Small firm (my boss, me, & a paralegal). After a hearing I did not handle, boss intended to seek review of the ruling in its entirety. What was communicated to me by paralegal was to seek review of a portion.

Seeking review is now time-barred. Boss is not upset, but this is 1 case & 1 problem. There are other cases & other stories.

How do I talk to my boss about being more present (boss is never in office, has “too many” emails, never answers his phone) without being seen as insubordinate?

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Why is the paralegal telling you what to do? If I want my associate to do something, I tell them. I would never let my paralegal tell my associate attorney what to do.

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I would say he’s too trusting. Which is nice and all feel-good, but causes a ton of issues. If it’s inconvenient for him to speak to me directly, he’ll trust the paralegal as a go between. It usually comes down to how little contact we have with him since he’s trying to manage a family of school age kids. We get him on the phone and it’s talk about what he wants til he has to go, even if we called him.

First, realize that COVID has been extremely difficult on parents and make sure you base any conversation with that mentality because that will help ease the conversation. I think you can address with your boss by letting him know you are willing and able to step up but you need guidance from him since things are getting lost in translation. Second, you need to make the paralegal your ally. Paralegals seem to be able to be ruder to bosses so if you can get the paralegal to agree to the issue then they can help. For example, instead of having the boss give instructions to her to give to you, they can just tell boss to go to you. FINALLY, if your boss isn't going to review the damn work and catch it, you should just be handling cases on your own.

Also if paralegal agrees with the problem then schedule a team meeting to discuss issues.

Sounds like your boss is taking total responsibility for the mixup. Otherwise you might be in a hot seat. Perhaps it’s time to become more independent: review the facts, laws and order and then make a suggestion to your boss as to how to proceed. Also, learn to ask the paralegal lots of clarifying questions and send your boss a confirming email before you start the work.

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