TL;DR: No thank you, I will keep the current arrangement unless you pay me a very large bonus to sign this at-will contract.
Hi folks, I am a newly licensed attorney. I saw a job posting for a business law attorney for a brand new law firm offering $184k/yr (~$90/hr full time). Before I applied, I called the firm to make sure it was worth my time applying because I was not sure if I had the experience they were looking for. Note, the posting did not have an experience requirement. I spoke with the owner who turned the call into an interview. I emailed the owner my resume after the call and was verbally offered the job the following day at $90/hr remote and part-time. I gave my old job notice and started working.
12 days after I began working, the outsourced HR consultant reached out to formalize my employment. The consultant said I was not qualified for the position I was working, it was not available, the one they would offer me was full-time in the office at $96k/yr ($50/hr) plus the opportunity to make the other $88k through commissions. They also said they needed me to start in the office within two weeks.
This was my response.
Names sanitized due to privacy.
Redacted: Outsourced HR Consultant
Owner: Firm owner
Good evening REDACTED,
Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to discuss my formal job offer with LAW FIRM yesterday. I think we are close, and we just need to fill in some details. While the call was illuminating, it was also shocking. I was utterly unprepared for you to tell me the job was to be an associate attorney, not the business law attorney position I had applied for.
Let's begin by listing a timeline of my communications with the firm, per my understanding and my notes:
- I called OWNER on January 25th, 2022 saying I found OWNER's job posting for a Business Law Attorney position offering $184,500. I explained my background, how I passed the bar 2 months ago but had very relevant business consulting experience. I directly asked her if she wanted me to apply to the Business Law Attorney position as I did not want to waste both of our time if my lack of experience was a barrier to the job. I also told her that I would be in LA from February 1st through April 1st but am available to work during that time. We also discussed how the job could be partially remote.
- Following the phone call, I emailed OWNER, thanking her for the time and reiterating how I thought I could be of assistance and my time in LA.
- On January 26th, 2022, OWNER and I had a discussion where she verbally offered me the Business Law Attorney position at $90 an hour and asked if I could start assisting her immediately by confirming client appointments and following up on clients, she was behind on. We discussed how the work could be part-time and remote until April 1st to help my brother by being his general contractor and babysitting his adorable 16 month old as he had to travel for 45 of the next 60 days. This arrangement allowed OWNER and I to have a probationary period to make sure we both liked each other. I immediately started assisting OWNER however I could relieve her burden.
- On January 27th, OWNER introduced me to you via email.
- On February 3rd, OWNER made me a firm email address, Clio account, and Wealthcounsel account.
- On February 7th, you told me the job I had been offered and was working no longer existed
- On February 8th, OWNER sent me more work under our oral agreement
Since January 26th, I have assisted OWNER by helping her clients on various issues where she has been introducing me as an attorney and billing out my time at $400 an hour. I have not heard any complaints about my work from her or the clients I have assisted. Both seem very pleased with my work.
Thus, it was astonishing that you informed me yesterday that the job I applied to, the job I had been given on a probationary basis, the job that I had been working for 12 days no longer existed. Furthermore, you said that I lacked the experience required for my position, despite the job posting not having an experience requirement. Let me reiterate, I have performed this job without any complaints about my performance from OWNER.
In plain English, at my formal job offer, you told me my job no longer existed, and offered me a new one, at a demotion, without ever showing a job description for the new job, with many material terms changed (no remote, 40-50 hours in the office, starting in February), at a base that was 52% of the job description to which I applied. Therefore, it was somewhat surprising that OWNER had me do more work today under our oral agreement, which according to you, is for a job that no longer exists.
I could be polite and say there have been several miscommunications of Shakespearean tragedy, but I would rather be candid. Changing up material items in negotiations at the last minute is textbook bad faith negotiation. It is also commonly accepted that changing material items in an agreement after one party has begun performing is immoral at best.
As far as I can tell, I have two options for the next few months with LAW FIRM:
First, I can stay in LA working for $90 an hour, as much or as little as I want, when I want, for LAW FIRM being a business attorney, while also working for THIRD PARTY at $125 an hour, prepaid (moving forward), and keeping tabs on THIRD PARTY's investments. I can walk to the beach during my morning coffee or bring my laptop and work on the beach in shorts and a t-shirt. I get to hang out with my adorable nephew, play handyman/general contractor, and eat some of the best tacos in the world. I have free rent while living in LA, less than a mile from Hermosa Beach. Before you counter the job no longer exists, you said that yesterday and OWNER sent me work today, so until she terminates our agreement, I will continue to assume that the job was given to me still exists.
My second option is to return to Sacramento, within two weeks, get demoted in title to associate attorney, pay rent, be far from the beach, go down to $50 an hour stuck in an office, at set times, for up to 50 hours a week. Yes, there is an excellent profit share offer, but there are also many unknowns.
You asked me yesterday to effectively sign it and trust you and OWNER. However, due to the bad faith negotiations so far in onboarding me, I think it is in my best interest to clarify things before signing something ambiguous. I have already asked some of these items, but I think it would be best to get a written answer due to how much has changed in the last 12 days.
I need answers to the following simple questions:
- What is the job description for the job offered?
- What is in the competitive benefits package?
- What is the vacation policy?
- What times am I expected to be at the office?
- Will the annual base compensation be reviewed, and when?
- Will there be any bonuses on top of the revenue share plan?
- What exactly is billable to clients?
- What is the promotion path back to being an attorney if I start as an associate attorney?
- What does the workspace you want me to spend up to 50 hours a week in look like?
- Is the space furnished, and if not, what is my budget to furnish it?
- Will LAW FIRM provide an office computer or laptop, and if so, what are the specs?
- Who will my boss be? If it is unknown, can I be a part of their selection process?
- How many days of vacation will the company offer?
- Will these vacation days will be paid?
- Will I be reimbursed for travel?
- Will the firm's malpractice insurance will cover me?
- What are OWNER's long-term plans for LAW FIRM and her exit plan?
- Is this job a partner path job?
I said I was open to returning to Sacramento to start full-time or quitting THIRD PARTY without notice for the right offer. So far, this offer is not there yet. The right offer to convince me to leave LA early will likely have a signing bonus.
Additionally, as written, this contract is not enough to convince me to sign it before I meet with MORE PRESTIGIOUS FIRM on Friday. Their former Chairman, THIRD PARTY, who had to step down to take care of his son with severe long covid, thinks it would be a great fit for me. I had thought working for OWNER would be a lot more fun, but based on how LAW FIRM has handled my onboarding, I think it is in my favor to hold off on signing until I hear their formal pitch. I will sign and withdraw from the meeting, for the right offer, of course.
Finally, It costs you and the firm literally NOTHING to give me the attorney title, while allowing me to bill my time out at $400 an hour. If you insist on giving me the title of associate attorney, it will be much harder to justify the billable rate of $400 per hour. Thus, making me have the title of associate attorney will likely reduce the income for both me and LAW FIRM. Are you trying to punish me for some reason at the expense of LAW FIRM's total revenue, or have you not considered how demoting me reduces my expected revenue generation for the firm by up to $234,000 per year?
I hope you can agree that my points and questions are valid for an employment contract, and I hope you have answers. I will try to incorporate these answers into the edited contract. I look forward to your responses in writing at your earliest convenience, and then we can move forward in building a constructive working relationship.
Sincerely,
Me