Lawyers: What's Your Typical Day? Forum

[Danger Zone]

That'd be an odd thing to do, considering the thread title and what not

[zot1]

That'd be an odd thing to do, considering the thread title and what not

[NY_Sea]

In-House Patent work for Company... Pretty tame and very consistent. Never stayed past 6 and only get calls/emails on the weekends for something really important.

(Typical Day)
5:30: Wake up and go to the gym
7:00-8:00: Have breakfast/coffee and get ready for work
8:00: Leave to go to work
8:30: Get to work
8:30-10:00: Coffee/Respond to emails/Water Cooler stuff
10:00-12:00: Work on responses and/or quick review of new incoming stuff
12:00-1:00: Lunch
1:00-5ish: More or less finish what I was doing in the morning
5ish: Head home

Normal days more times than not sprinkle in a few meetings and calls throughout the day... Sometimes (2-4 times a month) have to make a day trip to R&D to see what they're working on and get any questions I have answered.

[SplitMyPants]

In-House Patent work for Company... Pretty tame and very consistent. Never stayed past 6 and only get calls/emails on the weekends for something really important.

(Typical Day)
5:30: Wake up and go to the gym
7:00-8:00: Have breakfast/coffee and get ready for work
8:00: Leave to go to work
8:30: Get to work
8:30-10:00: Coffee/Respond to emails/Water Cooler stuff
10:00-12:00: Work on responses and/or quick review of new incoming stuff
12:00-1:00: Lunch
1:00-5ish: More or less finish what I was doing in the morning
5ish: Head home

Normal days more times than not sprinkle in a few meetings and calls throughout the day... Sometimes (2-4 times a month) have to make a day trip to R&D to see what they're working on and get any questions I have answered.

What was your path to going in-house?

[Anonymous User]

In-House Patent work for Company... Pretty tame and very consistent. Never stayed past 6 and only get calls/emails on the weekends for something really important.

(Typical Day)
5:30: Wake up and go to the gym
7:00-8:00: Have breakfast/coffee and get ready for work
8:00: Leave to go to work
8:30: Get to work
8:30-10:00: Coffee/Respond to emails/Water Cooler stuff
10:00-12:00: Work on responses and/or quick review of new incoming stuff
12:00-1:00: Lunch
1:00-5ish: More or less finish what I was doing in the morning
5ish: Head home

Normal days more times than not sprinkle in a few meetings and calls throughout the day... Sometimes (2-4 times a month) have to make a day trip to R&D to see what they're working on and get any questions I have answered.

What was your path to going in-house?

Very non-traditional... This is actually my first job. Graduated in May. Was an intern from middle of 2L year until graduation... Was offered a position in December of 3L year.

[SplitMyPants]

If you don't mind sharing, what's the pay like for entry level in-house of that type?

[Anonymous User]

If you don't mind sharing, what's the pay like for entry level in-house of that type?

It's not firm money, but it's respectable and comfortable

[SplitMyPants]

Do you have an engineering background? If so, did you work before law school?

[NY_Sea]

Do you have an engineering background? If so, did you work before law school?

I have a Human Biology degree... Went straight from college to law school.

[Danger Zone]

If you don't mind sharing, what's the pay like for entry level in-house of that type?

It's not firm money, but it's respectable and comfortable

Six figs?

[NY_Sea]

If you don't mind sharing, what's the pay like for entry level in-house of that type?

It's not firm money, but it's respectable and comfortable

Six figs?

High 5... With benefits, probably close to 6.

[JustHawkin]

In-House Patent work for Company... Pretty tame and very consistent. Never stayed past 6 and only get calls/emails on the weekends for something really important.

(Typical Day)
5:30: Wake up and go to the gym
7:00-8:00: Have breakfast/coffee and get ready for work
8:00: Leave to go to work
8:30: Get to work
8:30-10:00: Coffee/Respond to emails/Water Cooler stuff
10:00-12:00: Work on responses and/or quick review of new incoming stuff
12:00-1:00: Lunch
1:00-5ish: More or less finish what I was doing in the morning
5ish: Head home

Normal days more times than not sprinkle in a few meetings and calls throughout the day... Sometimes (2-4 times a month) have to make a day trip to R&D to see what they're working on and get any questions I have answered.

