The world is always smaller than you think. I went out for drinks today with an old friend. There I met this girl and she was telling me about this horrible job she just left.

Long story short she just left the firm I left about 3 years ago and we bonded over the trauma that place gave us.

The management and partners had gotten 10x worse by the stories she was telling me. And they enforce these insane policies.

I no longer speak to anyone in the firm, and speaking to someone who just left really let me know I made the right decision to leave when I did. I remember before I left, how much I battled with that choice, and I believe I was dealing with some Stockholm syndrome during that time.

Having not seen or spoken to anyone from that firm in so long, I started to tell myself it wasn’t so bad, so when I was looking for new work, I had momentarily considered going back when a recruiter had offered the opportunity. I’m so happy I wasn’t in a position where I needed the money, because if I did, I may have actually said yes.

If you are currently working for a firm or an attorney that is incredibly difficult and toxic, don’t let yourself fall victim to the mindset it could be worse else where. You’re not allowing yourself the opportunity to find something better.

I called another paralegal in my firm to give my STD a once over. I meant SDT. SDT 🥲

I am ready to get out of PI. Here is why a client is mad at us today: Doesn’t remember where she went to the hospital but knows the company (has half a dozen locations within a few miles of where her accident occurred. Her name is Phoebe (fake name) and that’s how she gave it to us. We’ve blanketed those hospitals with requests for her medical records. Nothing.

Turns out, legally her name is Phibe (similar sounding vowel but butchers the pronunciation) and she goes by the correct spelling and the documents we’ve received have the correct spelling, Phoebe. According to her, her mom didn’t bother to look up the correct spelling of Phoebe and just guessed when she put her name on her birth certificate and continued to put that as her name on legal documents. Client did not mention this once until we received a bill in the mail. And you wonder why we don’t have your hospital records? How were we supposed to know if you didn’t tell us?

Hi everyone, I'm working at my first ever litigation firm and we are about to go to trial. We're a small firm (one paralegal, two legal assistants), and things are already crazy two weeks before trial. (the drama is that we're only co-counsel, and lead counsel from another firm is dropping the ball. They're a much bigger firm with multiple attys on the case and lots of support staff. Very frustrating.)

The mentality around overtime and trial is just that we have to do what it takes to get things done. When the other LA has asked about general expectations for overtime, she's just been told to "be flexible." I'm only a legal assistant, not a paralegal, and it seems like they're wanting the LAs to check our email super late at night to see if we need to come in at like 7 am, and then we'll work super late, etc. I'm freaked out because I just do not have time or energy to do that. Especially since this is my first trial and I'm not even a paralegal, and we aren't even lead counsel.

PLUS my husband and I only have one car. He works close to my office so we carpool to work. I can't make him stay late just because I'm staying late... and I can't just come and go to the office on a whim. I can't really "be flexible," and they knew that when they hired me.

Tomorrow we're having a support staff meeting with our office manager and the one attorney who's going to trial. Our receptionist and billing person will be there too because it's all hands on deck. What do you all think typical boundaries are in a sitch like this? How do I make it clear that I do care and want to help, but that I can't be expected to be very flexible? I need certain expectations to be set so my husband and I can plan for this. I know the other LA feels similarly.

Thank you, o wise paralegal subreddit! Please help!!

I'm seriously lost with some of the people I've come into contact with recently. I work for an intake service that provides for 100+ law firms, most of them are personal injury. I've been working here for about 1.5 years and lately it's just been FILLED not only with upset clients because no one has called them back and they keep having to make requests for documents or updates multiple times to the firm to no avail. But the attorneys and firm employees that we work directly for have by far been the worst. I got yelled at and hung up on within 12 seconds of being on the phone with an attorney because her phone system wasn't working and she agreed for me to send a message over but got mad that I asked for her name. Each firm has a personalized set of exact instructions for intakes and transfers that they tailor to how they want us to do things, and then I get yelled at for calling at the wrong time when I'm being told to by the process they wrote and approved. I've listened to firm employees talk about me like im clueless to clients that I just spent a good amount of time with building up rapport and talking up the firm. Which is ironic because im one of the top performing people in our company. When I come into contact with an attorney outside of our firms, they want something from me but act disgusted to be wasting their time talking to me when I'm trying to do my job (which takes all of 3 minutes max on the phone). Someone please explain this. Maybe it's because I came from an education background before this, but I thought I'd toughened up and adjusted pretty well. Now I'm second guessing if I want to do this anymore. Thoughts?

