'They emailed me in a panic, begging me to stop': Intern sends dozens of emails to lawyers after boss refuses to let them use a flash drive

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Nov 27, 2023 3:00 PM EST

Interns are allowed to make mistakes over and over and over again. It's kind of just part of the job. 

As a young person in college, you want to get some valuable experience in your career field with an internship. But since you are still in college, and have probably never worked in an office setting before, you're just bound to mess things up. At least at this point in your not-yet-existing career, you're allowed to make a few mistakes in the name of learning and gaining experience. 

This person, u/SaltySolicitor, had an internship that they were not thrilled about. It seems like their boss, Bob, was not a good communicator. This is another issue with being an intern---a lot of managers just don't like them, and don't want to bother with them. Bob gave the OP tasks without the right instructions, and would then get annoyed with the OP for trying to clarify. So many people in supervisory positions see interns as beneath them, or not worth their time, just because they're only around for a short while. If that's the case, just don't work with an intern, Bob! 

The OP at least got a satisfying lesson on the inner workings of a legal office. Check out the whole tale below. Then, read about this student who demanded a professor regrade her paper… but she could have asked a little nicer. 

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  • 01
    'I told them that, per Bob, the messages "must be emailed"
    via LYCS Architecture on Unsplash
  • 02
    "It must be submitted via email." S OC Before I was a lawyer, I had an internship and was supervised under a man named Bob, who resented my continued existence in his department and saw me as dead weight. This is largely true of legal interns, who tend to create work rather than solve
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 03
    problems. However, Bob would give me half of an assignment, refuse to clarify his instructions, and then sigh in exasperation when I wasn't able to literally read his mind or solve the issue. If I suggested another or different way to do something, he would dig his heels in just for the sake of doing so, even on things where taking a hard stance made no sense.
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 04
    One day I was assigned to send a large volume of files to the company's outside lawyers. After gathering documents from various company representatives, I realized that they were too voluminous to email. When I told Bob that I needed to put them on a flash drive, he snapped that they "must be submitted via email, today." I knew that our
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 05
    company would accept emails up to 30mb from internal sources, but the server would reject anything external over 15mb and I suspected the law firm's servers were set up the same way. Bob wouldn't hear it. "What are you talking about? I send huge files all the time, just do it."
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 06
    Sure thing, Bob. I confirmed the email size limit with the law firm, then lovingly, painstakingly parsed out the files for individual emails. I waited until Bob was in a meeting and started shotgunning "Privileged/Confidential - Email 1 of 47" messages to the firm and copying Bob. They emailed me in
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 07
    a panic, begging me to stop, and telling me that a flash drive would be great. I told them that, per Bob, the messages "must be emailed." Bob eventually sent a very terse reply, instructing the firm to send a courier over so that the flash drive could be picked up.
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 08
    ETA: Thank you all for the upvotes, and I appreciate the gold and silver! A couple of things: I'm female (a lot of people have called me a guy, so I thought I'd mention it) and file share sites were prohibited by this company, unfortunately. I did also try zipping the files but there was just way too much data.
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 09
    Awesomenimity Hah! That "1 of 47" is priceless! 4 4.3k Reply Share SaltySolicitor OP. I still remember sitting in that cubicle and trying to time it all perfectly-obviously if I hit "send" on all of them at once
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 10
    some would get stuck in my outbox, but I was still going for the dramatic affect of them all piling in at once.
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 11
    Gladiatrixx1 Man I love you. Way to stick it to him. By the way, does he treat you even worse now?
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 12
    SaltySolicitor OP. Thanks! I don't work there anymore, but Bob was like a goldfish. Both the good and the bad I did were essentially erased for him overnight, and every morning he started off anew with the same sort of simmering, low-
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 13
    grade dissatisfaction with my presence. This story isn't as dramatic as some you'll see here because Bob lives his life as if everything but the most high-level stuff is beneath him. Admin work like that is so far
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 14
    down his list of priorities that he can't be bothered to be particularly pleased when it goes well or particularly angry when it goes a bit sideways.
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 15
    SalbaheJim Next time disable your network connection, queue up all 47 emails and send them. They'll sit on your out box until you reconnect/reenable your network. Then they'll go out as fast as your mail server can take them! ;-)
    via u/SaltySolicitor
  • 16
    Ochib For more fun emailing a lot of attachments, don't send them in numerical order.
    via u/SaltySolicitor

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boss workplace-stories jobs toxic-workplace job malicious compliance lawyer bosses intern work malicious-compliance-reddit Lawyers workplace bad bosses malicious compliance reddit
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