How many hours do most biglaw lawyers work per week when aiming for Partner? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Say an aspiring corporate lawyer is aiming to make Partner at a V50 firm, how many hours is he going to be working at his firm? On average, what time do they leave to head home? How much at homework is generally done? How often are all-nighters or staying until midnight going to be? How bad is the lifestyle in all honesty, is it comparable to what guys in finance have to do (90-100 hour work weeks)?

Thanks

[Anonymous User]

I’m a rising 2L but one of my parents is a partner at a V10 firm and made partner when I was a kid so I have some perspective.

In terms of hours at the office, it will depend what’s going on. I don’t recall my parent ever getting home much before 8 when I was growing up, and there were as many or more nights when s/he got home much later. All nighters (especially for transactional folks) are going to happen, they may not be regular but they definitely happen.

In terms of home work, I’ll be blunt: you will be “on call” 24/7. Waiting up to turn papers around at 4 AM happens with some regularity. If a client wants to talk, you have to talk. I remember my parent pulling over on the side of the road while we were on our way to the beach because a client wanted to chat.

Making partner, from what I can tell, is about a lot more
Than the hours you work. You have to be great with clients, the firm has to believe you will bring in new clients, so having a book of business plays just as important a role as how many hours you work. Of course, your work product also has to be excellent but being well-liked, having the right personality, the right partners advocating for you, and being able to bring business in the door are just as important.

Oh and for the record, being on call 24/7 doesn’t go away when you make partner. My parent is head of his/her group globally and s/he still will have to interrupt his/her holidays, vacations etc is a client wants to talk and there are still a considerable number of nights when s/he’s up
Waiting for papers until 4 AM. There’s definitely more flexibility in terms of working from home, but you still will be at the beck and call of your clients 24/7.

Again, this is one V10 firm and only my experience growing up with a BL partner. I’m sure there are other anecdotal stories out there that would sound different.

[Anonymous User]

The above poster has it right. At my firm, being a "partner-track" associate is more about demonstrating your commitment to the firm/group/partners you work for than sheer number of hours. You need to be the kind of person that doesn't turn down work just because you are too busy, participates in a lot of non-billable committee work, business development work, and pro bono (all of which make life easier or build the brand of another partner), and is just generally available 24/7 to field client requests, send documents, or manage junior associates.

[Anonymous User]

I've worked at two biglaw firms, and at both senior associates gunning for partner were consistently the busiest at the firm in terms of total hours. We're talking like 2500-3000 hours, depending on how busy the group or office was. Even if you hit that amount, it was no guarantee you'd actually make partner.

[Anonymous User]

I’m a rising 2L but one of my parents is a partner at a V10 firm and made partner when I was a kid so I have some perspective.

In terms of hours at the office, it will depend what’s going on. I don’t recall my parent ever getting home much before 8 when I was growing up, and there were as many or more nights when s/he got home much later. All nighters (especially for transactional folks) are going to happen, they may not be regular but they definitely happen.

In terms of home work, I’ll be blunt: you will be “on call” 24/7. Waiting up to turn papers around at 4 AM happens with some regularity. If a client wants to talk, you have to talk. I remember my parent pulling over on the side of the road while we were on our way to the beach because a client wanted to chat.

Making partner, from what I can tell, is about a lot more
Than the hours you work. You have to be great with clients, the firm has to believe you will bring in new clients, so having a book of business plays just as important a role as how many hours you work. Of course, your work product also has to be excellent but being well-liked, having the right personality, the right partners advocating for you, and being able to bring business in the door are just as important.

Oh and for the record, being on call 24/7 doesn’t go away when you make partner. My parent is head of his/her group globally and s/he still will have to interrupt his/her holidays, vacations etc is a client wants to talk and there are still a considerable number of nights when s/he’s up
Waiting for papers until 4 AM. There’s definitely more flexibility in terms of working from home, but you still will be at the beck and call of your clients 24/7.

Again, this is one V10 firm and only my experience growing up with a BL partner. I’m sure there are other anecdotal stories out there that would sound different.

