So I was working in the film industry, but the extreme work hours and toxic environment was just too much. I want to get into the writing side of film anyway, so leaving production has actually, kinda sorta, been the correct move. There's also like a massive issue in film where the accounting/payroll department are just constantly behind, sending you incorrect amounts, losing your time sheets if they ever even put you on the payroll to begin with, and then they always cop massive attitudes. (luckily the last few shows I did, I ended up on really friendly terms with accounting so I didn't have those issues but I shouldn't have to do that in order to get the money I need to survive)
Well, now I'm working at a law firm as a legal writer. This is the first job I've ever had as a writer. My degree is in English – creative writing, and within that focus, my specialty was in screenwriting. And it's been pretty good.
I got hired next to this lady I'll call PL for Principal Lady. (She used to be the assistant principal of a school and apparently she has all this editorial experience, has been the chairwoman for lots of organizations, and is like a former CEO…which begs the question, why is she a legal writer now? She said she left education for moral reasons because she is a proud democrat and the education system in Washington DC where she is from is too conservative…and now she lives in Texas) We had a training period where the attorneys and other writers showed us how to write different kinds of letters and conduct research and stuff for our job, and PL asked so many questions the process took significantly longer to get through. I understand taking notes, I took a lot of notes myself, but I'm better at learning these kinds of things in practice if that makes sense. PL filled out entire binders in the first two weeks before she even touched a demand letter. But it didn't stop there. She said that before she can even begin to comprehend how to do her job, she needs to understand how every single position within the law firm operates at an intimate level. It absolutely floored me, and became a distraction as she interviewed everyone and asked a thousand different questions. I get asking a lot of questions when you're new, I did the same. But this is like every single day, having to understand every single facet of everything she does because she can't “morally” attempt anything unless if she can't anticipate every possible outcome.
Each writer got placed on a team with a paralegal, medical clerk, and a legal assistant, and unfortunately, PL's team was really bad. The paralegal was actively sabotaging the head attorney and then placing the blame on her, but that lead to her getting the writers organized with this great system that helped us track our progress better and take accountability for everything we've done. In the end, that paralegal got fired, and it's been a massive issue fixing all the things he's been doing.
After that PL got a promotion sort of. She's basically the manager of the legal writers, though she doesn't have a different title or anything. And ever since, she's been on me like I insulted her mother. Me and this one attorney that she thinks is a republican. She brings up her politics a lot, how she is a proud feminist atheist because it doesn't make sense to be anything but an atheist democrat unless you hate women, lgbt, or poor people. I don't disagree with some of the things she says, but it's more that it's very clear she's made assumptions about certain people, even though they've never explicitly said anything, and she's been not so subtly looking for ways to get them in trouble. And that's where my huge problem comes in.
There is a huge communication issue at this law firm. I'm learning it's pretty normal for the legal field, but people think the legal writers are useless and lazy. I literally write for hours and do a ton of research, but I kinda like it as far a job goes. However, it's been very difficult to get feedback on my work because there is a constant time crunch, and the other people that take my work will add their tidbits or make corrections and just send it off. Well that became an issue because I started sending work with a lot of typos and grammatical errors, and I got defensive at one point because I had no idea what anyone was talking about when they said I was a bad writer.
There was also an issue with me conducting phone interviews with clients and coming across as awkward. I can be an awkward person sometimes, and this job has a huge learning curve. Not only that, but PL is constantly watching me, giving me scripts, giving me notes during interviews when she isn't scoffing and laughing at me saying stuff like “he can't even talk on the phone!” and getting mad that I won't listen to her.
PL offered to give me feedback, and I thought that could be a great chance because she was an English teacher apparently before she was an assistant principal. Well apparently, the letter I sent was the wrong one to send. It wasn't the draft that I actually sent to my team, it was a really messy early draft that I had saved on my desktop for some reason. But there was no communication about that. I got pulled into a side room and she said that there are all these complaints about how everyone has been having to fix all of my errors, how everything has had to be rewritten and I'm just an awful writer. She was amazed I even have an English degree, and now all of the legal writers are going to be fired because the head attorney is furious with me. She said that I clearly can't handle the hectic pace, I clearly am incapable of writing and that I had no experience writing. That everyone at the law firm is angry with me, but I'm nice and they don't have the heart to tell me how bad I am. She also said that I can't handle my work load even though I am always on time, and that no matter how hard I think I have it, she is managing the writers and also has been assign a lot more things than I have. She said if the legal writers don't all get fired, I probably will, but that the best thing I can hope for is a write up. I started crying because I thought I was going to be fired. There was more about how I just don't belong here and that I should just get a food service job. But then she asked if I can even manage that, because it's clear I don't want to work. I just want something that will pay my bills (I mentioned once that I left film because of being overworked and being harassed and stuff, and that I just wanted a job that will make it easier to focus on my own writing. I've even told the head attorney this and she was really supportive of me) so I should just find a job that will do that.
I got written up (which she made me sign and then I have no idea where that write up went), but I went to my team to try to do better. I own the mistakes I made, but my issue was that no one told me anything. I talked to my team, and they were shocked I got in that much trouble. They said the letters and stuff I write are a hugely collaborative effort, and I just do the bulk of the work. They said do better on the grammatical stuff because that's more my specialty, and I agree. PL doesn't like that because she said that other than legal content, no one should be touching anything because it undermines us (it undermines her). PL has also taken it upon herself to go back over every single thing I've ever worked on and rewrite it…even if the cases are settled. I have no idea why or how she is managing to do this with her own work load.
My team got angry with her, even the attorney we mainly work with because she started asking a thousand different questions about the letter that started this mess. They kept telling her that this wasn't the letter I sent them, that I clearly had sent her an old draft but they said she wouldn't even acknowledge that. My paralegal chewed her out eventually because he said it became obvious she was looking for dirt on me.
I don't know what to do. I literally have been clear with my boss that I have this job to focus on my writing career, and she's fine with it. This job is nice enough that I just got a program that lets me remote into my pc at work so I can work from home because I'm a little behind from all this mess, but I don't mind it because I'm happy here. Everyone else has been great. It genuinely pains me to say I like my job right now, but I do. But this lady set off red flags when I first met her, and ever since she got her nemesis fired, she's set her sights on me. I can't lose this job right now, but I don't want to keep this job forever. It's put me in a good situation, and I own the mistakes I made but feel the write up was excessive. No one told me it was a problem, instead I got praised and praised and even got a raise and several bonuses, so I just kept on with what I was doing. The head attorney is obsessed with PL because she's been great for organizing the firm, but she is also actively out to get me.
Any advice?
Also, don't come at me for punctuation, grammar, etc. here. I'm not at work, leave me alone.