How common is it for lawyers to have affairs with paralegals?

[Anonymous]

Is this poster the same woman who asked if TV reporters ever dated cameramen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this poster the same woman who asked if TV reporters ever dated cameramen?

Who knows? If you’re dying to know, either hit the report button and ask Jeff (include your email for a response) or copy this link and post it in Website Feedback forum with your question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never heard of this.
Lots of affairs between associates and partners, though.

+1

[Anonymous]

Is this about Suits?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know of a few instances. All ended in marriages. Two left wives and little kids to start new families with younger paralegal. Both were partners. Other was an associate who cheated on associate gf with paralegal and married paralegal. All are still married. All in litigation. The hours are brutal and long hours and travel are often involved.

What do you expect when part of the job includes going over the briefs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know of a few instances. All ended in marriages. Two left wives and little kids to start new families with younger paralegal. Both were partners. Other was an associate who cheated on associate gf with paralegal and married paralegal. All are still married. All in litigation. The hours are brutal and long hours and travel are often involved.

What do you expect when part of the job includes going over the briefs?

Bah dump CHAH!

[Anonymous]

Do you think that lawyer is going to destroy his family and take it in the neck financially to trade his current wife for a paralegal?

If so, you are delusional.

He might use you for sex, but that's it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think that lawyer is going to destroy his family and take it in the neck financially to trade his current wife for a paralegal?

If so, you are delusional.

He might use you for sex, but that's it.

For all you know the hypothetical current wife may be a paralegal. Surely you do know that men have affairs and do leave a their families for APs it happens. Some wives even divorce their husbands after learning of affairs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think that lawyer is going to destroy his family and take it in the neck financially to trade his current wife for a paralegal?

If so, you are delusional.

He might use you for sex, but that's it.

Queue insecure biglaw widows

[Anonymous]

I knew a male paralegal that dated a female associate.

And I've known some male attorneys that hired attractive female paralegals as eye candy.

But I've never known a male attorney that dated or had an affair with a female paralegal.

[Anonymous]

Some of the younger associates, maybe. And then perhaps if the paralegal was on track to get his/her law degree. I've seen it once but it wasn't an affair - they were good together.

Older attorneys or partners? It probably happens but definitely not common.

[Anonymous]

It’s cliche; but it happens. The hours are long, the stress is insane. The paralegal takes care of her attorney, knows everything about him, to be able to anticipate what he’ll need at any given moment. The attorney protects and supports his paralegal and may become dependent on her in many ways. There can and should be high levels of trust in that relationship. The better the bond, the better the process, the better the results of the case. They can both be married with families and still need connection and intimacy because the work-life balance is off. There are cases that require so much of the firm, that you’re spending more time with your team than your family. You eat together, travel together, and blow off steam together. So, yeah. It happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s cliche; but it happens. The hours are long, the stress is insane. The paralegal takes care of her attorney, knows everything about him, to be able to anticipate what he’ll need at any given moment. The attorney protects and supports his paralegal and may become dependent on her in many ways. There can and should be high levels of trust in that relationship. The better the bond, the better the process, the better the results of the case. They can both be married with families and still need connection and intimacy because the work-life balance is off. There are cases that require so much of the firm, that you’re spending more time with your team than your family. You eat together, travel together, and blow off steam together. So, yeah. It happens.

This is true. I am a biglaw trial lawyer with 6 female paralegals. None are attractive, so there is no temptation, but I could see how this scenario plays out if any of them were tempting. We are on the road together staying in hotels for weeks-long trials several times a year and in and out of each other's hotel rooms constantly.

I have not heard of a paralegal affair in my firm. Associate and partner, yes.

[Anonymous]

hasn't anyone watched Suits? It's common. (hahahahhhaa!)

[Anonymous]

During my legal career, I only worked with paralegals when I did a stint with a tiny law firm. And my husband rarely works with paralegals, and if he does it's over the phone. He spends much, much more time with junior associates.

People have workplace affairs with people they work with, so I would think it's just way more common for an attorney to have an affair with another attorney. And there is the whole issue of wanting to avoid a sexual harassment suit as well, so that makes sleeping with a paralegal that much less likely in 2024.