This seems pretty unicorn/ideal. Anything else outside of patent work have something similar?

[SplitMyPants]

In-House Patent work for Company... Pretty tame and very consistent. Never stayed past 6 and only get calls/emails on the weekends for something really important.

(Typical Day)
5:30: Wake up and go to the gym
7:00-8:00: Have breakfast/coffee and get ready for work
8:00: Leave to go to work
8:30: Get to work
8:30-10:00: Coffee/Respond to emails/Water Cooler stuff
10:00-12:00: Work on responses and/or quick review of new incoming stuff
12:00-1:00: Lunch
1:00-5ish: More or less finish what I was doing in the morning
5ish: Head home

Normal days more times than not sprinkle in a few meetings and calls throughout the day... Sometimes (2-4 times a month) have to make a day trip to R&D to see what they're working on and get any questions I have answered.

This seems pretty unicorn/ideal. Anything else outside of patent work have something similar?

Agreed. However, you can often make similar money with a patent-bar-eligible degree without three years of opportunity cost.

[Glasseyes]

In-House Patent work for Company... Pretty tame and very consistent. Never stayed past 6 and only get calls/emails on the weekends for something really important.

(Typical Day)
5:30: Wake up and go to the gym
7:00-8:00: Have breakfast/coffee and get ready for work
8:00: Leave to go to work
8:30: Get to work
8:30-10:00: Coffee/Respond to emails/Water Cooler stuff
10:00-12:00: Work on responses and/or quick review of new incoming stuff
12:00-1:00: Lunch
1:00-5ish: More or less finish what I was doing in the morning
5ish: Head home

Normal days more times than not sprinkle in a few meetings and calls throughout the day... Sometimes (2-4 times a month) have to make a day trip to R&D to see what they're working on and get any questions I have answered.

This seems pretty unicorn/ideal. Anything else outside of patent work have something similar?

Does sound pretty dreamy. I think most fed agency jobs ( besides DOJ/USAO, which sometimes authorize overtime) are pretty much that schedule with comparable pay. I know at the FCC it's basically straight 9-5, plus at least one day a week of teleworking. The office was a ghost town til 9:30 every morning, and it emptied out around 4:30. The attorneys used to hang out and shoot the shit with me as an intern for hours at a time; nobody seemed particularly stressed about much of anything. Honors attorneys there start out in the 65k range but they bump up to 90 in a couple years. Also recently saw a job posting at the SEC looking for a graduating 3L and the pay was like 105k to start.

[zot1]

In-House Patent work for Company... Pretty tame and very consistent. Never stayed past 6 and only get calls/emails on the weekends for something really important.

(Typical Day)
5:30: Wake up and go to the gym
7:00-8:00: Have breakfast/coffee and get ready for work
8:00: Leave to go to work
8:30: Get to work
8:30-10:00: Coffee/Respond to emails/Water Cooler stuff
10:00-12:00: Work on responses and/or quick review of new incoming stuff
12:00-1:00: Lunch
1:00-5ish: More or less finish what I was doing in the morning
5ish: Head home

Normal days more times than not sprinkle in a few meetings and calls throughout the day... Sometimes (2-4 times a month) have to make a day trip to R&D to see what they're working on and get any questions I have answered.

This seems pretty unicorn/ideal. Anything else outside of patent work have something similar?

Does sound pretty dreamy. I think most fed agency jobs ( besides DOJ/USAO, which sometimes authorize overtime) are pretty much that schedule with comparable pay. I know at the FCC it's basically straight 9-5, plus at least one day a week of teleworking. The office was a ghost town til 9:30 every morning, and it emptied out around 4:30. The attorneys used to hang out and shoot the shit with me as an intern for hours at a time; nobody seemed particularly stressed about much of anything. Honors attorneys there start out in the 65k range but they bump up to 90 in a couple years. Also recently saw a job posting at the SEC looking for a graduating 3L and the pay was like 105k to start.

