I was interning at a Peninsula corp park law firm. A week into the internship I think I established I'm fairly competent.
On 8th day, at 10am, I'm asked to proof read transaction documents of 3 projects by a Partner. 3 projects I knew nothing about till that morning. All the agreements, letters, deeds, etc combined were well over 4000 pages. Anyway I get start chipping away at the task, one cross reference at a time. I (rather ambitiously) wanted to finish this same day so I don't do any timepass that day. 20 min lunch, 15 min tea and 1 song break every hour.
By 11pm, I've finished some 750 odd pages and my brain stops processing text. The task was mindnumbing to begin with but now I can't comprehend sentences at all, let alone proof read anything. I walk to the partner cabin, make up some excuse about feeling unwell and needing to eat specific diet cooked at home. She tells me to order food instead, starts telling me how I can expense it. I stop her, saying, "No thanks, I don't want to". Went home, passed out.
I showed up at office as usual everyday. This partner didn't give me any work since. Once she walked into interns room, asked who is free, when I looked up, she said "No, not you" because I even said anything.
LI, how could I have handled this better? Please give wisdom.
Leaving at 11pm & not "expensing" the food,you go home (at 11 pm as an intern) covering as much work as you could. If you are grudged by some petty partner now refusing to giving you work,don't beat yourself up about it.It doesn't look like you did any wrong but it's pretty obvious that the partner's taken the refusal to their ego the way she says "No,not you".Stay focussed and deliver on the other works assigned to you.The offended partner will not put in a good word for you, but if other partners speak well for you it will help.At the end,ideally, most just care that the work gets done and after 15 hours you were not in a state to continue the work.Had you stayed back after 11 for more work, you would make mistakes. No point beating yourself up. Just stay focused on other work products ahead.
You definitely could have handled it better. Nobody will dispute that proofing is mind numbing work - but somebody has to do it. Not just interns, evenA0s A1s and A2s have to do it. Serious advice - if you think you don't want to do it, don't join a law firm. Being genuine here.
Don't think the treatment was immature. If you're not willing to kill yourself, there's always another intern to kill himself/herself gladly. Partner needed the work to get done, so they tried to pick the next best alternative. It is not immature, but probably unfair. But that's how law firms operate - how associates are also treated. Hence my genuine advice, if you felt it was unfair while interning, don't become an associate at a law firm.
You're both right. Transactional work is high pressure and unpredictable, and it isn't for people who can't do late nights and intense work at short notice. That said, the partner merely needed to make a mental note not to hire someone who can't handle it, and all good managers have a back up plan. If there had been more than one intern proof reading then one going home would not have slowed everything down. And even if you don't plan to hire someone, there's no need to humiliate them. That's just a part of the toxic work culture of firms.
Guest, have evn thought of reading your own replies its godam over 12+hours of working and then blaming poor intern of you could habe handled better or better not to join work. This itself show how wrecked you are
By not directly contradicting someone in position of power over you! This is something law school doesn't teach you. Instead, it gives you 'ideal type' visions where you can speak your mind especially against your faculty members and administrators. In RL, no one gives a F about you, especially as an intern and also as A0.... You are merely a replaceable resource.
If you can't do this, then do find a work space where you are your own boss.
hota hai. you meet such people in life. reflects poorly on the partner. If it was something urgent shouldn't have handed it to the intern. try not to stay overnight in office as an intern. kaam karne ka bohot time milega aage.
another thing is aaj kal har dusra aadmi partner ban gaya hai. some of them lack not only technical maturity required at that level, but emotional maturity as well and end up acting like a class 2 student.
I know exactly what my partner thinks - "this generation is all about self preservation" "in my era I used to sh*t my pants when Z would even look at me" "you guys have been mollycoddled to no extent" etc etc.
In my view, this is not “telling off”, but simply unprofessional.
1. When you got the assignment, did you ask what the deadline was, instead of simply taking it upon yourself to finish it during the day.
2. Instead of just shooting off to review, did you ask the partner to provide some background to the transaction, so that you understand and do a focused review.
