[blindlaw] Re Reasonable Caseloads

[Elizabeth Rene]

My feeling, after several years of public sector practice, is that you shouldn't be skipping lunch and working nights on an everyday basis.  You won't have anything in reserve if a crisis comes at the office or inyyour personal life.  and you truly ought to preserve some reasonable boundaries, whether you use assistive technology or not.

While you check to see if you have a disproportionate caseload--on the quiet, of course--consider updating your resume and creating more breathing space by giving yourself an escape route if you need it.

If you're as productive and have the level of responsibility you describe, you should be allowing yourself room to participate as a member of the bar, and not just an employee of the public defense office.  You should be pro temming on the bench.  You should be looking for more select public defense work--maybe with an appellate defender association, the Innocence Project,or something like that.  Given your work ethic, you would probably be in high demand.  The Federal Public Defender might be a good place to go, possibly offering better accommodations.

Can you delegate some of your work to a paralegal?  Maybe your office is watching to see how you're managing your caseload and available resources.  If there's scut work you're doing, or work that truly doesn't require a lawyer's hand, delegating that without reference to your eyesight might earn you credit as being efficient as well as productive.

I do believe that using assistive technology does take longer than working with good eyesight.  That's how it was for me.  Are there conscientious shortcuts you can take?  using cut-and-paste techniques for writing briefs, skimming through repetitive language in opponents' briefs, creating form documents where appropriate, etc.?Can your secretary help you more than he or she does?

You deserve a work life that leaves you a life of your own. If there's a Lawyer's Assistance Program within your state bar association, you might want to contact them for support.  Overwork and burnout aren't just the province of blind people.  These problems are endemic to the practice of law.  

Good for you for reaching out for support!

And good luck.

Elizabeth Rene,
Seattle, WA

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