Adeli & Tollen LLP
Adeli & Tollen patent legal services

I worked here for a year and a half. It was the worst year and a half of my life. I quit a few years ago, but I'm still taking the time out of my day to write this. That's how horrendous Adeli & Tollen is.

I should have gotten a clue when Mani Adeli said "f*" approximately 3 times during my initial job interview. About a month after I started, I got the trademark first dress-down. It's where he shuts the door and explains why you are a fu*ing idiot (or similar words). He will yell at you about anything - from the way you dress, to your haircut, to your shaving habits, to your crappy work ethic (less than 11 hours a day is unacceptable). He has a one-on-one yelling session with you at any interval he deems necessary (anywhere from daily to once a month, it's a surprise!) in order to keep your spirits down.

He will openly talk about you in front of you, but will talk in Farsi so you can't understand what he's saying. But it's not too hard to figure out when it's basically "[Farsi Farsi Farsi] [your name] bad [Farsi] [Farsi] shi*y work [more Farsi]."

The pay is horrendous, as well. You start at $60k, which is a pretty decent salary... For a waiter. You are promised the prospect of raises, but most people never see a raise until 6-9 months later. All the while, you pay law school loans and other living expenses and scrape by. And, again, even for such awful pay, 70-80 hours per week is expected. If you don't work on the weekend, expect to get yelled at on Monday. If you only work half a Saturday, expect to get yelled at. I don't know if it's because he has such a crappy personal life (he clearly hates his wife and routinely ignores his young children), but he pretty much expects that none of his employees have a life outside of work.

You can't quit, because holding your first job for anything less than a year (or preferably at least 1.5 years, like I did) is a red flag on your resume, and it will seriously hurt your future job prospects.

Mani Adeli is a master of intimidation, an average patent lawyer, and a bad person. If you are considering applying to work here, don't just beware. Just don't fu*ing do it. You're better off unemployed.

Company: Adeli & Tollen LLP
Country: USA
Site: adelitollen.com

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