3. Instead of admittedly making excuse about home food, you could have been truthful about the situation. You may not believe it, but people do understand.
4. Given that you didn’t know the deadline, and you had to go home for your special food, you should have informed the team well in advance, and not late at night. Again, you may not believe it, but people understand.
This seems to be the case of underestimating work, overestimating your own abilities, and then making excuses and not being truthful about it.
Take an unsolicited advise - be truthful, and that would be “telling off”.
This is simply unprofessional, and quite understandable it was “not you”.
in this scenario only the said partner was unprofessional, selecting an intern (that too, assuming he/she is a final year intern and not someone younger who is not there for more than a month at best) to do such tedious tasks without explaining the time frame in which said task is to be completed, and without giving the general/ requisite level of background of the matter. Interns are not mind readers, and they are in the end not qualified lawyers with any pqe who would be able to discern what you propose, and ask such questions. That being said the said partner should present themselves as more approachable if she believes some kid should come to her and ask questions.
@aisa hai - the partner is not seeking an advise on this forum, it is the intern.
One can either positively reinforce the self entitlement, and boasting-off on a forum like this, in a manner that is clearly identifiable (assuming that the incident is true); or one can make a few suggestions to the young intern that may help in professional conduct.
Anyhow, it is for the intern to decide what they want to do, and take away from the incident and the comments.
As to selecting a younger intern - not sure what you even mean (please don’t bother explaining).
matlab dekh ke kaam do. 1-3rd year ko pakad ke expectation hai ki that individual will perform like your A0/A1 then it is unrealistic. Or else explain the urgency of the matter yourself if the intern hasnt asked you. 9 baje subhe aaya 11 baje nikla, woh bhi free me, seriously you want his kidney next? That behavior is uncalled for.
Also never ever forget that you are always super replaceable-as an intern. If your single piece of work is not perfect that's enough to not give you a call back forget a PPO.
There are 1000 other students who are always willing to put in 10* better work than you can ever put in - work for 100 hours a week for months. Unless you are a Counsel or MA, you are replaceable any day as someone here has told.
If it's a lawyer's (Senior Advocates or Money Minters) office-especially in a small city, they maybe willing to tolerate your errors/delays. As they have a hard time getting good interns and juniors. When an independent lawyer gets a good intern/juniors they won't be interested in seeing them going out soon-attracting good ones is hard.
But for a Law Firm (Tier 1 or Tier 2) as I told before there are thousands of dedicated students who spam them for an Internship - there are students with international moot achievements who don't even get a reply from firms.
There are hundreds of students who even have subject knowledge in specific areas (Cap Marks, Projects & Employment) spamming these firms with internship emails.
These firms thousands of applications a month, many of whom may even have more moots and other achievements than you have, they are ready to work for 100+ hours for no stipend for months. So whenever you have an issue think about this.
ek toh focut me kaam karao aur maar do bache ko. destroy some 19 - 21 year old completely and feel good about yourself. bhai partner ho in some law firm, kal nahi rahoge, brigadier nahi ho ki mai jo bola wahi hoga uske alawa kuch nahi hoga. people remember such behavior and agree or not these kids will be your colleagues someday, so be a little bit less of a you know.
while you're writing this. i can tell you everything is replaceable. it's just the cost. AMSS got replaced, interns get replaced, A0 gets replaced. but your self-respect doesn't just get replaced it's lost only. I give a big F to these attitudes of this culture of Law firm. yes, they can have anyone there but don't worry. soon either you have to change or suffer the loss of work and revenue due to high turnover ration of employees.
Understand that this Student is talking about an internship. Interns going away doesn't mean AO's will go away.
Also it's good to give tough work (Read Bombard) during internship so as to test whether he/she will be a competent A0/A1 or he will quit on the day before closing.
