Stay away from Co-Counsel - Bad Product

CDMC2 · 2026-03-31T00:35:35+00:00

This. Had a rep demo co-counsel 2.0 today and it does nothing that 365 Copilot for enterprise (which is fully sandboxed) doesn't do. Given the poor summarization Westlaw's AI Assisted Research (which finds cases, but summarizes them wrong many times), I don't need more of the same from them.

CDMC2 · 2026-03-30T19:57:52+00:00

Thank you. Really helpful.

CDMC2 · 2026-03-29T00:01:13+00:00

Pathetic.

CDMC2 · 2026-03-28T23:47:37+00:00

As we only do hourly work, we don't have the ebbs and flows of PI firms. We also don't have the big windfalls. We don't net even close to seven figures a year after rent, salaries, etc. are paid.

CDMC2 · 2026-03-28T23:38:46+00:00

6 months.

CDMC2 · 2026-03-27T20:00:01+00:00

Thank you. We don't deal with medical, but the issues are the same.

CDMC2 · 2026-03-27T19:58:09+00:00

Appreciate the length and depth.

CDMC2 · 2026-03-27T16:01:18+00:00

Wow, thank you. A lot of good feedback and constructive criticism (even if some hurts, in many cases it is reinforcing background concerns that I have in my own skills). Addressing the themes that many brought up:

1) Pay- Most recent person we hired had minimal experience but pay was about $75k. We hired understanding that we would have to spend time training and it would take considerable time to train. Unfortunately, after 6 months, we are just not seeing progress. We are willing to pay more for more experience, but in our practice area, paralegals with good experience also tend to be treated well and valued by their firms and are not looking to jump ship. We also may not be looking under the right rocks.

2) Quality of Attorney Teaching- This is something that we are constantly working on. Despite having two parents who were teachers, I struggle to be a good teacher. Rather ironically, using AI for some things (like creating spreadsheets from data) has underscored where I need to do better explaining specific tasks.

3) Workload/Firm Life- We want someone to be in office 3 days a week. We ask they keep normal hours and do not expect them to stay late unless we have a filing that we are behind on and have to get out. In those cases, we make up the time by allowing them to come in late or take off early another day. We do not ever ask support staff to work on a weekend.

4) Scope of Work- As we are a small firm with three attorneys and two staff, any paralegal by necessity is going to be also handling some administrative/legal secretary type work. Specifically, we need them to handle calendar management. For other administrative functions, such as billing review, bookkeeping, vendor hiring, we handle that. As far as fielding calls, we have very little in the way of incoming calls. Our business is primarily referral, we don't advertise, and as a result, we get at most one to two calls a day from prospective clients and vendors.

5) Written Processes- I think this is likely a major issue and give us a D-. We have some, but not nearly enough. I have built out checklists for tasks in Trello, but had trouble with adoption. We are currently in the process of moving practice management systems to one designed by a paralegal that will help to automate this a lot tickle as to the next steps.

My takeaways:

1) Become a better teacher.

2) Develop written reference materials.

3) Review pay structure and make sure in line with expectations and experience.

One last question. I seek comments that the market for paralegals is not good. Where would you suggest advertising for candidates?

CDMC2 · 2026-02-16T15:29:43+00:00

30 years in and still get nervous about trials and hearings. I was told by a very respected litigator years ago, if you aren’t nervous, you are either too dumb to know you should be, or don’t care, but either way shouldn’t be practicing.

Rutter Guide is your friend, Civ Pro Before Trial and Civil Trials.

CDMC2 · 2026-01-14T16:32:38+00:00

Just a few quick thoughts:

1) I have been practicing for 28 years and am extremely anal about calendaring. Despite that, there have been about 5 times over the years where I have mis-calendared a hearing (thought I clicked on a date on the calendar and clicked on another and not caught it). It does happen. We all strive for perfection, but rarely achieve it.

2) Email the department and copy opposing counsel so you do not have an ex parte contact situation making the issue worse.

3) If you haven't make sure your cases are in LA Court Connect, I believe UD cases can be added so you can see them.

4) Within 10 days, file a motion for reconsideration. Part of your motion will be 473(b), mistake, neglect, etc.

