My Attorney Blog

Well it’s another manic Monday and after a relaxing but much too short Thanksgiving weekend, it’s back to the old click-click grindstone again.

I didn’t really do anything terribly exciting during the holiday weekend but it was a very appreciated rest for the weary. I thought about it but ultimately decided against joining in the Black Friday shopping craze. Those hardcore shoppers are too tough for me and I think my time would be better spent shopping online. Luckily, the associates are out again as usual and we are only about half staffed since many contract attorneys are still out, presumably still suffering from the post holiday I-Don’t-Wanna-Go-Back-To-Work-Wah-Wah syndrome. I totally understand their sentiments. Since work is so slow today, I’ll probably sneak in break time to do some online holiday shopping at my work station and take advantage of post Thanksgiving deals - Cyber Monday they call it.

It’s Not Always Easy Planning Extended Breaks While A Contract Attorney Project Is Still Ongoing

I haven’t taken substantial time off in a long while and this winter I would like to but I think my plans will have to wait a little while longer. My project continues to be extended and now it’s looking like it will last well into the new year. Contract attorney work is generally flexible but its fickle nature sometimes means that vacation plans have to be put on hold until the project has completely run its course. Contract work pays the bills and as much as I’d like to say with all confidence that jumping from one project to another seamlessly is a piece of cake, you never really know for sure.

The temporary lawyer job market ebbs and flows and currently the market is severely dehydrated. Numerous smaller projects are out there, but the key mega ones are a bit lacking right now. I think the real estate mortgage mess and the resulting credit crisis is causing corporations and law firms alike to be more conservative with their business plans. With less corporate activity happening, there is less demand for contract attorneys. But fear not, although the market is slow right now even in a normally active place like D.C., if you follow the contract attorney job forums and postings like I do, you will notice that there still remains a respectable number of active projects. Hopefully the start of a few big projects at one well known firm in the Falls Church area will serve as a catalyst to get things busy around here again.

Delaying Extended Vacations Plans Till Later

Since my working opportunities might be unpredictably murky after this project is over, I think it’ll probably be better for me to pocket the income now when the going is good and still available. Although I generally have day to day working freedom, unlike those who have permanent positions I don’t have the luxury of paid vacations and the security of knowing that my position will still be here when I return. If I don’t work, I don’t get paid. I’ve been generally lucky so far in being able to roll over consistently from project to project on my own terms, but the gravy train might end one day. Maybe eventually my acceptance and patience for this type of high-income-but-unstable line of work will run out, but for now it fits my lifestyle and financial plans.

Okay, back to online shopping, I mean work.

I previously touted the financially joyful benefits of working during official holidays to earn double overtime. Now I have a concession/confession to make. I personally won’t be working during Thanksgiving or during the upcoming Christmas holiday break in December.

Earning extra overtime is certainly great, but it’s just not worth the extra sacrifice for me right now. There are more important places I need to be at and more important people I need to be with during this time than spending it cooped up in an unventilated, stuffy room clicking away on a computer.

Knowing When To Keep Time Off Information To Yourself

It’s been a wonderful luxury to be able to set my own working schedule. Since the summer I’ve been working on the same project and have taken a few days off here and there. In general, agencies don’t mind when you take very infrequent time off but when you do it too often they are likely to see it as a serious problem that warrants prompt terminative action. Some agencies are more stringent than others and will ask before submitting you for a particular project whether you intend to take any time off during the expected duration of the assignment. If your response is anything but an emphatic no, it is likely that the agency will take a pass on you and choose to submit someone else for consideration. Some agencies won’t even submit you if they believe you intend to take time off while the project’s ongoing. When you are not working, you are not billing hours. When you are not billing, the agency is not earning their cut off of your efforts. Thus, unless you plan on taking a very significant period of time off, my suggestion is to keep tight lipped about any anticipated vacation plans when asked by the agency.

