Engaging in an open dialogue has always been the best way to reach understanding about something.

To fake it until you make it implies that you do not openly acknowledge the gaps in your legal knowledge to co-workers, bosses, etc. Thus, you do not engage in any kind of meaningful discussion with people about the proper way to perform legal work. I think that's crazy. Just admit that you don't know something.

There is 100% an ego-driven element to the "fake it until you make it" philosophy. Why would you Not just talk to other people to figure things out in a collective way? This literally leads to the best possible outcome, because there are multiple competing ideas of how things should be done, and more often than not, the dialogue ends with determining which one is best.

I guarantee that if you take all other statistical noise out of the equation (such as salary, benefits, etc.), then you would find that firms with the highest turnover are in such a bad way because there is a culture of criticizing people for not knowing; or for coming down on people for being "stupid" or whatever egotistical bullshit they say these days. If a firm's culture embodies fake it until you make it, rather than open dialectic about the law, then so many people will simply fail at being able to do their job.

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I’m a law graduate and am really interested in corporate law and tax law. I don’t have a background in finance so I am going to join my uncle’s company as an intern in the accounting department just to get some practical knowledge of things. Do you think this will help me with my career path? I am obviously trying really hard to get into any law firm as an intern or trainee but it is so damn competitive and hard. I am doing this meanwhile.

I got a job offer on Friday and I am going to accept it on Monday. I was planning on giving 2 weeks notice. I’ve been with the firm for 1 year. I’m a newly licensed attorney so I don’t have any cases that only I am working on. Most of my work is small projects. My current firm is small and very understaffed.

Is 2 weeks enough time? I really dont want to stay any longer than that.

Have you ever taken your kids to court so they could see someone in chains? I did- not sure what if any impact it had. I did so after catching my kid trying to shoplift makeup.

Edit to add: thank you all for all the kind words and motivation to seek further help for my anxiety and possible ocd. I was really nervous to post. It means a lot, thank you.

Stick with me. Horrible Anxiety. I’ve been admitted and been practicing for 3-4 years now.

Somehow in conversation the topic of the bar application came up and “disciplinary actions” being disclosed. Did I spiral so bad I logged back into my bar account? Yes (also why do they keep the login valid so many years later). Did I review my bar application? Yes. Did I see where I answered “no” to “having violated or formally charged with violating honor council?” Yes - because I never was.

However, what came creeping back into memory was a mishap that was never recorded. The “action” was writing a 1 page self reflection paper that was it. No honor council. Settled between myself and a faculty member (not academic related) and that was it. So when filling out my bar app I answered no and nothings came from it since. My anxiety is so bad thinking the bar shouldn’t have admitted me. I’ve come so close to calling them. (But at the same time rationally telling myself not to make a problem out of nothing).

What do I do?

Solo practitioner here about to file my first class action complaint. Filing in federal court because there is diversity and multiple states have identical statutes that the defendant company violated. All the rule 23 requirements should be met, but there are some preliminary matters I need to resolve before filing for certification. Specifically, having the court rule as a matter of law that the company did violate the statutes. After that, and if certified, I'll probably try to bring on another firm to help.

With that as a background, any advice or anecdotes or pitfalls y'all can share to help a greenhorn?

Any tips/suggestions for an interview for a court attorney position? Not assigned to a specific judge - more like a pool position. Types of questions to expect, etc.? I do have several years' legal experience. Thanks!!

This has been a tough year as my husband is battling cancer. Earlier in the year, I took 4 weeks of paid time off to care for him during chemotherapy and manage everything at home. I felt guilty because work was so busy, but I really needed that time. Now, we’ve learned he has to go through another 6 weeks of treatment. I’m entitled to 8 more weeks off, though at a reduced pay rate. I’m considering taking 6 of those weeks, but I feel really bad about it. Would you take the time off? I’m struggling because I’m not used to prioritizing my own needs. How would my employer view me. BTW, I’m an attorney working for an investment bank.

How many out there have invalidated one of these? On what grounds?

I’m pregnant so I needed a remote job since my boss is completely against work from home. I had another firm that liked me and was about to give me an offer, so I wanted to tell my boss right away because I felt bad leaving (especially because another associate in our very small firm just left too). I was so nervous and just told my boss this is what I need to do for the baby.

