Biglaw, Labor / Employment, Lawsuit of the Day, Litigators, Paralegals

Lawsuit of the Day: As the Paralegal World Turns...

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Legal Pad (a Cal Law blog) has a link to this amazing complaint [PDF] filed by paralegal Jason Herrera against Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

Herrera’s complaint — “for discrimination, retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress and fraud” — reads like a reality TV show pitch about the lives of paralegals. Herrera has been a paralegal in Weil’s Silicon Valley office since 2004. In his complaint, he talks about:

  • a female paralegal who thinks men are inferior to women;
  • a male paralegal who thinks women are inferior to men (and referred to a co-worker as “milky creamies” in honor of her breasts);
  • a paralegal who expressed prejudice against Latinos;
  • good old inter-office gossip about who liked and hated whom; and
  • the use of the “pimp hand” and the “mojo hand” to intimidate and cajole.

Here’s an excerpt from the complaint (“Mr. Schmoller” refers to senior paralegal Chris Schmoller):

From Legal Pad:

(For those who don’t know, Matt Powers is one of the most feared, respected and successful patent litigators in the country.)

(Also for those of you don’t know, the ever-useful urban dictionary defines “pimp hand” as “the hand used to smack your ho’s around,” but has no definition for “mojo hand”)…

Reached Friday at Weil Gotshal where he still works, Herrera told Legal Pad he sued because he was out of options for resolving the problems. He has yet to serve the firm, and said he was contemplating Friday just how to do it.

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Wikipedia says the mojo hand is a kind of magic charm. We still don’t know what a mojo hand is, but we want one!

As a former paralegal, Kash was most amused by Herrera’s complaint that he was given “repetitive, unchallenging and un-enriching tasks.” Welcome to being a paralegal!

Lawyer’s ‘Pimp Hand’ Mojos Up A Staffer’s Suit? [Legal Pad]
Complaint: Herrera v. Weil, Gotshal & Manges [PDF]

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