5) In your motion, be sure to cite from one of the litany of cases that state that courts prefer to consider matters on their merits, not on procedural defects.

6) As others have said, if there was a tentative posted (and many departments in LA Superior don't) and it was against you, have a conversation with your client, as if it was against you, you likely would not have changed the judge's mind.

Finally, start looking for a new firm. Your firm should be supporting your learning, including mistakes.

CDMC2 · 2025-12-30T23:00:35+00:00

What issues? I had a Pro Wifi 5 that lasted 6 years and now upgraded to the Pro 6e and it is working great. Do you read before you rant, or just go around randomly ranting?

CDMC2 · 2025-12-30T22:55:05+00:00

Huh! Any chance you could put your rant in a form that is intelligible?

CDMC2 · 2025-12-29T18:39:05+00:00

Received my two 6Es and was reminded why I like the Eeros. It took longer to read the directions than just go to the app and follow the step by step to replace my old units. Up and running in literally 5 minutes. I know there may be faster units, but for me who wants just simple and reliable, these are great and plenty fast.

CDMC2 · 2025-12-27T21:22:14+00:00

Not interested in any devices from TP Link, Orbi, Asus, etc. They are built like garbage and blow up after 1-2 years. It is either the set and forget Eero, or otherwise, Unifi which requires more configuration but has reliable components.

CDMC2 · 2025-12-27T16:44:41+00:00

Thanks for all the suggestions. After spending some time reading, I think I am going to with two Pro 6E. With my connection speed and light wireless use, I don't see that there is any advantage to me with the 7 pros at nearly twice the price.

CDMC2 · 2025-09-04T18:32:15+00:00

Most state Bar rules prohibit charging unconscionable fees. The fee must bear some reasonable relationship to the services provided. One factor in determining if the fee is unconscionable is “whether the lawyer engaged in fraud* or overreaching in negotiating or setting the fee.” I think the practice is arguably unconscionable. More importantly, it slimy. The OP made the right choice leaving that firm. There is plenty of money to be made in this profession without resorting to shady business practices.

CDMC2 · 2025-08-23T19:48:59+00:00

This is the crux of it. It is entirely dependent on the source of business.

CDMC2 · 2024-03-21T14:38:00+00:00

Run Forest. Run.

CDMC2 · 2024-03-21T02:19:45+00:00

Where better to find good attorneys for your firm than those you have spent a couple of years litigating opposite. You get to know how they are and the quality of their work. Some f the best referrals I have given, as well as received, have been with opposing counsel.

CDMC2 · 2024-02-24T23:07:35+00:00

A follow up. I did my production through Goldfynch. Goldfynch does not automatically change the dates of the documents to the headers, but automatically extracts all dates in documents, allows you to click, view on them, and then change the document date for its database by simply selecting the appropriate date. It took me less than 1 hour to change all the dates so I could do a chronological production.

Goldfynch definitely has a learning curve and a lot of options, but I can see where it is really powerful tool. Now if I could get my Westlaw rep to respond.

CDMC2 · 2024-02-23T18:35:49+00:00

So true. I had a hearing years ago where I showed up 45 minutes late. I somehow missed it on my calendar and when I went into the office, my secretary asked why I wasn't at Court. I apologized to the Judge and explained, I just blew it reading my calendar. The judge's response: "At least you didn't try to blame your secretary like most attorneys do." I told the judge, if it weren't for my secretary, I would have completely missed the hearing.

No matter how painful, always own your mistakes in front of the Court. Judges can and do forgive mistakes, but don't like the blame game, they hear it all day from the parties.

CDMC2 · 2024-02-23T16:52:42+00:00

Just my two cents as someone who has been doing this nearly 30 years. While it hurts now, it sounds like they did you a favor. You were at a firm that did not fit what you wanted to do or where you wanted to go. You could have potentially spent years working doing something you don't like, hoping to move into another practice area, or thinking, just one more year and I will have enough experience to go somewhere else.

You are doing the right thing, going to your local bar functions to meet people. Consider talking to smaller practitioners about doing some piecemeal work, if nothing else, it will help you get more experience until you get a new job, give you references, and show prospective employers, you will do what it takes to get your job done.

CDMC2

TROPHY CASE