I have been at my mid-size corporate defense firm for 10 months. This is my first position in litigation, new, but I feel like I've been making "reasonable" mistakes and improving. I won two small bench trials that I did solo and have been trying to incorporate the feedback I've received from the partners.
A few background issues - (1) I am newly diagnosed ADHD; got on meds and have been trying to be more detailed-oriented but I still make silly typos or miss things; (2) I have a baby in daycare (my first child) and since I've been at the firm, we've battled numerous daycare illnesses and a hospital stay. We don't have any family support so when my daughter is sick, it messes up my ability to work. The firm has always been super understanding, though; (3) my husband and I are recovering alcoholics but he recently relapsed. Yesterday, I left work a bit early to find my husband passed out in his vomit. I called EMTs and tried to keep my daughter away from the situation. While paramedics were here, I realized I completely spaced a following up on a previous request for extension for a deadline and in my effort to try and rectify the situation, I sent an email asking for an extension, while not realizing the partner and paralegal had already handled the deadline. (EDIT: I had already drafted the document - written discovery resonates- and gave it to the partner the week prior for her changes, we were waiting to hear back from opposing counsel on an extension because our client hadn't produced the responsive documents).
I got a meeting invite from the partner today. She was not happy, saying that my email embarrassed her and the firm because it made it look like I didn't know what was going on (which is true, I was out of the loop because I was dealing with my husband's issue). She asked me if I was mentally unwell because I seemed distracted the past few months. She pointed to a recent draft I sent her recently which had typos in it, and said she's concerned about the "trajectory of my career at the firm." My last review (in June) was great and this was the first time she mentioned that I seemed "distracted". I was so shocked and ashamed at having "embarrassed the firm" that I cried during our meeting. I explained that yesterday my husband had a health emergency and apologized for failing to communicate that. I took full responsibility for my mistakes and I didn't want to get into personal details but I would be making changes to improve my mental clarity at work. She asked me if there was anything that she could do to improve my performance and I said that I would like to take a day to think seriously about how to improve.
Lawyers, am I on a one-way track to getting fired? Is being a lawyer just not for me because of my ADHD and lack of attention to detail? How should I approach the partner tomorrow?
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If you don't tell work your DH drowned in his own puke, that proves how toxic your boss is.
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I hope that person isn't a lawyer because they're completely r-slurred and can't even remember the way the OP told the story. The partner didn't know about the husband's booze cruise trip to the hospital when they mentioned all the frick ups. Then blames the firm because OP isn't comfortable just blurting out that her husband is a worthless drunk unprompted.
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Yeah that booze just happened to get into his body, somehow
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He just slipped and fell into the bottle multiple times.
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It's called involuntary alcoholism, be understanding
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You are triggering me, Jimie
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This is why Lawyers in media are all portrayed as single, anti-child, anti-family greedy little vampire sharks.
Aint no time for kids and family until you make Partner.
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!Alcoholmisia, we've got another boozer lolcow here.
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"Noooo you don't understand I just HAVE to drink myself into unconsciousness and piss myself to sleep!!!! It's all my idiot husband's fault for daring to get sick!!!! At least I'm not some- HUUURRK ⦠some⦠teetotaler "
I didn't read the post btw just assumed what it was about
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nah the husband is the drunkard in this one
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"Noooo you don't understand I just HAVE to drink myself into unconsciousness and piss myself to sleep!!!! It's all my idiot wife's fault for daring to interrupt my binge sesh!!!! At least I'm not some- HUUURRK ⦠some⦠teetotaler "
wait why is there a marseychonkerfoidpuke but not a regular marseychonkerpuke
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I feel for her boss. It is probably always something else with this foid. Always some drama or major issue. Never able to do the work to the standard required but always has some excuse. Tale as old as time.
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I always assume that the fricking person telling the fricking story is fricking hiding several things to make themselves look better. In this case that would make OP lucky to hold down a fricking job at Starbucks. ADHD, sick child with no other relatives to support, alcoholism, forgetting things...
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I try to assume the best of people.
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If this was a dude he would have already been fired.
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If this was a dude, he would be a public defender.
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spell check has existed for decades, how are you still making typos
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At a lot of prestigious workplaces it takes forever to get fired because firing a lawyer so soon after hiring them would make the firm look bad for hiring such a shmuck in the first place.
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Snapshots:
https://old.reddit.com/r/Lawyertalk/comments/1forby1/managing_partner_said_i_embarrassed_the_firm/:
undelete.pullpush.io
ghostarchive.org
archive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
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