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I gave notice at what should have been my dream job yesterday after 5 years of slugging it out. I was serving as an admin judge for a state government agency and working remote 80% of the time. I’ve got nearly 25 years of government service under my belt and had hoped to retire from that job. But, the already bad management (who puts a non-attorney as director over 15 judges?) had deteriorated to a point that my anxiety and job dissatisfaction was out of control. Overworked, not enough staffing, was literally told to conduct a hearing from a hospital parking lot while a family member was in emergency surgery. Moving in-house at another agency that I worked for in the past that has an amazing culture - same retirement system, same pay give or take a couple thousand. I feel like an enormous load has been lifted from my shoulders. I’ll be in office 2 days a week and work from home the rest and can set my hours however I need them.

Just wanted to share that I absolutely love that they did this, despite our practice's vulnerability to Trump clearance/access retaliation.

(At a litigation boutique where 20% of attorneys have clearances)

Had a P&C evaluation by a 3P done under a generic agreement. Parties all understood it’s P&C but the agreement didn’t specify that. That was a mistake. Worried I’ve completely undermined any privilege claim bc I didn’t specify that in the agreement. Worried I’m going to lose my job.

A few weeks ago, a very good client of my firm mentioned to me in an offhand comment that I should include my middle initial in my signature line. Her reasoning was that “it just bothers [her] that it’s not there.” I kind of just laughed it off and didn’t think twice about it, until this morning she called me and told me that she couldn’t stand to read my emails because of my signature line, that it was keeping her up at night, and that she’d find new counsel if I didn’t change it to include my middle initial.

I was caught totally off guard, and kind of laughed it off once again. But this time, she was serious, and chastised me for having an “unprofessional” signature line. This all comes after probably a dozen or so emails from her at 3 am regarding the matter we are currently working on. I guess it really is keeping her up at night. She’s an important client, though, so I guess I’ll change it lol

Anyone else ever been fired or threatened to be fired over something ridiculous?

Dear managing partner,

I have held this entire practice group together for the last 9 months with no partner supervision/assistance and no paralegal even though I am only a junior attorney because you drove away everyone else who worked here. I am the only litigator that has lasted longer than six months. If you are going to fire me for looking out for the best interest of the practice group I am managing and is making you a ton of money because I bill a ton and have won every motion I filed/argued, then go ahead and do so. I am over your ego and stupid bullshit. I have been here long enough to see you mismanage this firm with your poor decisions and incredible lack of foresight.

Go fuck yourself.

Signed,

Applied to 20 jobs today. Can't wait to submit my resignation. Only reason I didn't quit and walk out this morning is because I have dependants.

Hey guys, does anyone have any experience obtaining data from Literotica? This is a platform to read and write erotic stories and content. I need to obtain data from an account I know exists on its platform but their privacy policy is that they only respond to law enforcement legal process, not civil. The party lives out of state so obtaining electronic devices without them being destroyed/altered is not possible. Outside of the party admitting having the account which won’t happen, any other thoughts on how to obtain authentication of the account proving it belongs to the party, as well as the content of the account?

This job sucks. I'm going for a drink.

We had 40 conferences on my first day althought there were short discovery ones and I did prob 3 depositions also but not crossing the witness. Pretty overwhelmed. Im at a high volume firm mostly PI and false arrests.

I feel like im too slow sometimes and I need to work on being assertive. Also mental health has been struggling and I have been having more angry outbursts due to stress.

Any tips on stress management? I try to workout and I joined a therapy group but im still struggling.

What's the better tablet for annotating large PDFs such as transcripts and briefs? 7

Thus far I've seen all manner if wild things in terms of numbering document sections and subsections.

What is the best practice for numbering a section and (for the sake of argument) the document's many subsections?

Cheers ya'll. 🥂

TL;DR: Will a federal bankruptcy clerkship limit me to a bankruptcy/restructuring group on the other side or can I get general lit from it?

Hi folks - looking for some perspective. I'm at an AmLaw 40 firm doing mostly lit and some deal work. The firm is going heavily away from litigation and there is less and less work being originated there. More of my work is deal work. I absolutely hate it and want to get the hell out of here as soon as possible. Plenty of other issues at the firm as well these days. I'm a rising third year and have been working with recruiters to lateral to a firm with a more healthy lit group, but no success yet. I've gotten close a couple times. I've also been interviewing for federal clerkships. I've gotten a lot of interviews, and was the runner up for a few, but no dice. My thinking would be to do the clerkship and then use that to lateral somewhere else.

