OMG my crazy job

[Deleted]

My job is at a tiny firm where there is one managing partner.  God, just from my month here there are sooooo many stories, but this is what I'm dealing with now.

Yesterday we all came into the office to a broken air conditioner.  We're in Atlanta, so this isn't good.  Our paralegal's husband has an HVAC company, so boss says to call him to get it fixed.  Well, a few months ago, boss had him go to her vacation home to figure out why her air wasn't working.  He drove an hour there and it turned out to be something simple, like having to flip a switch.  He sent her a bill for $100 and she refused to pay it because "he didn't do anything."  So paralegal's husband is like, I have paying clients that I have to attend to first, but I'll stop by when I can.  He knows he won't get paid and doesn't want to do it.  Paralegal tells boss and asks if they can call another company, and boss says that we'll wait for her husband to find the time.

It is BRUTAL at the office.  It's hotter inside than outside and has to be at least 82 degrees, and probably more.  I'm literally sweating off my makeup.  I have my office lights off and thankfully have a ceiling fan.  Employees are loudly bitching and complaining, one attorney is loudly slamming things around and yelled "I can't believe she expects us to work like this!"

She just told everyone the reason that she won't pay to have someone come fix the air.  She says that the front office staff authorized a worker to put in insulation in the attic the other day when she didn't want it.  In a nutshell, that story is that everyone in the office heard her conversation with the worker listing what needs to be done, and her saying "go ahead and do it."  When everyone came to work the next day, the guy was doing a bunch of work, and that included installing insulation.  Later that day the boss sends a scathing email to the front office staff saying how dare they authorize something like this, they don't have authority to spend the firm's money, etc.  And they were like, WTF, you told him to do it and none of us ever talked to him.  One of the girls says she sent an email back that she doesn't even buy paper or toilet paper without getting it authorized from the boss first, so she wouldn't dream of authorizing any expense.  LOL.

Oh, and she accidentally left her personal tax return laying out on her desk and she made $600,000 last year (herself, not the firm), so it's not a true money issue. 

HOW DO I ALWAYS END UP IN CRAZY FIRMS?  Seriously, this is my third one where it is truly insanity.

I will probably DD.

[sunshineluv]

Wow!

[Deleted]

One more story, which happened before I started. This winter there was a day where the electricity went out (it's an old house with old wiring and needed some work). Boss wouldn't let anyone work from home and said everyone needed to stay at the office. No one could work without phones and computers, so they literally sat in the dark all day wearing their coats and talked. The attorneys were like, we could be working from home and billing, but nope - they had to be in the office and do nothing. Of course they were still expected to still meet their billable requirement, so it meant sitting in the dark talking all day and then doing the work from home another time.

[Deleted]

Boss sounds like a psycho.

I don't blame the paralegal's DH for not coming in!!!

[mcc]

I think this happens in a lot of super small firms. No HR, one person on a power trip, and no sense. I interviewed for a solo yesterday who seemed BSC and these stories made me feel better about rejecting him if he gives me an offer. Sorry you're all sweaty

[mrsgoontz]

I cannot imagine working in the south right now without A/C. It's so miserable outside.

I second getting a big box fan or something that is loud and just blast it in your office. Or can you work from home? I hope it gets fixed soon.

[Deleted]

Jul 10, 2013 8:44:22 GMT -5 mcc said:

I think this happens in a lot of super small firms. No HR, one person on a power trip, and no sense. I interviewed for a solo yesterday who seemed BSC and these stories made me feel better about rejecting him if he gives me an offer. Sorry you're all sweaty

I agree!  I left solo practice for the health insurance and am not sure yet if it's worth it, lol.  My last firm was equally if not more nuts.  They had no calendar system to track deadlines and court dates.  I had to beg to get MS Office so I could use Outlook.  The attorneys all just kept track of their own dates by hand in their personal paper calendars.  WTF.  What if it gets lost?  Then I had to cover someone else's cases for thee months while she was on maternity leave, and that was a nightmare as there was no central organization.  Oh, and all but one paycheck in 9 months bounced.

[womet]

Jul 10, 2013 8:48:48 GMT -5 @godawgs said:

I agree!  I left solo practice for the health insurance and am not sure yet if it's worth it, lol.  My last firm was equally if not more nuts.  They had no calendar system to track deadlines and court dates.  I had to beg to get MS Office so I could use Outlook.  The attorneys all just kept track of their own dates by hand in their personal paper calendars.  WTF.  What if it gets lost?  Then I had to cover someone else's cases for thee months while she was on maternity leave, and that was a nightmare as there was no central organization.  Oh, and all but one paycheck in 9 months bounced.

The bolded part alone would make me look for a new job. I'm sorry you work for a nutcase.

[sparkythelawyer]

Small firms are the craziest. I have worked for a few in my paralegal and law clerk days, and I have come to the conclusion that you have to be at least a little bit crazy to hang your own shingle. Mainly because you have to care about that business more than you care about pretty much everything else, and they don't always get that nobody else will care about it as much as they do.

I have to admit, the family law firm I worked at was the craziest, but that was definitely in part due to the crazy damned clients. I give you so much kudos for sorting through that pile of mess on the daily :-)

[snickers]

Oh man, that is crazy!

[sergey]

She sounds delightful..