open letter to my boss

Guys,

I understand you want me to attend hearings when things get difficult on the calendar and there are too many hearings. I have no problem being a “pinch hitter” when these things are needed. However, I am very busy with the tasks I do have here: handling over 200 clients, billing, resolving calendar conflicts, supervising and coordinating staff, keeping track of status on all of our cases, handling storage and writing letters and motions, and so many other things I can’t even keep track of all of it. In short, I keep your clients happy and I keep your cases rolling.

There is a lack of a leadership now – nobody who knows the day to day has the authority to tell anyone to do anything. So if everyone has their own caseload, that’s fine. But if they don’t, it inevitably is going to lead to everyone telling ME what to do, since I have been assigned the task of dealing with the clients outside of the hearing/osc realm. Therefore I already have the problem of attorneys coming to me and asking me to write this, do that.

I have been happy here since the day you hired me up until recently. I have rolled with the punches of the change in system and I have taken criticism and tried to improve. I think I do a good job with very little ego – I still sit in a cubicle, I took a sort-of “demotion” with no complaints, I don’t bug you for much.

There are never times when I do not have something to do. I’m never wasting time or being unproductive. I have a more than full day just keeping our clients happy on the phone and in emails. I do not take long lunches (barely 15-30 minutes), I don’t take breaks at all, and I rarely, if ever, leave earlier than 6 p.m. when most of everyone else is out the door.

I realized from the beginning when I was hired that there would be times I would need to cover in court, should things get hairy on the calendar. This – I have no problem with.
What I do have a problem with is being expected to handle hearings on a normal basis, as you asked me to do. This bothers me especially when there are people who have been hired solely for this purpose. When I was hired that was not how my position was explained. In addition, I always understood (as it was explained to me) that A*** was limited in his capabilities and I was making up for his shortcomings by essentially being his client side. Now – I am expected to handle all clients, except for E*****’s (so subtract about 15), and attend court? This is overwhelming, and I don’t think I can do it.

What I’m saying is I’m not happy, and I think we’ve gone through so many contortions to make S*** and everyone else happy – I’d like things to change to make me a little happier, please, considering how much I

Respectfully, I ask that you reconsider my position and have A*** or other attorneys go to court whenever possible; even if it means he reschedule a flight.