<p>We all know of the brutal hours in bigger cities? Any one know if the claims of hours being shorter in smaller markets is true?</p>
<p>A long time ago I worked for a Jacksonville silk stocking firm that required 2,000 billable hours from associates. I left for a large suburban NYC firm that required 1,600. The latter was a comparative vacation.</p>
<p>I think it very much depends not only on the firm in which you would practice, but also on the matters you are working on at that moment, as well as the partners or others who for whom you are working. Law is a client-service industry, and most law firms only make money if they serve their clients well. If a client needs something and they need it now, the attorneys working for that client will be staying in the office until the work is done.</p>
<p>That said, different firms have different approaches and different philosophies. You will have to explore these, but I don't think the generalization that small firm or small city means work less is necessarily true.</p>
<p>For example, just last week, we were closing a complex transaction where the businesses involved were located in southern Mississippi. The attorneys at the Mississippi law firm representing the other side in that deal were at work just as late as I was -- and that meant working 7 days a week beginning on New Year's Day (yes, we all worked on the holiday) and staying in the office until at least 11 p.m. every night. Now, I doubt that this is the norm for the attorneys at that Mississippi law firm, but they had to pull those hours to get the deal done according to their client's demands.</p>
<p>It depends on the individual firm & practice, but in general, yeah it holds true.</p>