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midlevel v10 biglaw lit nyc. tired of bad periods working consistently late (after 10+ for weeks straight, but even with a couple of 9s thrown in it's bad), plus substantial weekend work. biglaw can be fine hours-wise or stretches of time, sometimes for months. but it's terrible because when it's bad it gets really bad, and life is over for weeks/months. no longer acceptable. considering trying midlaw for 15-20% paycut.

hours/time related questions if you made this move or know people who have:

name of midlaw firm?
how often do you work past 10 pm?
do you have weeks where you work past 10 pm every day? two week periods like that?
how often do you work weekends (and how many hours when you do)?
does your midlaw firm involve similar peaks of horror, or is it very rare to pile on 50+ hour weeks for several weeks (or months)?
with respect to hours/pay ratio, is the move worth it?
hours-wise, is it substantially better, moderately better, slightly better, slightly worse?
what's your worst month hours-wise?

Worked as a SA at a regional biglaw firm in CT/NJ. Starting salary was 140k. Billable hours was 1800, plus pro bono/business development requirements. Here is my perspective.

- I personally never heard of or saw anyone stay in the office past 8. Obviously there are exceptions but the typical work day for associates was 830 to 630.
- Most associates would work a few hours on the weekend. Some would take off early from work to have dinner with their families and then work from home for an hour or two.
- Salary bumps year to year did not follow Biglaw lockstep and were pretty small. So for example a 3rd year associate makes a lot less than a 3rd year associate at a market paying Biglaw firm.
- Associates weren't overly stressed/tearing their hair out, but expectations were still relatively high and folks worked hard.

What area of litigation are you in?