I think the answer to this one is staring you in the face.

Sorry, trooper, but why exactly do you choose to practise law? There are many hundreds of alternative vocations. Why are you ruining your life?

My experience hasn’t been quite so harsh as yours seems to have but the two-facedness/hypocrisy of partners definitely resonates. I have a partner that say one thing, then acts the opposite, then decides you’re underperforming and rather than talk to you themself gets HR to call you in and threaten consequences. Like seriously, have the conversation with me yourself, you know what you want and what I’m doing wrong, HR don’t and can’t so palming it off to them helps no one

Partners that say everything is urgent and so you work long hours to get things done and then the partners doesn’t bother looking at it for weeks.

Partners that don’t consider your capacity and that you are also working for other people already.

When said partner arrived, I duly handed over the folder and went back to my desk, thinking nothing of it.

However chaos ensued when said partner stormed over to my desk, stood over me, and in the middle of the office, in full earshot of the rest of the team, began literally -s c r e a m i n g- at me for the quality of the work. Despite my protests that this was in fact a) not my work, and b) nothing I had worked on in any capacity, I was told that any work that goes across my desk was my responsibility to check before it made its way to a partner. Needless to say I left that particular firm a few months later and never looked back.

Incidentally, I work with a chap now who also worked at that firm many years ago and has identical stories about that particular partner and their work approach that would make any young practitioner’s toes curl. It really is horrendous behaviour.

Who hurt you bro?

1. Partners (especially those in gatekeeper roles) who have favourites (tends to be middle aged white senior partner perving on (but also giving all the good work to) a young female trainee same age as his niece) or playing favourites generally and should know better. Probably the same partner who chairs the firm’s Equalities team.

2. Partners who want bums on seat for the sake of appearance even when work is scarce

3. Partners who return work within 5 seconds with a 4 letter comment TLDR and ask you to do it all again

4. Partners who ask for something to be done, don’t explain what how or who, and then are not available for supervision ever and disappear until 2 hours after the urgent deadline.

5. Partners who write off all your time then bill the equivalent hours to the client whilst telling you that yours is all learning time and can be written off and doesn’t matter..

Working on the next 5..

I think that’s what they call a bullseye.