I don’t mean this to be an asshole or insensitive but since I don’t know many children of biglaw parents, would you mind telling me if it was worth it to YOU? I imagine your BL parent worked extraordinarily hard and may even have told him/herself that it was for YOU (and your siblings if you have any), but given the demands placed on him/her and the impact that had on family-time, would you say it was worth it? Would you have preferred less money growing up to have more time with your parent? You’re now in law but I don’t know if you’ve chosen BL for yourself. If you have, then you not being deterred is probably mote telling than anything else (or it’s possible you just don’t want a family so you’re not making the choice that I’m posing). I’m in BL and have little ones and it kills me that I don’t have more of myself to give to them—more time, more attention...just MORE.

[Anonymous User]

I’m a rising 2L but one of my parents is a partner at a V10 firm and made partner when I was a kid so I have some perspective.

In terms of hours at the office, it will depend what’s going on. I don’t recall my parent ever getting home much before 8 when I was growing up, and there were as many or more nights when s/he got home much later. All nighters (especially for transactional folks) are going to happen, they may not be regular but they definitely happen.

In terms of home work, I’ll be blunt: you will be “on call” 24/7. Waiting up to turn papers around at 4 AM happens with some regularity. If a client wants to talk, you have to talk. I remember my parent pulling over on the side of the road while we were on our way to the beach because a client wanted to chat.

Making partner, from what I can tell, is about a lot more
Than the hours you work. You have to be great with clients, the firm has to believe you will bring in new clients, so having a book of business plays just as important a role as how many hours you work. Of course, your work product also has to be excellent but being well-liked, having the right personality, the right partners advocating for you, and being able to bring business in the door are just as important.

Oh and for the record, being on call 24/7 doesn’t go away when you make partner. My parent is head of his/her group globally and s/he still will have to interrupt his/her holidays, vacations etc is a client wants to talk and there are still a considerable number of nights when s/he’s up
Waiting for papers until 4 AM. There’s definitely more flexibility in terms of working from home, but you still will be at the beck and call of your clients 24/7.

Again, this is one V10 firm and only my experience growing up with a BL partner. I’m sure there are other anecdotal stories out there that would sound different.

I don’t mean this to be an asshole or insensitive but since I don’t know many children of biglaw parents, would you mind telling me if it was worth it to YOU? I imagine your BL parent worked extraordinarily hard and may even have told him/herself that it was for YOU (and your siblings if you have any), but given the demands placed on him/her and the impact that had on family-time, would you say it was worth it? Would you have preferred less money growing up to have more time with your parent? You’re now in law but I don’t know if you’ve chosen BL for yourself. If you have, then you not being deterred is probably mote telling than anything else (or it’s possible you just don’t want a family so you’re not making the choice that I’m posing). I’m in BL and have little ones and it kills me that I don’t have more of myself to give to them—more time, more attention...just MORE.

Definitely not being an asshole at all! I'm currently in the process of applying for OCI/doing pre-oci interviews, so I am choosing Big Law for myself. I won't lie, most of that decision stems from wanting to keep at least a little bit of the lifestyle I grew up with. I also feel like I am making a much more informed decision than my peers because I know what being in Big Law is going to be like in terms of hours and the (lack of) work/life balance.

What I will say, is that it was always "normal" for me. I don't know what growing up with parents that did something else would be like. I should note that both of my parents are partners at their respective law firms. One is Big Law and the other is at a mid-law firm (and the one at the mid-law firm has moved around far more than the one in Big Law- that parent has been at the same firm since s/he was a summer associate).

Anyway, both of my parents ALWAYS made it to my school events and my extracurricular events. I'd venture a guess that it made the parent that is a big law partner slightly delayed in making partner, but ultimately didn't hurt his/her career. I always felt loved and cared for. I spent a lot of time with both of my parents on weekends and over school breaks and during the summer. We went on vacations every year. Yea, there were times when they had to take calls and they were constantly e-mailing, but they were there and engaged as much as they could be. I don't resent my parents. All in all I think I have a really loving family. I did spend most of my after school hours with either a nanny or my grandmother, but I think that's true for a lot of kids that have two working parents. I will say that I think my parents went out of their ways to try to be there for me as much as possible. If I call them at work, my parents will always pick up the phone (if they're there).

