Working at a boutique transactiona firm. First year did not receive much guidance and made a few errors, one of which could have been a deal but ended up being fine but overall I worked hard, billed hours above target and showed a willingness to learn. Three main partners in the group. I feel like I may have been written off by the one partner, still get a fair amount of work from another and the third has never really given work but has a rep for doing things alone or using seniors. Contd below

Getting really frustrated with a boss that is completely bipolar in our interactions. Management does not seem willing to tell them to stop being psycho. Beginning to think the only way out is out

I just got called for an interview next week. Yay! It’s at the school where I have been a para for several years and where I want to end up.

Any advice on how to dress and what to bring? Portfolio?

I’m doing a presentation on coming out in the workplace and creating an environment that champions diversity. What are best practices by your coworkers that have helped you or you have observed?

My coworker keeps leaving terrible jokes in the comments on our code, and some of them are vaguely sexist. Should I tell them to keep the code clean?

Need some advice. Had final interview with practice lead on Wednesday but haven’t heard back from HR. Is it bad taste to send him a thank you note and wishing him a good weekend?

I met two of my three aides for the first time today and they have been nothing but miserable the entire day. How could I promote a more positive environment without directly calling them out?

What you should do when dealing with a very toxic worker that keep on sending passive aggressive messages to you as well as in group chat and email.
Things like when you answer his question he respond: I know that
Or when he keeps on saying my change requests were just minor in group meeting but actually not.
And keep on saying how hard he works when he clearly wasn’t and already underperformed compared to an intern level.

How to not let this toxic co-worker not poison me any further?

How can I get my *micro* manager off my back? I know I haven’t been doing the best work this quarter, but emailing me all damn day isn’t going to help me do better, I do know that.

I have a partner who routinely ignores emails or responds to them several weeks later. He has to approve every single document sent to the client or the court, which means you have a physically go to his office to ask him to review something. Half of the time you go to meet with him in person, he’s either on a call or otherwise busy. I find that this basically creates more work and makes meeting deadlines extremely difficult. Is this normal?

Advice for attacking the data room and putting together my first sell-side disclosure schedules? (Baby M&A att’y 2 months in). I have an associate mentor who encourages me to flag items I don’t understand and will walk through them with me, but at this point, the only thing I understand is that I don’t even know what I don’t know and what I do know that I don’t know is basically everything.

Is anyone willing to share tips on avoiding burnout and setting boundaries with their executives? I have six people on my desk and am finding it difficult to stay motivated and continue giving everyone the same level of support.

I've been almost 3 years in my previous company and never have I ever tasted any raise from them. I got transferred to different accounts and LOB it was so exhausting and finally when I decided to leave and send my resignation my Supervisor be like "you know you should be thankful of your job" To be honest the job was very stressful and supervisor at some point is somehow toxic but thankful I get to take my leave.

Any advice on how to tastefully tell your manager that you no longer want to be a charge nurse anymore? For us being in charge is having full assignment 3p-7p & being responsible for assigning pts , communicating w/ supervisor about various issues, making the assignment for next shift, and a mini report about each pt for the next charge. On the weekends, same responsibilities but 7a-7p. We don't get any additional pay for being in charge and I'm sick of the added responsibility and stress of it.

My boss asked me to take care of some of the details of a project for her—the stuff that isn't really my area of expertise. And now I feel like a shirker because I haven't been able to finish them yet.

I have seen that Some people are seriously demeaning Publicis Sapient looks like they have a personal grudge. I would suggest to connect with your HR and manager in PS or look for right people on LinkedIn.

It irks me when someone says I have a "lovely voice," it just makes me feel super uncomfortable and unsure what I should say to them

Midlevel and seniors, how do you review juniors’ work without redoing them? Any tips on giving instructions or spotting mistakes?

What % do you guys charge a partner to advertise on social using your handle/ad account? Is a 100% markup fee plus an "agency" like fee for maintenance of 15% too aggressive?

For freelancer that work with multiple clients at once. Do you have any tools to manage calendars across different emails? Ideally, when I get a meeting invite from one client it would block my availability on my other accounts.

Husband and I have been TTC for almost a year. His semen analysis came back all normal with the exception of morphology at 1% (Kruger Strict criteria). Anyone have insights into morphology and it’s impacts on fertility? From what I’ve read and after talking to our fertility specialist morphology seems subjective.

Other than Fidelity, what's the best brokerage account out there? Looking for something visual that allows fractional shares and portfolio insights.

My uncle is a HS math teacher and like a lot of teachers, he is looking to switch careers. I’m thinking there might be a place for him in logistics. What roles should he start looking at that might suit his skills?

How much less does an associate make at Constangy vs. one of the 4 Big L&Es?

LTIMindtree is taking too much time to release an offer after HR discussion. Anyone aware about the approximate time it takes ?

Hotel recommendations in Sydney and Melbourne?

Hello sharks.

What will be the equivalent salary in India if getting $80k in Canada??

My client’s site got hacked yesterday. I didn’t see any actual signs of impending attack. But knowing how little we do for cyber security when building a site, I knew we must have been vulnerable in some way. I’ve tried pushing for more cybersecurity measures in the last year, but being a Jr, I don’t know a lot about it. My manager had brushed it off as something that would be nice to look into if [insert excuses not to here]. Can’t push it off any longer. I’m afraid heads are gonna roll.Advice?