But she asked me to stay and work fully from home. She has never been okay with that. But I accidentally walked in there with hella leverage because my coworker just left (something I felt really bad about!). I told her the new job is a higher salary and we need that money with the baby coming (which is true, of course) and she agreed to match the salary too! So I ended up with a 50% raise to work fully from home (permanently) at a firm I really like where they already know I’m pregnant and are supportive. So grateful to God today. (And also proud that I had the balls to ask for that much more money haha)

Now after a LOT of stress, I get to be home with my baby boy every day when he gets here.

Hey, everyone! I’m looking for some advice on a tricky situation with a coworker who constantly undermines my work, and it’s really starting to get to me. Here’s the rundown:

I graduated from law school in January, but I’ve been working in the legal field for two years as a paralegal. Thanks to that experience, I quickly landed a job as a junior attorney at a small but busy firm. Overall, I’ve adapted well, received positive feedback, and even got promoted after just three months!

However, there’s one coworker, let’s call her “Samantha,” who has been a thorn in my side since day one. Despite my credentials, she doesn’t treat me like a fellow attorney. Instead, she constantly assigned me paralegal tasks. At first, I went along with it, thinking it was normal and wanting to help her out since she’s pregnant. Huge mistake!

Things escalated to the point where she started passing off her own work to me without giving me the necessary context. When I asked questions, she’d respond in a condescending tone, as if I were a child, and question my skills as lawyer. After a few weeks of this, I finally spoke to my supervisor about the situation, and he wasn’t happy. He had a meeting with her, and now she doesn’t assign me her work anymore. He even put new rules in place, so I’m only allowed to take extra tasks from him or other senior attorneys.

Unfortunately, Samantha’s behavior has only gotten worse since then. She nitpicks my work, always finding faults and correcting “errors” that don’t change the meaning of what I wrote. In meetings, she questions my ideas excessively, I must say she doesn't have the same level of energy to the rest of the team.

Her mocking tone has made me doubt myself, especially when she laughed at me in front of a colleague the other day after I asked a question. I’ve never had issues with my supervisors or other coworkers, and I’ve been careful not to make significant mistakes. Still, her constant undermining is affecting my confidence.

So, has anyone else faced a situation like this? How did you deal with a difficult coworker? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I am working for a struggling tech startup. After layoffs and departures, I am the only in-house lawyer left. The GC resigned 6 months ago and I have been acting GC since then, and also serving on the executive team. The board has fired some of our previous executives, and the head of HR quit recently. After she quit, I became the only woman on the exec team.

This past week, I was tipped off that the remaining exec team has been having meetings without me. I emailed the CEO and COO Thursday and asked them why I was not being invited to these meetings. (We are all remote and living in different states). I finally got a reply this morning that I have basically been kicked off the exec team and will now be reporting to the CFO. None of this was ever discussed with me and I feel completely blindsided. I gave everything I had to this job. (Which I know is always a mistake). The CFO is not even an FTE - he is a fractional CFO that the board hired after firing our last 2 CFOs.

I would like to leave at this point. I have been trying to find another job for a few weeks, but I’ve had hardly any luck applying on LinkedIn. I don’t want to quit without having another job lined up. Do I “quiet quit” until I find another job? I don’t really have it in me to do that. But I’m being shown I’m not valued. Any advice would be appreciated.

I work remote for a little under 90k a year. 2 years in Northeast. Licensed in 4 states up year. My coworkers are pretty ok, a little cattiness but that’s to be expected. I don’t hate the area of law, but it can’t be kind of boring.

I have heard the only way to make more money is to switch jobs. Our firm gives bonuses for exceeding the billables - min requirement is 1650 a year. Raises typically are like 5k a year. So basically now raise at all with the cost of living.

I am terrified of switching because I am terrified of having to do trials, I am very introverted. Also , I had so many horrible bosses (yelling at me in front of entire office, throwing things all over, etc) that I can’t do that again. Esp with a kid. But I also need more than a 5k raise a year.

I also am concerned that switching every couple of years will look bad to employers and rob me of the ability to hone my skills. I want to stay at a firm long term, and I would love to stay at this one. The bonuses are nice (20k if I bill over 2000). But I also feel like they have deliberately not been giving me cases since I will meet my yearly billables my next week and be in bonus territory.

What are your thoughts?

