Pros
*this review is only of my time at this workers compensation defense Firm, which was for a decade. I went from associate, to senior associate, to Partner. I have gotten a Take-Nothing before at court. I am going to be as candid and frank as possible.
-fully remote, so you save gas money and time coming into the office, and makes for excellent work life balance.
-women owned and extremely inclusive.
-full autonomy, for the self motivated who give it their all. If your cases are going well, and there are no issues, then you are left to your work. This my favorite aspect of the job. They tell you want they want, you give them what they want, and everything is fine. No games, no passive aggressive.
-management encourages managing partners to put associates in a positions where they are doing the type of work they excel at. They WANT you to succeed.
-they give positive reinforcement, if you do an excellent job, they make it known. I highlight this because there are absolutely companies who actually do NOT like their objectively hardest working employees, and keep them in a constant state of stress, not knowing where they stand - crazy, I know!!! Testan Law is very much is a meritocracy, which was excellent.
-extremely collaborative, if you run into complex or obscure legal issues, you can reach out to the general counsel. No one shames you or belittles you for asking questions.
-reasonable caseload and very reasonable performance expectations.
-vacation policy is excellent. Always approved, they lock you out of the system, so you literally cannot work on your time off. Again, truly promotes work life balance. I took many long vacations without issue.
-excellent support staff and HR system in place.
-you work with some of the toughest, and truly brilliant people in the industry. Management leads by example and actions. So any time I worked hard, I knew all of my superiors did the same, typically more! Truly impressive work ethic, with humility. It is INSANE how tough and disciplined everyone is, without really mentioning it at all. Honorable mentions, in no particular order, go out to: Susan Novell, Ryan Edwardsen, Ann Mariani, James Owen Golden, and Michael Costello. There are many others, but I am preserving their anonymity.
-the leadership is both reachable, and approachable. They went above and beyond for me, and are extremely fair.
- the best CA work comp defense Firm in the private sector. That is my strong opinion. Many people at Testan have been there for over a decade.
-excellent support staff, that know how to prep med-legal letters and trial exhibits. They really give it their all, and are trainable.
-I left the Firm for an opportunity that was best for me. It had nothing to with the work, nor the management. The last 3 and a half years in particular stood out as the happiest professional years of my life. When I put my notice in to leave the Firm, they did not just show me the door. They were super supportive, and wished me the absolute best.
Cons
-IT support sometimes be a drag when you run into technical issues. The Firm is totally supportive and totally understands if you do not have access to the system. And IT for the most part, does their best to get you up and running again right away when you run into issue.
