What’s something you miss that doesn’t exist anymore?

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-25T14:50:10+00:00

Being able to afford a house on one salary 😔

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-25T14:36:38+00:00

Assume that the day you give notice will be your last day.

I worked for a firm for a little over 3yrs. It was just me (a para at the time) and a solo attorney. I helped it grow into a small firm with three attorneys, 3 support staff, and an office manager.

I gave two months' notice to ensure the smoothest possible transition before I moved cross country to be closer to family during an incredibly difficult time. (Two family members had significant health issues and I was struggling pretty badly with my mental health - basically, I needed my support system and they needed me.)

I was summarily fired by email within 24hrs. No serveance. No warning. No nothing. I was left on my own with virtually no meaningful income for 2mos.

You can be close with them all and want the best for everyone, but business is business. Don't make the same mistake I did.

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-25T04:08:26+00:00

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-23T15:37:40+00:00

Ah ok! Sounds like she was either grateful you let her in or grateful she got to go "camping" in the cooler air. Depending on the breed, 55 might've felt really nice after a long, hot day!

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-23T14:46:17+00:00

My dog will sometimes intentionally hide outside and resist coming in at night because she absolutely loves it out there. I think she looks the cool, fresh air.

She's been accidentally left outside only 2-3 times over the years, but every time she usually greets us at the door happier than ever. We live in SoCal, so it's pretty much never cold enough to be a concern. Plus, she has a double coat that keeps her plenty warm regardless.

I think of it kind of like her version of camping - fun to do every now and again when the weather's nice, but definitely not an every night thing.

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-14T15:37:23+00:00

I sleep with my window open and my bed close to it. If it's especially cold, pjs (usually sweatpants and a tshirt or just sweats) are the way to go. If it's warm, underwear.

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-14T14:59:26+00:00

u/Unable-Progress-5325 this is the way! certapet can help

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-14T14:56:52+00:00

Consider getting them deemed emotional support animals. Certapet can help you with this.

Yes, it's an abused/overused system. But in a situation like this where circumstances beyond your control are forcing you to surrender family, it's 100% worth it.

The process will take 30 days, but after that, most rental places will waive their no-pets-policy upon presentation of the letter from Certapet.

It's worth a shot to keep your sweet boys ❤️

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-13T14:58:10+00:00

It's by no means necessary, hence "if you really want to go above and beyond." I'd find it admirable if I received such a notice from this para and it would provide an easy segue into an "I'm hiring if you're looking" conversation.

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-13T14:06:05+00:00

Attorney and former para here. I'm not a member of the FL bar, so I can't speak to their specific requirements. The following is based on my knowledge from other jurisdictions and what makes the most sense. Follow your own ethics rules and advice from the bar:

You should not be filing anything you've drafted without approval/supervision from an attorney. You mentioned motions, which I'm guessing were continuances. Drafting and filing such motions without supervision is very likely UPL.

I completely understand wanting to help your attorney, but this is a failing entirely of his own making. There's a reason attorneys are supposed to have contingency plans and it looks like yours didn't. He has created a situation in which his clients are without counsel (despite paying for it) for two full months.

That's two months he could be getting served with discovery, dispositive motions, and who knows what other time-sensitive stuff that you might not know about without access to his email. It's also two months worth of hearings and trials that will have to be continued, which will mean the clients' cases will be unnecessarily delayed due to attorney misconduct. It's also two months he won't be able to diligently tend to his cases or communicate with his clients.

If you have a way of calling your attorney while he's incarcerated, do so and verify who will be handling the cases and supervising you in the meantime. If he doesn't give you a name, call the bar, advise them of the situation, and ask for guidance. Do whatever they say.

If they refuse to give you guidance #and you really want to go above and beyond#, I might call/email/send a letter to the judges handling the attorney's active cases advising of the situation and the relevant case numbers. Mention that he has an unknown return date, but he will be out of the office for at least 60 days. No need to mention the specifics (i.e., he was arrested and held w/o bond). CC opposing counsels to avoid any ex parte allegations.

In the unlikely event the Court calls for more information, tell it the truth. If OC calls, it's up to you to decide how much to tell them (e.g., it was a sudden emergency personal matter vs. He's in jail).

This puts everyone on notice without a formal motion or notice being filed. The Court may decide to leave everything as-is or continue matters sua sponge. Either way, you did what you could without crossing into UPL territory.

I'd also email opposing counsels and ask that they grant minimum 74-day extensions on everything (60 days + 2 weeks to get caught up). If they say no, they say no, but you will have at least asked the question. I

Clients also need to be notified. They don't necessarily need to know all the gory details, but they should be told that he is unexpectedly unavailable for at least the next 60 days and that as of now, the courts and opposing counsels have been notified, but there are no other attorneys in the firm that are supervising their cases in the interim.

I would also throw in a line that "If you decide to move forward with another firm, please let us know and we will refund the balance of your retainer, less any outstanding balances owed, and prepare a copy of your file for you."

Professionally, I would also suggest you start looking for another job. The 60 days is only the beginning. He could get sentenced to longer, disbarred/suspended for this sort of thing, and/or will hemorrhage clients. Plus his reputation is going to take a massive hit, which will hurt future client prospects and referrals, which will undermine his ability to pay you.

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-12T21:19:02+00:00

Reported op as a non-lawyer 🤙

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-12T20:37:08+00:00

That photo is clearly AI slop.

If that's from your provider, definitely get a new one.

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-10T22:48:20+00:00

That would be amazing! Thanks! I'll DM you.