One thing I should note is that my parents divorced when I was very young, and I have no idea how much they worked on nights/weekends when I was with the other parent, so that may have balanced the time they were able to dedicate to me when I was with them. Though, I will say I think it also made it more difficult because I primarily lived with the parent in Big Law and so more of the parental responsibility inevitably fell on him/her.

I hope this kind of answers your question? I guess my point is that I don't think I spent less time with my parents than any of my friends who did not have big law parents did. I think there were certainly times they were distracted and times they had to miss out on things (they mostly sacrificed things with their friends, as opposed to things with me, though as I've gotten older they feel more comfortable bailing on me for dinner). As far as having my own family goes, I have no idea if I want kids. I think I do, but the thought also exhausts me (and I'm a woman so I think there are more hurdles for women with families in law firms).

If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

[Anonymous User]

I’m a rising 2L but one of my parents is a partner at a V10 firm and made partner when I was a kid so I have some perspective.

In terms of hours at the office, it will depend what’s going on. I don’t recall my parent ever getting home much before 8 when I was growing up, and there were as many or more nights when s/he got home much later. All nighters (especially for transactional folks) are going to happen, they may not be regular but they definitely happen.

In terms of home work, I’ll be blunt: you will be “on call” 24/7. Waiting up to turn papers around at 4 AM happens with some regularity. If a client wants to talk, you have to talk. I remember my parent pulling over on the side of the road while we were on our way to the beach because a client wanted to chat.

Making partner, from what I can tell, is about a lot more
Than the hours you work. You have to be great with clients, the firm has to believe you will bring in new clients, so having a book of business plays just as important a role as how many hours you work. Of course, your work product also has to be excellent but being well-liked, having the right personality, the right partners advocating for you, and being able to bring business in the door are just as important.

Oh and for the record, being on call 24/7 doesn’t go away when you make partner. My parent is head of his/her group globally and s/he still will have to interrupt his/her holidays, vacations etc is a client wants to talk and there are still a considerable number of nights when s/he’s up
Waiting for papers until 4 AM. There’s definitely more flexibility in terms of working from home, but you still will be at the beck and call of your clients 24/7.

Again, this is one V10 firm and only my experience growing up with a BL partner. I’m sure there are other anecdotal stories out there that would sound different.

I don’t mean this to be an asshole or insensitive but since I don’t know many children of biglaw parents, would you mind telling me if it was worth it to YOU? I imagine your BL parent worked extraordinarily hard and may even have told him/herself that it was for YOU (and your siblings if you have any), but given the demands placed on him/her and the impact that had on family-time, would you say it was worth it? Would you have preferred less money growing up to have more time with your parent? You’re now in law but I don’t know if you’ve chosen BL for yourself. If you have, then you not being deterred is probably mote telling than anything else (or it’s possible you just don’t want a family so you’re not making the choice that I’m posing). I’m in BL and have little ones and it kills me that I don’t have more of myself to give to them—more time, more attention...just MORE.

Definitely not being an asshole at all! I'm currently in the process of applying for OCI/doing pre-oci interviews, so I am choosing Big Law for myself. I won't lie, most of that decision stems from wanting to keep at least a little bit of the lifestyle I grew up with. I also feel like I am making a much more informed decision than my peers because I know what being in Big Law is going to be like in terms of hours and the (lack of) work/life balance.

What I will say, is that it was always "normal" for me. I don't know what growing up with parents that did something else would be like. I should note that both of my parents are partners at their respective law firms. One is Big Law and the other is at a mid-law firm (and the one at the mid-law firm has moved around far more than the one in Big Law- that parent has been at the same firm since s/he was a summer associate).

