Hours of Lawyer...

Graduate School Law School
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<p>younghov, the thing you must remember is that it isn't always easy to 'ease off' once you reach age 50. Chances are that the practice you've established will always require long hours and your age will have nothing to do with it. Lawyers who have the type of practice that require long hours rarely change the type of work they do to accomodate a shorter work week. I've never seen that happen in the 30+ years that my H has been a lawyer. He was at a large firm for 20+ years and has been the General Counsel of a large corporation for the past 10, with no noticeable change in the number of hours worked. He leaves the house every morning at 6:15 and if he's home in the evening before 8, that's early. When you reach this level, it's very difficult to do anything less. </p>

<p>Over the years, he was very good about making it to school concerts, plays, soccer games, etc. as often as was possible but there were definitely some that he missed. He still does! :) It has been a rare occasion in the past 25 years to have ever had a vacation where there have been no work phone calls, and more recently, no laptop or Blackberry communication, as well as no work which had to be done. It's the nature of the type of work he does. Some weekend work is a reality, sometimes it can all be done from home, sometimes not. Yes, we've been through the changing of weekend plans, and there have been many New Year's Eve parties where he's arrived very late, if at all, because of end of year deals. We've had to cancel vacation plans, sometimes last minute. </p>

<p>Having said all that, though, there are also enormous benefits to his job. He does interesting, challenging, important work; he's never bored; and he's been financially successful beyond our wildest imagination. This has made it possible for our family (both immediate and extended) to benefit in innumerable, and sometimes immeasurable, ways. We have also been able to generously support the charities we believe in, and the communities in which we've lived. There are pros and cons to every profession, and I think that with a profession like law, it helps to think of these issues ahead of time if possible. Being informed is always a positive.</p>

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<p>yeah, sounds true. most people don't ease off when there 50, but instead 65 (or perhaps a bit later).</p>

<p>I think part of the reason why a 60 plus hour work week intimates me is due to my lifestyle in the past few years. the college lifestyle is pretty easy. wake up at 11, go to class for a few hours, study for a couple hours, do some e.c.'s and then hit the bars.</p>

<p>but I think when i'm really faced by a challenging and strenuous work environment, I will rise to the occasion.</p>

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<p>I am a partner in a firm of 200 attorneys, located in a mid-sized city in the southeast. I have been out of law school 27 years. My practice is in the business law area, where I focus on corporate finance transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic alliances.</p>

<p>A typical week is like this: I wake at 5:30 and go to the gym to work out. I am in the office at 8:00. I work in the office from 8:00 until 7:00 or 7:30, with an hour for lunch. Typically I will work on 8-10 different matters each day. I go home, eat dinner, read the paper, and then get on the computer to check e-mail, organize my calendar and tasks for the next day, and do my time sheet. One or two nights per week I leave the office at between 6:00 and 6:00 to go to a client development event.</p>

<p>On weekends I am in the office 1/2 day on Saturday and 1/2 day on Sunday, sometimes more. This is often to do the "real" work, when my week-days got consumed by partner meetings, section meetings, technology committee meetings, recruiting meetings, meetings with prospective clients, meetings with investment bankers, etc. who call on me for the purpose of "networking, etc., pro bono work for charitable organizations, billing and collections, personal practice plans, section practice plans, self-evaluations, secretarial evaluations, paralegal evaluations, associate evaluations, section and department chair evaluations, etc. Once a month I must spend at least a 1/2 day in the office on weekends proofing and editing client bills.</p>

<p>When I get into a deal there is always a great deal of urgency to get it closed before something happens or someone changes their mind. This often means an all-nighter, or close to it. Often we get paid in a lump sum at the close of a deal, but there is often a great deal of post-closing work getting in all the documents, cleaning up loose ends, etc. for which we will not be paid (we may have added an estimated amount at the closing to take care of this, but it is amazing how often we blow right through that estimate because the other side(s) do(es) not get documents to us, etc. and we have to spend an inordinate amount of time chasing them down), so the post-closing time does not show up on my time sheet because otherwise it will just get written off and make my realization rate look bad.</p>

<p>On our time sheets we keep track of all time- billable and non-billable. Typically I have 9-12 hours of time on my time sheet per week day, but of this there always seems to be at least 2-3 hours of non-billable time. In addition to this, there always seems to be an hour or two per day that slips through the cracks, and can't be accounted for.</p>

<p>Our firm is by no means a sweatshop, and is many lists as one of the best places to work. I would say that what I do is about average for someone at my firm, although some partners spend more time on the client development front than I do and less time doing actual client work.</p>

<p>I am very well compensated for my time, but it is a great deal of time. Most of the doctors I know who are my age take Wednesday afternoons off to play golf, and have a more predicatable schedule- they are either scheduled for call or they are not. In my case, if the phone rings at 4:00 pm and it is a client that needs something done by tomorrow, it has to get done by tomorrow. There are too many other lawyers calling on that client, asking for its business, and the client will go where it gets the best service.</p>

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<p>Great post. Bump.</p>