Maybe my local market (small city in the west) is different from y'alls. But I have talked to a lot of these attorneys and unless they are lying to me about the hours, they have reported what I did above.romothesavior wrote:I think the attorneys who work at the firms you're thinking of would be insulted that you think they only work 40-50 hours a week. Few people in private practice are working a 9-5 schedule.spleenworship wrote:Disagree. There are a fair number of small and midlaw jobs that work 40-50 hours a week, with plenty of time for family/hobbies/etc. Yeah, they pay low ($45K a year or so), but you know there is other things than money.
Maybe these jobs aren't available in big cities or on the coasts...
I still think that the Biglaw or bust mentality of TLS does a disservice to the profession. Either you want to be a lawyer, or you don't. Me, I am probably taking a pay cut (from a barely middle income job) to become a lawyer, but it is worth it to me.
ETA: and I don't mean to indicate all 9-5 jobs. They start at 8, work till 5:30-6, and take a 45 minute lunch in the middle. Also if a big trial is coming right up, their hours will jump significantly to 70-90 hours for a week or two. But that only happens every few months, from what I have seen/heard.