Agencies are notorious for providing very inaccurate projections and overestimations of project duration. I understand that sometimes it’s not possible to pinpoint exactly how long something will last, but I think certain agencies frequently provide exaggerations to coax more interest from prospective contract attorney applicants. This makes it extra difficult to plan vacations around project estimations.

So I think it is in every contract attorney’s own working interest not to reveal whether he or she plans on taking time off when inquiring about project availability. Disclosing such information to the agency will only lead to negative results in you not being considered for projects that you would otherwise have been submitted for. Besides, deciding when and if you plan on taking time off in the contract attorney business is a very fluid decisional process. Originally I thought I would try to maximize my working hours and overtime opportunities by plugging through the holidays, but I ultimately reconsidered and decided my time would be better spent with family and loved ones. Money is important, but it’s not every thing. Heeding my own advice, I didn’t alert the agency until the last possible moment (a few days before my planned time off), although I did reasonably make sure the project would not be too understaffed while I was away.

I would like to think that I am an educated, professional adult. After all, I studied hard through college, graduated from a top tier law school, and passed the bar on the first try. I’ve worked hard in everything I’ve done, whether it was a clerkship position, in government, doing litigation, or even document review work.

However, as a contract attorney, sometimes I forget that I am an adult, let alone a trained attorney with past working experience. There are many moments in this line of work that sometimes make me feel like I am not a real lawyer.

Based on my experience in the last few years, some legal staffing agencies seem to feel the need to run their projects like a day care for adults. They monitor our actions, track our minutes like an obsessive parent, and even mandate the use of bathroom passes to account for our billing accuracy. How is one supposed to feel like an adult when your supervisors require you to sign in and sign out for even brief activities like performing a routine bodily function. In high school I had to raise my hand to request a pass to use the bathroom because the teacher didn’t want students randomly wandering the halls. But when college and law school finally rolled by, the permission requirement went out the window since the expectation was that we should now be responsible enough to monitor our own actions. It is almost comical how things have regressed since then.

Feeling Like I Am Working At a Daycare For Grown-Ups

I was on this one project where one of the head agency administrators actually felt the need to come before everyone and make a long winded speech about the agency’s zero tolerance policy towards anything that could be remotely construed as controversial. I’m not just talking about things that are patently wrong either, such as sexual harassment. But the insinuation was that any joke or comment within earshot of someone that could remotely be considered offensive would not be tolerated and would result in prompt firing.

Such stringent rules leave little room for much social interaction outside of clicking away at one’s workstation. It makes things even worse when they’ve taken away internet access. The only thing I can really think about when I’m on one those types of projects is to hope that it ends sooner rather than later so that I can find another one that offers a better working environment.

I think experienced contract attorneys can offer a lot of review experience and guidance to supervising associates, who are frequently novices to managing document review projects, but when working conditions are so stifling, it severely discourages people like me from really caring about the case at all. I like to feel that my work is appreciated, but when it is not and conditions are terrible, I really have little motivation to be involved.

It Can Be a Bit Sweatshoppish Sometimes

Once in a while, associates or agency strongmen will pull us aside to discuss our numbers - basically your productivity level compared to the other members of the contract attorney team. It’s amazing the degree of data they keep a running tally of. Many document review programs are able to compile user information into neatly diagrammed charts that can track when and how often you code documents to determine your level of productivity. Unproductive workers are usually quickly canned. Every time I am pulled aside to discuss my numbers, I feel sort of like a little garment industry worker being called into my boss’ office to explain why I’m not hitting my button sewing target number.

At the same time though, I understand there has to be a mechanism to keep productivity and quality up, and perhaps it’s just the linear nature of contract attorney work that makes it very mechanical and numbers based, but I wish there was a more professional and befitting way of handling it.

But come to think of it, even big law firm associates have their own numbers too. They have pressing billable hours they must meet and they too have partners who will pull them aside when their numbers are below par and not up to snuff. In this world unless you are at the top, you’re really just an ordinary cog in a giant working wheel.