- Joined
- Jun 3, 2008
- Messages
- 4,684
I''m feeling a little unsatisfied with my job lately, and I''m hoping some of you can tell me whether or not it''s reasonable for me to feel that way. I''m a paralegal at a small law firm (five attorneys), and I''ve been here for nine years. (I started here when I was only 21 and I''m 30 now.) In that nine years, I''ve slightly more than doubled my pay, due to various raises and a promotion of sorts (which turned me from an hourly employee into a salary employee). It''s also important to remember that I am the most senior employee at this firm, by quite a bit.
All five attorneys are partners, and I answer directly to two of them. I am the only paralegal who deals with litigation, family law, criminal law, and bankruptcy. This is a very large portion of the work load at our firm. There is an estate paralegal (more about her later), and three other employees. The other three employees have education and experience in the paralegal field. One of them is our office manager, and the other two are basically legal secretaries/receptionists (although they do have paralegal training and prior experience). The estate paralegal has NO training or experience as a paralegal whatsoever.
Here are the things that have been bothering me:
1. In my early years at this firm, it was apparent that the most senior employee (who, at the time, was also the senior partner''s paralegal) had certain benefits that the rest of us did not have, due to her seniority. For example, she was last in line to answer the phone. Also, she never had to type dictation and, in fact, was encouraged to dictate documents herself for someone else to type up. She has since quit due to a messy conflict with the senior partner (which I believe to be his fault, not hers). Now that I''m the most senior employee, I am third in line out of five to answer the phone, and I type dictation every day.
2. When the estate paralegal was hired a few years ago, it came to be known that she had zero education and experience as a paralegal. She works directly with the senior partner, and he hired her basically on a whim. I found out (through a payroll error) that she was making SUBSANTIALLY more than me. Obviously, I raised holy hell at the time. Shortly thereafter, I was given my aforementioned "promotion" and got a pretty good pay increase, which made my salary and hers approximately equal. Personally, I feel that I should be making more than she is based on my extensive education and experience in my field, as well as my seniority with the firm, as well as the fact that I am certified and she isn''t, as well as the fact that I''m a notary public and she isn''t.
3. Speaking of the fact that I''m certified, it bears mentioning that I became certified due to my own motivation. Several years ago, I explained to the partners that I was interested in obtaining my certification and asked if they would be supportive of that. They were very enthusiastic at the time, and helped me pay for my study materials and testing fees. (I believe they paid half if I remember correctly.) They also allowed me to work four ten-hour days instead of five eight-hour days, so that I would have a day off during the week to study. (Mind you, this was before I became salaried, so my hours were limited to 40 per week at the time.) I took my certification exam and passed with flying colors on the first try. I am a member of the professional organization that administers the certifying exam, which makes it easier for me to meet my continuing education requirements to maintain my certification. The firm does pay for my continuing education, but they seem to have a problem with paying my annual dues to the professional organization. Every year, it''s a battle to get them to pay these relatively inexpensive dues. I feel like they don''t place much value on my certification. This is discouraging, because my certification exam was very difficult and required quite a lot of preparation on my part. This is a two-day exam which is to paralegals as the bar exam is to attorneys, the only difference being that an attorney must take the bar exam and it''s not a requirement for a paralegal to take the certification exam. Although I was not required to obtain my certification, I did so in order to improve my skills and make myself more valuable to my firm.
4. As I mentioned, I am also a notary public. Up until the beginning of 2008, the firm had allowed the notaries (myself and our office manager) to charge for our notary fees, but we had to pay for our own notary commission. This worked out to approximately $1,000 per year in my pocket. The firm has now changed the policy. We can no longer charge for notary fees, but the firm will pay for our notary commissions from now on. So, there goes about $1,000 per year. After my "raise" at the beginning of 2008, I''m actually making no more than I was last year due to the new policy regarding notary fees.
5. Up until the beginning of 2008, I was allowed to take my vacation time (three weeks per year) whenever I felt that it was appropriate. Starting this year, a new vacation policy has been instituted. I and the two receptionists/legal secretaries are on a rotation. This year is D''s year to have first choice of her vacation time, next year is M''s year to have first choice, and 2010 is my year to have first choice. Then, the rotation starts over with D. Basically, only one of the three of us can be out of the office at a time. I think this policy is completely unnecessary and unfair. The rationale, according to the partners and the office manager (who is the one who pushed for this policy), is that D, M and I are the three people who are first in line to answer the phones (D first, then M, then me). However, the other "paralegal" and our office manager are also responsible for answering the phones ~ the office manager is fourth in line, and the other "paralegal" is last. Then, when I brought that up, I was informed that D, M and I are the only ones subject to the policy because we are the only ones who type dictation (which is true, although the other two are perfectly capable).
I continue to stay with this firm because there aren''t many job opportunities for paralegals in my area, and any that I might find would almost certainly pay less than I''m making now. Also, I wouldn''t get the three weeks of vacation that I get now. (I''m hoping against hope that my vacation time will increase to four weeks once I hit the ten year mark in August of 2009, but I ain''t holding my breath.)
