Confusion, I Suppose in Book Five: Working Through the Maze 2018

There are many ways in which I would do things differently were I one of my bosses. But lets pretend that no amount of positive change would have prevented me as employee walking away.

After an employee turned in his Six Weeks Notice, wrote a letter outlining the ways in which I failed as a supervisor, and gave tips for how to do better… I hope I would have at least considered them.

If I were my bosses facing the current and immediate issue of me leaving?
Instead of both Senior Partners going to a Chinese New Year Event today, I would have suggested only one go.
Instead of asking the leaving employee to cover a crap ton of work (including watching Discovery for a case that will go to trial after the employee has left), I would work with that employee to get their shit closed out sooner than later. Why? Because if I know that the Employee has no more pending cases… if I know that the Employee isn’t receiving cases… I then have the option of either (a) asking them to leave early; or (b) asking them to cover things that I don’t want to do. Because after the employee has successfully transitioned out of being an “active employee” if they are still on payroll… by all means have them cover. But don’t ask them to basically do everything for the Senior Partners on a day without even verifying where in the transition process your employee was.

Basically, that is the thing that irks me most about the transition process so far. Is that my bosses have decided that this changes nothing. I don’t want them to go to pieces or anything; but when you’ve fired 1 part time Attorney, 1 full time Attorney is leaving by April, and 1 Full Time Assistant is leaving by May.... it is time to take stock, make changes, and get your shit together. Instead, they are doubling down on all the things that got them to this place. That probably irks me the most.

Frankly, if I were some of our firms’ clients… I would have filed a complaint by now. Many of White Boss’ clients never meet him. They speak with him over the phone, but when it comes to trial or getting something signed… they deal with me. Maybe I’m old school but that feels… bullshit. If you represent someone, you need to meet them. If you are their advocate, you need to shake their hand. You can’t just take their money, send a flunky, and call it good. But again, maybe I’m just old school.

I keep thinking about what this situation is and why it upsets me more than many others. And it comes right back around to that “teamwork” item they mentioned. Because it isn’t TEAMwork. TEAMwork would mean everyone working together for the betterment of the firm. This is “team” work in that whenever the bosses want, they dump work on me and expect it to take my priority. A metaphorical representation:
It is my job to juggle. I’m just learning to juggle, so I’m best at it with 4 balls. I use 4 blue balls to work on it, but sometimes I only use 2 or 3 if I want to get something down precisely. However, whenever they desire… my bosses will throw me some red balls and say “You have to juggle these. We need red balls in your act. Do it now.” So, if I was working with 2 blue balls, adding 2 red balls is no problem. But if I was already doing 4 blue balls, in order to do even one red ball, I have to drop one of my blue balls. The bosses don’t care because they don’t care about my cases. They don’t care if one of those blue balls was super important or on the cusp of an amazing trick I was trying to master. No. What matters is that they have a red ball they don’t want to deal with, so I have to. And that… bothers me.

Hell, here is an example.... this morning, I got a phone call from Dylan (Chinese Assistant) because one of White Boss’ clients called in to say she couldn’t make it to court today. So… White Boss, who decided he wouldn’t go to court, had Assistant, who is with the bosses in their Iowa City trip, take the call from his client… then call me to call the client back… to try to get her to come to her hearing this afternoon… that her own lawyer won’t even be attending. Do you understand how just about anyone could see that as rather bullshit?

