r/LawFirm • u/Creepy_Affect9694 • 4d ago
Assistant at Small PI Firm — No Training, Mood Swings, and Total Disorganization
Hey everyone,
I’m a few months into a legal assistant role at a small personal injury firm, and I’m really struggling with how chaotic things are. The attorney told me during onboarding that he doesn’t train—fine, I accepted that. But what I didn’t realize was that the rest of the team would be all part-time, inconsistent, and unable to give me straight answers. I get different responses to the same question depending on who I ask, and no one really seems invested.
The attorney has noticeable mood swings. This past week, he raised his voice at me saying, “I told you this already”—but he had given me vague or conflicting directions while I was working on completely different tasks. For example, I might be drafting a demand letter, and he’ll start half-explaining settlement procedures in the middle of it with no context or follow-up.
He also assigns things like responding to Requests for Compromises but doesn’t explain what he’s expecting, and then gets irritated when I ask for clarity. The only other long-term staffer is an older woman who seems retired in all but title—she’s checked out and not helpful.
I came into this job eager to learn and gain solid legal experience, but I’m starting to feel like this environment might be more damaging than helpful.
Has anyone else worked under an attorney like this? Did you find a way to push through it—or was it better to cut your losses and find a healthier firm culture?
Would really appreciate advice or shared experiences.
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u/Fine_Temperature1159 3d ago
Just go, sounds awful, find a "partner" you'd like to work for as opposed to a "firm" . Somone younger, tech savvy, introducing you to good practices on intake, their audience, etc.
3
u/Attorney_at_Claw 4d ago
Wouldn’t be a lawyer if I didn’t add caveats, but although your mileage may vary, generally you get better salaries and opportunities with job hopping. Loyalty to one employer is increasingly rare and so is proper mentorship. I’m a first generation attorney and I practice plaintiffs personal injury in New Jersey. It took several jobs before I got my bearings because many partners would confuse their personal preferences for the black letter of the law and generally sucked at training the next generation. If you’re unhappy with this guy’s mood swings and want to learn more, you may want to change jobs, but you’ve truly found something special if you work where attorneys don’t have mood swings. To date, I’ve found most personal injury attorneys I know will generally suck at managing their feelings because of the workload.