"The cast walk on stage one at a time, like a scene from a Thornton Wilder play.
First you have David, the anal retentive, "tries to be funny" ex-airline pilot, who actually thinks this bullshit doc. review is just as important as battling a wing fire at 30,000 feet. I'd let the guy fly me anywhere.
One wonders how a guy like David who once captained 400 foot wingspans on 747's and flew combat missions or their equivalent(s) could derive any satisfaction whatsoever from wandering around a puppet firm as a boot-licking 3rd class citizen with a Hudson Legal license plate perpetually tied around his neck. You're better than this washed-up billing camp, David. Take back to the the skies. McCarter might pay better, but it's a colossal waste of your talent, and deep down you know damn well that I'm right. Life's short, don't waste it on this Seraquil crap. Not all of us have the balls to fly an airplane. You are better than this and we all f'ing know it. Use it.
The poor guy just seems to be worth much so more than this paper-churning straw-boss bullshit. Interestingly, a couple girls in my room have a huge girl-crush on him. He does wear a necktie every day. After all, we all gotta believe. Take back to the skies, David. I'm sure flying gets dull too, but you esp. are far better than this absurd paper-churning BS.
And then there's Vlad, a fat, jovial, semi-jolly, cigarette smoking sort of chap who counters David's "company man" routine with a nightclub bouncer's menacing, forceful, & vaguely threatening, yet somehow comical, heft. You'll like him.
Like Laurel & Hardy, they balance each other out. While David is the "by the book" "let's keep the client happy" type, Vlad has a refreshing "I don't really give a f++k" mentality, although his vague rebellions are often quickly squelched by David's anal-retentive," by the book geekishness.
Then there's the straw bosses Lisa & Omar.
Omar seems like a happy, accessible, honest down to earth type who (truth be told) would rather be anywhere than this miserable, top-down, authoritative NJ doc review shithole. Omar, if you're reading this, get the hell out! You seem like the type that would do well in any type of business, even sales! C'mon, you hate telling us to fold up our newspapers and get to f'ing work! You'd rather be accomplishing something positive for the world. God knows this bullshit Seraquil lawsuit is certainly not. I could see a guy like you doing well in pharma sales, IP, or even a totally non-legal field, making much better money than the Hudson crap-rate. You're a good guy and worth a lot more than this garbage, man. I'm dead serious.
Lisa can be nice, but she is way too anal about certain commands from above.
Each day they line up in groups of 50 for "intake", looking spiff plus with their Hillfiger ties and Macy's Alfani suits. Little do they know that a document coder can wear overalls with a wifebeater, corncob pipe, and pajamas and encounter no wrath. It's a 40 year wait until social security (and of course no 401k). By that I mean the best salary they'll ever be offered! Let's hear it for Hudson!
Sadly, the gig is like deja vu for us older coders, who've already been chewed up, swallowed, and spit out by the legal system. Yes, there's no meals, no internet, no car service, and certainly no respect for the soon to be infamous Seraquil review. As we speak, legends are being spun. No Internet access, no newspapers, windowless heat chambers, and the ubiquitous "gung ho troops" bullshit that would be expected as fry cooks at a KFC. Each document coder is alloted 32 square inches of personal space. The computers & monitors are rented; the lords of this project are Vlad, David, Omar, Lisa."
65 comments:
Yawn, we've seen all of this before...this smacks of a flame.
What on earth is so interesting about this project in Newark? I fail to match your fascination this time. It seems no different the hundreds of other projects going on across the tri-state area...and perhaps more boring and pointless than any other.
It's just the overactive imagination of some minkey temp clicker who has had one cup of coffee too many.
How about an update on the goings at Purdue Pharma or some other legendary temp dump?
Please, you're putting us to sleep here...
This blog puts too much focus on the NYC projects. While a Newark project is still a NYC metro project, at least it is a step in the right direction.
Only 32 square inches of space per person? Newark rental space has to be a hell of a lot cheaper than NYC space. Guess that means less overhead and more profit for Hudson and McCarter.
In case you forgot, you are TEMPS. This means you are not an associate and therefore NOT ENTITLED to cars, internet or meals. Haven't you gotten this through your think coder skulls yet?
