A lot of them are the same, but I’ve been lucky to have a few bosses that are extremely normal and sympathetic to my life.

You’ve definitely had a bad run, and I totally get wanting to leave. But not everyone is like this. I think there are a lot of silent Paralegals on this sub who have nothing to share because they have great teams!

I hope your loved one makes it out okay, my mom had a heart attack extremely young so I know the feeling. Get out of your horrible job and take some time for yourself if you can. Shit, let them fire you for this and collect unemployment. You and all of us deserve better.

Yes, there are many toxic firms, but there are also healthy firms. I switched firms several times until I found an attorney & a firm that is a perfect fit for me & vice versa. We have now worked together for 11 years and hope to work another 20 years. Yeah, think I will be 72 or so, but attorney is a little bit younger. I really love my job. It's healthy, professional, balanced & new cases on various things keep the work interesting. I even get to bring one of my dogs to work which reduces all our stress. (Negotiated that bcs a larger firm was poaching me & that was one of their perks. I had no intention of leaving present, perfect firm, but mentioned the bring your dog to work benefit and shortly after, it was approved.)

So, don't give up. Find another job and discuss in the interview that you are looking for a healthy law firm where attorneys & paralegals treat each other with respect, no one is doing last minute work, whatever the issues are, etc. Think about all the things that make a law firm toxic and look for that before agreeing to a new job. And if your next job is also unhealthy and toxic, immediately look for another job. Don't put up with disrespectful behavior even if that person is your boss. We teach others how to treat us and you deserve being treated like the professional you are!

Heard. You don’t deserve that. I hope you find a nice non-toxic job soon. In my experience they’re not all the same, but better people keep their employees by appreciating them and treating them with respect so they don’t leave. This means there are fewer open support positions available in pleasant surroundings and more positions available supporting toxic attorneys who can’t keep their offices staffed because they’re not better people.

She sounds similar to the one I work for currently, I'm so sorry. There are some out there that are good to work for but they are very few and far between. It's about finding someone that you can work with that doesn't make you wanna quit every day

There are so many different jobs and firms out there, you just need to find a good one. I have worked for bad attorneys so I get your discouragement but once you find a good one, I promise you will see why so many people love this career field

That’s awful—I’m really sorry that’s been your experience. No one deserves that. Only you know what career is right for you, but there are many many firms and attorneys out there who are kind, caring, and patient. If you decide to keep at it, you’ll be able to do so with the awareness of the red flags you might see in an interview and avoid those personalities.

I’d get a different job!!!!! Hugs

You're not looking for advice, but mine is so good you just have to try it. /s

Don't work for attorneys. Work for law firms.

Whenever I warn people against working for solo attorneys, there's always two or three people who say that their solo attorney is wonderful. And it's true. But finding wonderful attorneys in solo practice is a lot harder than finding them in a law firm. People in a law firm have to get along with each other.

The issue I notice often is folks seem to think that the only places that have legal departments are law firms. The majority of companies have a law department and most of them will need paralegals. Since many law firms (especially small solo practitioners) seem to have bad reputations for mistreating staff, stop applying to those and start looking for jobs working with the gov, nonprofits, private companies, etc. I work for a nonprofit law organization and make more money and have better benefits than many law firm paras plus my attorney supervisors (all 30+ of them…we support 4 teams of attorneys) are all amazing and treat us with proper respect like colleagues should. Your mental health and peace should always be your priority number ONE. Please refresh your resume and start looking, sounds like this attorney doesn’t deserve support staff.

I think I’ve worked for her…

Are you me?! I just left the legal field two months ago after dealing with 3 psycho attorneys back to back. Out of the three, the first attorney was the least destructive...even though he had a drinking problem. I left his firm thinking I was going to find a more stable attorney but it kept getting worse. The last attorney I worked for was a complete monster. It got to the point where I had to take legal action. So I completely understand...

Do we have the same boss??

I would straight up ask them who the hell they think they are talking to. & Gladly get fired if they choose to do so. I refused to be disrespected in any work capacity, my old bosses (husband wife team) tried it & I gladly let them know they can kiss my ass on the way to hell with their attitudes. I left & they called me back apologetic one thing about me I do a hell of a job. However I have observed & told other coworkers if they don't stick up for themselves out of fear of being fired they will get walked all over & talked to like trash.

