The employees on the bottom rung of the law office payroll often do the tedious work. But, basically, we trust them with our careers. They fold and stamp our mail, and take it to the post office on time, so that when we certify to court and colleagues that a pleading has been mailed, our certification is true. They hand-deliver our deeds and checks to the Town Clerk, so that our clients’ interests in real estate are timely recorded and properly protected. They carry our briefs and papers to court—because not all our critical legal documents can be e-filed. They hand-deliver releases and pick up settlement checks.
Around the office they do tedious tasks that are very important. They answer the phone and greet the clients—the first contact the client has is with the receptionist. They make coffee, for those of us who can’t start our day without it, and bring coffee for our clients who say “yes” when we offer it. They load paper into copiers, and miraculously fix broken machines: paper jams and stapler jams and shredder jams.