Anyway, both of my parents ALWAYS made it to my school events and my extracurricular events. I'd venture a guess that it made the parent that is a big law partner slightly delayed in making partner, but ultimately didn't hurt his/her career. I always felt loved and cared for. I spent a lot of time with both of my parents on weekends and over school breaks and during the summer. We went on vacations every year. Yea, there were times when they had to take calls and they were constantly e-mailing, but they were there and engaged as much as they could be. I don't resent my parents. All in all I think I have a really loving family. I did spend most of my after school hours with either a nanny or my grandmother, but I think that's true for a lot of kids that have two working parents. I will say that I think my parents went out of their ways to try to be there for me as much as possible. If I call them at work, my parents will always pick up the phone (if they're there).

One thing I should note is that my parents divorced when I was very young, and I have no idea how much they worked on nights/weekends when I was with the other parent, so that may have balanced the time they were able to dedicate to me when I was with them. Though, I will say I think it also made it more difficult because I primarily lived with the parent in Big Law and so more of the parental responsibility inevitably fell on him/her.

I hope this kind of answers your question? I guess my point is that I don't think I spent less time with my parents than any of my friends who did not have big law parents did. I think there were certainly times they were distracted and times they had to miss out on things (they mostly sacrificed things with their friends, as opposed to things with me, though as I've gotten older they feel more comfortable bailing on me for dinner). As far as having my own family goes, I have no idea if I want kids. I think I do, but the thought also exhausts me (and I'm a woman so I think there are more hurdles for women with families in law firms).

If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

Thank you so much for your reply!! Do you know to what extent their careers impacted their marriage, if at all? I’m also a woman, so I understand firsthand the struggles. I don’t think I would be able to make partner without seriously compromising the quality and quantity of time I spend with my kids.

[Anonymous User]

Thank you so much for your reply!! Do you know to what extent their careers impacted their marriage, if at all? I’m also a woman, so I understand firsthand the struggles. I don’t think I would be able to make partner without seriously compromising the quality and quantity of time I spend with my kids.

This is pretty much exactly why I went in-house. I was at the pool with my wife and daughter over the past couple days while getting status update emails from outside counsel showing how much they were working their asses off during the holiday. Sure, I have to work hard and work long hours at times, but I couldn't imagine having kids while gunning for partner. I feel like I don't get enough time with my family as it is.

[Anonymous User]

Thank you so much for your reply!! Do you know to what extent their careers impacted their marriage, if at all? I’m also a woman, so I understand firsthand the struggles. I don’t think I would be able to make partner without seriously compromising the quality and quantity of time I spend with my kids.

This is pretty much exactly why I went in-house. I was at the pool with my wife and daughter over the past couple days while getting status update emails from outside counsel showing how much they were working their asses off during the holiday. Sure, I have to work hard and work long hours at times, but I couldn't imagine having kids while gunning for partner. I feel like I don't get enough time with my family as it is.

I’m glad I’m not alone in feeling like this job takes too much and makes it so very hard to be an available, present, and attentive spouse and parent. Unfortunately, I chose poorly and now I’m a litigator with few options for a career that would allow me to have a better life. I feel so defeated.

[Anonymous User]

Thank you so much for your reply!! Do you know to what extent their careers impacted their marriage, if at all? I’m also a woman, so I understand firsthand the struggles. I don’t think I would be able to make partner without seriously compromising the quality and quantity of time I spend with my kids.

This is pretty much exactly why I went in-house. I was at the pool with my wife and daughter over the past couple days while getting status update emails from outside counsel showing how much they were working their asses off during the holiday. Sure, I have to work hard and work long hours at times, but I couldn't imagine having kids while gunning for partner. I feel like I don't get enough time with my family as it is.

K-JD here, so take this with a grain of salt.

