The Settlement

The case for which I did the damage calculation settled for an incredible $1.5 million -- a welcome and unexepected result given our weak damage position. I was satisfied to learn from my attorney that my damage calculation was in-line with defendants'. (I do not know if they had an expert calculation.) That means I did a good job on my hard math! Too bad I already received my holiday bonus. . .

Damages Calculation

My firm is getting ready to take a small class action case to mediation. Because the case is only worth $2 million, the attorneys did not want to hire an economist to calculate the damages. Instead, they had me calculate the damages.

I was an English major in college. I failed algebra 2 in high school.

Defendants gave us a spread sheet with raw data. The attorneys wanted a variety of calculations for damages and various statutory penalties. The calculations required me to tally the data in a variety of ways. While certain calculations were pretty easy, I had to get the data into shape upon which to base the calculations. I had to figure out formulas for calculating dates. For an economist or actuary that would be a no brainer. For a middle aged woman who defers helping her kids with their math homework, it was quite a challenge. At one point, I was certain my brain was going to ooze out of my ears. I actually developed a migraine headache -- and I never get migraine headaches, even when my daughter practices playing drums in the house.

Fortunately, I got deeply into the problem solving process so despite my frustration I was committed to figuring it out.

My Untenable Position

I am just the paralegal. Nevertheless, I seem to have quite a bit of responsibility and my attorneys rely on me. I don't have a problem with that. In fact, that is what contributes to my job satisfaction, i.e., having my narcissistic need to be needed satisfied. What is problematic, however, is finding my place in the firm. I have no idea how it is at other firms having no other paralegal experience, but in my firm I am really in some solo strata of the firm hierarchy.

Obviously, I am not an attorney. (Although I am highly educated. My boss used to brag about me when introducing me to colleagues. "This is our paralegal. She has a master's degree. . .")

I am also not a legal secretary. The legal secretaries in our firm have always been extraordinary professionals who knew things I never knew about legal work. But I was not one of them. I was not responsible for the day to scheduling, filing, preparing, calendaring, etc. I never had my own secretary like paralegals in the big defense firms so that relationship was never established. I always generated my own work product with help only in a pinch. I always feel awkward asking for secretarial assistance even though there are times when I could really use it.

This is sometimes a problem for me. I have no compadre, no cohort, no real peer in my workplace so I am left to negotiate the hierarchical dynamics on my own.