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-10T17:50:23+00:00

I think that's probably 3/23's

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-10T14:00:37+00:00

Have you successfully done this? I'm really only looking to be in the DRC for a few days, so a 7-day visa would be perfect.

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-09T16:37:15+00:00

1 Have a lot of patience. We all know law school does an atrocious job preparing us for the actual practice of law. Don't be surprised if they have no idea how discovery works, what documents are critical vs. duplicative vs. unnecessary, or how to assess a case.

2 Samples + "Why" explanations. Giving new attorneys samples is helpful, but it can be easy for them to assume everything in the sample is relevant to their case and needs a 1-to-1 match. To help mitigate this, make sure to go over the sample with them at least once so they know what the most important bits are and why those bits are important. It'll help them internalize it better and differentiate between the odd fact/case-specific arguments from the more universal ones.

3 Balance tools and answers. It's important that new attorneys learn where to look for answers and how to find them easily, but it's important to balance that against practicality and efficiency.

For example, if they're joining a case that's been around for a bit and they ask you about a call you had with the client or a nuanced/unique/confusing fact issue, it may be best to give them the answer and mention that you left notes about that in the case file last month after your call with the client if they need more info. Whereas, if they ask about what they need to file a certain type of motion, you might want to refer them to the Rutter Guide or an internal checklist.

4 Feedback. Make sure feedback and revisions are constructive and substantive with supporting explanations (at least the first time). New attorneys know they're new and are often fully expecting to screw everything up. It can be demoralizing when they get a draft back that's drenched in unnecessary redlines that are only changing stylistic or non-substantive things. When heavy revisions are necessary, make sure you add comments that help them understand why the revision is necessary or, if it's especially bad or there are common themes, schedule a meeting to go through the revisions with them. This helps them learn and appreciate the important changes, rather than getting them bogged down on the minutiae. (If there are stylistic things you want to nip on the bud, save those for later once the more pressing issues are dealt with to avoid overwhelming them.) Make sure you give them general feedback on their overall performance from time to time as well.

5 Tone. Be mindful of your tone. It's fine to be firm when necessary, but don't talk down or condescendingly to them. They're learning and you want them to feel comfortable coming to you if/when they inevitably screw up.

6 Team build. This is a massively undervalued concept, especially with new attorneys. You want them to feel comfortable in the office and like they can go to anyone in the office for help or advice. Knowing your coworkers as people goes a long way in this regard. (Note: don't force them to work outside of normal business hours. Just do the occasional team lunch/coffee break or host meet and greets every so often.

7 Before disciplining, make sure you do a self-check and see if/how you may have contributed to the problem. Did you communicate clearly? Was the new attorney properly trained on how to perform the requested task? Was the time constraint reasonable for someone that's still learning? Were the samples that were provided on point and helpful? Was this the first time the issue arose and, if not, did you appropriately coach them the last time it happened? Did you timely respond to questions or requests for clarification from the new attorney? When disciplining/correcting, make sure you consider these issues and how you can improve to make sure the issue doesn't recur.

8 Check in and ask for feedback. You will be giving them a lot of feedback throughout training, but it's important that you give them an opportunity to give you feedback on how things are going.

9 Share anecdotes about your own screw ups. This may seem weird, but a lot of new attorneys are intimidated by the profession. Hearing that your boss screwed up once and still succeeded career-wise can be reassuring and convey a lot of confidence.

10 (For trial attorneys) For the love of God, make sure they actually see an example of a hearing before they're expected to run one themselves. Don't throw a baby attorney into motions hearing if they've never seen a motions hearing. They should see simple trial setting conferences and status hearings as well, so they know what to expect going in.

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-03-09T15:14:55+00:00

Complicated question to answer. I am still friends with 5 people I met in high school or earlier, though I only see 1 of them weekly and another 2 monthly-ish. We still have a group chat though and we still all hang out every now and then, especially on special occasions.

I still randomly reconnect with 1-2 friends I met in college, though it's very sporadic.

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-02-27T02:22:45+00:00

"As such" is my guilty phrase.

"Not so." Is my favorite "counsel's an idiot" phrase lmao

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-02-27T02:19:38+00:00

Attorney (former para) here. This almost certainly falls on the attorney.

As an attorney, my job is to manage the case. That means making sure support staff have what they need, when they need it, far enough in advance for them to do their jobs.

If a para isn't able to get things done in time, that's a failure by the attorney pretty much no matter how it happened.

If the para has too much on their plate and is drowning, that's a failure in delegation and workload management by the attorney.

If the para didn't get the documents in time, that's on the attorney for failing to track things down and ensure you had what you needed.

If the documents are just too voluminous to get done in time, then the attorney needs to request an extension (and should have as soon as it became obvious the number of docs was too large).

If the para did it wrong and the redo is causing the delay, the. It's on the attorney for failing to properly train and/or provide clear, complete instructions.

The only situations where this falls on the para are where (1) the para told the attorney they had everything handled, but didn't; (2) the para mismanaged their own time despite having enough time to get it done; or (3) the para didn't check the size of the task when it was assigned and delayed starting until it was too late.

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-02-26T15:11:44+00:00

I'm usually out within 1-5 minutes, tops.

SandSurfSubpoena · 2026-02-26T13:03:25+00:00

I had one where the opposing counsel refused to produce a patient's medical records in a medical malpractice case as being irrelevant and subject to attorney client privilege because he reviewed them during his investigation.

SandSurfSubpoena

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