Netflix, Hulu score victory against taxation in Nevada federal court case. [Hollywood Reporter]
House prices in Las Vegas held steady last month, but didn’t increase. [RJ; Vegas Inc.]
The US Supreme Court is resuming in-person oral arguments this fall. [Las Vegas Sun]
Cancer patient details allegation of nurse sexually assaulting her in hospital bed. [8NewsNow]
If you’re interested, LACSN has a number of urgent cases in need of pro bono attorneys. [LACSN]
Las Vegas Justice Court has a judges meeting today. Good time to remind you that they have a bench bar meeting tomorrow on the new Matterhorn program for traffic tickets. [CCBA]
Is there a limit to the number of sports teams Vegas can support? [RJ]
Desert Springs exists so that Sunrise will have someone to look down on.
Guest
Anonymous
September 8, 2021 7:37 pm
No mention of the LVRJ story about FBI pot dispensary investigation.
Guest
Anonymous
September 8, 2021 8:13 pm
One of the paralegals that reports to me is really frustrating me and I would like your feedback. Peggy Paralegal is a veteran of the industry. When I give her assignments, however, if she runs into a problem, she just doesn't finish the assignment and sends the incomplete work back to me with a note about the problem she encountered. Giagantic holes are left undone in certain tasks. There is no initiative to find a solution, to propose a solution or to just take care of it. Peggy assumes that I will finish the work. However, the value of a paralegal is to troubleshoot these problems. Preparing documents from forms is really the easy part. I want to emphasize these are not complicated barriers that Peggy runs into. It's things like missing information that could be obtained from public records or a call to the client. These are simple tasks that are not a good use of my time. I have tried, without success, to return these items to Peggy to finish and fix. "Peggy, it looks like we still need X information. What do you think is the best way to go about this?" These hints have gone nowhere. I do not have power to fire Peggy and on a personal level I like her so I wouldn't want to anyway. Suggestions?
You like Peggy and don't want to get her fired? Then your only option is to accept her incompetence and mediocre work product. Good luck.
I'd bring very specific gripes to a person with firing power and request prompt remedial measures. Hopefully that would solve the problem.
If Peggy were to remain incompetent and be fired, I'd feel bad for her; but I am not ever going to prioritize a paralegal over my own clients and my own career. Sorry.
You need to be direct and clear. "Peggy, we need to change the way we do things. I need you to do X. If you don't have the information Y, then you need to go and do XYZ to obtain it. If you can't get it, come to me with a potential solution, not just a problem."
Give Peggy clear expectations and hold her to them.
Instead of returning the work with the question "how do you think we fix this," return it to her with the solution. "It looks like we need x information. Please call the client to obtain the information and add it in where appropriate." Or "We need x information. I think you can find this through the Secretary of State's office. Start there, and if that doesn't work, let's talk about how else we can get it."
Also, have you had a conversation with her rather than sending passive-aggressive "coaching" notes? Just a simple, in person conversation, hey Peggy-I see you're returning some things unfinished, generally because we are missing information. I would really appreciate it if you could take the first stab at locating that information. If you've tried and can't find it, let me know what you've tried so we can come up with other ways to find it." You have no idea what prior bosses have told her or trained her to do in those circumstances. Have a 1 on 1 discussion with her about your expectations and see how she responds. Maybe she doesn't understand your hints or thinks she doesn't have the authority to take the next step.
Prompting and giving ownership of problems only works with a self-starter. Assume Peggy has no early clue where to get this information, and directly tell her to obtain it from client/records located with X, etc.
To paraphrase a great movie, "Speak to her as if she were a small child. Or perhaps a golden retriever. It wasn't brains that got her there, I can assure you of that."
I disagree with talking to her…unless you have witnesses. I've had paralegals before who f-ed with me bc it was a big firm and I had no authority to hire or fire them even though they reported it to me.
