So is the new trend in big law firms to move away from assigning timekeepers to a specific assistant and going towards a pool format (a pool of assistants that work on assignments from multiple timekeepers sent via a software system)? Has anyone experienced this shift? Like it? Hate it? And isn’t this just a way for firms to trim the fat basically?

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Hate it. It’s way easier to always work with the same assistant as both TK and assistant get used to each other style and there is less explaining to be done with time.

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Absolutely loath the pool approach. The pool does absolutely nothing all day, every day, because it is always someone else's job to get the work done. If you want to keep lazy underperformers on payroll, the pool is your best bet.

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It’s a way to trim the fat and reflects changing usage patterns with assistants. I have probably had my assistant do less than five hours of work in the past year, and even that is a pain for me to deal with. I probably could just do it myself. My associates even less. This isn’t 1989, where an assistant would screen all calls, file stuff, do one’s dry cleaning, buy a card for your anniversary, or whatever. Some people use them more than others but today’s associates tend to use them sparingly. I don’t care that much who helps me as long as someone can competently and quickly when I need it.

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I couldn’t have said it better!

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I lateraled from a firm with an assistant to having a pool and I hate it. So much better to have one person you work with consistently

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It’s pretty much entirely a cost saving measure. My biglaw firm uses pooled assistants until you’re a 6th year. Then one is assigned to you, though shared with a number of other people. We also have 2 separate pools, one for 1st-4th years and another for 5th year and up. The pool for juniors is incredibly hit or miss on speed and work quality so I mostly don’t use them. You can’t train anyone so it never improves, just luck of the draw. Those junior assistants are also often recent college graduates working a year or 2 before they go to law school so they don’t often stick around. Basically, yes, agree with you. It takes away much of the usefulness. But it saves the partners money so it’s not changing any time soon.

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This was a “trend” a decade ago.

New to my area. Feels archaic. Like we’re being delegated to a typing pool. Where expertise and initiative mean nothing.

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