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You should be awarded Oscars of Toxicity
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.
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.
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?
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.
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?
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 :)
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.
PS you all know who Z is.
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.
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.
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.
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 !
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
And some other student in an another law school will be happy to see you going.
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.
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”.
If you can't do this, then do find a work space where you are your own boss.
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.