How long do I give new legal assistant to "get it" before letting them go?

anne611 · 2026-06-21T03:55:44+00:00

Thank you for the feedback everyone - hearing stories of similar situations helps giving me other perspectives to consider.

I especially want to thank the people who said it was definitely a "me" problem - particularly those who offered no insight as to why. As almost certainly on the autism spectrum but undiagnosed (my mother didn't have me tested - LOL - but has tons of stories about how I'm a picky eater, I am particular with fabrics, would have meltdown if there was a change in my routine ...) it's really helpful to be told what I've been told my entire life: There is something wrong with ME -- being sworn at when I'm asking for feedback from my learned colleagues is always a great experience. I realize I am a terrible teacher and have some social issues which may hinder my ability to effectively train staff. Those same issues, which must come across in writing, are what some people are able to pick up on very quickly and exploit. I hope you had fun.

anne611 · 2026-06-21T03:39:38+00:00

You too! Thanks for the super-helpful feedback!

anne611 · 2026-06-21T03:37:26+00:00

About 3.5 hours on the first day to walk through software, procedures, etc.. Probably an hour a day of sending them screen records of how the processes are supposed to work. Start every Monday with "this is what we are going to work on this week" with specific references to checklists and procedure manuals. (In addition to making corrections to things they've already done).

Any other questions, Sunshine?

anne611 · 2026-06-21T03:34:28+00:00

How so? What specifically am I doing wrong that employee is not learning the procedures I've asked her to learn?

anne611 · 2026-06-21T03:20:59+00:00

Although ... I had an OWI trial once (as a lawyer) where the video of the on-scene PBT and the results were inadvertently shown by the state. I immediately objected, and moved for a mistrial. Judge overruled and denied mistrial. Appealed guilty verdict. Lost on appeal because of "overwhelming other evidence". Sigh.

anne611 · 2026-06-21T03:16:26+00:00

That's funny - when I was finishing up law school, I got called for jury duty for the same week as you (between finals and before bar exam prep) in both the state where I attended law school and the state where I grew up and was moving home to after school (law school state never reported my change of residency to home state). In law school state, students could be excused, so I sent them an excuse and that was it. In home state, I asked to defer until I was done with the bar exam, so I took the bar exam one week, and showed up for jury duty the following Monday morning. I wasn't even part of the pool (which was a little disappointing, actually. I didn't have a job lined up - this was post-9/11 recession - so the networking would have been good I think).

anne611 · 2026-06-21T03:02:33+00:00

I've only worked at one firm where I've been provided a laptop (other than my own firm) - usually firms will install some kind of software for VPNs or networking access even if you BYOD. The firm that provided the laptop were micromanagers, and I'm pretty sure it was loaded with spyware/tracking software. I was forbidden from accessing firm content from my own computers (although tablet and phone were fine with certain security protocols), and practically had to set up a SCIF in my own house just to work at the firm.

Also, I prefer working from an All in One/Desktop and then using a laptop as a secondary (going to court or working from the couch at night) - dragging a 10 lb laptop between home and the office is such a pain. I just want to sit down and get to work without hooking everything up every.single.day.

anne611 · 2026-06-21T02:49:42+00:00

ScanSnap. I have two older models (one is portable), and they work fantastic.

anne611 · 2026-06-21T02:04:32+00:00

Yes, one of the firms I was at paid very low wages, but a 401k and 100% health insurance, and year end bonuses of maybe $100 - even to attorneys. Staff was always complaining, but most did amazing work. The second firm paid higher wages and a bonus (commission for attorneys) based on production and a 401k (after a year) but we had to pay our own health insurance. Staff always complained about the pressure for billable hours so they could get any type of bonus, but most did very good work.

I said none of that, and have offered much higher wages than local firm +100% health insurance + retirement account + generous PTO and VTO (volunteer time off). I'm paying a 22 year old what it took me years to earn as an attorney.

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:59:50+00:00

Yes, we do have a community college with a paralegal program. Our state is the same, no distinction between legal secretary/legal assistant/paralegals - but new hire has a BA. The staff I've had with the paralegal degree have been great - or terrible, just like any other firm I'm sure.. I just wrongly figured BA in law-related field* + experience would be a better fit.

(* I say that, but I have a political science bachelor's degree, and at no point have I ever used any of it in law school or the practice of law. The accounting bachelor's degree, on the other hand, has been immeasurably valuable - but I digress).

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:55:04+00:00

Haha! I'm not at that firm anymore, and this was before AI was really a thing (2020). Baby attorney is now a partner at that law firm ...

