Democrats: Stay Home This Year!

Alfred Youngwood makes financial contributions to the Democratic Party. If the following allegations are any indication, the Democratic Party has lost its direction. I urge all Democrats to stay home this year.

Tom -
{removed for privacy reasons}. The only days I'd had off were {} some weekends....hours of 9:30 - 11. Ugg.

I was working in the sweatshop of Paul Weiss under the supervision {removed for privacy reasons}. She was nice to me at times and at others would ask if I was billing my smile to office general. She would often make comments about what I ate, telling me that was why I was getting fat, etc, in front of the rows of people at my hellish former job. This was in addition to her announcing to myself that being a plantation manager was in her blood and motioning to the rows of African Americans working. We used to have to sign out to go to the bathroom, (I'm {X years old} and an admitted attorney), until someone started farting so much it was disturbing the entire room. We couldn't eat at our spaces and were constantly hovered. Nothing like passive aggressive bullshit.

Anyway, the point is, they blame you for the removal of all of the JD's from the projects at the hell that is Paul Weiss. Frankly, I don't care, because I am collecting unemployment, looking for a real job.

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In 2004 there were about 100 "jd paras" crammed into 2 concourse level basement rooms. One had aboout 6 inches of space on either side before rubbing up against the next person. Many of the people in those rooms were licensed attorneys.

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Hey Tom,

Thanks for writing back. Weiss is a true hellhole, worse than I expected. All the fire exits are blocked w/ boxes of documents, we have to use a public, concourse-level bathroom where homeless people bathe and "groom" (and preach the Gospel, too) there was a roach problem recently from other temps leaving food/crap in the basement, so the place stink of roach spray/bombs and there's Combat roach motels all over the place. The computer monitors are circa 1989 and the tubes are going bad, so the docs are very hard to read as the type/fonts are blurry. Also the ducting from the offices is ripped apart from a half-assed construction project and hot stale air from above pours in & makes the work space a constant 82-85 degrees.
On the bright side, there is no supervision whatsoever. Most people spend 1/2 to 3/4 of the day bullshitting, doing puzzles/games, reading pulp novels, and listening to ipods, etc. I feel like a leper.

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Hey Tom,

Weiss pulled a real bait & switch- 2 days after I started they bumped the mandatory weekday hour from 9 am -8:30 pm to 9am- 11pm! A fourteen hour day! We must take an hour lunch and a half-hour dinner, both unpaid, so we get paid for a 12.5 hour day! And 10-6 on Sat. is also required. Like it or lump it! All this for $21 an hour straight, time & half for OT. And we had a meeting today where the staff lawyer basically told us we were all morons, and to NEVER bother or speak to or breath near a real associate, b/c they don't have time to waste w/ us peons. She tried halfway hard not to be too condesceding, but it really does come screaming thru! She's always sending emails that begin w/ "Don't take this the wrong way, but..........."

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Being a biglaw attorney or doc. reviewer is truly the most miserable job in the world. I have never felt so utterly abused, degraded, condescened to, and just plain worthless. Weiss is the most miserable environment I've ever worked in.

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I feel like a leper. You were right on with your comparison to Triangle Shirtwaist. When I leave Weiss I'm calling 311 and reporting them for fire code violations, though they're so rich and connected I doubt anything would happen.