Shouting Matches Are Common At Some Law Firms - Above the Law

"I worked at four different law firms before starting my own practice. One of the shops was a smaller law firm that did not pay associates as much as other practices. This usually meant that people could take time off without too much trouble since everyone understood there needed to be advantages to receiving such low pay. For some attorneys, this also meant that shouting matches were tolerated since associates did not feel like they should take abuse from higher-ups for such little pay."

"One time, we received a negative decision from a court, and this made a partner at the law firm furious. The partner tasked me with researching ways that we could stay the decision pending appeal, and I went to work researching an area of the law I had not previously encountered. I ended up discovering that in our situation, we might not need to post an undertaking as was required in most situations in which litigants wanted to stay decisions pending appeal."

"For some reason, the partner did not believe I was correct in my assessment. He asked for the statute that included this provision, and he read the provision out loud from a desk copy of the relevant procedural rules that clearly stated we could ask for a stay without posting a traditional undertaking. Still, he would not concede that he was incorrect, and the scene eventually became a shouting match."

Law firms can be unpleasant workplaces where office politics and difficult personalities create toxic cultures. Partners and managers sometimes abuse power and belittle associates, harming morale. Smaller firms may pay associates less, which can lead to tolerance for lenient policies like flexible time off and acceptance of confrontational behavior. A negative court decision prompted a partner to demand research on staying the decision pending appeal. Research showed a provision allowing a stay without posting a traditional undertaking in the situation. The partner refused to accept the correct legal finding, read the rule aloud, and a shouting match ensued, ending with the associate leaving.

Read at Above the Law