Advice needed - to alert them or not?

[lisalisa]

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definitely tell them that you are under resourced but are aware of there being work you could do going to other people... make sure it is all documented.. get some advice from employment lawyer... if you are senior, you need to be proactively managing situation... maybe they are waiting for you ... have you had a meeting woth senior partners, rater than just email?

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i would have thought they would have to carefully consider the issue of suitable alternative employment as well tho before making you redundant - ie. refocussing you towards residential development or property finance.

i agree with loudmum that it would probably be useful to get advice from an employment lawyer as to how best to "play" this

i would have thought they would have to carefully consider the issue of suitable alternative employment as well tho before making you redundant - ie. refocussing you towards residential development or property finance.

i agree with loudmum that it would probably be useful to get advice from an employment lawyer as to how best to "play" this

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Lisalisa

Do you have a marketing department/marketing support in your firm?

I think your idea of moving into a new area is a good one but it's also possible to improve your rainmaking record, providing you have enough support from your marketing team.

If you talk to the most senior marketing person they should be able to present you with ideas either for a campaign to extend your following or on how you might benefit from forthcoming marketing initiatives, even if they are not designed for your specialisation.

Try the professional marketing forum for some basic inspiration about possible tactics to help you.

Unfortunately it's a long term fix and not guaranteed to raise your billable hours right now, but it might also provide you with a stronger case if your senior partners do decide to take action.

But you say that they have taken on other members of staff, so how can you be redundant? If there is insufficient work for all the new staff and you, then they should make a newer member of staff redundant and not you. Smacks of sex discrimination to me - and believe me, just because they are solicitors doesn't mean that they hold all the cards/know how to operate the system. If you are part-time and are being treated differently as a result, this is sex discrimination (because the majority of part-timers are women).

I wouldn't necessarily bandy that phrase about at this stage, but, if you hear/fear any rumblings about redundancy, then dropping it casually into conversations might be a good idea.

If there is room for you to move into other areas for which you are not qualified, how about getting your firm to send you on some appropriate courses (which would help towards your continuing education points too).

I think it might be an idea to discuss the possibility of training for the other work because you are interested in expanding your skills rather than saying 'because I've run out of my own work'. That way you can explore the possibilities without having made any admission about lack of work.

agree with sis on the positive spin

Absolutely agree with sis! - one thing you haven't said is whether you yourself really want to move into those other fields? Re prop finance, I'm not a property lawyer but I work in a financing dept and there is a crying need for people to do those sorts of deals. It ain't always the funnest way to earn one's living though (hence the demand ...)

Further notes below presume that your firm has a lot more work in those fields.

If expanding your field really does appeal, then I would have a gameplan. Find out what the field covers, what training would be useful, conferences, etc., what your firm already does in those areas, who the teams are. Talk to the team leader who seems to do the most and say you're interested in spreading your wings (flannel flannel) and you'd like to discuss how you could best help build the resources of that department.

As my bosses have said a bit cryptically in my reviews "it's all about building your own profile" [translation: if you want your summers off, no partners dining room for you].

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Lisalisa, I'm a PA in a City corporate law firm, so not sure I can be that helpful but my advice is this. Could you not email all the partners in your firm just saying that you are available for any work, whether it be a new deal or assisting/ overseeing more junior lawyers in their deals. If they respond that there is nothing available at the moment, could you not just say that you are concerned about your billable hours. Not sure what firm you work at or how large, but what about offering to do some work for an internal CPD seminar or something. It won't help your billable hour situation, but it'll give you something to do and then should the situation arise you can't say that you hadn't offered your services out continuously. Both my seven year qualified boss and I are due to go off on maternity leave in the next month or so, and she hasn't been given any client work since the beginning of this year, which to be honest is making us both feel pretty redundant, so I fully appreciate how you feel.

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hi lisalisa - sorry you're feeling so down about work. Im not a lawyer so not sure how helpful i can be but surely from what ive read your employer would have to explore alternative suitable roles for you before making you redundant. Maybe alerting them to your predicament may help your case as opposed to everyone knowing you havent much to do but keeping schtum about it - thereby making yourself a taker rather than a giver IYKWIM. Maybe a meeting with your senior partners would give rise to an alternative position being available at another firm

Nothing constructive to add to your predicament, I'm afraid, but just wanted to sympathise, particularly as I have read your nanny situation on the other thread. Ironically, I too have a Hungarian nanny who is "ill" at the moment and making long faces at me. She has had a couple of days off and I'm just waiting for her to hit me with some more over the next week or so. Is there anyone at all at work you can speak to about this in an "unofficial" way, or someone in the same field but not in your firm?

Lisalisa - sorry to hear your situation - it doesn't sound like much fun. Do you know what you want to do - forgetting all practicalities for a moment what would your ideal life be like? I'm asking this because from your posts I can't work out whether you want more work or want to be forced to change. if you know what you want then you can plan to get there - it may not work but you should feel back in control of the situation and I get the impression from your posts that quite a lot of the problem is you feeling unable to do anything about it.

Gizmo's suggestions are good - if you can start taking positive action you will feel more positive - and you'll also find yourself turning into the sort of employee that no firm would want to lose - even with temporary blips in billable hours.

I work fulltime and know from experience how draining it can be when you're juggling domestic difficulties and work, particularly when work doesn't seem exciting or rewarding. I strongly urge you to do something, it doesn't get better left alone but please try and think about what you want, not what your firm or family want although these are both important, particularly the latter.

Good luck with the soul searching!

Hiya Lisalisa,
I remember the thread from the first time you posted on this subject. And let me preface this post with the fact that I am no lawyer, so there are definitely others here who are more qualified than I am to advise. But, I'm not one to keep to myself, so here are my thoughts.

You are concerned abour the possibility of alerting the senior partners to the situation and hence expediting the possibility of redundancy. My first reaction is to question whether they don't already know about it. It's been going on for some time. I would think it's probably known to them already. If you contact them, they can see that you are being proactive. If you don't contact them, you risk having them know about the situation but not knowing that you are doing anything about it.

Also, you mention that you deleted earlier e-mails on this subject. Do you have any evidence that might show you expressed these concerns before more junior staff were hired. That might be a handy piece of evidence to demonstrate that the firm should not have hired the junior staff, and hence would not be justified in letting you go.

Also, re the sexual harrassment comments. I completely understand you not wanting to toot that phrase, but I wonder if their practices conflict with flexible working rights (which is of course not specific to women -- well, not in theory although it might be in practice).

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HURRAY, HURRAY! I'm shouting back at you because I'm sure the relief must be immense! Is it the same field? Will you be put on garden leave? Now you just have to sort out the nanny! Wonder what is so wonderful about Hungarian healthcare - my nanny took off there for a week last year as well to get something checked out.

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Im very happy for you lisa - well done

CONGRATS!