Anyone have confessions about Kaiser Permanente? Looking to apply for a position there, and looking for a way out of my current healthcare position that's run by a corporation. So nervous about going into other large companies but wanted to see if anyone has some insider pros/cons I should consider

First time working as a senior and Manager doesn’t review or have time for many questions. Deff trying my best but very hard to be efficient when it’s takes time for me to understand everything (planning). anybody in the same situation?

I need out of the legal field for a job with independence, interesting and challenging issues to solve and a decent amount of pay. Halp!

I've been waiting tables for the past 20 years. It's a decent job that has gotten me through some difficult times, but I am getting old and tired. What career path would be most advisable for me at age 40?

I've worked in hospitality for two years, but now the travel restrictions are lifting and I'm nervous; how busy does it usually get around Christmastime?

Today no one came into our restaurant and my boss started crying. Do I... comfort them? Leave them be?

Community, I’ve been meeting with a lot of people regarding next steps in my career. One of the best pieces of advice I received is to avoid micro-managing executive staff (agency leadership), as it puts downward and unwelcome pressure on people’s managers and ultimately oneself. Based on your experience in the last 2 years are there:
- Agencies you would steer clear from because their leadership micromanages
- Agencies you would recommend because their leadership gives you room to grow

Thx 🙏🏼

Any other first year associates feel like their firms don’t really appreciate how much COVID/WFH has stunted their development? I’ve been working at a biglaw firm for 5 months and don’t feel at all like a part of the team, and am extremely stressed out by the isolation of WFH most days. I’m not really sure that anyone at the firm realizes this is happening.

How long does it typically take you to draft discovery responses? I feel like I’ve been at this way too long...

What amount of money would it take for your current firm to retain you?

I’ll start - the balance of my student loans.

X-post

Does anyone just wanna drink wine after work every night 😔

As things start to open up fully, some of my institutional clients are sending notices that we are expected to do X activity over zoom from here on out (things we used to do in person). Clearly it’s a cost cutting measure. Anyone else feel like filing for telephonic appearance so the insurance company can save a buck isn’t going to sit well with judges who prefer in person attendance? I hope they deny all of them so my billables don’t suffer. Less travel = more desk bs I have to do to hit quota

Anyone else having one of those days where you just can’t seem to do anything right? I’m dropping balls left and right here

When did you buy a home?

I’ll be working near a big market at 85% BigLaw salary. I have student loans to pay off, but considering getting into the market early with a low money down option.

I'm in a litigation, about 9 months in. Is it normal that I spend majority of my time making bundles for my partners (printing, binding, moving docs in a different order whenever there are new documents or he wants to add stuff) reviewing documents and making tables (e.g. dates, which documents are from where), and the only legal work is like notices of admission, list of documents, the occasional research? I'm so bored and I want to quit but I don't know if I have unrealistic expectations.

Do you guys talk to chambers for the firm interview?

Interviewing with Cordell & Cordell next week for a SouthEastern associate position. Any tips? Things I should know about the firm/position? Things to avoid?

What’s the most entertaining (in a good or bad way) thing you’ve ever witnessed at a firm outing or holiday party?

Feel like I just bombed my first arbitration. Partner was sitting in and then called me after to provide feedback 👻Please give me your first arb horror story to validate my feelings. Thx

How long is acceptable to ask to decide on an offer, especially when another place you really want to work at is moving a bit slower? I know this question has been asked before but I feel like 2022 has been its own beast in the legal market and would appreciate any advice. Thank you!

Looking for guidance: Can a company require its employees to sign a confidentiality agreement prohibiting disclosure/discussion of their individual wages/salary information? Does this run afoul of the NLRA (specifically Section 7)?

What’s the most unethical thing you’ve seen OC get away with?

Bit of a niche topic: I’ve been in TS/SCI processing for a Science/Tech/Weapons analyst position with the CIA for 3 yrs since I finished grad school in chemistry, but CIA positions are sort of set it and forget it since they can take so long. I’ve since been focused on a Patent Attorney track and am with a firm that will support me taking the patent bar/law school. If I get through processing and go to the CIA for some time, do you think would I be accepted back into patent law later on?

200k in student loans. Unmarried, no kids. If you had to choose - Would you prioritize paying them down/off or saving up for big ticket items like a house/retirement?

Curious to know what other firm's bonus structures are, particularly those with billable requirements of 1900 and below. Trying to understand what the norm is and figure out if associates at my firm are getting screwed. thanks

It is in appropriate to ask what the compensation for a position is after a first interview if they want you to go on three more and the interviewers on my first told me that was above their pay grade to tell me?????

Seems kind of ridiculous for a business to want to waste so much time to find out after a handful of interviews that the pay isnt aligned with my needs ......

I can see in biglaw not bringing up knowing damn well if you get an offer itll likely be high, but this is a midsize

What productivity hacks do you employ? I like to shut off my email for 25 min intervals to focus on real work. It’s like a sprint of focus without being “unavailable” too long.