"Bring Your Mask to Work Day" - California Wildfires and Bad Air Days

The past week has been really rough for people in California.

The tragic and devastating wildfires have no only wreaked havoc on the poor people who have lost lives, family members, homes, property, jobs and much more but have created some of the worst air in the world.

If you're a San Francisco commuter/worker you're having a really rough time navigating the smoke and fumes.  Stores can't keep enough masks in stock and the streets look like something out of a movie.

And if you don't believe climate change is real - I don't know what to tell you. 

Maybe pictures say it best.  The stress level is at an all time high.  

Major gratitude to the firefighters from around the country who have come to help out and sincere prayers to all impacted.

Hoping for rain.

Bosses Behaving Badly

Did you think that the days of bosses screaming at their assistants was a thing of the past?

If you did, you've got "another think" coming.

Bosses are still behaving badly at work.  And this is not gender-specific.  We're talking both men and women losing it over what is never a matter of life and death.  How could it be?  We're not doing brain surgery.  We're litigating.  Somehow not the same.

I do appreciate the fact that after they "block their stack," they almost always feel embarrassed.  Because isn't yelling kind of the equivalent of being out of control.  They never want to be out of control.  They just want to control you.

And before you say, "If someone yelled at me, I'd do blah, blah, blah," take a look at your bank account, your mortgage, kids' tuition, electric bill - go outside, take a walk, get a latte and remember don't sweat the small stuff.

And it's all small stuff.

And if my boss loses her cool and I keep mine - who's really winning?

So while smoking is no longer allowed in the workplace, there's still plenty of smoke coming out of the tops of their heads.

Can You Hear Me Now??? Noise Cancelling Headphones in the Office

Guilty.

I often wear headphones and listen to music while doing tasks such as entering time.  It's not the same as if I'm handling a court filing or preparing a pleading shell.  And it doesn't slow me down.

I'm always mindful to make sure that I look up constantly and that my music isn't so loud that I don't respond when someone (especially an attorney) is talking to me.

However, I do take exception to some people who wear noise cancelling headphones at work.  If we're on the same team and sitting right next to each other, I shouldn't have to scream your name or get up and tap you on the shoulder (and startle the heck out of you) to tell you that I need you for something (work-related).

There's a time and place for everything.  They call it 'work' for a reason.

And while I love to enjoy a good podcast or "beach read," as much as the next person, I certainly don't expect the firm to pay me to do it.

Team work, people.

That is all.

Ocean's 8 - A Great Movie Escape - Pun Intended

I usually go to the movies at least twice a month, however, the last couple of months there hasn't been anything that I've really wanted to see.  So, I've been streaming on Netflix.

"Ocean's 8" has an all-star cast of women actors:  Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kawling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Helena Bonham Carter and Rihanna.

With a line-up like that it's hard to miss.  And the movie hits the mark.

Not an Oscar nominee, but certainly a wonderful way to spend a weekend afternoon.  Entertaining, fast moving, fashions galore and proof once again that the best man for the job is a woman.

In theaters now.

Watch the trailer HERE.

Knowing when the hold them and when to fold them - is it time to look for a new job?

I think we've all been through some form of layoff, reduction in force, hostile work environment, tremendous pressure or a change in environment that has caused us to either change jobs or seriously consider it.

As for me, I've often bolted just in time.  Other times, I've panicked and left too soon.

How do you know when the time is right?

Here are some signs you should perhaps dust off the old resume and update your LinkedIn.

• Long-time employees are starting to leave your company (abruptly)

• Your work assignment has changed drastically (i.e. you've lost the rainmaker on your workload has decreased significantly)

• If you're a person who bills time, your hours have drastically dropped

• The office manager who was once super friendly has recently stopped talking to you 

• When you walk in the lunch room, everybody gets quiet

• Sometimes there is an "ebb and flow" of work and things start to get better.

My motto is best to be proactive than reactive.

You might consider contacting a headhunter to "test the waters."  Shop your resume just for practice.  You may get a nibble and you may not but at the very least you can test your interview skills.  

And most importantly, be very careful in selecting a confidential recruiter and above all, don't talk to your co-workers about your concerns or plans. 

If Secretaries want to be taken Seriously. . .

It occurred to me while riding the train into work this morning that perhaps legal secretaries are often not taken as serious professionals by attorneys because they don't always take each other seriously.

For whatever reason, this profession seems to be one where secretaries (both male and female) feel that they must minimize the accomplishments and knowledge of their colleagues in order to gain favor with the people they support.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  I think that law firms appreciate having an office comprised of well prepared, highly skilled and capable assistants who support them.  

Spreading negative gossip and undermining your co-workers only serves to further the "myth" that secretaries are nothing more than typing coffee klatches.

We need to support and lift each other up.  Each person has his or her own set of unique skills.  Combine that with the basic skills necessary to work in a law office and you get productivity and a happier environment.

Team work.  It's called that for a reason.

Book Review: "The Wife" by Alafair Burke

I had this book for weeks before I started reading it.

Only because I love Alafair Burke's books so much that I wanted to save it.

But when all the reviews for "The Wife" got me so hyped, I couldn't wait any longer.

I'm a huge fan of the Ellie Hatch series, but this one really had me on the edge of my chair.  I raced through it because the suspense was killing me (pun intended).

If you're a mystery lover like me, you'll want to add this one to your reading list.

From the back cover:

When Angela met Jason Powell while catering a dinner party in East Hampton, she assumed their romance would be a short-lived fling, like so many relationships between locals and summer visitors. To her surprise, Jason, a brilliant economics professor at NYU, had other plans, and they married the following summer. For Angela, the marriage turned out to be a chance to reboot her life. She and her son were finally able to move out of her mother’s home to Manhattan, where no one knew about her tragic past.

Six years later, thanks to a bestselling book and a growing media career, Jason has become a cultural lightning rod, placing Angela near the spotlight she worked so carefully to avoid. When a college intern makes an accusation against Jason, and another woman, Kerry Lynch, comes forward with an even more troubling allegation, their perfect life begins to unravel. Jason insists he is innocent, and Angela believes him. But when Kerry disappears, Angela is forced to take a closer look—at both the man she married and the women she chose not to believe. 

Aging out of the Law Firm - Is there a place for older workers in the legal industry?

I found myself today googling  "the world's oldest legal secretary."

Don't laugh.  I'm serious.  I want to know what happens to senior secretaries.  I don't mean people who can't use the technology or who refuse to adapt to change and learn new skills.

In a world of 10.00 dollar avocado toast and 15.00 lattes being consumed by millennials as the "norm," what happens to the mature law firm support staff?

Do they eventually get "phased out," by way of reductions in force or having to jump through so many hoops they just voluntarily leave?

A friend of mine told me recently that her old boss asked her when she planned to retire.  When she told him that she didn't - he said "just let me know.  I'll find someone younger and cheaper."

Does younger and cheaper really work in this industry?  Younger to me means you're ambitious and looking to be paid fairly for your time and talent.  Cheaper to me means that you're hiring people who really aren't top notch.

You can't have it both ways.

Either you want someone who can do the job and do it well or  you want someone to give you a mediocre work product.

With clients demanding more and more for their legal buck these days, firms might want to consider being nicer to their mature staff.  They might be the ones who save the day.