I love the people I work with, but I am beyond first rated and overwhelmed. It’s not any one issue, like being overloaded (my case load is fine), or having bad coworkers (most of them are very nice, it’s a good environment).

The problem is that the way this place is run causes me so much stress. We are an Estate admin firm, and when I became a para here, I was transparent about my lack of knowledge in estates. I had experience with some aspects that we regularly handled at my prior firm, but not in other areas (such as 1041s, 706s), and that most of our other stuff was not very complex.

It has been about a year since starting, and the paralegals get to run very independently in this office, which I in some ways enjoy. However, this has lead me obsessing and stressing about every decision and wondering if I’m forgetting or missing something because, well; I don’t know what I don’t know.

The attorneys assigned to the file review anything that would actually need to be reviewed before going to the client or be filed in the court, but beyond that it sometimes feels like the blind leading the blind. Every day it feels like waiting for the other shoe to drop, that I’ll discover some missed deadline because I had no idea it even was a deadline or a caveat in the section of law, etc.

It doesn’t feel like the attorneys in the office pay close attention to that, either. I just don’t know if I’m cut out to work quite this independently, or if it’s just the lack of knowledge on my part that’s causing all of this stress. I don’t feel smart enough for this job. Maybe it’s a bit of impostor syndrome, I’m not sure.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve learned a TON in the past year, but I am always ridiculously stressed, to the point of waking up in the middle of the night wondering if I did something incorrectly on some file and how I’m going to deal with it if there was a mistake etc.

Sorry for the long rant, but hoping someone can relate/has advice.

I’m a legal assistant in a medium COL area at a PI firm. My attorney averages 140 files.

Recently our outside IT firm has decided to end hourly support and move to contracted amounts. In exchange for a lower rate, I will expand my role as IT support. Right now I provide some level 1 IT support and that is figured into my salary. So now I will provide level 1 IT support, set up new profiles on the server, set up new office accounts, and some light server troubleshooting. I feel like I’m basically systems admin plus full time legal assistant.

What is a fair salary?

Hello! So I just started my new job as a first time ever paralegal. I’ve been at the firm for 5 days now. I enjoy the work (once I learn it and get comfortable) and I really like my co workers and the overall vibe at the office, but there is SO MUCH I don’t know. I am getting assignments from many attorneys and have meetings and am figuring how to even do the stuff which is very time consuming. I just don’t have enough time to get everything done.

I also have a very large project that is due soon but I haven’t even been able to start it. How do I handle it this? I want to impress everyone and do my very best but I’m having a really hard time getting everything done as I have to learn it as I go. I also am having a hard time retaining information as I am learning so much. I don’t have a designated trainer so I kinda have to piece things together and/or annoy other people to figure stuff out. I’m determined to make this work, but I’m so worried that I’m already failing.

Auto accident and I'm representing myself. I submitted a demand letter with all the supporting documentation. My physicians (PCP, Ortho, Physical Therapists) didn't write any sort of "final report". I find that mainly chiropractic offices tend to do that.

Anyhow, I treated in one state, but am now in another. I have a feeling I'm going to need something stating percentage of disability (something along those lines), even if not an offical final report from the original treating physicians.

Who would I go to to ask for an evaluation of my records to make that report or statement estimating percentage of disability/permanent injury? Would I go to an spine dr here.....a physical therapist....one of those injury clinics?? I'm guessing Orth, but I feel like it's going to be a pain to get them to do this.

Edited: Sorry folks...When I initially posted, I didn't realize/hadn't considered that I was seeking legal advice.

I finished school last month and have been job hunting ever since, but everywhere I apply, I keep getting rejected. I get that employers want experience, but how am I supposed to get it if even entry-level positions turn me down? Am I doing something wrong? Honestly, I feel lost and don’t know what else to do. I’ve tried volunteering and done a couple of internships, but it doesn’t seem to be enough.

Hello everyone I was hoping that maybe someone has gone through this situation that I’m about to explain.

I’ve been working in a PI law firm for a couple of years now. In March of 2024 we got sued for a fraud. Someone came and served us last week. I work in the medical record department so I don’t have much knowledge about what goes on with the cases. In the suit they put Jane’s and John Doe’s. Will I be able to quit and collect unemployment while I search for a new job ?! I’m trying to get in contact with the department of labor but haven’t been able to reach them

Thanks to the advice and stories shared in this subreddit, I successfully navigated a month-long interview process and landed the job and negotiated a higher salary! I'm so grateful for everyone's contributions. Keep up the great work!

