Avoiding The Pain Of A Desk Job As A Contract Attorney

We all know desk jobs are a literal pain in the neck, but how can you avoid that when you are a contract attorney?

Last week one of ATL’s newest columnist wrote about avoiding pain while sitting at a desk all day long. It’s filled with useful tips that are generally applicable for any desk job. But what happens when you are a contract attorney? You aren’t a permanent employee so there’s very little incentive for the law firm/vendor/client to invest in decent working conditions and no ergonomic expert is going to evaluate your workspace. As you move from project to project you find that the working conditions vary greatly. And, none of them are going to be luxury digs meant to help decrease the pain of sitting for twelve hours.

So how can you avoid the pain of a desk job during your time in the wonderful world of document review?

I always like to look on the bright side — no matter how terrible the conditions at the current project, I know that it will not last for forever. That ephemeral feel of contract work can really have its advantages. I also like to continually monitor the overall market even on long-term projects, so I check out Craigslist and The Posselist regularly. This way I know what other opportunities are out there, and if there are other projects going on, well then that rickety chair and flickering overhead light no one will fix stop being something that I just have to deal with. That is another nice thing about being a contractor, the flexibility to leave. We all know projects can dump you without any warning and for any reason, but the reverse is also true and it’s nice to occasionally use that perk to get out of ergonomic nightmares.

The lowered expectations of being a contractor can also be used to combat the pain of desk jobs. They only want you to review X number of documents per hour and project supervisors are usually pretty up front about that benchmark. When I hit my hourly marker I know I can get up out of my chair, stretch and walk around without sacrificing the work product (read: doc count) that is expected of me. So I take hourly breaks to take a lap around the office, maybe grab a cup of coffee. My back, eyes and mind appreciate the rest and help provide a better quality product when I start clicking through documents again.

Most reviewers I know live in fear of carpal tunnel syndrome. The monotony of document review translates into exactly the kind of repetitive stress that causes carpal tunnel. And we’ve all seen the braces and specialty mice those that suffer lug around. The action of using the mouse and clicking on documents may seem an inevitable part of the job (and it largely is) but I also like to familiarize myself with the keyboard shortcuts. Almost all of the software used for document review has a list of the available hotkeys and being able to use CTRL+N instead of the mouse reduces the strain put on your wrist.

Unfortunately, lots of document review jobs treat their reviewers as disposable means to meeting their discovery deadlines instead of as actual people who are doing a job. I can distinctly recall a project that had hundreds of reviewers crammed into a small space all sitting on folding chairs (and not nice folding chairs, those terrible white ones that look so good in wedding photos but are a torture to sit in). If you think sitting on an office chair for twelve hours a day puts a strain on your back, you should try it on a flimsy folding chair. Some folks complained and a few actual chairs were rolled in. Not enough for everyone, but those that spoke up were upgraded. Personally, I was too fearful of being arbitrarily cut from the project to say anything and just suffered in silence until another project became available and then I bolted. But it did show me that nothing can be fixed unless there’s someone complaining. Fundamentally, no one is going to look after your health and best interests but you (that is true at every job but especially true at a temp job) and advocating for better conditions can reap benefits.

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Earlier: Does Your Desk Job Hurt? How To Prevent Pain Associated With Sitting


Alex Rich is a T14 grad and Biglaw refugee who has worked as a contract attorney for the last 7 years… and counting.  If you have a story about the underbelly of the legal world known as contract work, email Alex at tips@abovethelaw.com and be sure to follow Alex on Twitter @AlexRichEsq

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