Leave interns, I have seen A0 been treated like dogs. so for me the firms makes crores not you. don't give a flying f@ck to partner, SA, PA, or whatever. I am not averse to being bombarded for taking workload. but treat me like human. i won't think twice if i am being treated like trash. obviously, it is not the end of the world here. remember if such an instance comes out it will be the firm who will lose more than me losing few lakh on JOB.
there may not be many job paying around 12-16lakhs but there Thousands of other opportunities paying you around 6-8Lakh and treating you like a human. so i might lose a few lakh and if such instance are recurring and i am sure all the A0 are treated like dogs and they do leave the firm.
if you think law firm does not get affected by just remove all A0 and stop hiring anymore freshee. you will see all those egoist SA, PA on their foot.
Thousands of other jobs which pays less are there. But there will always be 100 people to take your position for that well paid T1 job, when you leave.
I am being honest. Don't support anything what they do.
Agree.If you remove A0 and A1,the reality of who actually generates profits for the firm will get clear.All the credit is hogged by partners when majority of work gets actually done at A0 and A1 levels on whom all the work is dumped.
In my view, both were at fault, including you. Here'show you could've handled the situation:
1. When any work is assigned to you, ask about the timeline and analyze (honestly) if you'd be able to meet it. Communicate effectively, and don't be afraid to tell the concerned person, if needed, that you'd need more time. If s/he needs it earlier, not your fault, s/he should have managed the assignment better. That's what you should have done- communicated at the time of assignment that you'd need 2-3 days to proofread 4000 odd pages. You're not a paid associate, no need to stress yourself out for making the partner money, but be professional in communication. Don't "chip away" at your own pace and then sneak out at 11 pm. It doesn't help anyone.
2. Law firms are banal paper pushing sweatshops, no great civilizational advance happen here. People mostly prepare documents/ vet contracts. Accept it if this is what you wish to do for a living. If you or the partner had been smart enough to research on the gravitational waves from the collision of black holes, you'd be a theoretical physicist at oxbridge/ harvard, not sneak around at a law firm. Most of the work that you'll do at a firm will be similar (atleast for the first couple of years). So don't let this get to you.
Its hilarious how your generation takes these things so personally. You think she didnt give you work the next day because you refused to order to food?? LOL!
Wake up, my friend! The reason why she would not have chosen you the next day is because she doesnt want to work with someone who she cannot trust with her deliverables. I wouldn't either. And I am not even a partner. You went home and slept-off but your partner probably got a stinker the next morning from the Client. She probably had to make her other juniors complete what you didnt. Ever thought of that? You think partners are fools and cant tell when you are lying and making up excuses? Its not college, buddy! Its real life.
Here's a tip - ask your partner about deadlines in advance. Keep them informed on how you are progressing on your work so that they get a realistic idea about how much time its going to take for you to finish your assignment. A partner will not come chasing after you to know where you are with your assignments. If you think its impossible to finish your assignment, ask one of your co-interns to help you out and inform the partner that you have asked for help. All that seniors care about is getting the work done and getting it right. And, always check with them before you leave for the day. ALWAYS.
P.s: If your mind goes numb after 11 pm and that too just doing proof-reading all day then - God bless you, my friend! You should really think whether you are cut out for a law firm life.
that partner should not be a partner if she depended upon the work of an INTERN! I am hoping this kid was atleast fourth year and not some younger chap. You're an idiot if you're relying solely upon an intern for such work, that too when there is an immediate deadline. Not only being unnecessarily harsh on the intern but also doing injustice to your client who am sure is paying good amount for the work you're (not your intern) is supposed to be doing.
I am assuming this is one of the higher tier set ups, in which case they sure would have intercom which the partner could have used to speak to an intern like how it is normally done, but no you have to show up to right where said intern is sitting and humiliate him/her in front of his /her peers. Talk of petty behavior !
Yes, partners do rely on interns especially for proof reading. That is your job description as an intern - to proof-read and research. If you are good at it, then you would get staffed on DDs or maybe made to draft smaller agreements/letters. If you cant even proof-read this much, how can you expect more from the partner?