Y’know what… another reason why I will be happy to get a break from Criminal Defense work? Because I want to deal with adults. This is judgmental but I’m speaking my truth here. SO MANY of the clients… whether Chinese Nationals or US Citizens… whether 19 or 59… SO MANY of the clients are basically children. They do not arrive on time, if they arrive at all. Their response to any question is “I don’t know.” When discussing how serious a matter can be, they laugh because they are uncomfortable with serious matters. Honestly… it makes me want to do a Socio-Psycho study on inmates to determine (1) broad education levels; (2) general “age” range psychologically; (3) spectrum of ability to behave as an adult or as a responsible citizen. Because… that may be what we have to test to determine criminal action here. Drug related crime is different and I want to be clear about that. If you have (foolishly) chemically altered your brain and body to be reliant on a poison that is destroying your life… yeah, there are issues that desperately need to get solved. But Drug Addiction and Drug Addiction based Crimes are (for the cheap seats) A HEALTH ISSUE. I’m talking about genuine criminology. The idiot that sees his neighbor’s car and thinks “I want that” so he takes it. The asshole that believes any social situation can be resolved through extreme violence. The dunghead who terrorizes someone because “how dare you speak to my girl!” These people. These people… in most of my interactions… are not adults. They are incredibly far from being adults. And whether that is The System failing them, their parents failing them, them failing themselves, or whatever… I think it needs to be addressed somehow.

Sadly, it won’t be addressed in this state. Because slashing the judicial budget another 30% means that ANY programs will be cut, cancelled, burnt to the ground. You want to see troubled kids who run away from abusive parents taken care of? We no longer have the budget. You want a 17 year old heroin user to get the treatment they are literally begging us for? We no longer have the budget. You see a 61 year old man with no record who stole food since he can’t afford medication AND food and you want him to be given some kind of diversion program? We no longer have the budget. If this sounds familiar… it should be. Budget issues were my bitch in Tiny Town. The County stealing budget for Judicial and Correction for their own building projects. But this time? IT IS STATE WIDE. THE STATE GOVERNMENT has slashed Education and Judicial budgets for 7 years! Have the legislators taken pay cuts to help ease the financial burdens? NOooo. Have they intentionally demanded that no bonuses, raises, or extra expenses are paid until this financial issue is resolved? Noooo. Have they suggested maybe not re-gilding the 8 Golden Domes of the Capitol as often? NO. So… yeah. Some animosity here.

Ahem… allow me to

Chinese Boss just sent me a photo, a name, and said “File an appearance for this guy.”

WHAT?! You do know I’ve quit, right? Like… you are aware that I’m wrapping up cases, yes? Are you out of your fucking mind?

First of all, and something I’ve told you about before, you don’t just say “File an appearance on this kid”… that KID isn’t a case, he isn’t a trial, he isn’t anything in the system. IF that kid got in trouble, he will have a ticket, a court summons, or a police complaint. THAT is what you should send me because THAT is what has the charge and case number. You’ve been an attorney doing this job for how many years and you still don’t know that? Even after I’ve told you?
Second of all, don’t give me a case in the middle of closing down cases to leave this job. Who does that?! SERIOUSLY! This is JUST like the damned shoe store! It is like when someone is halfway out the door for the evening but the boss says, “Hey, I just got something I need you to start on.” Except this isn’t leaving the office for the evening… this is I’ve already turned in my notice. This is, “I’m leaving this firm.” being responded to with “But do this first.” Bullshit.
Third: OF COURSE it is a Chinese Kid driving under suspension. Because perish the thought that a Chinese Student whose license was suspended actually stops driving.

But here are the two main points that just… boil me over.
POINT ONE:
This individual’s initial hearing, so the first time he has to be in court… which is just to be officially charged… is April 19th! APRIL 19!! Remember when my last day is? March 30. Remember how March ends before April begins. APRIL 19?! You fucking stupid crazy dumb bitch.

POINT TWO:
After a day of doing White Boss’ court appearances, I have my own damned cases to work on. For instance, I have a guilty plea that is time sensitive that I want to get filed today. This requires me to (1) write the plea; (2) call my client for authorization; (3) file the plea. But I need time to do that. I finish with White Boss’ hearings, settle down to do MY case work… two e-mails. The first of which is Chinese Boss telling me to file an appearance for this damned April 19th case… the second of which is Chinese Boss saying “I wanted you to write an article for Chinese Students, you done yet?” Stifles swear words. You… you have no idea what my case load is… or what I may be doing with that case load… because you are too far into your own shit to notice anything around you. So… piss off, back up, and if you aren’t in the office… I’m not responding to your “You done yet?” until I’m good and ready!