I usually worked like 8:30-5:30 or so as a summer, which was pretty much what everyone else in my summer class was doing (except for one girl who worked 7-4). I left at 4-4:30 pretty frequently to go to happy hours with associates and stuff on Fridays. However, I was in a small market and the firm I was at is pretty casual/laid back. I think I stayed past 6:00 maybe a half a dozen times, and only once until after 9:00. I remember going to dinner after work on a number of occasions and looking up at our building at 7:30-8:00 and thinking "Damn, every light in the office is off." My point being, I would have looked like quite the goober working til 8:00 every night. On the other hand, if you're at an NYC Vault firm, bailing at 5:30-6:00 regularly might be a big no-no.Anonymous User wrote:Not OP, but raises a related question for me: how do you know when to leave every day? Please hold the knee-jerk "law student question" response. I am obviously aware that it varies based on assignments and feeling out the particular firm culture. I'm just thinking in terms of whether it looks bad if you leave before a certain set time (6, 7) if you have no work or no work that urgently needs to get done. Because people on TLS also tell stories about it looking bad if you're there too late as a summer. Re: NY V100.
So, there's no real easy answer here. It's like a lot of things in the workplace: try to mimic the people around you. That's a really important professional skill, especially in the legal world. I'd recommend eyeing the young associates for the first week or so, and leave when they do or a little before. Like I said, I'm not an NYC guy, but I really can't imagine just sitting at my desk as a summer after 6 or 7 if I really had no work to do.
And honestly, as long as you aren't noticeably gunning or noticeably slacking on your hours, no one is really going to notice or care.
