Paralegal ready to give up on boss
I always wanted to be a paralegal. At the age of 19 I became pregnant yet still put myself through on line college for 2 years to get my AAS in Paralegal Studies while working fulltime. Last year I graduated from college with my degree and thought I would never find a job with no experience and having a child to put in daycare. About 2 1/2 months ago a firm took me on and it seemed as if my dream was coming true and I would have something for my daughter to admire in me. Now I am ready to give up and realized my dream is sheer hell. The attorney I work for yells, cusses me, throws things at me, insults my itelligence, critisis' my accent (i live in NJ now when I am from GA), has even got my phone and beated it on my desk until it developed a short just because he waited last minute(as usual) to put an Affidavit together and had me working on it as the client sat in the conference room and I am at fault and screamed at simply because he does not do his part? Tears pouring down my face and still typing away as he paces in front of my desk asking me over and over "whats the problem?" "do you understand how much people pay me to have this done" "do you know what you are doing?" "where this?" "wheres that".... cussing... then wham phone on my desk beaten in my face simply because it keeps ringing? 1- I am doing my job 2- its his fault because he waited til that morning to dictate it and give it to me to do 1 hour prior to the clients appointment
So what do I do now? Is every law office going to be like this? I keep telling myself to tough it out 2 years so I will have experience but I don't know if I can.
For now, please copy and paste your message to the Toxic Bosses and Workplace Bullying Forums.
You have a very serious problem and I sincerely hope all law firms are not like that one.
Don't tough anything out. That attorney is an accident waiting to happen; he is unstable and possibly dangerous. To use a very popular cliche today, he has an anger management problem. None of this has anything to do with you. He is a clicking time bomb.
You should start looking for another job and get out of there as soon as you get an offer if not sooner.
The regular members on those two Forums I mentioned have all been targets of crazies like this guy. They will be very helpful and supportive!
Bunzo
This is really simple. QUIETLY start a job search. No, not all attorneys are like this but yes, many of them are difficult and unreasonable. There are ranges of unreasonable however and you can certainly do better than that.
Tess
Hell no, most attorney's don't act in this disgusting manner. I work at a law firm that has branches in several states. The particular branch I work at has 18 lawyers and not one of them acts that way. There are 7 Legal Secretaries in my branch and 4 Legal Assistants. Plus we have two satellite offices located on each side of the city so clients don't necessarily have to come downtown. The satellite offices have 8 attorneys each and 4 secretarys and 3 legal assistants each.
We have one attorney who is notorious for waiting until the last minute on deadlines and he has been told that if he doesn't have his crap together then he is going to need to run around and figure out how to get it done in time because his secretary (me) has other stuff to do than bow to his every whim. (I said this the third time he ran to me and started dictating before he even go in my office. I was on the phone.)
What was humorous about the situation was that my boss (who is his boss, too) was walking by and heard me. The Monday of the following week, this attorney came into my office and gave me a sign that he had typed up and printed out on his home computer. He had read it while visiting opposing counsel's office (His secretary had it laminated and posted above her computer).
It said: "Yeah, I'll get to your rush as soon as I take care of the rush that Tom rushed to me after Bill gave me the rush that I threw on the floor and you are standing on."
As for the swearing, I think that there is a course in Law School where attorney's can learn how to swear with the vim and vigor of a sailor. The trick is how to use the swears to their full potential OUTSIDE the office and AWAY from anybody who can hear.
The accent thing, I am afraid that I am guilty of that. One of my attorney's has a very thick Irish brogue. I do not think it is sexy at all. I think it is hilarious because he puts the accent on a different syllable. He usually tells me to go to h3ll and then starts laughing along with everybody else.
Hi DinahLaEzza,
You've received excellent advise from all who responded to your thread! I would like to add that you are doing plenty to make your daughter proud of you! Being there for her is everything. Best of luck to you!
tb:)
First you have to know that this is not you. This is something entirely different so do not under any circumstances allow this ape to put you in the role of victim.
I know hard to say and sometimes hard to do; especially if you are in a strange place with no support systems to fall back on. But to the best of your ability whenever he starts acting like a two ton gorilla just repeat to yourself "this is not about me, this is not about my ability, this is not about my skills, or my intelligence".
Quietly begin looking for another position. I would place odds that others have left his employ for similar reasons and that he has a reputation in the legal community for his behavior.
With a daughter to support, you might be better served looking at some of the larger firms in your area.
Good luck.
No every law office is not like this - some are worse! (just trying to lighten the mood)
Start networking with your local paralegal chapter to get to know some other paralegals in your area. If you do want to gut it out with this guy at least you will have some local help that can sympathize with you.
My one and only experience working in a law office was similar only in my case I was a legal secretary and the person who made my life hell was the secretary to the partner. She made me cry at work on more than one occassion I have to admit.
Get your resume out there - this guy's antics are probably well know. For example the atty I worked for had had 8 secretaries in the last two years before me. (It wasn't so much the atty as having to put up with the other secretary.) It won't do any good to go to HR, but you can try to get transferred to someone else.
I feel your pain.
Thank you to everyone for all of your comments.
I am the 3rd paralegal this year so you guys are right about your assumptions!
I am quietly looking for a new job, but I am also buying a new home which puts me where I can not quit my job because I need this job for mortgage reasons. However, as soon as it is final I came to the conclusion I am telling him my 2cents and quitting then maybe managing my husband(cabinet maker), at least I know I can tolerate him! LOL
If you've really always wanted to be a paralegal, then don't let this creep dissuade you. Everyone has given excellent advice. Let me just add that being a paralegal can be a wonderful, rewarding career. I've been in the legal field for over 15 years now, first as a secretary, then as a paralegal, and I love it. While some attorneys are jerks (I've only had one who would qualify), most are just normal people. The last minute thing is pretty common, I'm afraid, but most attorneys realize it's their fault, and you can be proactive whenever possible, reminding the attorneys of filing deadlines, etc. I've found this very helpful.
I'd agree with those who say look for another job while you're still employed. I know every day feels like torture, but it's much easier to get a job when you're employed. I don't understand it, but I've found it's true. When you get a new job, THEN you can tell this bozo off and move on. If you have legal-specific employment agencies in your area, use them. They've been great for me. They're also probably aware of this guy, and have dealt with paralegals he's chased away before. Also the local legal newspaper (the Daily Journal) has lots of ads - you can even check them on line, I believe.
Good luck. I hope it all works out for you, and that you have a long, wonderful career as a paralegal.
It looks like you took a job in the wrong office. I've worked in a small law office, a corporate law department and now a branch office of a large law firm. I have not worked with any tyrantical attorneys in any of those offices. In fact, I've worked in other industries over my career and found that the best bosses I've had so far have been attorneys. I believe you may want to just move on to a different law firm. I wouldn't deal with such behavior from any type of boss.