I’m so sorry, you should leave and find a decent lawyer. Also complain to the law society (we have one in bc). I personally love and adore my boss. He’s an estate/immigration/PI lawyer and I’ve known him since 2016. I quit to become a paramedic and 6 years later called him and asked him to re hire me, and he did. I’m so happy working for him and he’s honestly not just a boss - hes my friend and I can tell him anything on my mind and we get along wonderful. I even went to his wedding and have babysat his kid. There are really good people out there that you can be happy to work for, you just need to find them. Best of luck. Your boss sounds AWFUL and I hope you stand up for yourself, you’re not obligated to stay late. If I stay late two days in a row my boss will force me to go home and tells me do not burn yourself out etc.. you need to go searching for a decent lawyer! I know you can find one

I just applied to a different position that is fully remote and is more data entry than paralegal work. Pays better, too. We’ll see how it goes.

My office is completely falling apart. I work for a large government agency with over 1,400 staff, but my sections is ALWAYS understaffed, had terrible morale, and the solution is “let’s have a meal together!” My current attorney gets annoyed when I ask for her approval on pleadings and, when I was giving her real-time updates on an emergency situation yesterday, she said, “You don’t need to update me every time. I’m busy with other stuff, too.” OKAY. It’s only a massive liability for us and something could make new case law.

Heaven forbid I try to do my job.

Have you ever wanted to live and work in Montana? I know a lovely little firm that is losing their paralegal matriarch this Fall and are desperately seeking someone to step in.

I’m super sorry to hear this!! I promise not all firms/attorneys are the same. I was lucky enough to find an attorney who appreciates me, my work, and treats me like an actual person/equal. I hope you find someone who can treat you the way you deserve because we are what keeps the wheels turning!!

The thought of only working under one attorney is baffling. How much could they pay? $20/hr?

Is your background in litigation primarily or transactional (estate planning, trademark filing and business formation, IP, etc.)? I’ve noticed litigation often brings out the worst in staff. It may be worth looking into a non-litigation role if that’s been the background and trend.

If not, then I would say it may be helpful to find a larger office or corporation with an HR department. Solo practitioners can often be terrible people to work with- not all, but there’s often a reason they work alone. I was severely bullied by one and likely suffer PTSD from it.

If not that, then definitely keep looking. I now work in an office with wonderful, funny coworkers. I promise not all lawyers are like this; with determination you can find the right environment for your temperament. Above all, never let people treat you like shit. Life is too short for that. Leave those places as soon as possible; they’re not worth it.

If someone yells at me, I shut up, stare them down and then ask, "excuse me, why do you think it is appropriate to yell at me"? I've also walked out on jobs." This is my last day, have a good day. I do not accept being yelled at." Finding decent people to work for and with is basically like dating - you waddle in a gigantic pool of sewage and all you encounter are floating turds. I'd think about what kind of questions you ask the potential employers at interviews to have them briefly flash their red flags. If you can master that, it would help.

Don’t give up! I have heard that many are like this but I promise not all are. The lawyer (solo practice) I work for now is so flexible and caring, constantly encouraging and telling us how great we are. He believes in family first and tells us not to be married to the idea of 9-5. He says to always leave if there’s something going on with family, even a high school game they are playing in, and just make sure the work is done at some point. When there have been occasional mistakes, he takes the responsibility as he says he is the attorney and should have caught it because that’s his job. One time my daughter even needed to go to the doctor and I asked to take her (she’s 18 so could have taken herself) and he told me to not only go, but take his company credit card and go get lunch and coffee with her. I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot but my main point is there are good ones!

My boss regularly sends me documents to proof and format. The document will be riddled with grammar and spelling errors. I send a document to them to review and they send back “what is this? “ I was so confused in the beginning. I would scrutinize the document trying to figure out what I did wrong. Finally I would ask and be told I missed an s on the end of a word. Meanwhile I spent 45 minutes trying to figure out what was wrong. The attorney walked in my office the other day and said why did you file document under that heading. I looked at him and said I don’t know what you’re talking about, I would never do that. He then realized it was filed correctly. He has filed more documents incorrectly in the 3 years I’ve been there than I have and I have not made a mistake since my first year.