Asked 7/15/2009
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Is an employer obligated to train new employees and/or share the responsiblity of the new employee's success (or failure)? I recently accepted a job offer as a paralegal working in a "general law office", however 60% of the cases handled in the office are divorce and/or family law related. Although I have general office experience, I do not have a background in family / divorce law. My employer knew this upon hiring me. My employer never provided training or reference materials. I quickly became frustrated and anxious in this position. Doesn't my employer have some level of obligation to help me succeed in this role? |
Answer 1/1 - Submitted 7/15/2009
Short answer : no. and you have my sympathy, and I will tell you why you have found yourself in this situation. because they think that is the "norm" for learning in law. they got no hand holding in law school nor on their first jobs; they were obligated to learn on their own with no feedback but losing a case and sanctions if the messed up. simply put ; they don't know any better. if you want to stay, you will have to get copies of old work (cases) , read it on your lunch hour, buy a legal dictionary, look up words, I assume it is the format and terminology that is the most frustrating, along with how in the world you are supposed to know headings; including the "include the usual statement if jurisdiction", find proper citation ( get what is called a "blue blue of citation" and sleep with it.) on thing is, if you tough it out, and learn this stuff in your sleep, you can end making more moeny that junior associate lawyers without the school loan debt. and, one final thing, everybody else is stressed to. it is my opinion, if you are in the legal field and your are not stressed, you do not know what is going on around you. plus it shows you care about your work product. do as much as you can on your own, then ask for editing help, learn to ask the right questions
i.e. "is this citation correct?" instead of "what is wrong with this". they expect you to hit the ground running. go ahead and run, quit worrying, do the best you know how, use resources, and be proud, i doubt they would have hired you if they didn't think you could get the hang of it in time.
lawyers maybe be great lawyers, but few are good managers, it is not you, it is them ( iknow because i am one of them)
finally an example; you know how , when you are in school, you take test throughoput the semester to see what you have lkearned and get ready for the "final"? in law school there is only one test: the final. no feedback at all until after the finals are graded. during the first year of law school, most traditional schools do not even allow students to ask questions of the professor. a few examples. you are totally on your own, that is where the learn this behavior, and in all firness, they do not have time to teach somebody. best wishes. you will make it, after a year you will look back and wonder why you were so upset.
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