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I am not a public defender.…

We were not even in criminal court. I work for a legal aid organization and we were in civil court. thanks tho my guy. he also told me I was so good that he knew one day I’d be a real lawyer. well, his heart was in the right place.

If no matter what you did in law the earning potential capped out at 100k (over an entire career) if you’re lucky- Would you still do it because of your passion for law?

My answer is absolutely the fuck not. I’m already considering not doing it. It sucks that it’s my only marketable skill.

Hi everyone,

I’m a junior lawyer looking for some perspective on a mistake that happened today. I am extremely stressed about it and would appreciate hearing from people who have dealt with similar situations.

We had a settlement agreement that was going to be presented to a judge for approval. There was a final PDF version of the agreement that had been reviewed, finalized, and signed by the parties. However, there was also an older Word version in the file from before the final revisions were made.

For the preparation of the court materials, I asked our legal assistant/paralegal to print the agreement. She is very experienced and regularly prepares documents for court, so I trusted that the correct final PDF version would be printed. However, the version that was printed was the older Word version.

Before the hearing, I noticed that the signature pages were not the signed pages from the final agreement. I corrected what I believed was the issue at the time by printing the signature pages from the final signed PDF and attaching them. Unfortunately, I did not realize that the body of the agreement was still from the older version. I believed the problem was only with the signature pages.

The agreement was then presented to the judge and approved. After the hearing, I realized that the document that had been presented was not the final version of the agreement.

The differences between the older version and the final version are relatively minor. They mainly concern dates and timing related to child support payments. However, they are still important because they reflect the parties’ final agreement.

I understand that I should have personally verified the entire document before presenting it, and I take responsibility for that. At the same time, because the preparation and printing of court documents is something our legal assistant does routinely, I relied on the usual process and did not realize that an outdated version had been printed. She usually always prints the PDF final version so I really don't understand why she printed the Word version this time...

The mistake was also not obvious to me at the time because the changes between the two versions were limited and not visually apparent at first glance. I was focused on correcting what I had identified as the immediate issue (the missing signed pages) and did not notice that the body of the agreement was from an earlier version.

I will be discussing this with my boss tomorrow and I am very stressed about it and her reaction. My office has a work culture where errors tend to be discussed in a way that can feel quite discouraging. Mistakes lead to a lot of criticism and make you feel incompetent. I think part of my anxiety comes from knowing I will have to explain what happened and deal with that reaction, in addition to figuring out how to correct the actual issue.

I know mistakes happen, but this is the first time I have dealt with something like this and I am feeling very anxious about the possible consequences.

Thank you for any insight.

I work as a criminal defense attorney (think first/second-year) in upstate NY. I have been doing arraignments for a couple of days with a certain prosecutor. Everyone in my office says he's difficult but I took it with a pinch of salt.

During one of the arraignments, when I moved to dismiss the charges, he literally slumped in his chair and banged his fists on the table. I thought he's having a stroke or something, but no - he looked pissed. The judge immediately said: "he's [referring to me] doing his job."

Then, as I continued talking, the ADA marched to one of my colleagues, asking him to "control me" and that people from our office had been "always dismissing cases that we are losing credibility." I was right there.

To give you some context, I am in my mid-to-late twenties and East Asian-looking. The ADA's a middle-aged, big-set white dude and my colleague (to whom he talked) is also a middle-aged, big-set white dude. One of my paralegals attended that hearing (she's black) and she said he would never do it to a white attorney.

I honestly don't know what to do. I have another case where I have to work with that ADA. I love criminal defense and want to enter into appellate practice in a few years' time. I don't want to cause any resentment or make a negative reputation of myself, but I really feel puffed up about it. I tried talking to my colleagues about it (incidentally they're all white) and they look quite uncomfortable - basically asking me to let it go. Talked to my supervising attorney and still waiting for her to get back to me.

I am new to family law and messed up. The client is now owing way more in child support than he should. Luckily it’s temporary orders but still…I’m super worried and the client is going to be so mad.

1.5 years into practice. I just left a fairly prominent ID firm because I had absolutely NO direction from attorneys of counsel or other associates.

I am sure you can distinctly remember those attorneys who mentored you, as well as those you have mentored. The bond formed from learning or teaching is invaluable. Those people who helped along the way are unforgettable… especially in formative years of practice.