TEMP= disposable. Seroquil does not approve your meal and car expenses. You don't like it? Tough sh*t.
Vote with your feet. Internet, meals and cars have value, value which isn't reflected in the hourly rate. I ALWAYS ask about these things before a project starts.
Temp does not equal disposable. If you treat the people doing your grunt work like animals, they will return the lack of respect tenfold. Smoking guns will slip through.
They should ban the internet firm wide. Every time I enter the associate's office, she is on the computer shopping. I highly doubt she is billing 2000 hours a year. Can anyone say padding? And they are paying this woman 200K a year?
9;27, If that is what you need to believe to stave off killing yourself, you go right ahead.
There is a reason you don't get benefits/cars/meals and the real attorneys of the firm DO.
If we fire you at 3pm, we can have 5 more doc reviewers in your place by 4pm. If that's not replaceable, I don't know what is.
uhm- what this 'we' business. you are just some idiot who is bored at work like the rest of us.
We? HAHAHA. Get over yourself. Keep carrying on your wet dream that you hold an equity interest in the firm. You are nothing more than an employee, a highly compensated wage slave. And when they fire your overpriced, highly expendable ass in the next several recession prone months, try not to get bruised too much when they throw your ass to the curb.
10:05, jealousy is a bitch, huh? Have fun coding! I'll go check my bank balance now. Thx. :)
Still more lies.
First, Omar and Lisa are temps who began with us. Last week, they and a few others were asked to be "Team Leaders". The rest of us were told to let Hudson know if we also wanted to be Team Leaders.
Second, the computers and space are not rented. This is an annex building owned by the firm, right next door to the firm's main office building.
Third, a few computers are designated as internet terminals for checking email etc. And in case no one told you, when you are being paid to work, you are not supposed to read the newspaper - duh.
Lastly, 32 inches of personal space? Did you really measure the length of the front of the desk? Also, this is an office building, so the interior rooms do not have windows, but the exterior rooms do have windows.
Although this post is slightly more factual than the last - at least the names are correct - it is still corny and fiction-filled. Like the last, this post strains to make something out of nothing.
One last thing - the picture of the police cars in the school yard? No where remotely near where we are working. We are downtown, in the business district.
Not a school yard, looks more like a prison, which exactly what these "jobs" are.
A few measly internet terminals on a project with hundreds of people is considered by most contract attorneys to be a project with no internet. Take that into account before agreeing to take on this 35 an hour benefitless project.
How would you know the annex is owned by the firm and not simply rented. Surely, you are an agency/firm hack.
Yes, 32 inches of space. I don't know exactly what your point is, but it is clear that like most other cattle calls we are crammed in like sardines.
Certainly, your allegation of fiction is merely fiction.
Hudson is a shady agency that employs shifty recruiters.
12:42, sounds like you are too good for this doc review project. Certainly you have a cushy associate position, right? No- let me guess, you are having a hard time chosing btwn your offers from Wachtell and Cravath.
To the rest of the loser clickers on here- thank your lucky stars you have the opportunity to make a few bucks. NO ONE OWES YOU SHIT BECAUSE YOU WENT TO LAW SCHOOL!
12:52 is obviously a bigger loser than the rest of y'all. Blackballed from every agency, are we????
Carrie Cheskin, is that you? Put out the cigg Carrie, it's not good for you. We don't your overdyed hair to fall out.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11112007/news/regionalnews/electro_cig_gives_faux_bacco_fix_596718.htm
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11112007/news/regionalnews/
electro_cig_gives_faux_bacco_fix_596718.htm
what's the matter , 1:03, not qualified to get on the Newark project??
MUHAHAHAH!
Anything with a license and a pulse is qualified to get on the Newark project.
12:42 - McCarter has been using its annex building for all of its Newark doc review projects for many years. The location couldn't be more convenient for New Yorkers, which is why there are so many of us there.
So, a few internet terminals is considered the same as a project with no internet access by most contract attorneys? Well, there's your problem. Some of you are desperately out of touch. Perhaps you should reconsider what you consider, and evaluate who is doing the considering.
