fall out

Yesterday was full of drama.

I basically was attacked by a partner via email for absolutely NO reason whatsoever. I had been handling a file for him for quite some time. Back in early summer, I negotiated a settlement, got those terms put into a consent judgment so that if it was breached, we had a valid judgment that we could use to go after the defendant. Great. Partner was happy.

Flash forward about six months. The agreement we negotiated gave the defendant six months to pay us, with credits for every early payment he made. Well, he didn't pay squat. He was in breach of the terms of the consent judgment, so Partner authorizes me to figure out how we're going to collect, since this guy is down in a suburb of St. Louis. I do some research and determine that we need an attorney down in the St. Louis area to handle the transfer of judgment and collection process for us. I tell Partner. He says he will find an attorney.

I wait for a couple weeks. Partner has still not found an attorney.

Finally, about three weeks later, I get a voicemail from Partner, saying he met a St. Louis attorney at a seminar he was attending in Windsor, and gave me his email address and name so I could email him the party names for a conflict check. The second that I hung up the phone from listening to that voicemail, I emailed Mr. St. Louis.

I wait for about 3 weeks. Partner checks in every so often asking if I've heard back from Mr. St. Louis. The answer is no.

Finally I get a message from Associate M, an associate in the firm of Mr. St. Louis. She will be handling the matter. By this time, it has been close to two months since Partner first said he wanted to collect this judgment. Associate M and I discuss the case and she tells me she will run a conflict check and get back to me on exactly what I need to send her so that she can register our Michigan judgment in Missouri.

I wait for another week and a half. Finally Associate M emails me to tell me that the matter cleared the conflict check and she needs me to send her a certified judgment. Partner comes into my office the very next day around noon and asks me what's taking so long. I tell him that I just heard back from Associate M the day before and that the matter just cleared their conflicts check and I am going to get the certified judgment and send it to her. He is impatient and says that I should send a runner to get the judgment that afternoon and overnight it to St. Louis.

So I do. The certified judgment goes out via FedEx overnight that very afternoon. Associate M receives the judgment the following day, on a Friday.

Wednesday of the following week, Partner asks for a status report. I email Associate M to confirm she received the judgment and to find out what day she filed it with the Missouri court and how long we will have to wait before we can execute on it. She replies that she is confirming the county in which the business is located so that she can file correctly and that she will have it done that week. Remember, this is Wednesday, so she is saying she will have it filed by Friday. I forward her email to Partner. He responds in a rage, telling me that isn't fast enough and to tell her to do it faster.

Fine. I email her back and tell her that we are getting heavy pressure from our client to get this thing finished and that it would be best if she filed it the next day. She replies and tells me that she will make sure to file it the next day. I pass this along to Partner and assure him that it will be done. All of Partner's outrage has resulted in having the judgment filed ONE DAY earlier. Congratulations, Partner.

At least we thought it would be filed one day earlier. I got an email from Associate M yesterday morning. She had sent it at the end of the day on Tuesday. In it she attaches the filed documents and lays out her plan of action. I immediately forward the email to Partner and send the attachments to the printer. Before I even have an opportunity to look at the attachments, I get a beligerent email from Partner, on which he has cc'd the head of our Associates Committee and another associate in the firm. He completely goes off on me, demanding to know why I lied to him about it being filed the Thursday before when the timestamps on the filings clearly show they weren't filed until Tuesday. He implies that I have been lying, hiding things from him, and that I am incompetent and incapable of handling this matter. Then he asks me if I think I can handle it and if not, to immediately pass the file off to the associate he copied on the email.

Before I go further, I should explain that in the world of a lawfirm, having a file taken away from you and given to another associate under the cloak of your not being able to handle it is the most viscious, condescending act that a partner can take against you. Having a partner cc the head of the Associates Committee on a nasty email without first speaking with you is probably the second most shameful event. Having one of your peers also cc'd on that email is just dispicable. Were it not for the fact that I am leaving in just about a week and a half, I would have cowed down to Partner and apologized, despite my having done absolutely nothing wrong.

But I am leaving. And I'm not taking this kind of bullshit arrogance from anyone around here anymore. So I emailed Partner back. In part because I wasn't going to just let it go knowing that I had absolutely no fault in this collection process being delayed, in part because when something like this is put in writing by a Partner, you need to get your own side of the story memorialized in writing as well so that your ass is covered. My CYA email follows:

Partner,

I assure you that I am fully capable of handling this matter. That said, I have been meaning to come down and speak with you because I will be leaving the firm at the end of this month. I'm not sure whether or not you were aware of that. If you feel that this matter would be better handled by somebody other than myself, by all means, I'd be happy to fill in Associate S or another associate on the goings on in the file today.

I must say, though, that I feel I have handled this matter in the best way possible. I do not appreciate your frustration and anger being directed at me over the length of time it is taking for the St. Louis lawyers to handle this matter. I have been completely up front with you on all of my dealings with them. I will remind you that this is the law firm that you selected. Last week, on 2/8, when I assured you that the judgment would be filed the next day, that was because Associate M, the associate handling the matter in St. Louis, assured me that it would be filed the next day. I will forward you my emails with her, but they will reflect that I informed her that we were getting pressure from our client to get this matter taken care of right away and that we needed it filed the next day. She told me that she would copy me on the filings, and I presumed that she would be mailing me the copies. When I received that email this morning, it was the first I found out that she hadn't filed until Tuesday.

From what I understand from Associate M's email, it appears that Missouri law differs from ours. Instead of requiring a wait period (i.e. 21 days in Michigan) upon filing the judgment before an execution may be filed, Missouri allows an attorney to file an execution immediately, but requires a 30 day wait period before they may begin collection upon that execution. What she is apparently telling us is that in Missouri, one needs to identify the piece of property before filing the execution.

I have not authorized any investigator. Associate M should have been aware of the location of the business and thus the fact that there was no need for an investigator, but I have contacted her and told her not to hire an investigator and to file an execution asap so that the 30 day wait period will begin to run.

I am not sure why you approached me via email with such hostility or why you copied both Partner B and Associate S on the email, but I have left Partner B copied so that he is aware of what actions I am taking in response. I don't believe Associate S was a necessary party to any of this. If you would like me to pass the file to Associate S right now, please let me know. Otherwise, I will continue to work with Associate M and see what has been done since she filed the judgment on Tuesday. I would ask that you come to me with any issues you may have before involving unnecessary parties. I consider that to be the level of professional respect that I would pay to you, and likewise would expect only the same. I hope that we will not be parting on hostile terms, Partner, as I have appreciated the work you have given to me during my time here and have learned a great deal from you.

The worst part is that when I said I've appreciated the work he's given to me, I was being completely honest. He's a beast to work for, and most associates bitch about him constantly, but I have always chimed in that I enjoy working for him. Add to that the fact that I'm actually quite friendly with this partner and have many times enjoyed grabbing drinks with him, or sharing a pool table at the bar. To have him attack me when I'm feeling so good and so free because of my forthcoming departure from the firm just pissed me off even more.

But truly, this little event just emphasizes why I'm so glad to be getting out of this place.