[NY_Sea]

In-House Patent work for Company... Pretty tame and very consistent. Never stayed past 6 and only get calls/emails on the weekends for something really important.

(Typical Day)
5:30: Wake up and go to the gym
7:00-8:00: Have breakfast/coffee and get ready for work
8:00: Leave to go to work
8:30: Get to work
8:30-10:00: Coffee/Respond to emails/Water Cooler stuff
10:00-12:00: Work on responses and/or quick review of new incoming stuff
12:00-1:00: Lunch
1:00-5ish: More or less finish what I was doing in the morning
5ish: Head home

Normal days more times than not sprinkle in a few meetings and calls throughout the day... Sometimes (2-4 times a month) have to make a day trip to R&D to see what they're working on and get any questions I have answered.

This seems pretty unicorn/ideal. Anything else outside of patent work have something similar?

Agreed. However, you can often make similar money with a patent-bar-eligible degree without three years of opportunity cost.

Plan long term (really long term) is to hopefully get this job to pay for a MBA and then try to land a GC spot somewhere (if not here)... We'll see how that actually pans out, but that's the plan for right now.

[Anonymous User]

Work-from-homer here....

7:00am: Get out of bed
7:00am-7:30am: Go for a short swim in the pool in my building or go for a short jog around my neighborhood
7:30am-8:00am: Shower/make coffee+breakfast
8:00am-noonish: Work
noonish-12:30: Make lunch and eat lunch, water the garden
12:30-6pmish: Work
6pmish-7:30pm: Go to the gym or do other workout
8pm: Eat dinner/watch TV/read/hang out with my other half
11pm: Sleep

[Glasseyes]

Work-from-homer here....

7:00am: Get out of bed
7:00am-7:30am: Go for a short swim in the pool in my building or go for a short jog around my neighborhood
7:30am-8:00am: Shower/make coffee+breakfast
8:00am-noonish: Work
noonish-12:30: Make lunch and eat lunch, water the garden
12:30-6pmish: Work
6pmish-7:30pm: Go to the gym or do other workout
8pm: Eat dinner/watch TV/read/hang out with my other half
11pm: Sleep

This is interesting—especially because you actually work out twice a day, where I only work out like twice a year—but for purposes of this thread it would help to know what type of employer, what type of practice area, which market, etc.

[Anonymous User]

Work-from-homer here....

7:00am: Get out of bed
7:00am-7:30am: Go for a short swim in the pool in my building or go for a short jog around my neighborhood
7:30am-8:00am: Shower/make coffee+breakfast
8:00am-noonish: Work
noonish-12:30: Make lunch and eat lunch, water the garden
12:30-6pmish: Work
6pmish-7:30pm: Go to the gym or do other workout
8pm: Eat dinner/watch TV/read/hang out with my other half
11pm: Sleep

This is interesting—especially because you actually work out twice a day, where I only work out like twice a year—but for purposes of this thread it would help to know what type of employer, what type of practice area, which market, etc.

Oh sure, should have added that information. Midsize firm, IP litigation, one of the big CA markets.

[Anonymous User]

Work-from-homer here....

7:00am: Get out of bed
7:00am-7:30am: Go for a short swim in the pool in my building or go for a short jog around my neighborhood
7:30am-8:00am: Shower/make coffee+breakfast
8:00am-noonish: Work
noonish-12:30: Make lunch and eat lunch, water the garden
12:30-6pmish: Work
6pmish-7:30pm: Go to the gym or do other workout
8pm: Eat dinner/watch TV/read/hang out with my other half
11pm: Sleep

This is interesting—especially because you actually work out twice a day, where I only work out like twice a year—but for purposes of this thread it would help to know what type of employer, what type of practice area, which market, etc.

Oh sure, should have added that information. Midsize firm, IP litigation, one of the big CA markets.

