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Suddenly, Working in a Cubicle Looks Good

By Lynne DeVenny

The Sydney Morning Herald has published an eye-opening article about the working conditions of legal professionals in Ambala, a city in the state of Haryana, India.

They pretty much work outside - even in monsoon season.

Sitting in a cubicle with no windows, with access to even an older model computer and the Internet that American legal professionals take for granted, suddenly seems like sitting in the lap of luxury.

Like most of the 600 advocates and 700 legal assistants who work at the court complex in the north Indian town of Ambala, Mr. Batra has no walls to keep out summer dust-storms or the torrential monsoon rains. He keeps confidential court documents and other valuables padlocked inside a battered tin chest.

And then there's those "professional typists, well versed in Indian legalese, [who] are kept busy drafting court documents on antique typewriters."

I was obviously mistaken in my thinking that the Brother International electric typewriter in our office, associated with frequent cursing on the rare occasions it's used, is an antique.

But it looks like a smartphone is a universal legal tool. Batra does have a Blackberry.

So, the next time you look around your windowless cubicle, look up and give thanks for the roof.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

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Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on March 07, 2010 (boomark / email).