What's the world of legal work like?
December 22, 2006 2:30 PM Subscribe
What's it like to work in a patent law office? A law office in general? I'm considering applying for an entry-level patent secretary job in Northern Virginia.
Response by poster: Patent prosecution, and the position states they are "willing to train sharp administrative assistant with x years of experience..." etc.
posted by juniper at 2:50 PM on December 22, 2006
posted by juniper at 2:50 PM on December 22, 2006
Like many other jobs, it's 85% tedium and 15% interesting stuff. The balance differs based on the type of legal work.
posted by megatherium at 3:17 PM on December 22, 2006
posted by megatherium at 3:17 PM on December 22, 2006
I LOVED working in a law office. I have no idea about patent law though (we did family law). Like any office job, I speculate, there are lulls and there are times when you're breaking your neck to get things done on someone else's time table. And it always made me feel special when I'd say I was a paralegal - I dunno why, just because.
As Not stated, it does depend on the attorney(s) you work for.
posted by Sassyfras at 3:22 PM on December 22, 2006
As Not stated, it does depend on the attorney(s) you work for.
posted by Sassyfras at 3:22 PM on December 22, 2006
Response by poster: My current job is all-lull all the time, so this sounds much better. Thanks for the answers.
posted by juniper at 3:33 PM on December 22, 2006
posted by juniper at 3:33 PM on December 22, 2006
Be very aware of the personality and characteristics of who you will be reporting to directly --- there is a very high level of insanity and abusiveness toward support staff in the legal profession. When you interview at a law office, be on the alert for code words from people you interview with --- if they seem unhappy, or speak of stress or pressure, think very carefully about whether you want the job. If they say during your interview, "Partner X [whom you will be reporting to] is very challenging to work for," don't even consider taking the job.
Jobs at smaller law offices can be higher pressure (not always, but often are) than big firms, because they are often not as well organized as big firms, and disasters crop up more frequently. Small mistakes can be of enormous consequence in law practice, and this puts a lot of pressure on everyone---including support staff.
On the plus side, law practice is fascinating. Every day, I am exposed to bizarre and fascinating situations of the sort that I never saw in my previous jobs in academia and computer programming. Law is inherently interesting, and the people you will get to meet make it even more so. (But then again, I know nothing about patent law, so YMMV.)
posted by jayder at 3:36 PM on December 22, 2006
Jobs at smaller law offices can be higher pressure (not always, but often are) than big firms, because they are often not as well organized as big firms, and disasters crop up more frequently. Small mistakes can be of enormous consequence in law practice, and this puts a lot of pressure on everyone---including support staff.
On the plus side, law practice is fascinating. Every day, I am exposed to bizarre and fascinating situations of the sort that I never saw in my previous jobs in academia and computer programming. Law is inherently interesting, and the people you will get to meet make it even more so. (But then again, I know nothing about patent law, so YMMV.)
posted by jayder at 3:36 PM on December 22, 2006
In big firms, it's decent pay, excellent family benefits, plenty of sick days and vacations, and the best of all, the schedules: 9 to 5 when you want it, copious overtime when you need it.
For the vast majority of secretaries -- women with kids and without college degrees, it's perfect. In a lot of law firms average secretarial tenures vastly exceed average lawyer tenures.
The typical secretaries I met didn't mind the environment, either -- the imperious old partners and arrogant young associates were, if anything, amusing to them. Secretaries didn't mind when they had nothing mission critical to do, and took pride in getting those tasks when they came along. Some of the secretaries who I met who were educated, however, seemed to find the environment a bit dispiriting.
posted by MattD at 3:59 PM on December 22, 2006
For the vast majority of secretaries -- women with kids and without college degrees, it's perfect. In a lot of law firms average secretarial tenures vastly exceed average lawyer tenures.
The typical secretaries I met didn't mind the environment, either -- the imperious old partners and arrogant young associates were, if anything, amusing to them. Secretaries didn't mind when they had nothing mission critical to do, and took pride in getting those tasks when they came along. Some of the secretaries who I met who were educated, however, seemed to find the environment a bit dispiriting.
posted by MattD at 3:59 PM on December 22, 2006
Every place is different. Some random observations ...
You know the old expression, "A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine." You can add tremendous value if you throw that expression out the window. Sometimes that means working late or on weekends. In a good firm, this will be rewarded.
Many issues you'll deal with are complex. If they were simple, lawyers wouldn't be needed. Consequently, you may be dealing with engineers, economists, and even weirdos on a fairly regular basis.
