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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/twinmom2298 on 2025-06-25 19:29:56+00:00.

This happened many years ago but I was just reminded of it last night by a former co-worker.

I got my degree in business with a paralegal minor. Worked as a paralegal for a few years before moving to a new city. Upon arriving in new city I found that legal secretaries got paid OT while paralegals didn’t and with very similar base salaries and similar work hours at the end of the day the legal secretaries made more money. So I took a job as a legal secretary.

I worked directly for 2 attorneys. One (L) had a couple years’ experience, knew I had education and experience to be a paralegal and utilized me as such. Other (B) was fresh out of law school and newly passed Bar Exam. He had a massive “I’m the lawyer” chip on his shoulder.

One day named partner (NP) who was notorious for flying off the handle at mistakes assigns B to prepare some legal documents. Instead of saying “hey NP needs documents on this file to handle this issue” and having me do them he takes the time to actually dictate the documents. As I’m working on them I realize he’s made a logistical mistake. He’d drafted the document in a way that would result in it not being legally enforceable.

I go to his office and explain “hey I was working on this and I noticed X and that’s not how that works. You need to have it do Y instead or it won’t be enforceable”

He says “I know what I’m doing and that’s the way it needs to be done so just do it as I dictated it.”

Yep of course absolutely. I went did it his way, reminded him when I handed it to him that we’d had prior conversation and that I’d completed the document exactly as he’d wanted it. He happily nods and off he goes to NP to give him the “finished” work.

Less than 30 minutes later NP is in B’s office door way throwing a hissy fit that document was prepared that way. "YOU CAN’T DO THAT??? YOU’VE LITERALLY MADE THIS DOCUMENT WORTHLESS!!! " blah blah blah. I sat out in my cube and hid behind a piece of paper while NP told B to prepare the document exactly how I’d told him it needed to be prepared.

I wish I could say that going forward B listened to me when I raised concerns but he only lasted a year and in that time never lost the “I’m the lawyer you’re not” attitude.

Meanwhile years after I left that job, joined corporate world and moved up in my career I was still close with NP who actually referred my company business and I attended his funeral when he past a few years ago.