Pros
Big law firms are generally among the more secure jobs for a secretary, and they pay well above average. Haynes and Boone is a well regarded firm that you can be proud to say you work for. A job at Haynes and Boone is a stable proposition compared with similar jobs in the same market. They're very conservatively managed, and I don't think they've ever had layoffs. The lawyers are mostly good people. Haynes and Boone has a "no screamers" policy, and they stick to it pretty well. There are a handful of notorious hard cases, but Haynes and Boone is much more civilized than most -- even in litigation. I like and respect the lawyers I work with. (This is why some of my ratings appear to conflict: The aspects of my job that are controlled directly by my lawyers get higher ratings than those that are controlled directly by firm management/HR. The pay and benefits are right in line with the market. They're better at some of the other big firms, but not many.
Cons
For a legal secretary, Haynes and Boone can be a special kind of hell. And it's not the lawyers. By and large, the lawyers are a decent bunch; there are only a few bad apples. The trouble is the administrative departments and their heads -- Accounting, Purchasing, HR, and don't even get me started on IT! From the head of IT all the way down to the lowliest copy center clerk, they are arrogant and condescending toward secretaries. Sometimes they're downright nasty. They continually shift their responsibilities onto us, and when they make a mistake, they do their best to pretend it's our fault. Sometimes, it's just plain weird, like being in a Twilight Zone episode. No one in power seems to care about this, so it will never improve.