Do you really turn down work at $35 an hour because they don't let you surf the net from the desk where you sit? (Frankly, I do not believe you.) You sound as if we are accepting lifeguard jobs with no beach. And it's funny, but the lifeguard earns a lot less, and he doesn't have internet access either. Wonder if he is sitting on his lifeguard chair complaining?
Also, that is the worst job advice I've ever received - turn down work that doesn't require internet access if the job doesn't offer internet access. Dog walker, turn down that offer - no internet. Meter maid - do not take the job. Policeman - don't do it unless they strap a laptop to your bulletproof vest.
You people amaze me. Do you really expect to be paid to read newspapers and surf the net? Haven't you ever had a job before? Is that the problem? Don't you know that people are supposed to do work at work?
And the accusations of people being agency or firm employees when they don't agree with you are silly - I'm temping there just like everyone else. And to put it mildly, it's not a glamorous position. But I never expected glamour. I expected a temp job at $35 an hour, and I got just that. And to be quite honest, I would rather make $35 an hour than $25 an hour. I'd rather make $35 an hour than $10 an hour.
Look, I feel sorry for anyone who realizes he has really high loans yet feels he has no talent. But, as with every other area of dissatisfaction in a person's life, sitting around complaining will not improve your lot in life. Complaining has never resolved anything but a person's desire to hear himself speak negatively.
I don't know what you were promised when you went to law school, but if you are grossly unhappy already, then you should prepare to suffer a long, slow, mental breakdown as more of these temp jobs are outsourced to India.
What will you do when these jobs are gone for good? I know exactly what you will do. Probably look back on these days as the "good old days". Fast forward 10 years - this will be you:
"Remember that Newark project? It was the best! We had 32 whole inches of space to call our own. A few internet terminals too! And overtime after 40 hours - it was $52.50 an hour and I was damn glad to see it. No, I wasn't intellectually stimulated, but I earned 4 times more than the average American family. To think that I wasted those years complaining about not being able to read the newspaper. Ahhhh, what a putz I was. What a whiny, short-sighted putz I was..."
These aholes bitching about no internet are like welfare recipeints complaining that their free project housing isn't on Park Avenue.
Reality check, my temping friends. Reality check.
9:17 you are miserable wretch. Your completely baseless argument is that those on this cattle car project, one should be happy just to be employed, while you (the agencies) are moving and more of this work overseas and these crappy working conditions are going to seem like "a golden era" in a few years. You are not dealing with slaves here, these are licensed professionals who have spent a good portion of their adult getting trained for this profession. Now, they graduate and cannot find suitable work, and understandably complain about being forced to work on this hideous project with substandard conditions.
And your reponse is, "Shut up, mush doggy".
I hate to tell ya buddy, but people on do this work because they are already broke and their dreams have been shattered and they have no other options. If you take this work away, you will see the pitchforks outside your window...
Your prediction is that these people's life and living conditions will considerably worsen? Why on earth did any of these people go to law school then, agency guy? To give the law school profs cushy high paying jobs? To make the student loan companies rich? To give the temp agencies a steady supply of underpaid, virtually inedentured workers?
You and your ilk are loathesome animals, feeding your useless carcasses off the dreams of others...you are a jackal.
I predict Alan Cohen's pickle of a penis will whither up and fall off.
4x the wage of your average family? Who is spouting fiction now? Hate to break it to you, but the average American earns $18 an hour. A $35 an hour job where the people on it are burdened by massive student loans from predatory banks (that have to paid with after tax income, by the way) which oftentimes eat up a third of their income, a job which provides NO health insurance and retirement contributions of any kind, and a job whose job security represents "employment at will" to the most extreme degree, where people can be kicked for a curb in a moment's notice is not the kind of cushy position that you make it out to be. I really don't see where you get the "4x the average salary of the American family" figure; perhaps you can elaborate. These jobs are also mind-numbingly boring, are dead end, and you are oftentimes treated worse than a 3rd world plantation nigger. I can surely see why people are bitter when many of them have spent 7 years acquiring expensive educations, and then have to jump through the hoops to acquire and maintain expensive state licenses only to find themselves in low-paying, tedious, dead end positions that only serve to jack up litigation costs for corporate america, while increasing the profits for biglaw and the agencies.