I've worked for five years as a family law attorney, helping with child custody cases in both divorces and child services cases. I really loved the work for a long time, but it's begun to wear on me and came to a head this week when I learned that a child I helped get released from foster care was removed again after being abused in the home. I feel responsible for that, and it's been ruining my mental state all week. I've had people tell me I did my job and it's not my fault, but I don't care. I'm a mom, and knowing my actions led to that poor child being hurt is intolerable for me.

I've been feeling for a while like I'm on the wrong side of a lot of my cases. I like helping struggling parents get back in their kids' lives because I was a struggling parent once, and feel empathy for them. But maybe I've been doing the wrong thing this whole time, and if anything I should be arguing to keep the kids away from the people who hurt and endanger them.

My husband and I have been discussing moving to a new city for a while. I talked with him last night about whether I wanted to resign and take some time to rest and figure out what I want to do with my career next or keep working, and we decided it's best for me, and our family, to do what I feel is the right thing and resign. I think my plan is take at least a few months off from working full time, see if any move solidifies, and work on figuring out what I want to do for work. I'm still open to some form of family law but I'm also open to social work and a few other areas.

It's going to be hard to resign. I work with some great people. But I slept really well last night. I know I'm doing the best thing for me, my own kids, and all the kids involved in these cases.

What a fraud I am and how I don’t know what I’m doing. And how I have to literally step over my fears over and over again before a hearing, before a phone call with OC, before I submit my motion(s).. fear is always there. I’m going to fuck something up sooner than later and they will realize how stupid I actually am. How I’m just so freaking good at faking that I am smart and I know what I’m doing.

I feel shitty when I get praised and am told how I’m “killing it.” Yeah killing myself maybe because I wake every morning with anxiety because I don’t know what I’m doing and if what I’m doing is correct.

I’m so incompetent. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to hire me?

Most importantly though - if doctors get the ‘residency’ - why don’t we???? That would make the MOST fucking sense.

Anyways, Yall have a fantastic weekend. Thought I’d sleep in but work is constantly on my mind and can’t help it. I’ll go cook perhaps 🤔

Edit: Thank you All for being so kind to me. Thank you for your encouragement and advices. Yall are fucking amazing!!

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share a tough experience I had working at a local law firm for about 2 years, which ended with me quitting back in April. The environment was pretty toxic, with a lot of management abuse—shouting, controlling behaviour, gossip, micro management and all that.

I tried to stick it out as much as I can, I didn’t even have a desk or an office chair for the first year and a half. I was working from a small meeting room that had stiff “dining chairs” because the firm was moving to a bigger space soon and I’ll just get an office then..

I also understand that I was caught in a power struggle between the partners since I was the only trainee working with all 4 of them, and I ended up being used as a scapegoat for their anger and frustration at each other and will often be used to send messages. Like they will be shouting at me for something I had nothing to do with just for the other partners to hear it.

It really traumatised me and filled me with self-doubt about my legal skills and whether I even want to stay in this profession. This firm was “supposedly” one of the best in my city lol.

That said, I’d really appreciate any advice on how to move forward, especially since my traineeship was more about navigating the partners than actually learning the law. How can I strengthen my legal skills? and be a good lawyer?

I just want to feel at peace with my career and not be haunted by this fear of inadequacy. What can I do?

Thank you for any help in advance.

I write briefs for asylum and SIJS cases, which require a statement of facts section. The statement of section is essentially just my client's statement paraphrased in 3rd person form with citations for each sentence.

Are any of you aware of a software or AI program that can draft a statement of facts section for me if I upload an affidavit?

Hi folks! I work in a boutique law firm. The principal attorney takes care of the immigration department and leaves the civil litigation to his wife, a non-attorney.

She “manages” the associate attorneys, tells us we should settle x, y, or Z, and makes the final decision regarding referrals. She is in charge of our billings, and she made it clear she is an equity partner in the firm—she is a business developer under the website.

I am based in Massachusetts, and it feels unethical for someone who does not understand anything about the practice, even though her husband is the principal.

Has anyone else heard about it before?

In your experience, are the salary ranges for jobs posted on Indeed, Glassdoor, etc accurate? If not, have the salary’s generally been lower or higher?

