Pros
Pros: The satisfaction of knowing you survived one of the most (if not the most) toxic work places in Portland but got out soon enough to enjoy what’s left of your sanity and partially intact soul.
Cons
The pay is insulting for this type of work and the work load is disproportionate to the pay— honestly, you can make more as a receptionist downtown or a barista in training all over the city and not have to pinch pennies at home while managing vulnerable, sick people’s livelihoods. Clients are sold the idea that the firm is caring, compassionate place run by caring, compassionate people. That misconception leads to employees having to lie through their teeth about this god-forsaken place. The partners are narcissistic ego maniacs who regularly talk down to legal assistants across the firm. They have a habit of chewing out staff in front of others and behind closed doors. The HR department, if you can call it that, doesn’t hold anyone in leadership accountable for this type of behavior. They are fully enmeshed and has no impartiality. Also, you don’t have to be new to be put down or spoken to like you are a moron. If you aren’t one of their favorites that’s just part of the job. Speaking of favorites, the partners definitely have those. If you drink the coolaid, kiss up and survive long enough, you might get promoted— which sounds nice and might mean a tiny raise (tiny!) but it also means you had to leave your conscious somewhere back around the time you hit the 12-18 month mark. Also, most don’t stay here for more than a couple years. Commonly it’s a couple to a few months. The work culture is disingenuous, unsupportive, dysfunctional and saturated with cynicism and negativity. If you try to change anything about it the partners clamp down. Their old school, top down, “put you in your place” management style leads to disempowered, burnt out employees. There are no opportunities for ingenuity or honest conversations and growth. You’d think in a city like Portland, the leadership would have a progressive leaning management style and an inkling of empathy for their amazing (most of the staff are wonderful, hard working people) employees… but they don’t. The parters occasionally hint at caring about their staff but that’s tokenistic at best, there is always an agenda. I don’t trust any of them. Working here is hell.