Without giving away too much, how did you get into working at home?

[Anonymous User]

Work-from-homer here....

7:00am: Get out of bed
7:00am-7:30am: Go for a short swim in the pool in my building or go for a short jog around my neighborhood
7:30am-8:00am: Shower/make coffee+breakfast
8:00am-noonish: Work
noonish-12:30: Make lunch and eat lunch, water the garden
12:30-6pmish: Work
6pmish-7:30pm: Go to the gym or do other workout
8pm: Eat dinner/watch TV/read/hang out with my other half
11pm: Sleep

This is interesting—especially because you actually work out twice a day, where I only work out like twice a year—but for purposes of this thread it would help to know what type of employer, what type of practice area, which market, etc.

Oh sure, should have added that information. Midsize firm, IP litigation, one of the big CA markets.

Without giving away too much, how did you get into working at home?

Without giving too much away..... For personal reasons, I moved to a city where my firm doesn't have an office. I really like working at my firm, and asked if I could work form home in my new city.

[abogadesq]

Public Defender

6:30am: Wake up
8:00am: Arrive at work; get ready for court
8:20am: Negotiate offers with prosecutor
8:45am: Speak to clients in court; convey offers and determine plea.
9:15am: Judge arrives; usually gives us time to finish conveying offers and determining pleas.
11am-12:30pm: Finish court; grab a sandwich and head to the office to listen to messages and take Client appointments.
1pm-6pm: Work on my cases; interviewing witnesses, listening to 911 calls, researching legal issues, drafting and signing motions, etc.
6:30pm: Return home. Ideally I'll have a bite to eat and exercise. Often times I knock out on the couch and eat dinner in front of the TV/computer.
10:00pm: Sleep

In a trial week I'll be in court 8:00am to however long the trial or jury selection takes; often times all day. If it's arraignment week I'll head to jail after work and get home at 9pm or so.

Rinse and repeat.

[mistman7]

Can someone do one of these for an Investment Management associate?

[Anonymous User]

I got a ton of info from TLS when I was in school so now I'm seeking to give back.

Small litigation firm in Florida. 1st year associate. Salary $75,000 no real perks. Benefits, only health plus match on 401K. Mainly complex business litigation and community association law. Mostly state court, but about 10% federal. Required to bill 150 but regularly bill 180 cause I'm money hungry.

5:00 wake up / get ready
6:00 coffee / breakfast at my spot if I don't have court, if I do have court straight to the office.
7:00 in the office, prep for hearings or begin my tasks (partners and Sr. Associates assign work in our software)
8:30 3-4 days a week I'm in court on short matter hearings. Argue at cattle call or sometimes special set - mostly form MSJ's but sometimes interesting stuff.
9:30 back to office, start or continue on the tasks from morning (drafting some motion or opinion letter; our firm writes tons of opinions for clients)
11:00 - usually a partner or Sr. Assoc. will send an email wanting to go to lunch, usually just to pile shit tasks on me but soften the blow.
1:00 - goof off a bit when back from a noon lunch.
2:00 - back to work, negotiate settlements or try to punk opposing counsel on upcoming issues.
5:00 - respond to some fire, usually some urgent need from a client. Sometimes (in the weeks leading to trial) there are interesting issues popping up and I help research and write responses/strike/etc.
7:30 - out the door most nights, but several a month till 10:00. Never midnight, or early morning hours like I've heard in other places. Always go in a few hours over weekends, mostly Sunday nights.

If I had to do it again I'd choose a larger firm. If you think you like litigation get in with the biggest firm. I was non-traditional so I thought I'd like the small firm life so I turned down a few larger money offers (not H&K or anything but offers from mid sizers), thinking I'd have a better work-life balance. I don't think that's panning out. My advice is take the largest money and largest firm you can get.

[barkschool]

plus match on 401K.

That match ain't bad, what's the limit for matching?

regularly bill 180 cause I'm money hungry.

Structure bonus based on hourly targets, or some sort of monthly overtime bonuses?