While many of the partners and associates are great to work for, litigation support management is overwhelmed and the department feels like a rudderless ship. One person directly supervises discovery attorneys, staff attorneys, paralegals, legal assistants, and several support departments - well over 100 employees. No one could effectively manage that many people. Some discovery attorneys are told that none of the discovery attorneys are ever promoted to staff attorney while they watch other discovery attorneys get promoted to staff attorney positions. It is difficult to tell whether management is being deceptive or is just disorganized and flying by the seat of their pants. Also, discovery and staff attorneys are often disrespected by partners, associates, and management. Management decisions seem to be made by supervisors who only see the numbers (billed hours) and are not familiar with the quality of the attorneys' work or how well the attorneys work with one another. There is a disconnect between providing quality legal services to clients/partners and having success within the firm. Bonuses, promotions, and layoffs seem to be determined by higher-up number crunchers who do not personally know many/any of the attorneys.
