New York Lawyer
March 6, 2003

Q:
I work in a small law office (10 attorneys, paralegals & secretaries). I am one of two research clerks hired to assist attorneys with research and writing. I am directly supervised by one of the partners. My co-clerk and I very much enjoy our work, and our colleagues. The paralegal who works near us is a very nice person, we enjoy her company, as does everyone else in the firm. Her work is impeccable, she is greatly valued by all of the attorneys, and is considered indispensable. This paralegal has been with the firm for almost 10 years now, while I and my co-clerk have only been employed (in temporary positions) for about a year, and have a year left of employment.

Although I very much enjoy speaking with the paralegal (she is quite intelligent and has a great sense of humor) she often has a lot of spare time. She likes to walk into our area and just start talking about anything, all unrelated to our work (such as current events, news, pop culture, politics, you name it). If you get drawn into her conversation, she can be in our area sometimes for a couple hours or more. Even if she is not in our area for a lengthy period of time, she will drop by a number of times during the day, make comments, ask brief questions, or even just sing or talk to herself ... all about topics unrelated to our work, the firm, or our employment at the firm. It is certainly fun to chat with her, but her interruptions seriously impede our ability to do our work in a timely manner. I have already ended up working (unpaid) on weekends and staying late nights.

We've tried politel

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A:

This query brings some basic questions to mind. How can her work be so impeccable if she spends so much time goofing off? (Maybe she gets it done at midnight.) And that she "sings or talks to herself" seems a little off. Are you sure she's all there? Such are the unresolvable mysteries of office life.

Sometimes when people have worked together for long periods of time it's hard to change or confront engrained habits. Particularly in smaller offices, where everyone has to get along with one another every day, this can be the case. (In a larger firm, you could avoid her more easily.) The other lawyers, whom she probably doesn't corner for long harangues, see her good work and little else. They may be entirely unaware anything like this is happening. Also, even if they did, they may think, "She's great, everyone's got some little imperfection we have to put up with, so let's not worry about it."

In a way you are helped by the fact that she's a permanent employee and you two are short-timers. You have less to lose by complaining. The best course is to advise someone in the firm with some influence about what's going on. After all, they're paying you and you're not getting a chance to work. The way you have phrased the problem above is very diplomatic and could be revamped in remarks to a partner: "She's a lovely person, however, we need to get work done." Talk about the effect on you, that you've had to work late and on weekends, and that wasting time at work mulling war in Iraq and reviewing Oscar nominees is not in the best interests of the firm.

If you don't feel comfortable telling someone else, your only option is to deal directly or indirectly with the gadfly herself. You can say, "I would love to chat with you but I've got a ton of work to do here. Let's talk at lunch instead." Another approach is to apprise her of the effect she has, as she really may not recognize how she comes across. You can say, "I enjoy talking with you, but I find that I get so caught up in it that I don't do my work. Then I wind up working weekends and nights to make it up! It's important to me to get out on time. Let's chat during a set time or at lunch."

The semi-last resort is to make up errands and emergencies and phone calls: "I have to go to the bathroom, I have to make an emergency phone call, I just realized I must duck out." Anything to break her momentum. If you're a reliably captive audience, that will mean she won't quit. Perhaps if you break things off frequently enough she'll lost interest in you. You could even simply continue to work as she chats.

The final approach is unmistakable directness, by saying, "You are preventing me from getting my work done. Please don't come into our area and talk to us while we are working." Sometimes such people really need a shot between the eyes to get the message. I know that you want to be cordial to her, but there are times when it's in your and the firm's best interests to muster the courage to be direct and clear. I hope that you hit upon the winning formula to send her back to her desk where she belongs.

Sincerely,
Holly English
Principal Consultant, Values at Work