Nobody wants an unwilling worker. If you think you will get a pat on the back for every job you do, please rethink your career choice now. You cannot compare a law firm culture to a Google. Be a part of the team or get left out. Stop crying about what happened to you on LI and seek validation from similar lazy entitled children like you. All these upvotes from stangers dont matter. What would have mattered is that your partner staffing you on another assignment had you done a good job.
'Telling off a partner' it seems! LOL! Please pray that your partner has forgotten about this incident. Dont be shocked if you get blacklisted by this PCP firm. Considering the number of partners switching firms regularly, have you thought about what will happen if you end up interning in the same firm as this partner again? People talk and this is small small fraternity. Your quality of work and goodwill is everything. So think before you post these things on a public forum. Instead spend some time and energy in improving yourself and your quality of work. Otherwise be ready to get replaced just like how your partner did to you.
Majority of Law Firm folks (atleast in Mumbai) do read Legally India discussion and even share them into private groups and discuss. Not just A0's, even Partners do it to get a laugh and get updated with the gossips.
Most probably the Partner (In Worli) he is bull-shitting will be reading this 60 comment thread.
Not that he/she is holding grudges, I think it meant that the Partner should also be reading what the intern is posting online on an open forum.- especially LI- which read by many in the fraternity
This means that, on an important matter, if the same person has to work a week overnight, there is even a chance that every detail of the deal would be floating around LegallyIndia, supposed the intern becomes an A0 and is pissed off like this. If the intern is not happy and posting, for this reason, imagine what will happen if he becomes an A0?
Don't worry kid. You'll meet several like these career barbaad kar dene wala types in your life. Surprisingly their influence runs only a teeny tiny bit at the firm they work at and outside that circle all she can do is put a bad word against you here and there, every now and then, and judging from some of the comments in this thread, make her entire team comment against you in an LI thread. I have personally encountered such people in my law school who would threaten kids refusing to be ragged that we won't help you out with moots, internships etc, that ragging is merely an interactive session. Similarly, while interning you'd meet these sad associates who'd shame you into staying late helping them out for their inefficiencies. People recognize when you're there for a PPO and take advantage of it. So just always be cordial like you were but be direct with people in such situations. Just tell them 4000 pages hai nahi ho payega. Nothing wrong with that especially at your level.
Partner definitely should have managed the work better, even if you had told her that you would be able to deliver the work said day itself she should have followed up with you throughout the day regarding progress of the work. THE PARTNER SHOULD HAVE REALISED THAT YOU'RE AN INTERN, AND INTERNS SOMETIMES DON'T REALISE THE TYPE OF WORK THEY ARE UNDERTAKING, THEIR OWN LIMITATIONS, AND THE URGENCY OF THE WORK TO BE UNDERTAKEN, AND THAT IS FINE AND EXPECTED OF THE INTERN! In the end he/she is there to learn. However, there is no excuse for a partner to not have such foresight. What if that intern was the nephew/niece of a major client of yours, what if he/she puts a word in ? You are also equally replaceable.
ver thought of that? You think partners are fools and cant tell when you are lying and making up excuses? Its not college, buddy! Its real life.
True. And if you have to give an excuse, the least you can do is put in some effort and make it believable. This one time (when I was an associate myself) I had given a junior A0 some task and asked the A0 to not leave office till we get done with the deliverable. At around 9ish, the A0 came up to me with an excuse, asking if they could leave as their phone was running out of battery and the person wasn't carrying their charger. I just offered the person my phone charger or to help find a suitable charger. The person didn't have any follow up excuse. But I let the person leave in the next fifteen mins - better to work alone than to take longer to finish a task, with somebody else's help, who is clearly not interested in working.
bhai sab tikh baat. but yeh toh intern hai. 12 ghante office me baith gaya. jaan se thodi na maroge ab. hum baithe the iska matlab sabko baithna padega, aise kaise bhai.
Oh please.No ones buying this,everyone knows how arrogant, power giddy and vengeful partners can be and thats clearly the case here.OP was an intern,not some pa.Partner was inept.Stop dumping this on his head.