I feel like K-JDs often get a bad rap on this site, but this is the biggest reason I went straight to law school from UG. I'll only be 30 years old as a 6th year associate, which is plenty young still to start to have kids (and my wife is also younger than me). At that point, if I'm still gunning for partner, I'm hoping that I'll have a little more flexibility with my scheduling as a senior associate (still long hours, but they seem to have more ability to work from home when needed), and ideally, if the perfect storm of events happens and I do make partner, it will likely be between the ages of 34-38.

I get that being a partner is actually probably more work than being an associate, but they also seem to work from home more often, and leave early for different events for their kids or families, and then sign back on later that night to get their work done. So, if I ultimately continue aiming for partner, I figure by the time I have kids, I'll have enough flexibility to see them when I can.

FWIW, I had parents that worked long hours as a kid (non-lawyers though), but they still came to my sports after school, and then would do work from home most nights, and came home very late on nights that I didn't have anything going on. I definitely didn't resent it, and actually admired and appreciated their commitment to work, because I was also reaping the benefits of the lifestyle.

[Anonymous User]

For a slightly different perspective, I'm also the kid of a Biglaw partner (v100 corporate non-NYC). I did a stint in Biglaw myself. My parents are still happily married, and I wouldn't say I suffered to a serious degree growing up from the biglaw work-habits. What it meant, however, was heroic acts. It meant things like going to my little league game but billing all night after I went to bed, then getting up in the morning like it was no big deal. Most family vacations had a few disruptions, but we still took them, and the client calls were mostly an annoyance. NYC V10 is probably a much more difficult situation. That sort of firm is likely going to have a lot more demanding clients- high strung Ibanker types instead of corporate 9-5ers.

[Anonymous User]

I’m a rising 2L but one of my parents is a partner at a V10 firm and made partner when I was a kid so I have some perspective.

In terms of hours at the office, it will depend what’s going on. I don’t recall my parent ever getting home much before 8 when I was growing up, and there were as many or more nights when s/he got home much later. All nighters (especially for transactional folks) are going to happen, they may not be regular but they definitely happen.

In terms of home work, I’ll be blunt: you will be “on call” 24/7. Waiting up to turn papers around at 4 AM happens with some regularity. If a client wants to talk, you have to talk. I remember my parent pulling over on the side of the road while we were on our way to the beach because a client wanted to chat.

Making partner, from what I can tell, is about a lot more
Than the hours you work. You have to be great with clients, the firm has to believe you will bring in new clients, so having a book of business plays just as important a role as how many hours you work. Of course, your work product also has to be excellent but being well-liked, having the right personality, the right partners advocating for you, and being able to bring business in the door are just as important.

Oh and for the record, being on call 24/7 doesn’t go away when you make partner. My parent is head of his/her group globally and s/he still will have to interrupt his/her holidays, vacations etc is a client wants to talk and there are still a considerable number of nights when s/he’s up
Waiting for papers until 4 AM. There’s definitely more flexibility in terms of working from home, but you still will be at the beck and call of your clients 24/7.

Again, this is one V10 firm and only my experience growing up with a BL partner. I’m sure there are other anecdotal stories out there that would sound different.

I don’t mean this to be an asshole or insensitive but since I don’t know many children of biglaw parents, would you mind telling me if it was worth it to YOU? I imagine your BL parent worked extraordinarily hard and may even have told him/herself that it was for YOU (and your siblings if you have any), but given the demands placed on him/her and the impact that had on family-time, would you say it was worth it? Would you have preferred less money growing up to have more time with your parent? You’re now in law but I don’t know if you’ve chosen BL for yourself. If you have, then you not being deterred is probably mote telling than anything else (or it’s possible you just don’t want a family so you’re not making the choice that I’m posing). I’m in BL and have little ones and it kills me that I don’t have more of myself to give to them—more time, more attention...just MORE.

Definitely not being an asshole at all! I'm currently in the process of applying for OCI/doing pre-oci interviews, so I am choosing Big Law for myself. I won't lie, most of that decision stems from wanting to keep at least a little bit of the lifestyle I grew up with. I also feel like I am making a much more informed decision than my peers because I know what being in Big Law is going to be like in terms of hours and the (lack of) work/life balance.

