administrative assistant

litigation associate

associate

litigation paralegal

counsel

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

It's difficult to do justice to a varied experience in a few sentences. Nelson Mullins Florida (formerly Broad and Cassel) offers decent experience and, in some cases, good mentorship. Compensation appears to be up to par with peer firms in Central Florida, but obviously lags behind larger markets despite having identical target hours (firm alleges target is 1900 hours, but the collections-based system leads to ~2000 hour years at minimum; collections-based system can also result in associates in certain practice groups having to bill more than others to meet the requirement).

As for work distribution, the firm operates under an old school system. That is, associates are assigned strictly to certain partners. Facetime requirements may vary (and has been impacted by covid). Generally, however, firm appears to highly encourage in-office presence. Some teams care about it more than others. 

Some teams are extremely busy; others have their associates fill their hours by working with other teams.  Firm appears to be a bit flexible with associates not making hours one odd year, but don't quote me on that. Generally, associates seem to work nights and/or weekends often.

As of 2020-21, base compensation for Orlando and other Central Florida offices begins at 120K and bumps may vary somewhat. Not sure what the general scale is. Bonuses are distributed based on a combination of hours, pro bono participation, commitee participation, and participation in other non billable activities the firm cares about. Unsure of bonus minimum or range.

Work is generally not terribly sophisticated for associates and can get repetitive or boring. However, if you plan to work in Central Florida, there might not be much more sophisticated experience available in the area. High early responsibility, but level of responsibility varies by practice group. 

Generally good office ethos. Everyone certainly appears to be respectful.  Some partners are interested in mentorship and will take your growth seriously. Others could care less. It's really a hit or miss.

Some offices are very much stuck in the past when it comes to culture and diversity, this creates a revolving door and low retention rates. Certain Partners are allowed to treat the firm as a fraternity and the associates as their pledges with no consequence. These partners will haze their associates until either (i) the associate breaks or (ii) the partner decides the associate is worthy of respect, if at all. HR is very unresponsive and tends to look the other way. Be prepared to be treated disrespectfully and spoken down to daily all while trying to stay out of the firms petty, and high school clique like gossip culture.  


To make matters worse, the firm  operates on a  collections goal. This is extremely  unfair to associates, as  associates don’t  get to set or negotiate their rates and are not involved in the process of sending out and  negotiating bills. The end result is  associates being treated very differently even if they work the same hours and produce similar quality work.  If partners bring in low rate work or aren’t as good at negotiating the bill, the associates suffer. 


The team of attorneys i worked for is good and the majority of the attorneys are friendly and won’t bother you outside of business hours and are understanding if you say no to something due to your plate is being full. The firm overall could be better. You are not bonus eligible for your first year, regardless of whether you meet your collections goal. Additionally even when you get glowing evaluations, the yearly raise does not keep up with inflation while they bump up your collections goal every year by a way higher percentage. So why am i being asked to increasingly collect more money for the firm but my salary is not increasing at the same rate??  bonus structure is very non transparent and you don’t know what you can earn as they do their own mystery calculations.

Paralegals have a 1650 billable hours goal and then you are assigned your collection goal on whatever mystery math the firm does. So while the office culture is nice is people are friendly, the firm’s culture is not and you are just a number to them. 

Management is clueless about the plight of an assistant. We are told we matter and are an important part of the company but that only applies when you work very hard and keep your mouth shut. Ineffective supervisors who are intimidated by attorneys and attorneys are kings and queens even when their conduct is unbecoming an attorney. The firm is very concerned with their reputation. Some assistants play around all day online, shop, and go shopping next door while others work themselves to death. It's all about who you know in this firm. No consequences for lazy and absent co-workers, no reward for hard working and loyal assistants. 

They are extremely family oriented. They take care of their employees and their families.

A typical day at work was to check your emails, to organize the same and then start working on the same doing urgent one's first. I learned how to docket trademark matters.

Management was very busy but answered questions as diligently as possible. 

Workplace culture was extremely friendly.  The location that I worked always made plans to do things with employees and their families.

The most difficult part of the job was to get the attorney's to answer their admins so that we could clear the docket so there were no outstanding issues left in the computer system.

The most enjoyable part of the job was not only learning new systems and different parts of the job but also to maintain relationships with other docketers' but also to maintain relationships with the administrators with whom I worked with.

A typical day in the docket department in the Charlotte office, was pure hell. The supervisor of that department is not supportive and believes in leaving you out to dry alone. This department has had many turn overs for the Docket Assistant position, that I don't understand why higher management hasn't looked into the practice of this department. The supervisor only believed in the success of herself and maybe one other in that department, while the others were left stress out and untrained. Based on my experience I would not recommend  this company based on the fact that higher management doesn't support the employees that are being mistreated.

I hear people from NMRS offices from north to south say great things about the firm! Being an employee at the Charlotte office, I can't say that I agree! I transitioned to Charlotte with hopes of finding a flourishing firm wanting to see employees grow with the firm. Not quite what I got! I personally experienced people disrespecting their coworkers, talking about them, telling others of medical issues of persons taking leave of absences and so much more! "This came from upper management"  Apparently there's been complaints as well as reports to HR, yet nothing was done about this violation of right as of yet! To many shenanigans in this office!! This current employee wants out asap!

The staff of admins for the most part are great to work with, as are some of the attorneys. However if you are looking for a foot in the door, this is not the company you want to be at. They provide training however it is not 1 on 1 and you are expected to learn after only being told 1x. There is a lack of communication causing there to be errors in work production. Benefits are okay, sort of costly. Firm offers free coffee, and soda. Good PTO time but the way training and communication is handled doesn't leave a good taste in your mouth. So if you are looking for a career in legal, this is not the place for you if you have no experience.

Usually the day consists of fielding emails from senior paralegals, partners, and associates asking documents.  Saving, indexing, and organizing documents for small teams to find for large complex cases makes up most the day.  

You learn to adapt in stressful situations, especially at trial. 

The culture is work, work, and work, but also recognizes the need for family balance.  

The job is not hard if you can work independently and meet the demands of others.  

People with a sense of humor while work is piling up makes the job bearable.

I have been with the firm for a few years now and I’ve received promotions as well as generous raises. It’s a fast paced work environment, but if you work hard you are well compensated and made to feel very appreciated. The firm treats their employees very well. The social committee is great, putting on monthly events, activities and frequent giveaways to boost employee morale. The work environment is beautiful and the people friendly. I will be a “lifer” at NMRS for sure! I couldn’t ask for a better place to work.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Administrative assistant 50 salaries reported	$70,172 per year
Litigation associate 54 salaries reported	$231,315 per year
Associate 31 salaries reported	$244,274 per year
Litigation paralegal 10 salaries reported	$97,365 per year
Counsel 16 salaries reported	$200,500 per year

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