Working Mental Health

I’m going to tell you a #lawyer secret. The #barexam is a source of MAJOR anxiety. ?? #Attorneys don’t like to admit things are hard. Many won’t admit this test is hard. Did you know that people have created support groups for SIGNIFICANT OTHERS of people taking the bar exam?! Google it, they’re all over the internet … My husband (boyfriend at the time) was afraid to tell me they existed, but I already knew, because I knew about every bar exam resource in existence at the time. Because I was SO… not stressed out. ?? You probably know a few attorneys who say they didn’t even study, or maybe they studied for a week. Congratulations, your friend / acquaintance / colleague / whoever lied to you. Don’t get mad; they probably did it because the legal field causes people to naturally feel uncomfortable discussing anything perceived as a shortcoming. That’s why my #mentalhealth posts aren’t the popular ones. Popularity is reserved for those who have found “cures” and “recovery” for things like depression and anxiety. GUESS WHAT ?! Most people who need the support everyone says they advocate so hard for have not found such cures and recovery. They don’t need to read everyone else’s success stories; they need to feel heard. So I’m happy to admit that the test was hard, I got though it and passed it but I would never, ever want to experience the time I spent studying for that test again. It’s why I advocate so hard for reciprocity, in case you’re curious. Anyway. TLDR : Some of the best lawyers you know struggled with the bar exam. I hope this little piece of honesty is #upyouraly

Honest question for everyone who says not to say ANYTHING negative when looking for work: What would you do if you couldn’t account for chunks of your work or time because of someone else’s unprofessional behavior? For example: if I do significant work for a law firm (litigation, legal writing and research, reviewing and approving paralegals’ work, etc) and the firm uses this work, praises it, then decides they “don’t have time” to go over the work and does not pay for that work, does this just become an inexplicable resume gap? This is of course 100 % hypothetical, but in this situation I’m supposed to pretend I did no work during this time and have less experience than I really do so that I can seem happy and positive enough to make it through an interview? That I’ll probably get rejected because of resume gaps and lack of experience? Cool. Whether that’s #upyouraly or not, I want to hear opinions in the comments. Again, of course, none of this ever happened and I’m totally thrilled with every work experience I’ve ever had, just making conversation. ?? **EDIT : to address some confusion in the comments (my fault), in this hypothetical, I wouldn’t want employers contacting this firm because of the conflicted relationship

Some employees just seem lucky. They know work secrets. They get raises, promotions, bonuses, etc. And they’re not telling you how. If you ask, they probably act like they have no idea what you’re talking about. Of course they don’t know any office secrets. They don’t have tricks to moving their careers forward while no one else seems to make any progress. It’s very blatant that it’s happening, but if you ask, they deny it every time. Have you had those coworkers? You can hardly blame them. Employers clearly prefer the silence to open dialogue among their employees. Some employers even make rules against discussing topics like salary. Some of them lie and say it’s illegal when it’s not. And there’s no incentive for anyone to help their coworkers succeed. Most people probably think they could get in trouble or lose their status for trying. So the same people succeed in the workplace constantly while the same people get left behind. And no one seems ready to say NO when I ask “is that #upyouraly?” But some people have started speaking up anonymously in this survey I made that provides a place for people to tell these stories about important lessons they’ve learned at work, without attaching it to their names. Will you please take 2 minutes or less to join the 23 people who have participated so far and help me get more people to do it? https://lnkd.in/eAv5vSsH

She hasn’t worked at a #lawfirm in 5 years. She writes motions, monitors high profile cases with trial teams, is an ediscovery expert … I’d keep going, but no one she wants to work with will look past the first line. ?? But you can change that right now! A permanent law firm gig doesn’t make someone the best. It’s not the only way to get legal experience and #lawyers with more unique career paths have valuable transferable skills that the typical “ideal” candidates lack. Monitoring the opioid trials taught me more than I learned in law school or at any other job about: trial advocacy, evidence, depositions and their use during trials, open court dialogues’ impact on other ongoing matters, witness availability, jury interaction, lots more… Even though I wasn’t trying the cases from a permanent law firm job. Even though it wasn’t my jury to convince. My research memos forced me to focus on and concisely explain the issues relevant to specific legal audiences. This skill is hard for many professionals to master. Teams of 5 to 6 people at legal outlets wrote similar articles about the trials to the reports I produced alone with way fewer resources. Freelance legal writing and research allows me to constantly build and add to my toolkit. I’ve helped other attorneys deep dive into their arguments. I’ve supervised and reviewed their paralegals’ work. But I didn’t have a permanent role at those firms. My ediscovery expertise, particularly in quality assurance, regularly prevents embarrassing mistakes from going out the door. ?? I’ve interacted regularly with clients and expert witnesses. But not from a desk in a permanent position at a law firm. So who cares? Well obviously I do and I’m still proud of all the work I’ve done and all my accomplishments that most people don’t see. If that’s #upyouraly, and you could use help from someone who focuses on legal writing, research, and quality assurance, I’m looking to do way more than temp work. And I’m not the only one with a story like this.

For 3 years I was a temp at the same company. When they offered my team permanent roles, they forbade us to discuss them. Typical. Employers constantly get away with forcing people in to silence and thanks to this, people don’t find out what they really deserve. People make less money, don’t get job opportunities, are passed up for promotions, and the list goes on and on… All in the name of silence for the sake of some company. Some employers lie to their employees and claim it’s illegal to discuss compensation when it’s not. Even people who KNOW it’s not true sometimes fear the conversation because of this. And even the ones who don’t lie still tend to strongly discourage it or even refer to it as a firable offense. Enough is enough. Is this #upyouraly? I created an anonymous survey and I’m really trying to share it without my post getting buried, so I am attempting sharing it in the comments this time. The questions provide a spot for us to have these conversations without having to attach a name to it. PLEASE take a couple of minutes (it’s easy) to answer the questions, and if you share this post, please also provide the link.

Your hard work gets overlooked at work and a lazy coworker gets promoted. AGAIN. It’s like everyone knows something you don’t. You ask around, but everyone claims they don’t know how the boss makes those decisions. Everybody always “wishes they could help,” but no one has the answers. But after a while, it seems like they DO have the answers and they’re purposely withholding information you need for career growth. They’re coworkers, not friends or family; they won’t risk their own status at work to help you. Plus, employers discourage open conversation. Do you know how much your coworkers make? Probably not, and that’s on purpose. Employers look at social media too, so it’s hard to even get anyone to talk on here. Our silence makes it so easy for employers to have the upper hand. We need to talk, but so many of us aren’t ready… That’s why I created an anonymous survey where everyone can share a lesson they learned too late, an opportunity they missed at work because they didn’t know the “secret.” I’ve missed out on raises, health insurance, vacation time, projects, etc etc this way. Every day people miss out on opportunities they don’t even know exist. Let’s make this anonymous survey the first step to changing this. Is that #upyouraly ? Please take 2 minutes (or less) to answer 3 quick questions and let’s see what we can do about making the workplace more fair and equitable. Let’s get as many people as we can to participate! https://lnkd.in/eAv5vSsH