What I will say, is that it was always "normal" for me. I don't know what growing up with parents that did something else would be like. I should note that both of my parents are partners at their respective law firms. One is Big Law and the other is at a mid-law firm (and the one at the mid-law firm has moved around far more than the one in Big Law- that parent has been at the same firm since s/he was a summer associate).

Anyway, both of my parents ALWAYS made it to my school events and my extracurricular events. I'd venture a guess that it made the parent that is a big law partner slightly delayed in making partner, but ultimately didn't hurt his/her career. I always felt loved and cared for. I spent a lot of time with both of my parents on weekends and over school breaks and during the summer. We went on vacations every year. Yea, there were times when they had to take calls and they were constantly e-mailing, but they were there and engaged as much as they could be. I don't resent my parents. All in all I think I have a really loving family. I did spend most of my after school hours with either a nanny or my grandmother, but I think that's true for a lot of kids that have two working parents. I will say that I think my parents went out of their ways to try to be there for me as much as possible. If I call them at work, my parents will always pick up the phone (if they're there).

One thing I should note is that my parents divorced when I was very young, and I have no idea how much they worked on nights/weekends when I was with the other parent, so that may have balanced the time they were able to dedicate to me when I was with them. Though, I will say I think it also made it more difficult because I primarily lived with the parent in Big Law and so more of the parental responsibility inevitably fell on him/her.

I hope this kind of answers your question? I guess my point is that I don't think I spent less time with my parents than any of my friends who did not have big law parents did. I think there were certainly times they were distracted and times they had to miss out on things (they mostly sacrificed things with their friends, as opposed to things with me, though as I've gotten older they feel more comfortable bailing on me for dinner). As far as having my own family goes, I have no idea if I want kids. I think I do, but the thought also exhausts me (and I'm a woman so I think there are more hurdles for women with families in law firms).

If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

Thank you so much for your reply!! Do you know to what extent their careers impacted their marriage, if at all? I’m also a woman, so I understand firsthand the struggles. I don’t think I would be able to make partner without seriously compromising the quality and quantity of time I spend with my kids.

No, their careers did not impact their marriage at all. They work much better as friends (in fact are still best friends) but were just not meant to be married.

My big law parent is also my mother. Granted her career started in the 80s and she made partner in the 90s, but I do think that there was more bias towards working mothers back then. She took a year off when I was born. She also took me on a ton of vacations (at least one a year) and we always did a lot of weekend activities together (beach/pool, movies, apple picking, zoo). I would say the only thing other kids consistently had that I didn't were nightly dinners with my parents during the week, and that changed as soon as I was old enough to eat dinner when she got home (so middle school or so).

[Anonymous User]

For a slightly different perspective, I'm also the kid of a Biglaw partner (v100 corporate non-NYC). I did a stint in Biglaw myself. My parents are still happily married, and I wouldn't say I suffered to a serious degree growing up from the biglaw work-habits. What it meant, however, was heroic acts. It meant things like going to my little league game but billing all night after I went to bed, then getting up in the morning like it was no big deal. Most family vacations had a few disruptions, but we still took them, and the client calls were mostly an annoyance. NYC V10 is probably a much more difficult situation. That sort of firm is likely going to have a lot more demanding clients- high strung Ibanker types instead of corporate 9-5ers.

Anon from above with V10 partner as parent...I would actually say that this is a fairly accurate representation of what I experienced and you did a much better job explaining it than I did. The only thing I really consistently missed out on was nightly dinners with my parents because on a nightly basis they wouldn't be home on time. But yea, I would say she did a lot more work after I was in bed/while I was at my dad's house and that probably was how she managed to make all of my shows/games/school events.

[Anonymous User]

For a slightly different perspective, I'm also the kid of a Biglaw partner (v100 corporate non-NYC). I did a stint in Biglaw myself. My parents are still happily married, and I wouldn't say I suffered to a serious degree growing up from the biglaw work-habits. What it meant, however, was heroic acts. It meant things like going to my little league game but billing all night after I went to bed, then getting up in the morning like it was no big deal. Most family vacations had a few disruptions, but we still took them, and the client calls were mostly an annoyance. NYC V10 is probably a much more difficult situation. That sort of firm is likely going to have a lot more demanding clients- high strung Ibanker types instead of corporate 9-5ers.

