It's A Regional Thing

"Hi Tom,

I'm a doc reviewer out in California. I like reading your column
for the horror stories, but sometimes they leave me in disbelief.

Is this a regional thing? Out here in the SF Bay Area, what you
describe sounds like another planet to me, or at least a distant,
third world country. My DR experience has been the complete opposite.
Our firm treats us so well, you could almost cry.

Just yesterday they invited us to a special Thanksgiving lunch
with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, whipped cream and
even wine. And this isn't the first time they've done something like
this. They feed us all the time.

In addition to that, we get $40 an hour, generous overtime, and
even double time (which is allowed at the moment). They're flexible
with your work schedule, they let us work from home evenings and
weekends, they let us listen to satellite radio on the job and we have
our own offices.

At this point, I'm making a heck of a lot more money than even
the associates. And I don't have half the responsibility they do.
This job is as close to paradise as I could imagine. The worst thing
about it is that it makes it tough to get motivated to find a
permanent job."


Yes, when it comes to being a contract attorney, we in NYC are living on another planet. We have to constantly deal with the crowded/dangerous working conditions, tyrannical bosses, high cost of living, and tightly controlled blacklists. Only N.Y. could spawn off the likes of Lily, Frankendine, Poxolution (a.k.a. Lex-Pollution), and the Paul Weiss cockroaches. Even Florida gets to have Mickey Mouse, and not Mickey from Simpson Thacher.