety. My chest always feels very heavy the moment I walk into work.
Further context: he saw that I had 103 emails in my inbox. A majority of those emails came prior to my time at the firm and mostly were emails regarding training that I haven’t completed and other stuff that doesn’t concern me and HE WENT CRAZY. It’s like I was talking to a wall he didn’t want to hear anything that I had to say.
Love the advice above from the recruiter! Thank you for sharing your valuable perspective.
Run. Just run. I am in a similar spot. I’ve had three mental breakdowns in the past few months. You can’t work harder to fix it. You can’t be nicer. You can’t be more available. I have consistently worked 24 hour shifts; because they scream at 7 PM that something needs done immediately. I wish that I would have ran. Now I have less mental capacity, and I’m trying to form an exit plan.
I'm so sorry AA2. This is horrible. Hang in there.
If you go back to your old firm, leave this stint at this firm off your resume, scrub your social media of any suggestion that you ever worked at the new place, and pretend it didn't happen. If it ever comes up again in a future interview (it probably won't), tell them that you immediately realized it was not a good fit and that your old firm begged you to come back. In all likelihood, it will never come up again even if you leave your old firm again in a year or two.
He has anger issues that probably scared away most of the prior attorneys that worked under him. Leave. It will not get better. I’ve seen his type many times before in supervisory attorneys and I can’t recall it ever changed. Maybe he’ll yell less but he’ll never stop yelling.
You are doing the right thing by getting out of there. This is not the right fit and that is 1000% not your fault. You will be there such a short time and you’re going back to the same firm so I honestly would just leave it off your resume.
Sorry to hear that SA1, and I agree a good therapist can help
The firm very likely already knows this guy had a problem
I guess the firm won’t do anything about it unless really bad things happens.
This is certainly not normal but there are versions of partners who think they need to haze new associates but that is usually reserved to newly graduates— those who know very little about practice of law. I won’t mention the firm but my first job out of a law school was under a partner who used a similar language with me but i was so new to the practice of law (that was October after having stated after labor day). And i was also an experienced professional (with a phd and a number of years as researcher in a large company) but it still hurt. I left his practice about a year later after a senior associate with similar technical background as me became a partner. I left the firm two years later and i have met a number of very successful lawyers who were driven out of that firm by this same partner. That firm not only still exists, it has since become one of the best firms in the US and that partner was eventually forced to retire. Anyway, i think you have good reason to get out of that place if it is weighing on you so much. Short stays don’t mean much if you manage to at your old firm for a few years. If you don’t include this firm in your resume later, it will look more like time off. If you return to old firm promptly, i am not sure what ethical issues it would raise if you completely ignore this firm but that a decision is for later date. I would get out asap. Good luck
I’m so sorry that this happened to you, but I had a very similar experience with a partner at a mid sized firm. It was not worth putting it up with a pay under 140k. Now happy at a bigger, more humane, and more paying firm.
Thanks. I went back to my old firm who was happy to have me back. They matched pay.
Really sorry this is happening to you (can especially relate with the heavy weight on the chest). Not all big law firms are like this. But if the firm/office you're at is allowing a partner to treat associates like this consistently, it may just be better to leave. The damage is already done, and it will be hard to mend even if they take drastic remedial actions. Your mental health definitely should come first. Hoping the best for you!