Well, judging by the 9:31 post, looks like Sybil is at it again, with the delusional, multiple personality BS. Using the royal "we" is just one of many signs of mental illness. So Sybil, why don't you go off into your corner, and fix yourself a nice vodka and drain cleaner martini?
The complaints about no internet do seem more than a little nitpicky, but you have to look at each project in its entirety. No internet does seem like a valid complaint if the project keeps you a virtual prisoner for inordinately long hours, but seems like whining if it's just a normal length day. I'd be more concerned about the general treatment of the temps. I'm not sure if all the rage should necessarily be directed at the temp agencies, which are merely beneficiaries of a profession which has lost its ability to manage itself properly. I see the true villains as being an iron triangle of the law school industry, the student loan racket, and those at the top of the profession who encourage the opening of ever more law schools so they can have more bodies to choose from and then dispose of.
Here in the Midwest, it's been a horrible year for temp jobs, as they seem to be incredibly scarce. So keep things in perspective- it could be worse.
The legal profession is a mess. The ABA, of course, is partly to blame. Part of the problem is that hiring a lawyer is still prohibitively expensive for many Americans. The ABA's liberal mantra is of course, "justice for all", and their solution is to pump out a greater # of lawyers every year. They must be now shaking their heads in dismay, however. Not only have legal services become MORE expensive, but this giant, nasty temp bubble exploded and came out of nowhere.
whine whine whine.
This blog is a joke, full of spoiled-brat kiddies who don't understand why their shit-pile attitudes haven't landed them offers at Sullivan.
I'll gladly go on netting my $2k a week while you slobs bitch and moan. You people made it through law school? Just another knock against the profession, I guess.
Watch out for the Allan Cohen comments. I hear he's ready to go crying to Abe Foxman at the ADL. Don't you dare compare his penis to a pickle. That's anti-Semetic!
Here's how you can defeat blocked internet. Don't let Hudson or these dirty firms prevent you from having access to the internet like they do:
All you have to do is launch a Windows application like Calculator, and then click the Help button. Under Help, click "Help Topics," which will bring up a help window. Next, all you have to do is right click on the title bar and select "Jump To URL." Now you can type in any web address you like, but make sure to include "http://" at the beginning. Basically what you're looking at is Internet Explorer 6 inside a help window, but this version of the program isn't quite as smart as IE6. It won't automatically add the http:// for you. And of course, there's no bookmarking feature.
Surf away, clickers! Fuck Allan Cohen! Fuck Hudson! Fuck McCarter English!
1:23, you go ahead and do that. don't be surprised when you get that call at 10pm that your assignment "is over". Guaranteed.
8-10 hours of staring at (and clicking on) black and white spreadsheets is nothing short of Chinese water torture.
Instead of just firing the people that abuse the internet, they cut it off for everybody, which lowers morale, and reduces the quality of work product.
Which begs the question, if Hudson Legal is hiring so many people that tend to unprofessionally abuse the internet, maybe they are not doing such a great job in screening, recruiting, and placing decent, hardworking people? Makes it hard to justify their sky high hourly placement fees, no?
unfortunately many attorney temps are a bunch of liars and cheats, and even with the best screening, they don't get caught till they are on the job. it happens in every industry. thing is, when attorneys cheat and lie the end up like that chicago doc reviewer who lied- disbarred.
I tend to agree. But I disagree with your assertion that the "best screening" goes on. Didn't Hudson allow a bunch of con-artists who weren't even lawyers onto one of their projects? Surely, your suggestion that the "bad apples" can't be caught until after they are on the project is incorrect, no? A two second search of a Social Security # and a quick search of the NYS OCA website would have caught those bad apples, no? Why is Hudson hiring criminals, and then treating their entire population of contract attorneys like lying and cheating criminals?
you can thank the firms for that. it's the firms IT people, NOT the agencies that make the call on whether or not to give internet access.
Well, that would make sense. McCarter English is admittedly a joke compared to the other NYC firms in terms of prestige and pay.
2:38- for the record it was only one person who pretended to be a lawyer and the funny thing is, HE ISN'T ONE THAT LIED/CHEATED ON HIS TIME SHEET! It was the "real" attorneys who did that and subsequently got fired. I was at 65 at the time, i remember all that madness.
