THE TRUTH ABOUT APPLE'S FOXCONN WORKERS: They Want To Work MORE, Not Less

[Honeycombe8]

65. I'm a litigation paralegal at a large firm in a big city.

When a trial approaches, there are many deadlines imposed by the rules of procedure and by the court. During those times, we almost always work extended hours. Our cases tend to be large. If I prepare an exhibit list, it might have 1,000 exhibits on it, and the lawyers revise it multiple times. Of course, it might have only a few hundred exhibits on it. Then the exhibits have to be gathered and named electronically, sent to a vendor with exhibit numbers embosssed on the images, and exchanged by a deadline with other counsel. There are many things like that to do before trial. And they have to be as perfect as possible. A deadline cannot be missed.

During a large arbitration/trial, we may have to stay up all night doing things the attorneys have decided they need for the next day's witnesses. They decide on which witnesses will be called, what exhibits they'll use for them, etc. We may have to prepare a set of those exhibits for everyone at the trial...judges and attorneys on the other side. In one case we stayed up all night preparing 13 thick notebooks containing exhibits..each one then has to be manually proofed. It shouldn't have taken that long, but the copy company had made a mistake whcih we had to correct. They have to be as perfect as possible and delivered to the court the next day before the trial begins. I may even be the one to take them, if it's within walking distance. There may be blown up exhibits to take, or audio-visual presentations to have ready. Then we have to be on hand the entire next day, during trial, whether we actually sit in the courtroom or not. Then we have to go get everything at the court that was used that day, and either bring it back to our office or stow it in the courthouse. Then we have to get ready for the next day's witnesses. We will, with any luck, be done by a decent hour like midnight or 1 or 2 a.m., and back at the office by 8 a.m. the next morning. Then we do it again. (We make a point of getting some sleep that second night...we can't go 48 hours without sleep)

These are the things that go on behind the scenes for court cases. When court starts, someone has been preparing for that day in court for hours already, if not the whole night before. That would be me and others like me. But thank goodness, few cases go to the court. Almost everything settles. We also pull extended hours for other reasons, like big meetings with clients or whatever.