Jobs

Here's an article from April, talking about jobs. While Joe Biden says the administration "Misread" the economy, unemployment has gone up to 9.5%. Jobs aren't being lost in as great numbers, but not too many companies are hiring. More families are becoming homeless. The outlook is grim and people keep talking about the Depression.

I find that depressing; in my area, hourly rates for temporary attorneys have gone down. While there were a few corporations that paid $3 less an hour a few years ago, a couple of the agencies are going to the lower rates. Because I'm not actively seeking temporary attorney projects, I don't know if that's a reflection of firms lowering their rates generally or the agency thinking they'll have an edge.

Billable Hours

Before the economy completely imploded, I was working on a project at a big firm, the associates for which told us that they liked the client (who has since filed for bankruptcy) and because of that, had responded to their request for a reduction in billing by cutting their bills in half.

Because of the economic crisis, clients are telling law firms that billable hours only encourages them to prolong the agony; while that may be true, it's likely true of any industry that does consulting, be it legal, HR or accounting. I would expect that though law firms are in the news because of this, that it's also true that other types of firms are being asked to change their billing structure.

The problem that I see with this is that you can't really charge a flat fee for these sorts of work; for one, you don't know how many hours are needed, whether others (like document review attorneys) are being brought into the mix or how complicated the project really is. And, if you haven't thought of this on your own, people misrepresent things. Until you're actually in the midst of the project, there's no way to know what it will be. I think billable hours are just fine to begin with, but it makes more sense to me that you might provide a reduced rate.

How to Occupy Oneself on a Document Review

Inspired by another blog, on which an attorney listed activities of colleagues, I bought a second mp3 player and German CD's so I can brush up on my language skills. I might as well, I listen to my ipod all the time; I like the mix of music on it so don't want to add anything as it's a couple years old, only 4g and full.

I considered online lessons, but decided to go with a company of which I've heard, Berlitz. They're a known quantity so it seemed a reasonable choice.

Maybe next I can run off to Germany and do document reviews for American firms with offices abroad.

Business as Usual

It's always great to get out of town, and not so great to return to the review room. The best part is the steady paycheck.

Our review is still plodding along. Some custodians are easier to deal with than others; because it's technical information, the complexity of the work varies by custodian. I prefer it when the batches are easier; numbers are up and my brain doesn't turn to mush. Either way, it has to get done.

In this review we've been encouraged to mass annotate, which is new. On one review, our QC team was mass annotating, despite having been told not to. Most reviews on which I have worked haven't suggested mass annotations as an option. When possible, it does make the work go faster; however, sometimes it isn't possible.

Mass annotations seem to work best in batches with basically two choices; check one, leave the other. Immediately mark any other random thing. It's a great theory, but in some cases, custodian has too wide a variety of materials for it to be feasible. In those cases, it's just easier to mark them one at a time, or a few at a time.

Current Review

The current review will be ending soon but has been going well. Like every review, there's some kindergartenesque rule. For example, no talking and if you must talk, whisper. When we started, one of the associates was always on the floor with us and someone likened it to study hall. Someone else? Detention.


We were told we could only talk to the other groups in the kitchenette, which is a moot point as we have a kitchenette near our work stations now, which provides us with beverages, fridge and microwave. I bring tea and have my water bottle with me, so no worries on beverages here! It gets a bit cold, so even though I'd like to go out and get a hot drink, I stick with my tea. It's just not lawsuit-hot.



Now that I'm on a review, I got a call about a possible review through another company; they're newer to town so have fewer people registered. I'm not sure how I got to the top of their list, but it's a nice place to be despite the fact that they never call when I'm available. They didn't get the last document review project they talked about, but hopefully will get one soon.

The Posse List

Recently a colleague forwarded a project received from The Posse List, unfortunately for me, it was a project that required DC barred attorneys, of which I am not one. They have listservs which are divided geographically and disseminate information on projects that are brought to their attention. I'm in a small market which isn't covered; however, because there aren't always projects available here, I have subscribed to lists for a few different places, with the idea of temporarily relocating to work on a project.

I can't be the only one out there who hadn't heard of this list, can I?