Yeah, the "real" attorneys that worked directly for HHR were overbilling like crazy.
Coming soon to a Hudson project near you:
New ‘Big Brother’ Software Will Monitor Workers’ Facial Expressions
Posted Jan 16, 2008, 10:41 am CST
By Martha Neil
Privacy advocates, rev your engines: Microsoft is developing what a British newspaper describes as "Big Brother" software that will allow employers remotely to monitor their workers' productivity, competence and physical well-being to a degree never before seen.
Among other data, wireless sensors will provide employers with workers' heart rates and stress level, and determine whether they are smiling or frowning, according to the London Times, which bases its article on a patent application filed by Microsoft. More details about how the software likely would function are provided in another London Times article.
"Technology allowing constant monitoring of workers was previously limited to pilots, firefighters and NASA astronauts," the newspaper writes. "This is believed to be the first time a company has proposed developing such software for mainstream workplaces."
Civil liberties advocates, privacy lawyers and union representatives are concerned about the extent to which the software will allow employers to intrude into the private lives of employees while focusing on personal matters rather than the work actually being performed. “This system involves intrusion into every single aspect of the lives of the employees," attorney Hugh Tomlinson of Matrix Chambers tells the Times. "It raises very serious privacy issues.”
Microsoft declined to comment on the patent application, which could be approved this year.
this is great news! finally! something to weed out the shyster doc reviewers. hallelujah!
Maybe there's screening of the guys, but probably not. In large projects like Newark (what are there, like 200 guys?), I highly doubt it. And plus, how many of the guys were new to Hudson and simply filled out their W-2s on the spot? Go ahead and tell me there's screening in like the 5 minutes between the application is filled and the start-time of the project. Some people don't even hand in the paperwork until the day after!
as for the rented computers, i'd believe it. all you have to do is actually investigate a tiny bit and look for the rental company's sticker or whatever on the back of the computer or the bottom. and plus, the mousepads that have ads for the rental place, a dead giveaway.
I wouldn't be surprised if the computers and space where rented out for rock bottom prices and then heavily marked up by Hudson and the firm with the increased cost being passed on to the client.
I wouldn't be surprised if the computers and space where rented out for rock bottom prices and then heavily marked up by Hudson and the firm with the increased cost being passed on to the client.
what do you care how shit is marked up. it's not like you were going to get any of that money anyways. you get 35 an hour- the end.
Aren't we supposed to be striking soon? Where are those guerilla tactics?
I think the new monitoring software will be great. I'll be able to give Allan Cohen the finger and not even have to leave my seat.
And regarding the firms being the ones that restrict internet access: why then is EVERY Hudson project an internet-free zone? Coincidence?
The only way you can "give the finger" to them is to walk off the job and refuse to work with sweatshop slum lords like Hudson.
Anyone working on that Newark project will get what they asked for, treated like one of 500 rent-a-jackasses. If you have no choice, plug in your mp3, zone out and do your work and take the money, day by day hour by hour.
Everybody knows that this has the potential of being a trainwreck project...and you shouldn't have sent in our resumes if don't have the stomach for it. It's good that y'all are on this project, it will leave the better work for the rest of us.
It's also good that TTT is on the project and can give us the blow by blow...it will be entertaining, but i hope that are actually interesting developments, not the same stuff we've seen on every project.
Where is princess Zuckerburg? We are waiting for her to take her thrown on top of the garbage pile other wise known as Newark.
What was the story with the doc review guy whow as pretending to be a lawyer. Did he at least have a JD? Or was he pending admission? Did it constitute unauthorized practice of law? Or was he just fired and moved on...
Just curious.
I heard it was more than one, perhaps dozens of Hudson temps with false credentials.
That's why soon after that they started asking for transcripts and copies of JD's, to make sure you actually had a law degree. They've probably stopped doing that kind of vetting, because it just adds cost to their business, with no benefit to the agencies. They really don't care, but the firms and clients every so often squawk about it.
3:39- still obsessed with Julie Zuckerberg? Big deal, she's not the only cute girl/recruiter around. I last heard she got a cushy exec spot at Goldman Sachs.
