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Edited on Wed Mar-24-04 09:45 PM by liberalhistorian
After three years of hard work, loyalty, and dedication, my boss has decided he needs more of a "secretary" than a "paralegal" (which is what I am and what my training is) and is bringing back his old secretary.
He is quite correct in that I lack the organizational and "secretarial" secretarial skills he needs, but I thought I'd proven myself these past few years. He's been patient for awhile with it, as he's said, and I had no idea he was thinking of bringing the old one back. We'd become friends, as well; he and his wife and I attend the same church, which is how I got the job in the first place (I'd known him before, he knew my paralegal background, and when I was out of work all those months after suddenly losing my job, he gave me a chance when his secretary went on maternity leave. When she decided not to come back except for doing the billing and bookkeeping, he took a chance on me even though I had no secretarial training at all and didn't know what the hell I was doing).
I have a hearing loss and wear hearing aids and he was more than patient with that, unlike other employers I've been unfortunate enough to experience. I also have a learning disability, and he was more patient with that as well. When I needed new hearing aids last year because my old ones finally conked out, he co-signed the loan so I could get them. He works with my son (who's 12) in the children's group at church. He saw past my superficial disabilities to my skills and my potential. Not only had I never had any secretarial training, despite having a B.A. AND a paralegal certificate, but I'd never had any experience as a one-person office, either, and I've grown tremendously these past few years, acquiring and developing skills and abilities I didn't have previously.
I had no idea he was even considering doing this, or that he was so unhappy with how things were being run in the office. I got a great review last year, after a not-so-great one the year before when I was still getting my sea legs. I especially thought that I was safe last month after an article appeared in the local paper about my organizing a county paralegal association, all on my own initiative, with a picture of both of us. I just didn't see this coming.
What he thought was that, while he needed a full-time secretary, I could be a research assistant and develop my own legal research and writing business using the office as a base, so I'd still be there (legal research and writing, including pleadings and briefs, is one of my greatest strengths and he considers me to be one of the best legal researchers/writers he's ever encountered). I set him straight on just how unrealistic that was, it takes months, if not years, to develop something like that, much less make any money at all. He's been talking to other attorneys and secretary/paralegals in the county all week, and they've confirmed that, so he was really upset since he thought he'd found the perfect solution for me because he wanted to still have me on board.
Most "paralegal" paralegal jobs are in Cleveland and its immediate surrounding suburbs, not in the suburban county where I am. While there are plenty of lawyers in the county, most are small and need more of a secretary than a paralegal, like my boss. And Cleveland is becoming saturated with paralegals, especially since some major law firms have just announced some deep cuts and layoffs.
So I've suggested that we do what a lot of attorneys do, and that's split the job both ways; she does the organizational/secretarial functions and I do the paralegal functions. I drafted a memo with specific details on how we could do it, and that it would be approximately four hours a day for each of us or however he wanted to split it up. That's also one of my strengths, creatively solving problems and coming up with original, specific ideas in many areas. I said that the rest of the time, I could do some of the sales work for the real estate title company he also runs (he's a real estate and business attorney), since the county sales rep quit suddenly a couple of months ago to take another job. I'm thinking mostly courier work and communications, since I'm not that thrilled about sales work and I don't have any sales experience other than political campaigns, if you can call that sales work. I did write a lot of the sales communications and brochures for the last sales rep, since writing's my greatest strength and she didn't really know how to do it.
My idea is to also market both the title company and the law firm, since most title companies don't have lawyers on board and that's a way to make the company stand out from the competition. And I'm very, very good at dealing with our legal clients, I've brought many in and have maintained relationships. A lot of the clients I've told about this are very upset, they don't want to deal with anyone but me and they didn't like the last secretary much. She is, frankly, a bitch who doesn't like dealing with people too much, with an attitude the size of Mt. Everest, and the clients didn't like dealing with her all that much.
I told my boss that it doesn't matter how organized and smoothly-running a law office is if the clients aren't happy and stay away. My boss knows this, which is why he'll let me continue working on several current cases. One client whose case we're working on threatened to take his five grand retainer and walk, which is what I told my boss he was gonna do. My boss is very intrigued by my proposal, and is trying to see how we could do it. But I'm not really that happy about it, truth be told. I'll go along with it, because I have to have a job and money, but I'm just sick about it, truth be told. I was finally secure and happy at a job, especially considering the rocky start, and thought I was doing well at it. And I also love working so close to home and my son's school.
I finally lost it at work tonight, after everyone had left, when he was talking about moving furniture around in MY office for the secretary and it really started hurting. He was very gentle and concerned, saying I'd done nothing wrong, it wasn't my fault, I had a lot of skills and abilities, I'd be taken care of and he'd make it work, etc., etc. But it just isn't the same. I don't want to see the other one working at MY job, the one I thought I was doing so well at before he pulled the rug out from under me.
The bottom line is that, as a single parent, I MUST have a STEADY, SECURE income, I MUST have a job. I'd love to go into business for myself, frankly, because I'm tired of trusting employers and doing the best job I can and being loyal only to get kicked in the face, (the only employer I'll ever really trust anymore now is ME) but I don't have the luxury of building one up full-time, I'm not married and I have a son to take care of.
He said if worse came to worse and my proposal didn't work, he'd lay me off so I could get unemployment and keep me and my son on their health insurance. I already write customized resumes and cover letters on the side for friends and family, as well as helping in putting together career portfolios (a new trend). I love doing legal research and writing, though, and I'd like to do it on a free-lance basis in addition to whatever job I end up with.
I'd like to expand it to other groups besides lawyers, because they're not the only ones who need it. Non-profit agencies often need legal research and analysis but many times can't afford to pay attorneys for such services. Writers will often need such a service as well. My boss will review, for legal accuracy, any work I do. So if anyone needs such a service, don't hesitate to PM me. And if you need a customized resume, cover letter, or help in putting together a career portfolio, let me know that as well. Maybe I'll be able to build up a good business after all!
And if any of you attorneys need a paralegal extraordinaire, or you know one who does, well, you know what to do!
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