What to Do if You Don't Enjoy Your Firm

[TheJoker]

Hey All,

I'm in a bit of a dilemma. 

I started working at a firm this summer and while the people are nice, I'm just not enjoying the work. I find myself looking forward to the weekends on Monday morning and dreading the week ahead on Sunday night. Before I took the role, I clarified that I was still a very junior lawyer with limited experience (having just come off of my articling term a few months earlier). I noted that I didn't have much extensive litigation practice and minimal client management experience, but obviously I was willing to learn. I also noted that I had a pretty specific and niche area of experience, and was pretty green outside of that. My firm took me on anyways, stating that they wanted someone with this specific and niche experience. Since I've been here, I've been doing work in every area except the area I have experience in. As a result, I'm not really playing to my strengths and find it hard to enjoy my work. On top of this, I've been subject to a pay cut and had to cover a lot of my insurance and law society membership fees (I was told parts of these fees would be covered, but this was never really clarified even when I followed up).

My question is: how do I bring up my concerns to my firm to get some information on when/if I'll ever use my experience, or if I should just call it quits and look for new employment elsewhere.

[LMP]

You really buried the lede here OP! Pay cuts? Reneging on paying your insurance and fees? No wonder you aren't happy, I can't imagine this being a good work environment. 

I don't see what you have to lose by looking elsewhere and frankly in your shoes I would have started doing so much sooner. Because even if there is some magical turnaround in the work you get or how you're treated those initial moves by the firm should indicate just how much you can trust them as employers.