Yeah right 3:39 - from sleazy temp recruiter to Goldman. You don't think anyone believes that garbage, do you? Why don't you post proof of that preposterous statement...we're waiting.
It would be nice if they check to see if people have the JD credentials. Otherwise I feel like a sucker getting a JD while others just lie about it and subsequently only get fired.
I thought that type of behavior constituted unauthorized practice of law leading to possible criminal charges.
If you only get fired than maybe its worth it for the layman to take such a risk (lying about a JD)
So 6 figure debt and some John Doe lies about his JD on the resume and gets the same job. Then when he/she is exposed, they are merely fired. What did I get the JD for!
There's too much fraud going on to really catch it all. There are good examples where the authorities caught on, like the Anderson Kill attorney that represented Purdue Pharma who lied about going to law school. He clearly lied about his credentials and was the target of legal action. Far too often in NYC it's a game of smoke and mirrors, with tons of questionably trained foreign lawyers, dubious JDs from 4th tier tiolets and a certain % of liars.
You would think that any agency would scrupulousy investigate every candidate, but many do not as it would cost too much money and time. Sometimes they check references, but that's a joke. For example there is a group of Nigerian women temps that use each other as references, none of whom has ever worked for the other. They just lie when necessary to get their fried the gig. The funny part was, one girl acting as a reference for another with whom I worked, was fired for fraudulent billing on her temp assignment. Some reference! This is absolutely true, because my friend working with her told me all of the details. She probably lied to another agency and is working somewhere else again (thanks to her friends professional reference) and overbilling away.
So some people are honest and some are not. I'm not saying the Nigerians in particular are more dishonest in general, but this actually happened. But my point is that some people (of all races and nationalities) lie all the time to agencies, fudge timesheets, etc. The sad part is, they punish the honest people on the projects too, not just the dishonest. So there is no incentive to be honest and trustworthy on the projects, beyond your own sense of ethics and professional resposibility.
the doc reviewers make 4 times the average household in the US because of the OVERTIME. the average household may make 18 an hour while the doc reviewers make 35 but do the get the chance to work 60 hours a week at 2,500 a week (52.50 an hour overtime)-- which comes out to 125,000 for the year. CLEARLY 4 TIMES THE AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD IN AMERICA
That's funny. I actually don't get overtime, but I bet the guy that makes $18 an hour does.
Also, $125,000 a year? 60 hour weeks, for 50 weeks straight? Highly unlikely, and even if it was, you would burn out and go bonkers doing this mindless bullshit by week 6, I assure you.
Yeah, the vast majority make in the $60 - 80k range for a full year. Most people can't stomach 70-80 hrs/wk for more than 2-3 weeks. And rarely do gigs with those hours last more than 2-3 months.
Occasionally you can hit the sweet spot and really cash in. But more realistically, expect the 2-3 week hell ride jobs, conference rooms full of nutcases bitching about everything imaginable...not knowing if you have work the next day, if you can expect overtime, whether you have to work the weekend. And anyone thinks working under these conditions is stress free is truly deluding themselves. Don't forge, too, the lack of reasonably priced healthcare or job advancement.
"Perhaps you should reconsider what you consider, and evaluate who is doing the considering."
What the hell does this mean?
Does this Newark Project require you guys to work OT? Some of you are syaing that it is suitable employment, while others are saying the ooposite. If it is suitable employment then , you guys if you truly are working on this assignment are in the best posssible position to speak up clear up all of the bullshit that is be said back and forth.
I keep getting calls from Update. Is it about this project?
Umm...definitely not...good to see you are staying in the loop.
Try Hudson
I've worked for Hudson before and told them I'm available for a placement. Should I take the position if they offer it to me? I'll be commuting from lower Manhattan. Are they providing car service? Thanks....
The drug name is spelled "seroquel" not "Seraquil". If you really work at this project you should have seen the correct spelling innumerable times by now.
who staffed this project? was it that whore julie zuckerberg? you girls watch out for that one. she hates women. jealous of them. she also preys on guys if she senses they are controllable. julie zuckerberg should be taking seroquel, not staffing its doc review. do not take my word for it either. just be aware of my warning that julie zuckerberg exhibits characteristics of one with psychological issues.
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