Snowed In...

Yep, you read that right. We were snowed in on Monday of this week. I found this hilarious. It reminded me of my first official "Snow Day" at GW. "We never close for snow," said my RA... that winter proved her wrong. The first day we closed for snow, I couldn't believe it! I think at most there was 2-3 INCHES of the scary white stuff on the roads, quickly turning to slush... Enough to make a footprint but not much else and we were closed! I mean the city didn't now how to handle it!

Monday was much the same. I called out at the first opportunity, of course. Why miss a perfectly good Snow Day? Once I determined that my firm was indeed open (despite the majority of Virginia and Maryland schools closed and news of car wrecks mounting), I decided I wasn't going to risk it.

I had stayed with Dave in anticipation of extremely low temperatures (and the apparent continuous lack of heat in my apartment) and wasn't about to risk his car getting hit by some other crazy driver or even sliding into something because it doesn't have four-wheel drive... So, I changed back into my sweats and we hunkered down for an all day veg session with his TiVo, some snacks and much deserved cuddling and napping. Oh it was nice!

I didn't want to return to work on Tuesday. Who would have? But I was rested and worked a couple of hours overtime in order to make up the massive amounts of sick leave I took last week for various drs appointments and the home inspector (see previous blog). I was sad to find out that the paralegal that was moved to take over the secretarial duties of one of my main attorneys has returned to her paralegal duties. :( I had enjoyed the brief time we had "worked" together, but apparently dealing with attorneys directly wasn't her cup of tea.

Now, I understand this. They are moody, volatile, prone to angry outbursts at the first person they can find for no reason at all, and inconsiderate. Yes, I say this about all attorneys. The only exception to this are those attorneys that have worked as legal secretaries or paralegals before obtaining said attorney status. Why make the distinction? Frankly, the attorneys that never had to deal with the moody, inconsiderate, and volatile attorneys they take after, have no idea how to treat the people that support them. And oftentimes don't even communicate well enough for people to understand what needs to be done by when. I've learned to deal with this. It's something you have to learn to let roll off your shoulders. Say what you need to say in your defense and then let it go. If it becomes an issue then you need to have someone else step in for you. But, on the paralegal-turned-secretary-turned-paralegal's defense (whew! say that 5 times fast!), understanding this about the anal, controlling personalities that are attorneys is something that can only be done with a learning curve.

There isn't one here.

I'm serious. I was thrown into one of the largest trademark cases not only in the firm, but probably the country, without anyone telling me what it is exactly that I am responsible for. The person I replaced was long gone and there was no one that really knew how anything was organized, or where it was, or how it was maintained... nothing. But I was expected to hit the ground running. And, luckily for me, I did. I credit my ability to do this entirely to my experience at Bonner. Amazing, I know, but I was the only paralegal on the largest case at that time. Everything that came in or went out regarding that case went through me. I dealt with two founding partners, three senior partners, and 3-4 associates, not to mention secretaries (and no offense to any secretaries, but they get ridiculously territorial for no reason!). I filed documents, I drafted documents, I did research, I handled the discovery process, I lived and breathed that one case for two years. Needless to say, I know my litigation. And I can handle attorneys.

But I was still surprised by the lack of a learning curve here. There is no one who will sit down with you and explain something you have a question about. Not one single person. On my first review here, my supervisor said that I ask too many questions, but seem to be handling it well (keep in mind that she had (and still has) absolutely no idea what it is that I do).

I'm resigned to the fact that none of the other trademark paralegals even WANTS to know what it is that I do. They're scared. The turnover for my position has been about 8 or 9 people in the last 10 years. That's crazy! But what I have come to learn is that it means they work the person in this posiiton too hard, with no respect, and complete disregard for the fact that each new person has to learn (and FIX) what the last person has done.

To my benefit, I have taken this position and made it roll as smoothly as possible. I can comfortably say that I have handled this position better than in the past and I have managed it stellarly. What can I say? I do my job and I do it well. I take pride in what I do and do it right. This is not to say otheres don't, it's just that I am almost obsessive compulsive about how well I do my job. Not only do I know EXACTLY where every case that I am responsible is at any given time, it is up to date and in order. I have put into place a sign-out/in sheet in order to keep track of which secretary takes which case for which attorney and when and when it is returned. I also routinely ship closed cases off-site, bug attorneys to tell me what can go off-site and shift things around so that I utilize the space in my office better and in a more organized fashion. Did I mention I keep a list of my cases, in numerical order, by attorney? Not just on paper but in the filing cabinets as well.

Ok. This is just so you can see that I understand how attorneys want things and how to do them. The other trademark paralegals don't handle litigation so their lack of understanding is... understandable. If you've never done litigation, you need someone to help you and be there to answer your every question correctly the first time. It's hard, people! Complicated- there is so much to keep track of not to mention that each attorney's work style is drastically different. I can't say that I know all there is to know about trademark law at this point. I don't have anyone to ask those kinds of questions anymore. I did have problems with my prior main attorney, but he was a mentor and took the time out of his day to answer any and all of my questions regarding the legal process. The fact that no one does that here, not only astounds me but makes me sad. My paralegal-secretary friend could have been amazing if given the chance. She was excited and wanted to learn something new, but deciphering scribble and handwritten notes instead of face to face instructions doesn't enable anyone to learn or (cheesey I know) be all they can be.

Well, this post really took a change in direction. Funny how our minds work.

Now, I'm off to see how cold it is in my apartment. I hope it's warm enough I can stay there tonight. While I love spending time with the BF, there's nothing like being home amidst your OWN things and NOT living out of a bag!

luv,
Carmen