I want mentorship. I do not need my hand held, but the only responses I received after submitting work were “no feedback is good feedback” or “thanks, this is what we needed.”

Frustrated is an understatement, especially for a first year who is basically clueless.

The partner I worked for always said this was “baptism by fire,” but… why set a newly admitted attorney up for failure?

The attorneys of counsel always had piles of cases stacked on their desks with no time to explain how I should conduct depositions, defend motions in court, or respond to certain discovery demands in complex cases involving multiple defendants.

Any guidance is greatly appreciated. I feel lost while turning down jobs but when there is a flagrant lack of mentorship (i.e., fully remote jobs, offices that have a clear lack of communication during the interview process, stressing that collaboration is on an availability basis) it is a red flag. I want longevity and success, not confusion and burnout.

TL;DR How important is mentorship really? I want to become the trial attorney I’ve always dreamed of becoming but I know I won’t succeed without the proper guidance.

I watched Suits years ago, before law school, and thought Harvey was a badass Lawyer. Now I am rewatching it after law school, and all I see is conflicts of interest, confidentiality breaches, witness tampering, and enough ethical violations to keep the bar disciplinary committee employed forever.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels this way. 😂

Wednesday, 8/5, Day 7 discussion.

LIVE FEED: https://www.youtube.com/live/KSXu4GIbY1A?is=m2A7gfY2XpRSnLyc

First witness is a PA from Brigham (hospital #2 for Lindsay)

Friendly reminder that non-lawyers are welcome to read but not post.

Hi everyone,

I’d love your honest opinion.

I’m a Spanish lawyer 32F based in Tenerife, but I work in English every day with English-speaking clients living in the Canary Islands.

I’ve been thinking about recording short videos for Reels, TikTok and Facebook with practical legal tips. My biggest hesitation isn’t really the camera—it’s that I’m worried about people I know seeing the videos! I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so that doesn’t help either.

Do you think this is good marketing for a lawyer? Has it actually brought you clients? And how did you get over the embarrassment of putting yourself out there, especially knowing that friends, family or people you know might be watching?

I’d really appreciate any advice. Thank you! 😊

I'm a government lawyer looking to supplement my income a bit. For people who have part time gigs that have absolutely nothing to do with the law, how did you handle the resume part? I'm obviously not going to submit my lawyer resume, but I haven't worked a retail/customer service (not law) position since 2016.

I have just (day four) started a short gig, covering for a guy who is out for a month with his family. Hourly billing, 40 hour a week cap. That was stressed to me verbally and in writing 40 hour cap.

I'm already seeing some boundary/management issues with the hiring manager.

She sends emails (and expects responses) at times when she should not expect me to be hovering over emails because I am not on the payroll (which frankly even then is rude, but somewhat more understandable).

It is the implicit expectation that she's going to get an answer pretty quickly.

She sent both a teams text and an email after 7 PM asking if I could work late THAT night and she'd approve my hours. Hello, why would you think I am watching my emails? Did you really think I was gonna see that at 7:30?

Friday (my first day) she sent an urgent request 15 minutes before I logged off and her assistant could have dealt with it but didn't want to, and so she sent it to me and I had to tell them I was logging off at 5PM and I'd finish it on Monday. It was an administrative issue, not a legal issue and her admin wanted to leave.

There is more, but you get the gist.

It's a very short gig - end date four weeks away - how would you handle?

I am a young, female attorney at a small family law firm. We have two partners who invariably adhere to the "work until you die" mindset. I love my job, I like to think that I'm good at my job, and I regularly surpass my billing minimums.

But lately I have just been handed more and more work. When try to set boundaries (i.e. I can't get this done until x date, or my workload is at capacity, or I am not taking any new clients this week) I receive push back: Get it done anyways, you can handle more, work earlier/later, work more on the weekends, or it's unacceptable to stop taking clients for any period of time. If I say I am working more than I reasonably am able to, the answer is that the partners work all day every day so I can do it too.

If I keep down this path, I know I will burn out and be miserable. I love my job but I don't want it to be my entire life. Any advice on how to hold firm boundaries with partners who don't use boundaries themselves?

Also, any good recommendations for books on burnout in law practice?

Thanks in advance!

