Lawyering Through Life

Work Gripes

I am one of 15 law clerks that clerk at this courthouse. Although we all work for different judges, the law clerks function at their best when they are working as a team. Getting 15 people to always work together can be a challenge as there are fifteen different personalities, work styles, work ethics…the occasional conflict is inevitable. The group is not perfectly cohesive, but things have been relatively smooth for awhile now. We have four months left and the attitude seems to be let's enjoy our time together.

But I found out something yesterday that has me feeling disgruntled towards two of my fellow law clerks. You may recall DailyOrderGate. Daily Orders are a fact of life here and after that infamous meeting, Daily Orders are also a source of tension. See, the thing is that we are supposed to pick them up every day. Hence, the Daily. Sometimes, though, on rather busy weeks, it is easy to forget to check your Daily Order box. It is two floors down from your office, your arms are already full when you do make it down there, you are already overwhelmed by the amount you currently have in your office and increasing the pile will only result in a panic attack…a law clerk may have legitimate reasons for not picking them up every day.

The person in change of Daily Orders is this super nice woman who tries to evenly disburse the orders among all 15 law clerks. She has a system – she tried to explain it to me, but I quickly lost interest. Suffice it to say, she has a system. She is not trying to screw anyone – she is just trying to do her job and go home to her adorable kids. Who sometimes come to work and I may or may not be obsessed with how adorable they are. The point being, that Nice Daily Order Woman has no favorites and simply does her job.

Yesterday, another law clerk informed me that two other law clerks have decided to create a spreadsheet of how often law clerks pick up their daily orders and how many daily orders each law clerk receives from the NDOW. Apparently, they are feeling put upon by the rest of the “not exactly every day checking our daily order boxes because sometimes things come up and really, I am working pretty hard here so take your spreadsheet and shove it up your behind” law clerks. Whew. Sorry. That last part may be a bit much.

When I found this out yesterday, I was stunned. What gives them the right to keep tabs on my productivity? I answer to my Judge and I answer to Cool Mom, who is my direct supervisor. I do not answer to fellow law clerks that are going to spend their days counting stacks of daily orders rather than just doing the three or four extra they might occasionally receive for being so on top of their game. Because here’s the thing – we are all a team and team members help each other out. So, if you happen to be a Daily Order Rockstar and the NDOW occasionally loads you up, well, good for you. That just means you excel at your job. And maybe others drop the ball occasionally. And when they do, Cool Mom and the Judges will address it. It is not for us to point fingers at each other about slip ups. I have been asked by Judge about certain other law clerks and every time, I have stood by my co-workers. Because that is just what we do.

From an outside perspective, it is easy to understand that one could be frustrated if she feels she is doing more than her fair share. That her fellow law clerks are neglecting their duties and creating more work for her as a result. I get that, I truly do – but first, I honestly don’t believe anyone is getting screwed by the system. And second, I don’t think that this is the way to address a potential problem. To go behind the backs of your peers and track their progress? Based on their spreadsheet, the two law clerks have already identified law clerks that they feel are offenders of the daily pick up rule. So, now what? Are they going to turn in their spreadsheet to the Chief Judge? Who will most likely laugh in their faces and inform them that if they have enough time to count stacks of daily orders and update a spreadsheet, they certainly have time to process a few extra orders.

My gripe is not with their concerns about getting screwed by co-workers because that may be a legitimate concern. My frustration is with how they’ve chosen to address their concerns. Resent is too strong of a word, but I really don't appreciate people keeping tabs on me like that. People whose job is to work with me, not against me.

posted by jersey @ 5:11 PM