I'm 2 years into litigation, and the anxiety from the high-stakes cases is getting heavy. I enjoy the challenge, but knowing one little mistake could matter so much stresses me out. What's your advice for managing the constant "what if" stress?

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I know that anxiety well. After 5+ years of that, I went elsewhere. I couldn’t do that high-stakes thing any more. I went to a good firm with a little slower pace and more support staff. Has been working for 10 years so far.

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Almost no mistake is unfixable. Even blown deadlines, that’s what motions are for. You do not have a bar license on the line. And although your attorneys act like everything is life or death, all my hard work has not saved one baby. So, just don’t stress yourself out. It’s a job, if you get fired you’ll be replaced in 5 minutes and get a job somewhere else. Get some sleep.

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Are you the only paralegal working on these cases? Don’t you have an associate who kind of double check everything? I don’t think I’ve ever had a job where somebody wasn’t looking over my shoulder and double checking at least when it came to the big stuff.

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Remember that companies don’t care about us and we are just a number. They will replace us so fast if they can. That makes me not care as much. lol.

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Absolutely! Never trust a lawyer.

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It’s up to you at the end of the day, whether it’s something you feel you can work through enough to do the job, or if you ultimately need a change. I will say that a lot of jobs have some level of that. Find the level that works best for you.

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