Coffee and Secretary Forum

[Thesaurus]

And a legal assistant isn't coffee. I do not understand your analogy here. You choose to drink coffee. You can get it yourself.

It was more of a joke than an actual analogy tbh, but coffee contributes to alertness and focus, so it's literally helping you do your job

[landshoes]

I think this problem could be solved by having general purpose runners who do stuff like this. That would be awesome and you probably wouldn't have to pay them that much.

In my dream world they'd also go get you office supplies from the office supply people and water your sad plants

[rpupkin]

Actually, the best explanation for why it's rude is that it's no longer normal for a lawyer to ask a secretary or assistant to get coffee. This isn't about logical rules; it's about professional norms. There is a business logic to the practice of administrative assistants helping out with personal tasks (which DF makes the case for above), but it's just not an acceptable thing in 2017.

Hm, I disagree to the extent this seems to imply that professional norms evolve without any relation to logic.

I didn't intend to imply that, but I do think that whether a professional norm is logical in some abstract sense is irrelevant to the question of whether an attorney--particularly a junior attorney--should follow the norm in the office.

[Anonymous User]

I think this problem could be solved by having general purpose runners who do stuff like this. That would be awesome and you probably wouldn't have to pay them that much.

In my dream world they'd also go get you office supplies from the office supply people and water your sad plants

I feel like I am very low maintenance in what I ask my assistant to do, but I definitely ask her to get office supplies. Is that out of line?

[landshoes]

I think this problem could be solved by having general purpose runners who do stuff like this. That would be awesome and you probably wouldn't have to pay them that much.

In my dream world they'd also go get you office supplies from the office supply people and water your sad plants

I feel like I am very low maintenance in what I ask my assistant to do, but I definitely ask her to get office supplies. Is that out of line?

I just summered; I have no clue. I doubt it? But I can't tell if people are talking about assistants (like paralegals) or assistants (like secretaries) b/c at my firm they are very different.

[Anonymous User]

There was an instance at my firm where a partner asked their legal assistant to book a family vacation for him, she wasn't thrilled, asked him "Why am I doing this?, he replied "Because you're good at it" which inevitably led to, "Because I'm a woman, right?"

[sublime]

I think this problem could be solved by having general purpose runners who do stuff like this. That would be awesome and you probably wouldn't have to pay them that much.

In my dream world they'd also go get you office supplies from the office supply people and water your sad plants

I feel like I am very low maintenance in what I ask my assistant to do, but I definitely ask her to get office supplies. Is that out of line?

Is she just ordering them within the firm or does she have to like go to Staples? Where I'm at, ordering supplies internally is expected, whereas we are explicitly not allowed to ask for coffee or other personal help, for the reasons others have mentioned.

[Nebby]

Why is this still going

[cfcm]

I think this problem could be solved by having general purpose runners who do stuff like this. That would be awesome and you probably wouldn't have to pay them that much.

In my dream world they'd also go get you office supplies from the office supply people and water your sad plants

I feel like I am very low maintenance in what I ask my assistant to do, but I definitely ask her to get office supplies. Is that out of line?

Is she just ordering them within the firm or does she have to like go to Staples? Where I'm at, ordering supplies internally is expected, whereas we are explicitly not allowed to ask for coffee or other personal help, for the reasons others have mentioned.

Sorry this was me earlier accidentally anon. Just ordering them from our internal supply room.

[sublime]

All good. That seems fine to me at least.

[bk1]

I think this problem could be solved by having general purpose runners who do stuff like this. That would be awesome and you probably wouldn't have to pay them that much.

In my dream world they'd also go get you office supplies from the office supply people and water your sad plants

Silicon Valley is way ahead of you.

[landshoes]

In downtown NYC ordering postmates is as much of a pain in the ass as just doing it yourself. It's cool in the bay area because everything is so hilariously spread out

[homestyle28]

Pro-tip: spend first year treating your secretary well, give him/her giant Xmas bonus, ask how the weekend was, how are the kids etc. Meaningfully engage them in their lives and into your work. That way they'll want to actually help you out and won't begrudge grabbing you coffee if you're ever truly so under the gun you need someone to grab coffee for you. Then, next time you're not slammed and run out for coffee, ask if they want YOU to grab one for THEM.

Or you know, just be a decent human being. Whatevs.

[dixiecupdrinking]

If you need a 100 post TLS thread to figure this out, you're going to end up making so many unconscious faux pas that this one won't even register.

[rahulg91]

Give him/her giant Xmas bonus.

...wait, what. Associates give bonuses to secretaries? Why wouldn't equity partners do that. Is this common practice?

[LaLiLuLeLo]

Give him/her giant Xmas bonus.

...wait, what. Associates give bonuses to secretaries? Why wouldn't equity partners do that. Is this common practice?

Gift is a better term, but it's usually cash. I've heard $100 x class year though it depends.

[rahulg91]

Give him/her giant Xmas bonus.

...wait, what. Associates give bonuses to secretaries? Why wouldn't equity partners do that. Is this common practice?

Gift is a better term, but it's usually cash. I've heard $100 x class year though it depends.

Lol @ this "profession"

[Nebby]

Give him/her giant Xmas bonus.

...wait, what. Associates give bonuses to secretaries? Why wouldn't equity partners do that. Is this common practice?

Gift is a better term, but it's usually cash. I've heard $100 x class year though it depends.

Lol @ this "profession"

You are quite the reservoir of bad opinions

[rahulg91]

You are quite the reservoir of bad opinions

Thanks breh. Your wisdom is truly appreciated.

[rpupkin]

Give him/her giant Xmas bonus.

...wait, what. Associates give bonuses to secretaries? Why wouldn't equity partners do that. Is this common practice?

Gift is a better term, but it's usually cash. I've heard $100 x class year though it depends.

Lol @ this "profession"

Giving an annual gift (or a gift card) to a secretary is not unique to the legal profession. It's the norm in most professional environments.

[emkay625]

Give him/her giant Xmas bonus.

...wait, what. Associates give bonuses to secretaries? Why wouldn't equity partners do that. Is this common practice?

Yes. This is not just in the legal world, either. It's pretty much common practice in every sector to get your secretary a holiday present. They generally get you one in return.

Common gift is cash. Also gift cards. Last year I gave cash, in return she got me a beautiful holiday cookie platter (I love to bake and was hosting a holiday dessert party the next week.)

[Thesaurus]

How many professional/office workers outside of the law actually have secretaries though?

[rpupkin]

How many professional/office workers outside of the law actually have secretaries though?

Well, there's a difference between "professionals" and "office workers." Most people who work in an office are performing various clerical and administrative tasks [insert joke about copying and pasting rog responses here], and those office workers generally don't have secretaries.

As far as professionals go, I'd say most professionals have secretaries or their equivalent, though it varies from sector to sector. Secretaries are common in business and finance, but less common in medicine. There are fewer secretaries in tech, but engineers never really did depend on secretaries in the same way that other professionals did. Once you get on the business side of tech, you find roughly the same secretary/admin-assistant arrangements that you find in other professions.

[A. Nony Mouse]

How many professional/office workers outside of the law actually have secretaries though?

They're not at all unique/specific to law, and I don't know why you'd think that.

[sublime]

Give him/her giant Xmas bonus.

...wait, what. Associates give bonuses to secretaries? Why wouldn't equity partners do that. Is this common practice?

Gift is a better term, but it's usually cash. I've heard $100 x class year though it depends.

Lol @ this "profession"

If you are getting a $15k bonus, I'm p sure you can break off $200 for your assistant. Come on.