Pros
- profit sharing - free food when in the office (before COVID) - the other paralegals can be friendly - the attorneys are great
Cons
Management at Fish & Richardson has gone through a lot of changes in the last few years and it wasn’t for the better. At one point almost every paralegal on the team I was on loved their job and genuinely felt like they were appreciated by their supervisors. The attorneys can be tough but they are excellent mentors and you have the ability to learn a lot from them if you listen to their advice. If you actually worked for the attorneys I anticipate that there wouldn’t be an issue for many paralegals, but management has complete control over everything client related even if it is against the wishes of the attorney. The attorney has little to no say what happens with their clients and I have seen several instances where they were completely ignored due to management being on a never ending power trip. Your knowledge and expertise means very little to the managers and if they suspect that you are getting too “comfortable” on a client, you will be removed. Every other firm I have worked at followed the code of paralegals working for the attorneys and the managers are only there to assist with your workload and HR related issues, but if you are looking for an independent work setting in which you won’t feel like you are being babysat and micromanaged, this probably won’t be the best place for you. The original job posting states that there is room for growth within the firm, but that usually isn’t the case. If there is an open position, the supervisors of your team may “change the requirements” to ensure that they don’t fit your current experience level.