Life After PB
I have no intention of quitting my current job any time soon, but one of my long term life goals definitely involves switching to a lower stress job. Not that being a legal secretary is without its benefits. After five years of experience, I have "mad phat" customer service skills. Not only do I deal with clients on a daily basis . . . I deal with touchy, panicky, flighty, clients who are often doing little things like running corporations - and wondering why all of their computer equipment was just seized. As one of my attorneys says: "clients generally don't call their attorney because they're happy. Please forgive them if they seem a little cranky."
What exactly is the difference between a legal secretary and a regular secretary? I gave the question a lot of thought, and came up with the following two answers:
1) WE RUN. It is not uncommon on any given day to see a legal secretary booking it down the hall (often in a skirt and high-heels). Most of the time we are chasing a piece of mail - trying to retrieve the envelope because the letter has been revised/we found a typo/the expert witness is actually in Timbuktu instead of at his Idaho address/or the attorney decided there was no reason to send it out prior to the actual deadline.
2) GENERAL STRESS LEVEL. A regular secretary loses a letter, they retype it. I lose a letter, and we can't locate Exhibt 15-A to our Motion, so the client does 5 to 10 years.
So this has led to the question. What about life after PB? What career would I go into? What would I enjoy doing?
I think I would like to "downgrade" to a regular secretarial position - perhaps at a University, where I could audit classes as an employee benefit. (I get pro bono representation as an employee benefit at the moment - but really, I think that falls under the category "things that are good to have, but not to use" kind of like flood insurance).
Would I miss trying to locate an attorney for a rabid client, when my sole indication of the attorney's location is an itinerary that reads "a chateaux in Paris. Don't know the name. Don't know the address."? Would I miss odd requests like: "Can you find a copy machine that we can access 24 hours a day in Ft. Lubbock, New Mexico?"
Could I give up three different kinds of coffee - fresh brewed all day?
Maybe not yet. But someday. And that day geta a little closer every time they ask if I can skim 40,000 documents and flag every mention of "Soybeans Incorprated."
You laugh. But, I'm not kidding.
What exactly is the difference between a legal secretary and a regular secretary? I gave the question a lot of thought, and came up with the following two answers:
1) WE RUN. It is not uncommon on any given day to see a legal secretary booking it down the hall (often in a skirt and high-heels). Most of the time we are chasing a piece of mail - trying to retrieve the envelope because the letter has been revised/we found a typo/the expert witness is actually in Timbuktu instead of at his Idaho address/or the attorney decided there was no reason to send it out prior to the actual deadline.
2) GENERAL STRESS LEVEL. A regular secretary loses a letter, they retype it. I lose a letter, and we can't locate Exhibt 15-A to our Motion, so the client does 5 to 10 years.
So this has led to the question. What about life after PB? What career would I go into? What would I enjoy doing?
I think I would like to "downgrade" to a regular secretarial position - perhaps at a University, where I could audit classes as an employee benefit. (I get pro bono representation as an employee benefit at the moment - but really, I think that falls under the category "things that are good to have, but not to use" kind of like flood insurance).
Would I miss trying to locate an attorney for a rabid client, when my sole indication of the attorney's location is an itinerary that reads "a chateaux in Paris. Don't know the name. Don't know the address."? Would I miss odd requests like: "Can you find a copy machine that we can access 24 hours a day in Ft. Lubbock, New Mexico?"
Could I give up three different kinds of coffee - fresh brewed all day?
Maybe not yet. But someday. And that day geta a little closer every time they ask if I can skim 40,000 documents and flag every mention of "Soybeans Incorprated."
You laugh. But, I'm not kidding.
posted by Andrea Peach | 7:51 PM
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