Total Brain Fart

Nope it wasn't mine, though I do that all the time. My boss had the total mental meltdown. We thought we would be smart and swap a few files so we wouldn't have to travel to different courtrooms. I could take all the cases in one court, and the boss could handle all the cases in another court.


It seemed like a good idea at the time.


It was supposed to be an even swap with one file apiece. Yet somehow one or two more hearings were scheduled than what appeared on our calendar. Of course those hearings belonged to the boss, but they were mine now. I provided the boss with my single file. The boss later gave me three files.

I was in the middle of one hearing and the boss suddenly appeared looking for something. He rustled through the files on the table and grabbed at least one file. WTF?!?! I had the files I needed, but he mumbled he was looking for something. Did he somehow insert some extraneous files when I wasn't looking? A few minutes later the next case come up and suddenly I didn't have that file in my stack. WTF it was here when I came into the courtroom!?!?!?

I went into my office to look for it. I went into the file room to look for it. I went into my boss's office to look for it. I couldn't find the damn file and I printed off some data from the computer. Though incomplete at least I could do something at the hearing. The boss came into our office saying he couldn't find the file I gave him. WTF? I gave that file to him just before lunch!

I went into the courtroom he was at. I stared at the table and immediately realized what the problem was. Our filing system is based on a primary name; however, at times the person involved is the secondary name. Usually that secondary name is printed somewhere on the file, but not always. I flipped open the file and pointed out to the boss there was the name he was looking for. It was right there on all the paperwork I prepared for this hearing. He knows this system. From who was in the court that day he could easily tell it was a secondary name. Yet somehow he just totally spaced it.

I glanced at the pile of files and noticed the file I needed was right there! WTF, it was in my possession about 45 minutes earlier! Why did my boss grab this, no wait there was a second file I would need later!!! Between finding the files, looking at the calendar, switching files to be with the proper person BEFORE the hearings I spent easily 15 minutes making sure everything was right. Thanks to my boss's bumbling we both looked like idiots in front of two different courts!

The reality is my boss is burned out. He needs a sabbatical to recharge his legal batteries. A shame sabbaticals only exist in academia or high end private practices. His complete exhaustion affects his work, our office, and at times my work. I don't know what to do. I can only control my boss so much.