The firm had cut back. The associates no longer had their own secretaries. Instead, each of the associates shared a secretary with another associate. Gini and Max shared Brenda. In spite of the fact that Brenda passed off some of the work to the typing pool, she was soon complaining about the workload. She eventually quit because of it. Other secretaries were also complaining.
The ladies in the typing pool worked at night. Most of the attorneys had little or no contact with them. This was because the work was funneled through their supervisor, Clark. Clark was from Jamaica and had that wonderful accent. He was very easy going, but he ran a tight ship. His task was now made more difficult because of the firm’s reaction to the complaints of the secretaries. This reaction consisted of creating a typing pool consisting of three women who worked during normal business hours. Sally had started out on the night shift but had convinced Clark to move her to the new day shift as soon as that shift was created. She must have been rather astute when it came to office politics because she soon convinced the personnel department to make her one of the four people to be interviewed for the secretarial position vacated by Brenda. Convincing the personnel department to do that could not have been easy. Being a competent legal secretary involved a lot more than typing, and Sally had no experience as a legal secretary.
Max left for lunch at eleven-thirty. He liked to go to lunch early. The restaurants are less crowded then, and his work was less likely to be interrupted when the rest of the firm was at lunch. He was waiting for the elevator after eating. When the doors opened he found himself face to face with an absolutely gorgeous women. She was almost as tall as he was. She had long brown hair, big brown eyes and a terrific figure.
“Hi, Max.” She smiled at him.
“Hi.” He smiled as he stepped out of her way.
He watched her walk away. She turned her head to look at him, and she offered him a little wave of her hand. He waived back at her, wondering who she was. She was not someone he had seen before. He was sure of that. There was no way he would have forgotten her. That afternoon he and Gini interviewed two of the women who were applying for the secretarial position. They were not very impressed with either woman. They would interview Sally and another woman tomorrow.
Max arrived at the firm early the next morning. As he was walking to the elevator another strange women greeted him with a smile. “Good morning, Max.”
“Good morning.” She was a petite brunet. She did not wow him with her looks, but she was attractive. She was vaguely familiar. The problem was that he could not say where he had seen her before. He took the elevator up to the floor where his office was located. He went to the break room and poured a cup of coffee. He then walked to his office, set the coffee cup on his desk, and started sorting through the stack of papers. The interviews were going to take time, and he had a lot of work he needed to finish by tomorrow.
At ten o’clock Gini called to tell him it was time for the first interview. The woman they were interviewing had three years of experience as a legal secretary. She was very proper and businesslike. Which is to say that she was not what you call engaging on a social level.
After the interview Gini asked him what he thought.
“She’s confident and probably efficient,” Max replied.
“Yes,” Gini agreed. “Let’s see what the next one has to offer.”
At eleven they interviewed Sally. She was young and vivacious. She was not a head turner, but she had a charming smile she used to good advantage.
He and Gini decided to discuss the applicants over lunch.
“As far I’m concerned it’s between Sally and the first one we interviewed today.”
“I agree.” The fact that Gini did not use the first one’s name told Max something.
“I know Sally doesn’t have any experience, but I like her,” Gini said.
“So do I. Her enthusiasm tells me she’s a quick study.”
“That’s right, and there are some advantages to training her. She’ll be more inclined to do things the way we want them done. On the other hand, I am impressed by the other one’s experience. Let’s sleep on it. We’ll decide tomorrow.”
Max worked late that night. He finished dictating the answer to a complaint filed against one of the firm’s clients. He looked at his watch. It was nine o’clock. All of the secretaries had left for the night. He took the dictation tape to Clark.
“It’s an answer to a complaint. Do you think you can have it transcribed in an hour?”
“A single tape. No problem, mon.”
“Good because I’m starving. I’ll be back after I eat.”
“I’ll put it on your desk for you.”
“Thanks. By the way, we just finished interviewing someone on the day shift.”
“Sally.”
“Yes. What do you think of her?”
“She’s good at what she does. She’s also pleasant to have around.”
There was something about the way Clark said it that made Max think Clark was holding back some information. “That’s it?”
Clark hesitated for a moment. “Well, I t’ink she might be a bit too ambitious.” Clark rarely said anything bad about anyone. He also tended to understate things.
“You mean like leaving the typing pool to become a secretary.”
“Yes.”
If that was all it was, Max was not going to hold it against her. “Anything else.”
“Noo, dat’s it.”
When Max returned from dinner, he found a print out of the complaint sitting on his desk. A floppy disk containing the transcription was sitting on top of the print out. He gave the print out a quick a read. He then plugged the disk into his computer and made a few minor changes.