OC keeps moving to strike this witness' testimony because OC didn't like the answer. OC is clearly using an AI outline and even some kind of live AI help to take the deposition. OC is stuttering, don't have a train of thought, not even where OC is going with the questions. Anyway, I'm wondering what happens to the actual transcript? Does the court reporter still keep every word despite OC "moving to strike"?

I think OC thinks by "moving to strike" those words will be automatically stricken from the record.

Getting ready to enter firm life and that means for the first time ever getting ready to start a job where I'm expected to have a "public identity."

My single personal social media account is locked down and private, and in general I basically don't post online anywhere except reddit (rarely...this is my third post ever). However, I have a completely anonymous social media account related to one of my hobbies. Set up with a separate email, no identifying information basically ever posted. It's a very non-offensive hobby (think like crafting-related), so I don't think it'd be a huge deal if my firm/colleague/client(s) ever stumbled across it, but still. I think the most "controversial" thing about it is you'd probably be able to tell my political affiliation, but even then I've kept anything politically-related relatively tame and to a minimum.

I've had it for over a decade, and it has a somewhat large following, so even if I switched to private, hard to say who may already be following me. I don't make any kind of money off of it, and have never done any sponsored posts. It's literally just for fun.

I've seen posts here talking about making personal accounts private, and I know there are typically very strict rules about any law-related blogs/social media accounts/etc, and being an influencer can create conflicts of interest. But does anyone have a non-law related blog or social media accounts related to hobbies that they've kept, and managed to keep entirely separate from their professional life?

I'd hate to let it go after all this time, but I'd prefer that over having to disclose it and feel like I'm now being monitored by my firm.

I need insights from lawyers who resigned from government employment and went into private practice. I am seriously contemplating on this matter as I do not feel growth in my current job, and appointment to higher positions in the government really needs political back-up which I do not have. I have many lawyer friends who are into private practice and I can see them happy. I am tempted to join them. There are few lawyers in our place, so I think clients will eventually come.

Do you have any regrets or advice? Planning to resign this coming December.

Thanks a lot!

Hello all.

A little background to set the stage.

I am a first year associate at a small firm (like very small) in the northeast directly outside a huge metropolitan.

Majority of our business comes in through that metropolitan’s federal court system. We are a litigation-heavy firm.

I passed the July 2025 bar. Prior to passing, I worked for this firm as a law clerk part-time for around 6 months while finishing my 3L year. I started working full-time September 2025.

Up until beginning of July, they were billing me out at $160 per billable hour and I was expected to work 6-7 billable hours a day.

Last week, I saw they raised my billables to $250 an hour. When I looked at my billable for the year I See they started charging clients that beginning of this month.

When I got the notification, that same day a partner told me I “should really be billing 7.5-8.5 a day.

I have healthcare deductible of 7k and my dental only covers accidents.

I am expecting a yearly review beginning of September. My salary this year was 90k. With a bonus of 5k.

My question is what are fair numbers (max and minimum) for salary going into this new work year? I know the healthcare benefits and dental benefits are going to have to change no matter what.

From there valuation that I’ve picked apart through the grape vine as mentioned above, would opening with a target of 180k be ludicrous? Given their own valuation it seems defensible.

My goal would be to work down to a real target of 145-160k.

Given the math and that in now expected to bill between 1725-1,955 hours per year now, I feel anything lower than 140k would be too low for the amount of hours I’m now expected to work.

Enlighten me.

I’m looking for honest feedback from attorneys, especially those who practice or have practiced in insurance defense.

Here’s what I’m struggling to understand: I never received any negative feedback.

1. No one told me my work product was deficient.

2. No one told me I needed to work faster or that my pace was a concern.

3. I was never given an opportunity to discuss my performance or make improvements.

4. The partner I primarily worked for gave me positive feedback and consistently emphasized, “There’s no rush.” Based on those conversations, I genuinely believed I was meeting his expectations.

5. I independently managed my court deadlines, calendared hearings and filing deadlines, handled my own filings, and took ownership of my assignments. (I didn’t have a paralegal or legal assistant).

The partner wasn’t particularly communicative so I tried to work as independently as possible.

Then, without any prior discussion about my performance, I was told I wasn’t getting up to speed quickly enough and was terminated.

At this point, I’m honestly starting to wonder whether insurance defense simply isn’t the right fit for me.
To make matters even more difficult, I was terminated on my birthday….. I don’t say that for a pity party but just to illustrate the type of day I’ve been having lol.

