how to admit failure without looking like an idiot
normally i enjoy legal research b/c there's a whole world of material to answer just about any question you have. however, there are times when i HATE research...when i feel like i'm banging my head against a wall b/c no matter what combination of search terms i use, i cannot find the cases or statutes that my employer wants. every other time i've faced this problem, i've persevered in the end and was able to locate at least one case that was even remotely on point. this time, i'm completely at a loss and even the lexis and westlaw people are clueless. how do i tell my superviser that the memo she was expecting to be done by c.o.b. today is not yet written b/c i can't find a single friggin case to answer her question?
posted by happy roy at 2:40 PM
5 Comments:
That's happened to me. Senior partner wanted caselaw about a prisoner's right to convey property. Eventually I went and told him there was nothing on point - he said something like "you are going to find that happens sometimes" and that was the end of that.
Sometimes you just gotta say - I did everything possible and I have no clue what the answer is. Show them the paper trail and what you did to find an answer. At least then they know you weren't slacking off and posting on your blog (hehehehehehe)
see she assigned the assignment last thursday afternoon to be due on 8/11. i was off until wednesday. so i spent wednesday and part of thursday trying to find the answer. even tho i spent only a day on it, i know it's going to seem like i waited a week to get back to her...which is why i'm nervous. i should have spoken up on wednesday when i realized that there was no answer.
oh i should add that i tried to post the previous comment yesterday but to no avail. update: i spoke to my supervisor and she was like "oh that's fine" just like you said, shawn! woohoo! she didn't even chastise me.
YAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! Very cool that she didn't get mad :)
Glad it worked out . . .
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