Toxic and retaliatory environment - Associate Attorney Jackson Lewis Employee Review

1.0
Sep 3, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They pay well (at least at the beginning). Nothing else.

Cons

Extremely unprofessional and rude partners in the LA and SF office. Demeaning and condescending emails and voice messages from Partners galore. Partners do not put their money where their mouth is. They want associates to be available 24/7 but are consistently absent or taking excessive vacations. Good luck getting some of the partners to respond unless you literally camp in their office every day. We live in the 21st century, there’s no reason you can’t respond to a email. There is no form of discipline for Partners who abuse their position. They could literally be the worst human ever but as long as they bring in money the firm doesn’t care. They will retaliate against employees for raising complaints. This is deeply ironic considering JL’s subject matter expertise. The firm cuts your hours to satisfy clients and will not give you full credit for all the time you worked. Hours cut are not included in the final EOY billable total. This is a ridiculous business model that has no place in a firm of JL’s size. It is not the Associates job to collect on the bills, that’s the Partners responsibility. This is a huge problem as it affects your eligibility for bonuses, your eligibility for Partnership and your performance reviews. Associates continually miss their billable targets because of this and still get chastised despite JL causing the whole team mess to begin with. Only they can stop the games they accuse their associates of playing. If you enjoy being gaslit and abused then JL is the place for you. Do yourselves a favor and work literally anywhere else. Your sanity is not worth the money.

Explore other reviews about Jackson Lewis

5.0
Jun 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Plenty of resources, great attorneys and staff, focused on development and growth

Cons

Billable hours that are cut need to be made up.

1.0
Feb 9, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Remote work was the standard while I was there.

Cons

The culture toward non-attorney staff is deeply problematic. Non-attorneys are treated as expendable, overworked, and routinely disrespected by attorneys and management. Expectations are extreme and often unrealistic, with little regard for workload, boundaries, or basic professional courtesy. Training and onboarding are virtually nonexistent. Staff are expected to perform complex work with no meaningful guidance or institutional support, then blamed or punished when inevitable issues arise. Rather than coaching or problem-solving, management relies on a punitive, hostile approach. In my case, my management lacked the knowledge and experience required to perform or even fully understand the work they were overseeing, yet imposed rigid and unrealistic expectations on staff. This created an environment where employees were set up to fail and then disciplined for it. Questions or requests for clarification were not welcomed and were often treated as shortcomings rather than reasonable attempts to do the job correctly. The overwork is severe, particularly for non-attorney staff, with long hours treated as a baseline expectation rather than an exception. There is little acknowledgment of burnout, no meaningful support systems, and no genuine effort to improve conditions. Attorneys, by and large, do not view non-attorney staff as colleagues, but as tools to absorb pressure and blame. Overall This may be a tolerable environment for attorneys, but for non-attorney staff it is an unhealthy and demoralizing workplace. I would strongly caution anyone considering a non-attorney staff role here to think carefully before accepting an offer.

6
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