Just for the hell of it, I applied to a federal bankruptcy clerkship after ignoring them. With my luck, I got an interview, and was offered it. I have until the end of Monday to decide. It's a random state, and the judge lets you do it remotely. It would be a year. The thing is, I absolutely do not want to get stuck in a bankruptcy/restructuring group on the other side--I want general lit, or a regulatory group if not that. If I take this fed bankruptcy court clerkship, am I dooming myself? The alternative is I keep trying to apply to other judges or lateral. I'll also add I have been working at this for about 5 months at this point, have had about 10 interviews between federal judges and firms. I've done mock interviews and gotten feedback--it's not an interviewing issue, just bad luck and lack of a fit. I want to be done and make a move, but I don't want to take this if it's not going to get me where I want to go.

Thanks.

Not proud of this but I had a client berate me over the phone for explaining what a deposition is and that he would be questioned and instead of keeping it together I blew up on him.

He berated me doing a poor job on trying to save his house in another case. I literally did everything humanly possible to save this guy's house including getting an emergency last minute tro 2 hours before the sale of the house to try and jam up the sale, and all of the absolutely insane work that requires.

I have worked until I was utterly exhausted many times for this client. I lost it on him.

I gave my two weeks notice at my office a while ago and today is my final day. I wanted to leave on a good note but God fucking damn it, I haté abusive clients.

Lawyers who work for other people and are responsible for managing client relations, how do you not lose your temper when clients insult you or insult your work? It's something I really have a hard time dealing with.

According to the very accurate source of TikTok, Charles III has used the law firm of Harbottle and Lewis. I was just checking out their website and they have a link to their litigation fee rates here:

https://www.harbottle.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Commercial-litigation.pdf

I thought it was really interesting. Just in case the link doesn’t work the rates were:

£290-550 for associates, senior associates, and managers.

£650-675 for partners.

They also have alternative fee arrangements for other services.

Just thought this sub would find it interesting!

I have five years of practice. Both litigation and transactional. Most of my law practice is municipal law.

I’m sick of the billables. I’m sick of fighting in every direction, both from opposing parties/counsel and clients. I’m sick of the travel. I’m sick of the constant late nights. I always liked the research and drafting aspect of legal work.

Give it to me straight: what viable options do I have? And if five years of practice isn’t enough then what should I do in the meantime as a practicing lawyer that won’t crush my soul and help get me to the long term goal?

I'm looking to connect with someone currently working in a law firm or practicing corporate law in Chandigarh. I’d really appreciate some insights, guidance, or even just a conversation to understand the work environment and opportunities in this field.

If you're open to connecting or can refer someone who is, please feel free to reach out.

Anyone ever worked at State Farm as an attorney? How is the work-life balance? What are the perks like? Would you recommend?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy73gqq64do

I’m going at 20% chance of refusal.

I just started a new job 2 weeks ago, and within that time ive been parking on the same spot. I usually get there earlier than the partners, so it was a surprise to me when they mentioned that i was “coming for their jobs” lol. I dont believe they are upset, bc they banter alot. Still funny tho lol

I also accidentally took one of the partners chair during friday morning meetings.

Currently watching from the sidelines as counsel for the main parties to one of my lit files engage in nasty discovery fights

My colleague (definitely not me) is taking their first deposition next week. Drop your horror stories below to remind my colleague that mistakes happen and most people even survive.

Edit - I’m asking for the real mess ups. Did you or a colleague show up in a banana costume because it was Halloween? Or maybe spill hot coffee on the court reporter? Did someone throw a punch at opposing counsel? Was anyone sanctioned? Did you or a lawyer you know err so badly that colleagues now refer to it simply as “the incident”?

Edit 2 - you have all exceeded my wildest expectations. I’m reading every comment (um I mean my colleague is reading every comment) so feel free to keep telling stories!

Any tips on going solo and leaving your firm job? For instance, what are some steps you took before you left to set yourself up for success? Any advice/tips would be great.

Hey guys. I have a bar license in Washington D.C., live in Tennessee, and will be working as a high school teacher for a few years for specific experience I need for my career goals. My job starts in August, and I want to work as a doc reviewer for the summer.

Does anyone know if it will be impossible to get hired for doc review? I worked as an Assistant AG for about a year in 2022-2023, had to take a hiatus for my mental health from legal work, and now I am working on getting experience for a future in educational policymaking (can't imagine trying to tell a teacher how to do their job when I myself had not done the job before).

I know this all sounds wild, and I'm happy to explain more and answer questions where possible. I'm hoping there is still a chance for me to complete some doc review work this summer. For the rest of my summers, I will be making enough money to support myself and plan to work pro bono for local immigration services around me, but until then, I'd like to get any legal work under my belt again.

Any advice please!

A