So here's one that some of you might be able to advise on. My company has a lot of very old boxes at Iron Mountain - all way older than doc retention period and no open litigation or third party subpoenas. (Each time I think about doing this, some third party subpoena wafts in, and I lose momentum, but now that's not the case.) But it's TONS of boxes, and I want to stop the monthly payments and close out the account but also destroy them in the absolute cheapest way possible. I would literally roll up to an Iron Mountain location in a van and take care of it myself, but I am fairly certain that may be even more cost - or they may not all be in the same place. Anyone have any insights on this front? - I'm sure someone has overseen mass ancient records disposal.

Seeking guidance on how to address a 2 year gap in legal work on my resume when I only have about a year of experience before that. Mainly looking for advice on how to spin it in cover letters, resumes, and interviews.

I graduated from a top 5 school and passed the bar in 2020, started a fellowship at a legal aid for almost a year; then went to a different legal aid in the same city (a major legal market). in early 2022, I quit due to a traumatic event(violent act) in my personal life that made me very depressed and scared. this caused me to leave the city as I feared for my safety, and I quit my job because I feared the mental health effects would cause me to be an unsatisfactory advocate for my clients. I felt comfortable telling my supervisor about it and she was very supportive; I believe she’ll provide a good reference. In the years since then, I have worked in lower-stress childcare jobs including leadership roles in outdoor education and nannying. I have used this lower responsibility to focus on therapy and have lived with family to support me, and have relocated to a different major legal market. I truly feel that I am ready to represent clients again and I am eager to do the type of work I did previously.

My license is active I now want to apply for jobs, mostly in public service or smaller immigration firms. Should I include these non-legal jobs on my resume (my instinct is no)? How should I address it in my cover letter? Should I lie and say I needed to care for someone in my family and they are no longer needing my support?

I have also reached out to my law school’s career services office for guidance. Any insights from this sub would be very helpful. Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I have been practicing in NY for 6 years. I recently just passed the bar for Florida and am looking to relocate there. My Husband and I own a home and want to sell and buy a new home in Florida sometime Spring of 2025. Does anyone have any experience moving to Florida from other states? How that works with the mortgage process? Are you aware of any jobs that let you work remote before moving? Looking on advice how to approach this situation.

Looking for some help from attorneys who have taken multiple exams during their career! Bonus points if you are in Georgia, but not required.

I took the October 2020 COVID UBE exam and I am now taking the one-day Attorney's Exam in Georgia this winter. In Georgia, if you are already licensed elsewhere, you only need to take Day 1, which is the MPT and essays.

I used Barbri during the first go-around and really liked it. It felt comprehensive, I enjoyed the lectures, and I felt really prepared. I am a visual learner so my instinct is to take Barbri again because I think it will all start coming back to me based on visual memory and feeling familiar, (ex: same outlines, voices, etc).

That said, the Barbri pricing has changed and it is now going to be around $2200 to take the "premium" course, which is the cheapest version that includes hard copy books. There is a version that is cheaper, but the books are only digital. Based on how I read and learn, digital-only materials would be a personal nightmare, so I am stuck with this version. I am NOT willing to compromise on the books.

Therefore, I am seriously looking at Themis as it is heavily discounted right now and would be about a $500 difference. AND, I would get hard copy books as well as everything else they offer in a normal bar prep cycle.

So, dear lawyers: What say you? Do you agree that I should pay the price tag to do the familiar Barbri, or should I save my money and do Themis? Did anyone here love Themis or do both and have something to share? Any opinions welcome!

PS: I am self-paying and have to operate on the assumption that I will not get reimbursed by an employer, as I am currently self-employed.

I just want to stand in a quiet peaceful place and softly tell people to stand away from the art and at the end of my shift clock out and go home to enjoy the rest of my day.

I’ll go first:

At his deposition, plaintiff testified that he could no longer perform his usual 25 pull ups. Couldn’t do them at all.

We go on his social media after. Video dated the day before his deposition. He was right. He could no longer do 25 pull ups. He could now do 50.

😅

I work for a state agency's litigation bureau. Yesterday I got to present on on behalf of the bureau to a bunch of non lawyers in other positions within the agency. Basically explaining what our bureau does for the agency.

It felt so great to be seen as the cool lawyer man who goes to court and yells "objection!" and catches weasily witnesses in their web of lies.

I got to tell some war stories and play it up. It was a blast. My boss let me know that he overheard some of them talking in the lunch room about how interesting the presentation was. Yes I'm tooting my own horn but these moments are rare so I'm savoring it.