Instead of notes for each assignment, draft and send an email telling her that she typically does great work, but accepts minor issues (like those referenced) as a block to completing certain assignments. Tell her that she knows where to get the information to complete the assignment and you expect her to do so. If she refuses, it's an incomplete assignment. Return it to her with an email saying that it is information she can get herself and you expect her to do so and you expect the assignments to be complete. Document everything. Be professional. Don't socialize with the help.
Guest
Anonymous
September 8, 2021 9:22 pm
Please don't take this the wrong way – but are you female? I am and I am not asking to be sexist. I find that my male counterparts do not have these issues. That's neither here nor there but I agree with the sentiment that you need to be direct. Just send it back to her and say – call the client and get the info, thanks..or whatever. Also, I do not agree with you @1:37 who said they wouldn't let a paralegal "get in the way" of a client or career. I think that's a dangerous attitude. I take a more balanced approached and won't say one is above the other but I lean towards valuing my team in my office over clients. In fact, I detest most clients. Just be nice to the paralegal, but direct. Also- you got some other good advice above about not knowing her prior history??? or maybe you do, but it is possible she doesn't know the expectations of her or know what she is allowed to do. I work in an office where the paralegals are more like legal assistants and it sucks but I have worked in offices where the paralegals were far superior to associates and I got sideways with a lot of them because some were on power trips. Good luck!
I am not a self-prescribed-modern-day-feminist by any means. But, when I say things to others (paralegals, secretaries) that are even half as direct as I've seen men attorneys in my office, I am always seen as a B word.
Female here. At my last firm I caught a secretary lying to my face. She tattled. I was talked to. Yet, there was a male partner who would constantly berate staff and attorneys with no repercussions whatsoever. Just seems to be the way it is.
Female attorney here. Been practicing over 40 years. My experience is that the "culture" of the firm comes from the top. If women are not respected by the staff it is likely because they are not respected by the senior partners.
Embrace your inner B word. I find that I get a lot more accomplished if the women support staff think I am as big an a$$hole as the men. I started out trying to be their friend, and give constructive criticism, etc. Very exhausting and, sadly for my self esteem, not fruitful. If you let them know you expect more from then and you will be an all out B…. if you don't get it, they are more productive. They don't invite me out to lunch as much, granted, but all in all, that's not a loss. Better time management all around, as they have to come back from lunch on time if I'm not with them.
I think it depends on how engaged your staff is. I have always encouraged my folks to take an interest in the cases, and I take the time to explain the case and our strategies. Some staffers, both legal assts. and paralegals, buy in while some do not. Over 40+ years, I have learned that staffers can make my life much easier, safer and productive if they feel invested and valued.
I wrote the "help" comment. If you don't have hiring and firing authority, don't hang out with the support staff. They will use what they learn about you personally against you professionally.
If you can hire and fire, do what you want. I can hire and fire and I've had the same assistant 6+ years without a problem. She is free to give me feedback, positive or negative, because we have a straight forward working relationship. When I worked for a big firm I constantly had to worry that "my" assistant was undermining me to the higher ups. In that case, I very much treated her as the "help" and did not socialize her. We had a professional relationship and that is all.
Guest
anonymous
September 8, 2021 10:32 pm
I happened to look at that big Republic Services case on Odyssey today. Was curious to see if there was a judgment, motion for fees and costs, etc. Instead I saw that there was no judgment and that the case was just reassigned to Judge Jones due to "Attorney/Conflict." Very odd after there's already been a trial. Now a judge who knows nothing about the trial will have to rule on post-trial motions? Anyone know the story on this?
Interesting that Polsenberg is opposing Claggett after being on Team Claggett for so many trials before. There are some nasty post-trial motions so perhaps thats where the issue lies
Bluth reassignments–It is very odd indeed that a pending case with post trial verdict motions have been reassigned to another judge. Hope somoene knows the reason. Is Bluth going back on criminal?
Guest
Anonymous
September 8, 2021 11:18 pm
Locks being changed at the Alverson Taylor former shithole.
