Paid Well to Do Little, Staffer Relies on Luck, Trial Tech Skills

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Paid Well to Do Little, Staffer Relies on Luck, Trial Tech Skills

Posted Aug 4, 2008, 04:47 pm CST
By Martha Neil

When Michael Skrzypek began working at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, he knew so little about computers that a supervisor once had to tell him he was trying to put a CD into a floppy drive.

He had little to do—he calculates that he one year put in only 10 weeks of useful work for the San Francisco-based law firm and was paid for a full 52—but became adept at enjoying his relaxed lifestyle and not worrying too much about not having enough work to do, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Luck was clearly on his side, too: He managed to make himself useful by becoming proficient with specialized trial software used in evidence presentations. Then, with some regret, he decided to take a real job, as a consultant—only to see the once-mighty Brobeck close its doors not long afterward, a victim of the dot-crash and the firm's technology practice focus.

The consulting job was sporadic, but at a rate of $75 to $100 an hour, he didn't have to work full-time to make ends meet, the newspaper recounts. Eventually, though, Skyrzpek, who is now 37, decided it was time to get a real job.

"For the past four months, he's been working—9 to 5—for an Oakland legal graphics and strategy company. He does the same kind of work he did before, and he likes his job very much. In fact, he was shocked by how easy the transition has been," the newspaper reports.

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