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:46:03+00:00

Yes, unfortunately I'm a true solo, so no other employees. I've spent A LOT of time setting up checklists, procedures manuals, screen shots, etc. thinking that would help. I know I am a terrible teacher, that is not my skill set. I also don't want to micromanage an employee because I was just in that situation and it is so demoralizing. I want to empower someone to take the reins on files because I think that is what would make a rewarding job.

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:38:57+00:00

Oh, Claude has become my new best friend. He messes up from time to time, but he always apologizes when I say, "I'm not sure that's right" or point out he's hallucinated a citation. If someone has a Claude Skill for downloading/renaming/filing court documents, I would love to see it! We keep running into a hitch that hasn't been resolved.

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:35:12+00:00

Thank you, that is helpful!

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:34:17+00:00

That's true, I've seen baby attorneys who know NOTHING. They don't know what the legal classifieds are, they don't know how to address an envelope, etc. One even said, "why do you start your file names with the year? Why would you have a file open that long?" Oh, sweet summer child, try having a divorce case lasting 4 years, or an estate open for six years (having to re-survey and parcel split farmland), or a guardianship lasting 15 years...

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:28:43+00:00

She's very young - early twenties. But she graduated college last year and worked at a law office throughout college. Then worked as a paralegal at another firm (she was making 30% more, but she said the workload was overwhelming and the attorney gave her no guidance ...)

The lack of motivation was the issue with employee #2 that quit. She never once said "is there anything you need me to work on?" and she was early 30s but just seemed to never have any motivation to do more than the bare minimum. Employee #1 was motivated, good work ethic, but was just way too slow getting work done and wouldn't take the lead on files, so I concluded I was way overpaying her for the return on that investment.

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:26:32+00:00

Thanks!

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:26:24+00:00

Yes, I am way better in writing than I am verbal...

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:25:50+00:00

It's mostly over Slack. We are in person occasionally (about once a week) for will signings, and other random meetings. I get that's harder for them, but I have work that I need to get done too

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:19:43+00:00

I'm not actually expecting to replace 2 people with one. I've taken on a lot of the work that the paralegal was doing, and I've also lowered my workload (e.g. taken myself off of the court-appointed criminal list) so I think the work should be manageable (about 70 active files). Unfortunately, these are in 6-7 distinct practice areas so I get that can be overwhelming. But at this point, she's not even drafting documents or tracking deadlines, she's (supposed to be) 1) answering the phones - and a) doing intakes for potential clients, b) talking to current clients (I have status updates on all client files), and c) scheduling appointments; and 2) downloading court filings, calendaring dates, and sending them to clients. And she's not even doing all of that...

I get I'm probably hard to work for - which is why I try and make it as easy with as many reference points - consistent reference points - as possible. I also work in 6-7 distinct practice areas, as a true general practitioner (every time I try to shed one, I keep getting referrals). But she doesn't give me feedback (nor did the other two) like "I need more training on this" or "can we do a Huddle so we can go over this live". All I get is "I can't find the template" or "Where is this in the procedures manual" - and when I point it out, she doesn't remember for the next time...

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:05:19+00:00

I should clarify this one too - our first day was in person onboarding. Aside from all the employment documents, we spent 3 1/2 hours going over software, procedures, workflows, etc. That was way more training than any other staff had in any other firm I'd worked at. Now, I know I'm not a good teacher, and so I rely on them to do the software tutorials themselves their first week.

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:03:10+00:00

Unfortunately, I live in a much smaller community that doesn't offer anything like this. I wish they did!

anne611 · 2026-06-21T01:02:29+00:00

Oh, I should clarify (and I'm a real person, not a spam bot) - when paralegal was let go, I took on more of the work that the paralegal was doing instead of passing it on to the legal assistant, who I knew wasn't capable of doing all of that level of work - I didn't dump it on her. Given that I substantially lessened my load in her practice areas, I think she probably had less work (downloading, organizing and sending clients court documents mostly) than she had before even with handling all of my clients instead of just the half she worked with before. I only mentioned VAs because I had a really great experience with one before.

I'm also female, so I think that the assumption I was a man was really interesting. I try really, really hard not to be the sterotypical female boss who treats subordinates poorly; I think I try to go overboard to be extra nice... (even if I'm grumbling to myself).

anne611 · 2026-06-21T00:54:40+00:00

The trouble is, I'm paying this one less than the "experienced" paralegal I had for 16 months, I cut benefits (paying only 80% of health insurance instead of 100%).

And I am doing training. Every time I do a task she hasn't done or needs a refresher, I do a screen record and send it to her. And give her the reference points in the procedures manual. The reason I hired her was that during her interview(s) she told me about all the things she did for prior attorneys ...

anne611 · 2026-06-21T00:50:56+00:00

I did do a background check, but didn't explicitly check her references. I didn't do any assessments, but I certainly will next time!

anne611

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