Sunrise is a disgusting hospital. Never go there for anything.
Desert Springs exists so that Sunrise will have someone to look down on.
No mention of the LVRJ story about FBI pot dispensary investigation.
One of the paralegals that reports to me is really frustrating me and I would like your feedback. Peggy Paralegal is a veteran of the industry. When I give her assignments, however, if she runs into a problem, she just doesn't finish the assignment and sends the incomplete work back to me with a note about the problem she encountered. Giagantic holes are left undone in certain tasks. There is no initiative to find a solution, to propose a solution or to just take care of it. Peggy assumes that I will finish the work. However, the value of a paralegal is to troubleshoot these problems. Preparing documents from forms is really the easy part. I want to emphasize these are not complicated barriers that Peggy runs into. It's things like missing information that could be obtained from public records or a call to the client. These are simple tasks that are not a good use of my time. I have tried, without success, to return these items to Peggy to finish and fix. "Peggy, it looks like we still need X information. What do you think is the best way to go about this?" These hints have gone nowhere. I do not have power to fire Peggy and on a personal level I like her so I wouldn't want to anyway. Suggestions?
You like Peggy and don't want to get her fired? Then your only option is to accept her incompetence and mediocre work product. Good luck.
I'd bring very specific gripes to a person with firing power and request prompt remedial measures. Hopefully that would solve the problem.
If Peggy were to remain incompetent and be fired, I'd feel bad for her; but I am not ever going to prioritize a paralegal over my own clients and my own career. Sorry.
>These hints have gone nowhere.
You need to be direct and clear. "Peggy, we need to change the way we do things. I need you to do X. If you don't have the information Y, then you need to go and do XYZ to obtain it. If you can't get it, come to me with a potential solution, not just a problem."
Give Peggy clear expectations and hold her to them.
Instead of returning the work with the question "how do you think we fix this," return it to her with the solution. "It looks like we need x information. Please call the client to obtain the information and add it in where appropriate." Or "We need x information. I think you can find this through the Secretary of State's office. Start there, and if that doesn't work, let's talk about how else we can get it."
Also, have you had a conversation with her rather than sending passive-aggressive "coaching" notes? Just a simple, in person conversation, hey Peggy-I see you're returning some things unfinished, generally because we are missing information. I would really appreciate it if you could take the first stab at locating that information. If you've tried and can't find it, let me know what you've tried so we can come up with other ways to find it." You have no idea what prior bosses have told her or trained her to do in those circumstances. Have a 1 on 1 discussion with her about your expectations and see how she responds. Maybe she doesn't understand your hints or thinks she doesn't have the authority to take the next step.
Prompting and giving ownership of problems only works with a self-starter. Assume Peggy has no early clue where to get this information, and directly tell her to obtain it from client/records located with X, etc.
To paraphrase a great movie, "Speak to her as if she were a small child. Or perhaps a golden retriever. It wasn't brains that got her there, I can assure you of that."
I disagree with talking to her…unless you have witnesses. I've had paralegals before who f-ed with me bc it was a big firm and I had no authority to hire or fire them even though they reported it to me.
Instead of notes for each assignment, draft and send an email telling her that she typically does great work, but accepts minor issues (like those referenced) as a block to completing certain assignments. Tell her that she knows where to get the information to complete the assignment and you expect her to do so. If she refuses, it's an incomplete assignment. Return it to her with an email saying that it is information she can get herself and you expect her to do so and you expect the assignments to be complete. Document everything. Be professional. Don't socialize with the help.