He printed it out the next morning and had a messenger file it with the court. He then met with Gini.
“Clark said he thinks Sally’s too ambitious.”
“He’s probably just irked because he’s losing her. I think we should hire her.”
Sally reported to her new job on Monday. She and Gini were standing in front of the filing cabinet when Max approached them.
“I was just showing her how to file. Is there anything you’d like to change?”
“Yes. I think our comments and observations should be filed with the deposition transcripts.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s too easy to overlook those comments and observations. I’m thinking of the Pool case.”
“What about it?”
“Well, in that case it probably did not make much difference because Pool was a party to the suit. So the partner handled his deposition. But if he was a witness who turned out to be important, my observations could have made a difference.”
“What happened?” Sally asked.
“Many of the witnesses talked about how Pool had lorded it over everyone, and about how he had boasted about being a good friend of the CEO of the company. That CEO was running a major scam. Pool was accused of aiding and abetting. He did not help himself when he was questioned about his relationship with the crook. It was not so much what Pool said. It was his demeanor. The evidence against him was rather thin, but he came across as a real asshole. The jury disliked him and ruled accordingly.”
“So he was convicted of being an asshole!”
“Convicted is the wrong word to use in a civil suit, but yes. The point I’m trying to make is that the partner needs to know what kind of an impression a witness makes.”
“Max makes a good point. Include the attorney’s notes with the transcript.”
Gini and Max took Sally to lunch as a welcoming gesture. They were entering the restaurant when a lady Max did not know said, “Have a good lunch, Max.”
“Thank you.”
The hostess showed them to a table. “This is getting to be too much,” Max said. “I can’t understand why so many women I don’t know are greeting me by name.”
“She’s in the typing pool,” Sally said.
“I guess I should thumb through the look book.”
“It wouldn’t do you any good,” Gini said. “It doesn’t include pictures of secretaries who have been with us for less than two years, and the girls in the typing pools aren’t even listed.”
“Do you think they looked me up?”
Sally smiled. “I know they did. You’re popular because of the quality of your dictation. Clark said you should be on the radio. We also got a kick out of the memo you wrote for the Willard case.”
“You mean the one in which I said we would be willing to admit that Mr. Willard was the biggest son of bitch to ever wear trousers if the witness would admit that none of the other parties were involved in the alleged conspiracy?”
“Yes. Were you quoting the witness?”
“I was. He had nothing but good things to say about the other defendants. I don’t know why he hated Mr. Willard so much.”
“Then I take it you don’t think Willard was an asshole.
“No, I don’t.”
Gini looked over at Sally. “And finding him liable for being a son of a bitch wasn’t an option because you can’t have a conspiracy without co-conspirators.”
Max laughed. “I guess that’s why the partner quoted me at a hearing. The memo was supposed to be an inside joke between him and me, but he knew what he was doing. Much to my surprise, Mr. Willard even told me he thought the comment was funny. He’s really a pretty nice guy.”
“Did the jury find in favor of Mr. Willard.”
“Yes.”
“I’m glad.”
Over the next few months Sally demonstrated an incredible ability to learn the job. After six months she was acting like she had been a legal secretary for years. It was also at that time that she told Max and Gini she could no longer be their secretary. “I was talking to Mr. Dorkin, and he said he wants me to be his secretary.”
“Congratulations!”
Gini also said congratulations, but she was obviously miffed. She led Max into her office.
“She’ll be sorry!”
“Well, I don’t think we can blame her. Dorkin has the pull to get her a raise.”
“If she’s here that long.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Do you know Dorkin?”
“No, but I’ve heard he can be difficult.”
“That’s putting it mildly. He chews up secretaries faster than a person with an eating disorder can devour a one-pound box of chocolates. The paralegals do everything they can to avoid working for him.”
“Do you think she knows that?”
“I think she was in such a hurry to get ahead that she didn’t check it out, or she’s naive enough to think she’ll be the exception.”
“And she needs at least two years of experience to be attractive to another employer. Do you think she can handle it?”
“Well, some of Dorkin’s secretaries have lasted that long, but it was pure hell for them.”
“I guess that falls under the category of being careful about what you wish for.”
“Well said.”
Gini was right. It was not long before Sally told Max she had made a big mistake.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I’m stuck for now. But you better believe I’ll apply at another firm as soon as I think I have enough experience to be attractive to them.”
First published in macsbackporch.foxtail-farms.com on Mar. 3, 2010
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