I don’t have any problems with working as much as the job might require me to do, but does an associate or an intern get anything in return for the effort, not asking for anything great, even if the other person who gave the task shows 1% gratitude? Will you be considered as more competent if you do all the work and more or is it just like “that’s your job you had to do it”? Is putting in extra effort worth it?
I agree here. Naina is a gem of a person. Have interned there, have had a full fledged conversation with her and I can tell you from my experience, Naina is way humble than other T1 partners. And if it is about yelling that anyone here has problem with, nobody knows the full stories unless they are a direct party to such incidents so stop malicing a woman who built her firm from scratch and no inherited legacy behind her.
OP here. There's some excellent advice here. Especially about setting realistic deadlines up front and keeping everyone in loop about the progress. I agree, it was a case of underestimating work, overestimating my own abilities, and then making stupid excuses, and not being truthful about it. This was some years ago, I'd like to think I've grown since.
In an odd way, I'm thankful to my younger self for being a moron. Had I stayed in office for 2 days to get this done by hard deadline, I might have received an offer, and I would not be where I am today: working 40% of the hours, making 75% of the pay, and without a corresponding need to spend on therapy. I guess that life isn't for me and I'm okay with that. I've made a list of some points here that I plan on reading from time and time to remind me of my mistakes. Hopefully I'll handle future situations better than past ones :)
That's true. I was the do-or-die sort of intern and I did get the PPO as a result. But that basically leads to a life of much more of the same. Late nights, no life in a job that people do envy. It's fine to decide early that it's not for you.
Too many people on this thread arguing how there are always 100 other interns/associates to replace you. Of course, there will be. That is the nature of this world - YOU ARE REPLACEABLE. Does not matter even if you are the Prime Minister of the country. (Ironically, in this country we hold our interns more accountable than our elected representatives.) If you think someone is not replaceable, just watch them die and wait for some time.
But is that really a reason to mistreat people? By that logic, every associate, every partner, every lawyer, every god damn human should not be treated be respect. This is exactly the attitude problem why we beat up our doctors in this country, why we have the entire class/caste hierarchy, why we do not worry about the poor, why we have fucked up this country and finally, why most people working in law firms with such high "net worths" continue to lead miserable lives.
I'm told that the A0 in Khaitan who passed away due to cardiac arrest, his replacement ad was sent to RPCs exactly 2 days later. That could be you. Please don't "kill yourself" because hundred others are ready to.
Hi my dude - you did nothing wrong. Maybe an issue of working on soft skills. Maybe.
As long as you are humble and appropriately confident, don't ever take shit from anyone (especially for working post 11 as an Intern).
I myself was notorious for saying no during my internships, especially when i was given work (the kind that i knew would eat into my weekend) after 7 PM on a Friday, and called to do printing work on a weekend. But no one questioned me, because at my level, i got the chota mota work done. I never boasted about working on some big shot M&A deal or some hard hitting IPO, when i knew that the most I would get to do is loan diligence at that level. I got my PPO.
To those who are talk of entitlement. Well Im sorry your parents never loved you. ye naukri hai - lets treat this as such. This is not the coal mines in Uttar Pradesh circa 1800's. I know of so many seniors in my team that look down on people trying to manage a balance between work and a hopeful health life. Well they all have a few things in common - desperate for partners' attention, too scared to make any noise, zero creativity, mean with juniors. Not the kind of people you want to look up to.
The peninsula culture does not gel with with assertivenes.You would be better off picking another firm,there are other Tier1s although you might have been brainwashed to believe otherwise.If partner came to you for proof reading as an someone one week into their internship,you must have competence.Hold on to that in moments of doubt and keep trying to rise on competency scale because that's what stays with you no matter where you intern, work or move to.
"I walk to the partner cabin, make up some excuse about feeling unwell and needing to eat specific diet cooked at home." No one wants to work with someone who makes up excuses/ lies.