There are days when I enjoy my job, and there are days when I can''t stand it. If I did leave, I''m not entirely sure that I would want to take another position as a paralegal. I''m just not sure that this is the right career for me but, unfortunately, it''s all I know how to do.
If you''ve read this far, THANK YOU!!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
All five attorneys are partners, and I answer directly to two of them. I am the only paralegal who deals with litigation, family law, criminal law, and bankruptcy. This is a very large portion of the work load at our firm. There is an estate paralegal (more about her later), and three other employees. The other three employees have education and experience in the paralegal field. One of them is our office manager, and the other two are basically legal secretaries/receptionists (although they do have paralegal training and prior experience). The estate paralegal has NO training or experience as a paralegal whatsoever.
Here are the things that have been bothering me:
1. In my early years at this firm, it was apparent that the most senior employee (who, at the time, was also the senior partner''s paralegal) had certain benefits that the rest of us did not have, due to her seniority. For example, she was last in line to answer the phone. Also, she never had to type dictation and, in fact, was encouraged to dictate documents herself for someone else to type up. She has since quit due to a messy conflict with the senior partner (which I believe to be his fault, not hers). Now that I''m the most senior employee, I am third in line out of five to answer the phone, and I type dictation every day.
2. When the estate paralegal was hired a few years ago, it came to be known that she had zero education and experience as a paralegal. She works directly with the senior partner, and he hired her basically on a whim. I found out (through a payroll error) that she was making SUBSANTIALLY more than me. Obviously, I raised holy hell at the time. Shortly thereafter, I was given my aforementioned "promotion" and got a pretty good pay increase, which made my salary and hers approximately equal. Personally, I feel that I should be making more than she is based on my extensive education and experience in my field, as well as my seniority with the firm, as well as the fact that I am certified and she isn''t, as well as the fact that I''m a notary public and she isn''t.
3. Speaking of the fact that I''m certified, it bears mentioning that I became certified due to my own motivation. Several years ago, I explained to the partners that I was interested in obtaining my certification and asked if they would be supportive of that. They were very enthusiastic at the time, and helped me pay for my study materials and testing fees. (I believe they paid half if I remember correctly.) They also allowed me to work four ten-hour days instead of five eight-hour days, so that I would have a day off during the week to study. (Mind you, this was before I became salaried, so my hours were limited to 40 per week at the time.) I took my certification exam and passed with flying colors on the first try. I am a member of the professional organization that administers the certifying exam, which makes it easier for me to meet my continuing education requirements to maintain my certification. The firm does pay for my continuing education, but they seem to have a problem with paying my annual dues to the professional organization. Every year, it''s a battle to get them to pay these relatively inexpensive dues. I feel like they don''t place much value on my certification. This is discouraging, because my certification exam was very difficult and required quite a lot of preparation on my part. This is a two-day exam which is to paralegals as the bar exam is to attorneys, the only difference being that an attorney must take the bar exam and it''s not a requirement for a paralegal to take the certification exam. Although I was not required to obtain my certification, I did so in order to improve my skills and make myself more valuable to my firm.
4. As I mentioned, I am also a notary public. Up until the beginning of 2008, the firm had allowed the notaries (myself and our office manager) to charge for our notary fees, but we had to pay for our own notary commission. This worked out to approximately $1,000 per year in my pocket. The firm has now changed the policy. We can no longer charge for notary fees, but the firm will pay for our notary commissions from now on. So, there goes about $1,000 per year. After my "raise" at the beginning of 2008, I''m actually making no more than I was last year due to the new policy regarding notary fees.
5. Up until the beginning of 2008, I was allowed to take my vacation time (three weeks per year) whenever I felt that it was appropriate. Starting this year, a new vacation policy has been instituted. I and the two receptionists/legal secretaries are on a rotation. This year is D''s year to have first choice of her vacation time, next year is M''s year to have first choice, and 2010 is my year to have first choice. Then, the rotation starts over with D. Basically, only one of the three of us can be out of the office at a time. I think this policy is completely unnecessary and unfair. The rationale, according to the partners and the office manager (who is the one who pushed for this policy), is that D, M and I are the three people who are first in line to answer the phones (D first, then M, then me). However, the other "paralegal" and our office manager are also responsible for answering the phones ~ the office manager is fourth in line, and the other "paralegal" is last. Then, when I brought that up, I was informed that D, M and I are the only ones subject to the policy because we are the only ones who type dictation (which is true, although the other two are perfectly capable).
I continue to stay with this firm because there aren''t many job opportunities for paralegals in my area, and any that I might find would almost certainly pay less than I''m making now. Also, I wouldn''t get the three weeks of vacation that I get now. (I''m hoping against hope that my vacation time will increase to four weeks once I hit the ten year mark in August of 2009, but I ain''t holding my breath.)
There are days when I enjoy my job, and there are days when I can''t stand it. If I did leave, I''m not entirely sure that I would want to take another position as a paralegal. I''m just not sure that this is the right career for me but, unfortunately, it''s all I know how to do.
If you''ve read this far, THANK YOU!!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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