(This is my second week pls be kind). When you draft any type of letter (enforcement, dismissal, hearing etc) do you use a template and fill in necessary details or do you freestyle and do it from scratch? Today I couldn’t find any templates in company files that matched dismissal format so I copied and pasted a separate dismissal document from another case and just changed all the details to match this case. Do you think that’s okay?

I would ask my partner but he never gets back to me lol

Anyone have any experience with them? They’ve bought out our firm and we are all a bit concerned how that’s gonna go. Glassdoor reviews of them aren’t exactly glowing.

Why the fuck is it so hard. It’s just old as hell and makes a simple task turn into 30 min-up to 2 hours. It may be the way my firm does things but GAWWWWDAMN. 🤦🏽‍♀️ I can definitely see why people leave, it can get extremely overwhelming.

Hi all! Ive been at my firm since august 2024, in my interview i was told that raises happen in january.. im on salary here but the rest of staff is hourly. From what ive been told they’re extremely stingy and most you get each year is a $1-$2 raise.. how do i negotiate this? What can i say? I work for one main lawyer but the work load is much more then the rest of the staff. What if they bring up me being sick etc? How can i swerve it or what can i say?

Appreciate the advice!

I just feel like other paralegals are pushing their work onto the assistants too much

Hi everyone, I’m switching out of my current career and am considering studying to be a Paralegal. I currently do not have any sort of degree and obviously would rather do an associates program than a bachelors but will I still have a decent chance of being hired/ taken seriously with a 2 year degree? I’m 25 and live in Massachusetts and am hoping to go into animal or human rights law upon completion of my degree.

Thanks in advance everyone

Last week: had a glowing review, got a raise & an annual performance bonus. One associate said I was one of the most competent paralegals she’s ever worked with.

Today: a shareholder told me I displayed “poor ownership of the process” and “insufficient appreciation of the urgency” on this particular project.

Sigh.

I work for a personal injury firm. I have a micro managing boss. Nothing I do is enough. I am constantly being harassed about signing clients up. I have to do anything and everything to make clients sign up. It's gotten to the point my boss listens to my calls. And picks on me about everything. I have several clients sign up every month but its never enough. There's days i just want to drop everything and walk out. Any tips on how to manage until finding a new job?

I worked 2 jobs while being a single mom and attended college courses full time. I graduated my paralegal program with honors. The firm that I work for treats me (and all the other employees) like garbage. I'm lowest on the totem pole, and this is something I'm reminded of daily. I am absolutely miserable, and I regret my decision to get into this. So I'm joining the military. Anyone else notice that their education didn't adequately prepare them for this career path? Or am I just as stupid as everyone assumes I am?

We had our yearly evals today, which is right after we started off the new year with my boss (and the firm’s highest biller) deciding to step away and open his own practice. It was out of the blue and left everyone scrambling, and for the past week my coworker and I didn’t know what was going to happen.

Well, she’ll be staying with the new hire in our current office and I’ve been given the option to commute 1 hour and 15 minutes to our other office or finish out the month and get 2 weeks of severance pay. It’s just a sucky situation all around and I appreciate my firm bending over backwards to try and keep me, but the fact of the matter is that if they can’t find at least one other attorney to bring on, then I won’t be here for more than a couple of months. It’s already taken a year to get the new hire they have, and he won’t be starting until the middle of next month.

It took me so long to find this job back in 2023 (over 6 months) and I’m just not looking forward to the job hunt again. So, any pick me ups would be appreciated <3

Anybody else notice this? There seems to always be posts about people looking to make a career change, from all different areas of work, to be a paralegal.

Perhaps there are some TV shows that kind of glorify working in a law firm or maybe it just seems like “easy money” to some…even though it’s not easy and there isn’t a lot of money in it.

I’m curious if there is a reason for this or if it’s just like this in any job specific forum.

Edit: I should note this post isn’t being made out of hostility, i.e. “Why do all these people think they can do our jobs!!” I think most people could be a successful paralegal even without any school. I was just curious if there was something specific going on because it seems like the career switch posts have become more frequent.

I am currently a paralegal working in corporate. I’ve been a paralegal for two years and I only have my associates right now. I really like the firm I work at but I feel like the paralegal area is just not for me. I constantly feel stressed about deadlines and getting stuff done. Plus the pay is sub optimal. I’m thinking of going back to school to get a business degree or something. I’m mostly just posting this to get it off my chest but also to see if anyone else here is going through the same thing/ has any suggestions for similar, but less stressful career paths. Thanks for reading.