Good law firms are generous to their staff because they know that good people are hard to find. For example, I know of one firm that had huge door prizes (e.g., big-screen TVs) for their annual holiday party. Somehow, support staff always won the prizes.
posted by GarageWine at 4:00 PM on December 22, 2006
You know the old expression, "A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine." You can add tremendous value if you throw that expression out the window. Sometimes that means working late or on weekends. In a good firm, this will be rewarded.
Many issues you'll deal with are complex. If they were simple, lawyers wouldn't be needed. Consequently, you may be dealing with engineers, economists, and even weirdos on a fairly regular basis.
Good law firms are generous to their staff because they know that good people are hard to find. For example, I know of one firm that had huge door prizes (e.g., big-screen TVs) for their annual holiday party. Somehow, support staff always won the prizes.
posted by GarageWine at 4:00 PM on December 22, 2006
Juniper, I'm in a patent firm now. Please email me if you have some specific questions. I'm happy to answer (honestly). If you can share with me the name of the firm I can give you more information, as well. Email is in profile. I'm also hoping WCityMike might comment in this thread as I believe he works in a law office now.
posted by MeetMegan at 5:40 PM on December 22, 2006
posted by MeetMegan at 5:40 PM on December 22, 2006
I was an intellectual property (patents, trademarks, copyrights) lawyer years ago. It is dangerous to generalize, but it had a bit of a different feel to it. Almost every patent lawyer has an engineering or hard science degree and a law degree. They can be a bit of a weird duck. Unless a firm does a lot of litigation, the work generally involves a well defined docket with a plethora of forms to be filed that can include extremely technical scientific material. It can be excruciatingly boring and tedious. Please, read a few patents and then you can imagine transcribing them. God forbid needing to actually THINK like that and WRITE them! A chemical patent can be deadly stuff.
If your boss(es) are well organized, and it will be YOUR job to help them be that way, there usually isn't a major crisis atmosphere like there can be in many other practices of law. The clients are usually in a decent mood because their issues are not law suits.
My firm was small, perhaps 20 lawyers. Little burning of midnight oil or Saturday work by anyone. One partner shared a secretary w/1 associate. There was not a lot of turn-over of secretaries or paralegals. Pay was above average. I personally valued my secretary and on Friday if the work was done early, told her to go home because I was perfectly capable of answer the phone. I also bought presents for every secretary in the entire office on Secretaries Day AND Christmas because I often had to rely on others to help me. I never ever told a secretary I needed something NOW if I did not really need it NOW. Nothing pizzes a secretary off more than doing that to them on a constant basis. So perhaps I wasn't a 'typical' attorney boss.
Hope that helps a bit. FWIW, with a few years of practice, you should be able to figure a way to do straight paralegal work in the area. That can be more rewarding and the pay is better.
posted by toucano at 7:52 PM on December 22, 2006
If your boss(es) are well organized, and it will be YOUR job to help them be that way, there usually isn't a major crisis atmosphere like there can be in many other practices of law. The clients are usually in a decent mood because their issues are not law suits.
My firm was small, perhaps 20 lawyers. Little burning of midnight oil or Saturday work by anyone. One partner shared a secretary w/1 associate. There was not a lot of turn-over of secretaries or paralegals. Pay was above average. I personally valued my secretary and on Friday if the work was done early, told her to go home because I was perfectly capable of answer the phone. I also bought presents for every secretary in the entire office on Secretaries Day AND Christmas because I often had to rely on others to help me. I never ever told a secretary I needed something NOW if I did not really need it NOW. Nothing pizzes a secretary off more than doing that to them on a constant basis. So perhaps I wasn't a 'typical' attorney boss.
Hope that helps a bit. FWIW, with a few years of practice, you should be able to figure a way to do straight paralegal work in the area. That can be more rewarding and the pay is better.
posted by toucano at 7:52 PM on December 22, 2006
Are you an experienced and capable secretary? Are you error free, well almost? Questions to ask: will they accept a great secretary and train him or her in patent law, how much overtime is involved, how many attorneys will you support. Getting a fix on the office personality is the big key. How driven are they and are you comfortable with wherever they are on that scale? The job itself involves a lot of detail work and paper pushing versus some secretarial jobs which involve more scheduling and phone work. Mistakes are not allowed.
posted by caddis at 1:34 AM on December 23, 2006
posted by caddis at 1:34 AM on December 23, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Not in my backyard at 2:41 PM on December 22, 2006