So things have been a little crazy since starting the new job. It's a satellite office of a medium-sized regional firm. Apparently, this firm has experienced major turnover in recent years, and most of the current staff is new, with varying levels of experience. Despite being the newest hire, I have significantly more experience in this practice area than my co-workers. As in most situations, there are pros and cons...
The attorneys are dumping most of the complex projects on me, while I try to cope with being in a completely different environment. The attorney who is effectively in charge is a sociopath who works 20 hours a day and expects the rest of us to also, which I suspect is one source of the high turnover rate. After weeks and weeks of leisurely unemployment, this is a huge adjustment to make, and I'm not taking it well. Unfortunately, the need for paying bills and getting health insurance means I had to take this job, even though I would never have taken it if I was still employed elsewhere.
This office is much more of a team environment than my last firm. There's no office manager, sine most of the administrative tasks are done at the head office. (If only my last firm realized that was an option, it would have avoided a lot of trouble.) The few administrative tasks needed at this office are spread out among the paralegals and admins, so none of us are really "above" anyone else. The workload is shared, and everyone seems willing to step in and help when needed. Considering my last work environment, this is a nice change of pace, and makes the long hours a bit easier to manage.
I'm only one block from my prior office, so it's inevitable that I'll probably run into UnManager at some point. For now, I'm going to take the high road and just ignore her if that happens. Maybe with luck, I'll bump into her boss at lunch sometime and get the chance to tell him my real opinion of her. What can he do now, fire me and blackball me all over again?
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