"No one wants to work with someone who makes up excuses/ lies."if this is true then no one can work in Indian aw firms at call.They lie to clients,associates,regulators and what not.Many confuse that lawyering for clients means lying for them
I hear you. It happens. Do not take it personally. You will come across such people throughout your career. A singular person's behaviour to you at the firm wont really matter in a long run as long as you are indeed competent and consistently delivering what is reasonably expected; because you never know s/he will be gone in no time to another firm (unless that one person is eponymous to the organization you are working for - in which case move out as soon as you can to a more decentralized place).
Its done.You did no wrong really,its the system thats all f**k*d up.And I can tell from your post, that the scars and fears have not gone.Thats ok.Stop blaming yourself,just because partners behave in dehumanizing ways you don't have to put up with it.You did right,stop questioning it.Believe no one who justifies the partners behaviour.The Tier 1s are actually the entitled scum.
On 8th day, at 10am, I'm asked to proof read transaction documents of 3 projects by a Partner. 3 projects I knew nothing about till that morning. All the agreements, letters, deeds, etc combined were well over 4000 pages. Anyway I get start chipping away at the task, one cross reference at a time. I (rather ambitiously) wanted to finish this same day so I don't do any timepass that day. 20 min lunch, 15 min tea and 1 song break every hour.
By 11pm, I've finished some 750 odd pages and my brain stops processing text. The task was mindnumbing to begin with but now I can't comprehend sentences at all, let alone proof read anything. I walk to the partner cabin, make up some excuse about feeling unwell and needing to eat specific diet cooked at home. She tells me to order food instead, starts telling me how I can expense it. I stop her, saying, "No thanks, I don't want to". Went home, passed out.
I showed up at office as usual everyday. This partner didn't give me any work since. Once she walked into interns room, asked who is free, when I looked up, she said "No, not you" because I even said anything.
LI, how could I have handled this better? Please give wisdom.
You should be awarded Oscars of Toxicity
If you can't do this, then do find a work space where you are your own boss.
And some other student in an another law school will be happy to see you going.
PS you all know who Z is.
1. When you got the assignment, did you ask what the deadline was, instead of simply taking it upon yourself to finish it during the day.
2. Instead of just shooting off to review, did you ask the partner to provide some background to the transaction, so that you understand and do a focused review.
3. Instead of admittedly making excuse about home food, you could have been truthful about the situation. You may not believe it, but people do understand.
4. Given that you didn’t know the deadline, and you had to go home for your special food, you should have informed the team well in advance, and not late at night. Again, you may not believe it, but people understand.
This seems to be the case of underestimating work, overestimating your own abilities, and then making excuses and not being truthful about it.
Take an unsolicited advise - be truthful, and that would be “telling off”.
This is simply unprofessional, and quite understandable it was “not you”.
One can either positively reinforce the self entitlement, and boasting-off on a forum like this, in a manner that is clearly identifiable (assuming that the incident is true); or one can make a few suggestions to the young intern that may help in professional conduct.
Anyhow, it is for the intern to decide what they want to do, and take away from the incident and the comments.
As to selecting a younger intern - not sure what you even mean (please don’t bother explaining).
There are 1000 other students who are always willing to put in 10* better work than you can ever put in - work for 100 hours a week for months. Unless you are a Counsel or MA, you are replaceable any day as someone here has told.
If it's a lawyer's (Senior Advocates or Money Minters) office-especially in a small city, they maybe willing to tolerate your errors/delays. As they have a hard time getting good interns and juniors. When an independent lawyer gets a good intern/juniors they won't be interested in seeing them going out soon-attracting good ones is hard.
But for a Law Firm (Tier 1 or Tier 2) as I told before there are thousands of dedicated students who spam them for an Internship - there are students with international moot achievements who don't even get a reply from firms.
There are hundreds of students who even have subject knowledge in specific areas (Cap Marks, Projects & Employment) spamming these firms with internship emails.
These firms thousands of applications a month, many of whom may even have more moots and other achievements than you have, they are ready to work for 100+ hours for no stipend for months. So whenever you have an issue think about this.
i can tell you everything is replaceable. it's just the cost.