Please don't take this the wrong way – but are you female? I am and I am not asking to be sexist. I find that my male counterparts do not have these issues. That's neither here nor there but I agree with the sentiment that you need to be direct. Just send it back to her and say – call the client and get the info, thanks..or whatever. Also, I do not agree with you @1:37 who said they wouldn't let a paralegal "get in the way" of a client or career. I think that's a dangerous attitude. I take a more balanced approached and won't say one is above the other but I lean towards valuing my team in my office over clients. In fact, I detest most clients. Just be nice to the paralegal, but direct. Also- you got some other good advice above about not knowing her prior history??? or maybe you do, but it is possible she doesn't know the expectations of her or know what she is allowed to do. I work in an office where the paralegals are more like legal assistants and it sucks but I have worked in offices where the paralegals were far superior to associates and I got sideways with a lot of them because some were on power trips. Good luck!
Oops – this (@2:22) was meant to be in the "reply" to @1:13
>In fact, I detest most clients
@2:22 could literally be any of us
I am not a self-prescribed-modern-day-feminist by any means. But, when I say things to others (paralegals, secretaries) that are even half as direct as I've seen men attorneys in my office, I am always seen as a B word.
Female here. At my last firm I caught a secretary lying to my face. She tattled. I was talked to. Yet, there was a male partner who would constantly berate staff and attorneys with no repercussions whatsoever. Just seems to be the way it is.
Female attorney here. Been practicing over 40 years. My experience is that the "culture" of the firm comes from the top. If women are not respected by the staff it is likely because they are not respected by the senior partners.
Embrace your inner B word. I find that I get a lot more accomplished if the women support staff think I am as big an a$$hole as the men. I started out trying to be their friend, and give constructive criticism, etc. Very exhausting and, sadly for my self esteem, not fruitful. If you let them know you expect more from then and you will be an all out B…. if you don't get it, they are more productive. They don't invite me out to lunch as much, granted, but all in all, that's not a loss. Better time management all around, as they have to come back from lunch on time if I'm not with them.
Thank you for the perspective, 10:35. I appreciate that comment.
The comments today appear to show a difference in how some attorneys view staff. Are they part of the team? Or just "the help"?
Let's be honest. They're the help. They aren't as educated as we are. We are gods to them.
I think it depends on how engaged your staff is. I have always encouraged my folks to take an interest in the cases, and I take the time to explain the case and our strategies. Some staffers, both legal assts. and paralegals, buy in while some do not. Over 40+ years, I have learned that staffers can make my life much easier, safer and productive if they feel invested and valued.
I wrote the "help" comment. If you don't have hiring and firing authority, don't hang out with the support staff. They will use what they learn about you personally against you professionally.
If you can hire and fire, do what you want. I can hire and fire and I've had the same assistant 6+ years without a problem. She is free to give me feedback, positive or negative, because we have a straight forward working relationship. When I worked for a big firm I constantly had to worry that "my" assistant was undermining me to the higher ups. In that case, I very much treated her as the "help" and did not socialize her. We had a professional relationship and that is all.
I happened to look at that big Republic Services case on Odyssey today. Was curious to see if there was a judgment, motion for fees and costs, etc. Instead I saw that there was no judgment and that the case was just reassigned to Judge Jones due to "Attorney/Conflict." Very odd after there's already been a trial. Now a judge who knows nothing about the trial will have to rule on post-trial motions? Anyone know the story on this?
Pure speculation, but was appellate counsel brought in and that's what created a conflict?
Interesting that Polsenberg is opposing Claggett after being on Team Claggett for so many trials before. There are some nasty post-trial motions so perhaps thats where the issue lies
Lt. Dan, how's the shrimp?
All of Bluth civil cases reassigned per the order from the court on reassignments the other day.
Bluth reassignments–It is very odd indeed that a pending case with post trial verdict motions have been reassigned to another judge. Hope somoene knows the reason. Is Bluth going back on criminal?
Locks being changed at the Alverson Taylor former shithole.
You’d have to spend a fortune gutting that building for it to be remotely usable. Terrible design and outdated.
Eddie Haddad lost it?
Why do I have the feeling that Sean Clagget and his call center are moving into Alverson Taylor? To put his call center in there
Samuel Harding works for Clagget's super firm. That is a name from the past. Glad to see he is still around practicing after all these years.