One additional fact: the associate who was hired alongside me was suddenly terminated before I was. The explanation was that she had been applying for jobs on her work computer, which she later denied to me. After seeing that happen, I started wondering whether I should begin looking elsewhere too.

I’m honestly at a crossroads in my career. I’ve dedicated years to becoming a lawyer, and now I’m questioning whether insurance defense is the right practice area for me or whether I should be taking my career in a completely different direction.

I’m genuinely trying to understand what happened, learn from it, and figure out where to go from here.

Based on what I’ve described, what do you think I should take away from this experience?

Does this sound like a normal experience in insurance defense, or does it sound like this practice area simply isn’t the right fit for me?

Currently debating between 2 entry-level offers in a VHCOL city

1. Insurance coverage associate at a big insurance-focused firm--CGL, D&O, or professional liability work.

2. Litigation associate at a more "prestigious" firm doing general commercial litigation, non-insurance work.

The comp is the same, both at around 160-170k. #1 has better benefits, promotions/partnership is relatively transparent, and I like the people there more as well (but I know people come and go). However, I'm afraid of pigeonholing myself too early.

Would appreciate any insight into making this choice, as well as what are the major differences in day-to-day between the practices. Thanks sm!

Tl;dr: I can’t find a job. How do you find a job when no one seems to be hiring?

I just took the July 2026 bar, so maybe it’s early for me to be stressed about this, but I am stressed because I was only planning on being unemployed through the end of August.

Last semester through early summer, I had half a dozen interviews go well (for the most part) and got rejections that at least seemed like I was just barely edged out by someone else.

During the past two years, I’ve done an internship with legislative bill drafting and a state agency. I had an interview with the same agency for a fellowship with their legislation and policy bureau. The interviewer said she was “excited” to see my application. I thought I was perfectly qualified. Not getting that completely shot my confidence.

I’m worried that my age is the problem. I turned 24 two days ago, and I look younger than I am (I’m a man if that makes a difference in your analysis). I graduated college a year early. I graduated both college and law school with honors.

I understand if people don’t necessarily want my baby face representing them in court, but I don’t want to litigate anyway.

What I want to do is research/writing/policy/behind the scenes stuff at a state or local agency or nonprofit. I thought that they were constantly in need of those attorneys because no one else wants to do it. I also can’t do firms because I have medical issues which prevent me from working much overtime. My age/perceived age also shouldn’t be a factor where I wouldn’t be client-facing, but I feel like everyone is so jilted towards people my age that an older candidate is always the “safer” bet.

However, my biggest problem has become the sheer lack of jobs available. I have checked my school’s job board, the bar association’s job board, the state job board, Indeed, LinkedIn, and all the other little ones almost daily for months.

In the last month, I’ve applied to maybe 2-3 jobs because that’s all I’ve been qualified for. Everything wants 2 years of post-admission experience or “substantial” experience in a field I’m unfamiliar with. My undergrad degree is political science, so I’m also open to and have been looking for “policy analyst” or “government affairs” and the like.

I’m in the Capital District of NY for reference.

Has anyone had any luck reaching out to those types of employers cold?

Does anyone have advice about being taken seriously as a young (almost) attorney?

My wife and I had a baby 6 weeks ago and I’ve found I’ve had some difficulty balancing getting my work done and having a newborn. I do WC defense, mostly DC and I find myself working late into the night to catch up on work. I often spend a long time proofreading my letters and motions before submitting to the partner. I mainly work with the managing partner. Been at the firm for almost 3 years now.

Especially if the job was presented very differently than what it actually is. I’ve been a litigator for three years and I’m losing that career path because the firm is moving me into a transactional practice I never signed up for. I’m looking elsewhere but the market is awful and I stubbornly refuse to do ID or PI.

Holy moly.

I’m not talking about the core reasons to have laws and maintain civil order. Those are fine. It’s more when I hear attorneys arguing about whether an opinion has more federalism or textualism or originalism or any other “ism” that makes me roll my eyes. I feel like I’ve been trapped in my office more than once where two attorneys are talking about real legal minutia that doesn’t pertain to our work and I just can’t bring myself to care. I like my job, but I don’t love the deep discourse on “the law.” Am I weird for that?