AMSS got replaced, interns get replaced, A0 gets replaced.
but your self-respect doesn't just get replaced it's lost only.
I give a big F to these attitudes of this culture of Law firm.
yes, they can have anyone there but don't worry. soon either you have to change or suffer the loss of work and revenue due to high turnover ration of employees.
Understand that this Student is talking about an internship. Interns going away doesn't mean AO's will go away.
Also it's good to give tough work (Read Bombard) during internship so as to test whether he/she will be a competent A0/A1 or he will quit on the day before closing.
Leave interns, I have seen A0 been treated like dogs.
so for me the firms makes crores not you. don't give a flying f@ck to partner, SA, PA, or whatever.
I am not averse to being bombarded for taking workload. but treat me like human.
i won't think twice if i am being treated like trash. obviously, it is not the end of the world here. remember if such an instance comes out it will be the firm who will lose more than me losing few lakh on JOB.
there may not be many job paying around 12-16lakhs but there Thousands of other opportunities paying you around 6-8Lakh and treating you like a human.
so i might lose a few lakh and if such instance are recurring and i am sure all the A0 are treated like dogs and they do leave the firm.
if you think law firm does not get affected by just remove all A0 and stop hiring anymore freshee.
you will see all those egoist SA, PA on their foot.
Thousands of other jobs which pays less are there. But there will always be 100 people to take your position for that well paid T1 job, when you leave.
I am being honest. Don't support anything what they do.
there are people ready to become slaves if you pay them.
so are going to become a slave or afraid of 100 others lining up for it?
1. When any work is assigned to you, ask about the timeline and analyze (honestly) if you'd be able to meet it. Communicate effectively, and don't be afraid to tell the concerned person, if needed, that you'd need more time. If s/he needs it earlier, not your fault, s/he should have managed the assignment better. That's what you should have done- communicated at the time of assignment that you'd need 2-3 days to proofread 4000 odd pages. You're not a paid associate, no need to stress yourself out for making the partner money, but be professional in communication. Don't "chip away" at your own pace and then sneak out at 11 pm. It doesn't help anyone.
2. Law firms are banal paper pushing sweatshops, no great civilizational advance happen here. People mostly prepare documents/ vet contracts. Accept it if this is what you wish to do for a living. If you or the partner had been smart enough to research on the gravitational waves from the collision of black holes, you'd be a theoretical physicist at oxbridge/ harvard, not sneak around at a law firm. Most of the work that you'll do at a firm will be similar (atleast for the first couple of years). So don't let this get to you.
Wake up, my friend! The reason why she would not have chosen you the next day is because she doesnt want to work with someone who she cannot trust with her deliverables. I wouldn't either. And I am not even a partner. You went home and slept-off but your partner probably got a stinker the next morning from the Client. She probably had to make her other juniors complete what you didnt. Ever thought of that? You think partners are fools and cant tell when you are lying and making up excuses? Its not college, buddy! Its real life.
Here's a tip - ask your partner about deadlines in advance. Keep them informed on how you are progressing on your work so that they get a realistic idea about how much time its going to take for you to finish your assignment. A partner will not come chasing after you to know where you are with your assignments. If you think its impossible to finish your assignment, ask one of your co-interns to help you out and inform the partner that you have asked for help. All that seniors care about is getting the work done and getting it right. And, always check with them before you leave for the day. ALWAYS.
P.s: If your mind goes numb after 11 pm and that too just doing proof-reading all day then - God bless you, my friend! You should really think whether you are cut out for a law firm life.
I am assuming this is one of the higher tier set ups, in which case they sure would have intercom which the partner could have used to speak to an intern like how it is normally done, but no you have to show up to right where said intern is sitting and humiliate him/her in front of his /her peers. Talk of petty behavior !
Yes, partners do rely on interns especially for proof reading. That is your job description as an intern - to proof-read and research. If you are good at it, then you would get staffed on DDs or maybe made to draft smaller agreements/letters. If you cant even proof-read this much, how can you expect more from the partner?
