Vantaggi
The best part about working in the office where I worked was the people that I worked with. We all got along very well and were more like friends or family than co-workers. The atmosphere was always fun and friendly no matter how stressed we all were. We enjoyed doing things for each other on birthdays, baby showers, going away parties, etc.(Management did not participate, however). I did gain some valuable experience for my resume with this firm. Before I was laid off, I planned to stick it out despite the multiple downsides to the job and stay there while I finished my degree because of my friendships with my co-workers, and I did not want to leave them in a rut since we were already understaffed.
Svantaggi
At first, I was blind to all that was going on, but over time (in the ten short months that I was there), I found the management to be very unorganized and lacking in experience. The people who were supposed to be qualified to be "managing attorneys" were not qualified whatsoever i.e. did not have their license to practice law in that state, therefore, no legal advice could be given to the associate attorneys. The first manager in my office location did not have any clue about procedures of the individuals working under him, therefore, he was not a great deal of help when there were issues that needed to be resolved. Once he left, we were without management for over a month. Aside from that, the firm was very overworked, understaffed, and underpaid. People were constantly being fired with zero notice in large numbers in other offices before others were trained to take their place. This left people who were also not trained for their duties to do their jobs on top of their own jobs....and having to figure it out on their own. Obviously this complete disregard for planning and organization caused a lot of important deadlines and issues to fall by the wayside. Very unprofessional for a law firm. There was no sense of "firm togetherness" with upper management, other departments, or other firms. Nobody knew who was in what department and who was supposed to accomplish which tasks. It seemed like getting anything done always involved a series of ridiculous and unnecessary hoops to jump through. There was absolutely no incentive to increase revenue, work longer hours, nothing. We were never told that we were doing a good job or given anything even when we were told that our office had the highest numbers out of all the other offices. I'm sorry, but there has to be SOMETHING they could do to increase employee morale, especially since apparently getting a raise or performance evaluation (which they don't do, even though their employee handbook says they do) is like pulling teeth. They are the kind of people who want you to wear as many hats and do as much work as you possibly can while they give you the bare minimum. Did I mention the benefits are absolutely worthless? They are not affordable by a long shot (you would have to go without eating to afford it) or even good quality benefits whatsoever. When I was laid off (without notice), I got laid off with five others on a Friday when the manager had known since that we were to be laid off since that past Monday or Tuesday. I was not offered severance, only my remaining PTO hours to be paid and pay for the rest of that day. I was also offered a letter of recommendation that I have yet to receive....no documentation was given to me. Gee, thanks.....that in a nutshell is how one should expect their experience at Butler and Hosch to be. If you want a very short-lived "career" full of disorganization with very little incentive and little, to no room for advancement, then this is the place for you!