muck_a_luck

I have gone full time, real employee at a law firm with 550 attorneys in 19 offices nationwide. I am not sure what the corresponding number of support staff is. My guess is slightly lower than the number of lawyers.

It is a strange environment, where golf matters.

Earlier this month I went to the firm's national headquarters in a major east coast city that is not the city where I live for 2 days of meetings with everyone and her sister regarding payroll, billing, ethics and liability, HR, benefits, billing, conflicts management, etc. I was excused from computer training, since I have already worked at the firm for close to six months.

I like the work, I like the salary, I like most of my colleagues. Commute is a bit long, but it's all public transportation, so.

It's definitely a change in business culture. My group has an ambitious target for the year, and I realize that Partner Boss's main job is to do the networking and marketing to reach that goal.

Anyway, I personally, am I'm focussed on 2 main things. 1) a Hawaii deal and 2) bonuses. :) We have what looks like 14 to 16 deals closing this month, so I am optimistic on the bonus front. My professional goal - to kick out so much paperwork so efficiently there is no need for a second paralegal. I'm greedy and don't want to share any bonuses we generate. A true socialist work ethic! Where the employees are the owners, good money reduces hiring! (Though I am obviously not an owner. Just a profit sharer. )

I will say that with this job I have officially cracked what I thought was my maximum earning capacity as a paralegal, and that's on salary, not anything extra that might or might not happen.