Nobody wants an unwilling worker. If you think you will get a pat on the back for every job you do, please rethink your career choice now. You cannot compare a law firm culture to a Google. Be a part of the team or get left out. Stop crying about what happened to you on LI and seek validation from similar lazy entitled children like you. All these upvotes from stangers dont matter. What would have mattered is that your partner staffing you on another assignment had you done a good job.
'Telling off a partner' it seems! LOL! Please pray that your partner has forgotten about this incident. Dont be shocked if you get blacklisted by this PCP firm. Considering the number of partners switching firms regularly, have you thought about what will happen if you end up interning in the same firm as this partner again? People talk and this is small small fraternity. Your quality of work and goodwill is everything. So think before you post these things on a public forum. Instead spend some time and energy in improving yourself and your quality of work. Otherwise be ready to get replaced just like how your partner did to you.
Majority of Law Firm folks (atleast in Mumbai) do read Legally India discussion and even share them into private groups and discuss. Not just A0's, even Partners do it to get a laugh and get updated with the gossips.
Most probably the Partner (In Worli) he is bull-shitting will be reading this 60 comment thread.
I only have one thing to tell.
Good Luck Kid.
This means that, on an important matter, if the same person has to work a week overnight, there is even a chance that every detail of the deal would be floating around LegallyIndia, supposed the intern becomes an A0 and is pissed off like this. If the intern is not happy and posting, for this reason, imagine what will happen if he becomes an A0?
Partner definitely should have managed the work better, even if you had told her that you would be able to deliver the work said day itself she should have followed up with you throughout the day regarding progress of the work. THE PARTNER SHOULD HAVE REALISED THAT YOU'RE AN INTERN, AND INTERNS SOMETIMES DON'T REALISE THE TYPE OF WORK THEY ARE UNDERTAKING, THEIR OWN LIMITATIONS, AND THE URGENCY OF THE WORK TO BE UNDERTAKEN, AND THAT IS FINE AND EXPECTED OF THE INTERN! In the end he/she is there to learn. However, there is no excuse for a partner to not have such foresight. What if that intern was the nephew/niece of a major client of yours, what if he/she puts a word in ? You are also equally replaceable.
In an odd way, I'm thankful to my younger self for being a moron. Had I stayed in office for 2 days to get this done by hard deadline, I might have received an offer, and I would not be where I am today: working 40% of the hours, making 75% of the pay, and without a corresponding need to spend on therapy. I guess that life isn't for me and I'm okay with that. I've made a list of some points here that I plan on reading from time and time to remind me of my mistakes. Hopefully I'll handle future situations better than past ones :)
But is that really a reason to mistreat people? By that logic, every associate, every partner, every lawyer, every god damn human should not be treated be respect. This is exactly the attitude problem why we beat up our doctors in this country, why we have the entire class/caste hierarchy, why we do not worry about the poor, why we have fucked up this country and finally, why most people working in law firms with such high "net worths" continue to lead miserable lives.
I'm told that the A0 in Khaitan who passed away due to cardiac arrest, his replacement ad was sent to RPCs exactly 2 days later. That could be you. Please don't "kill yourself" because hundred others are ready to.
As long as you are humble and appropriately confident, don't ever take shit from anyone (especially for working post 11 as an Intern).
I myself was notorious for saying no during my internships, especially when i was given work (the kind that i knew would eat into my weekend) after 7 PM on a Friday, and called to do printing work on a weekend. But no one questioned me, because at my level, i got the chota mota work done. I never boasted about working on some big shot M&A deal or some hard hitting IPO, when i knew that the most I would get to do is loan diligence at that level. I got my PPO.
To those who are talk of entitlement. Well Im sorry your parents never loved you. ye naukri hai - lets treat this as such. This is not the coal mines in Uttar Pradesh circa 1800's. I know of so many seniors in my team that look down on people trying to manage a balance between work and a hopeful health life. Well they all have a few things in common - desperate for partners' attention, too scared to make any noise, zero creativity, mean with juniors. Not the kind of people you want to look up to.