I’ve been doing my Evil, Esquire series, which has been fun to write about my day job. And then two weeks ago I totally missed a post – I was on vacation and erroneously thought I had a scheduled post. That was my bad. And now it’s time to post again and I’m struggling.
I’m struggling with my job. I like what I do. I just made partner in my firm, which supposed to be the goal of every lawyer – pass the bar, get hired, work your ass off, become partner, reap profits, retire. That’s what they show on TV, that’s what you hear about.
And so I should be thrilled that I have a piece of paper that says that I’m an owner in the firm. I now get a share of the profits, which should be awesome.
But I’m not thrilled.
The freedom of being an associate was great. I was an employee. I showed up, did my work, and left, and rarely had to work from home. I know I was lucky as hell as an associate, because I worked less and got paid more than a lot of my colleagues in the area. But I still worked hard.
And it has paid off.
Or has it? Now, instead of being worry free about my paycheck, I have to make sure that money is coming in to ensure I’m getting the amount I need/want. I have responsibility that I didn’t have before. And I’m not sure I want it.
There are an awful lot of lawyers who quit and become writers. And I’ve always understood that temptation, but never so much as now. Unfortunately, I make a lot more money as a lawyer than I would as a writer, and that’s hard to give up.
So I’m discouraged. It doesn’t help that I currently have a client from hell that emails me constantly, wants work done instantly (he seems to be under the impression he’s my ONLY client), and for whatever reason (this annoys me the most), he uses excessive amounts of inappropriate quotation marks in his emails. No, really.
Here’s an excerpt from a recent epistle: Please “speak up” if there is anything more Skye, that you request for or need? Let’s push this through ok, for the “balls in your court”! We shall be following up with you tomorrow or Wednesday.
*beats head against desk*
Well, gotta run. Because now my paycheck depends not on my being here, but rather on my billing. And clearly, someone needs me. For the “millionth” time. “Lucky” me!
“” if there is anything more Skye, that you request for or need? Let’s push this through ok, for the “balls in your court”! We shall be following up with you tomorrow or Wednesday.”
I do not ‘get it to some degree here.’
What is the objection to this simple and direct communication? To see reality you have to always see that ‘its not always about you’. Your sensitivity to this type of communication will not truly serve you in the long run. Absorb and process the meaning of the message. But do not internalize its tone of ” conflict’. I try to be less of a ‘reactive mind’. Then we might better see everything and everybody more clearly… but whether we like them, or their communication, then becomes more of an ‘informed personal choice’.
No, Mr. Quinn. You do not get to do this to one of our members.
Mr. Quinn, you seem to have missed (or deliberately ignored) our comment policy here at the ELEW.
While we very much appreciate your regular readership and your participation in the comments of various posts, your remarks to Skye (who is, in fact, an attorney) are patronizing, condescending, and completely uncalled for. (I know, you don’t see it that way, but trust me. It’s all of those and more.) Consider this your sole notice: should you wish to continue to engage with the posts, you will refrain from condescension, mansplaining, free offers to better our behavior/writing/information, and other attention-seeking douchebaggery, or you will find your comments disemvoweled (not a typo – Google it). If you continue to make an ass of yourself, you will be banned from accessing the ELEW site entirely. We also do not respond well to threats, so if you are considering making any as a result of this notice, please refrain.
This is not up for negotiation; you are on our territory, these are our rules, and either play by them or we will show you out.