I commend your parents for those heroic acts. I just think about whether it’s worth it to have to, ya know? Isn’t there a middle ground where no one suffers?

[totesTheGoat]

I feel like K-JDs often get a bad rap on this site,

K-JD isn't a stigma because of career progression. It's more about the fact that real world experience is required to be a good counselor, and spending the first 7 or 8 years of your adulthood in academia doesn't give you any real world experience. I'll tell a story to give an example. The first daytime class I took in law school (I was a night school student) was Bankruptcy Law. I was shocked to hear some of the questions the kids (and I don't use "kids" loosely) were asking about something as simple as paying bills. They had zero experience having to pay their own way, and didn't understand that when you don't pay your bills, you get angry phone calls from collections agencies. Less than two years later, some of those kids graduated into bankruptcy law practice. How long do you think it'll take for them to accumulate the real world experience necessary to understand what their clients are going through? It's probably gonna take a while. K-JD isn't bad, but it requires more on-the-job "training" (to the extent that living in the real world is job training) before you're an effective attorney.

I get that being a partner is actually probably more work than being an associate, but they also seem to work from home more often, and leave early for different events for their kids or families, and then sign back on later that night to get their work done. So, if I ultimately continue aiming for partner, I figure by the time I have kids, I'll have enough flexibility to see them when I can.

I think you're mistaking flexibility for work-life balance. Just because I can get off work for a kid's doctor's appointment doesn't mean that I have a decent work-life balance. It's better than nothing, but flexibility is a pretty poor substitute for a decent work-life balance. Also, in my observation, partners were in the office unless they had client visits or other work-related travel. Maybe they'd go home and work when it didn't make sense to come into the office because of such visits, and maybe they'd occasionally dip out for a soccer game or a school play, but 99% of the time they were out of the office during normal hours, it was for official business.

FWIW, I had parents that worked long hours as a kid (non-lawyers though), but they still came to my sports after school, and then would do work from home most nights, and came home very late on nights that I didn't have anything going on. I definitely didn't resent it, and actually admired and appreciated their commitment to work, because I was also reaping the benefits of the lifestyle.

I think this is the crux of things. If you value lifestyle most, you'll see partner-track much differently than if you value family time most. I'm very much in the latter group, so they'd have to pay me "retire after one year" money to work the hours and stress of a biglaw partner.

[nealric]

For a slightly different perspective, I'm also the kid of a Biglaw partner (v100 corporate non-NYC). I did a stint in Biglaw myself. My parents are still happily married, and I wouldn't say I suffered to a serious degree growing up from the biglaw work-habits. What it meant, however, was heroic acts. It meant things like going to my little league game but billing all night after I went to bed, then getting up in the morning like it was no big deal. Most family vacations had a few disruptions, but we still took them, and the client calls were mostly an annoyance. NYC V10 is probably a much more difficult situation. That sort of firm is likely going to have a lot more demanding clients- high strung Ibanker types instead of corporate 9-5ers.

I commend your parents for those heroic acts. I just think about whether it’s worth it to have to, ya know? Isn’t there a middle ground where no one suffers?

Yeah, it's called going in-house

[Anonymous User]

For a slightly different perspective, I'm also the kid of a Biglaw partner (v100 corporate non-NYC). I did a stint in Biglaw myself. My parents are still happily married, and I wouldn't say I suffered to a serious degree growing up from the biglaw work-habits. What it meant, however, was heroic acts. It meant things like going to my little league game but billing all night after I went to bed, then getting up in the morning like it was no big deal. Most family vacations had a few disruptions, but we still took them, and the client calls were mostly an annoyance. NYC V10 is probably a much more difficult situation. That sort of firm is likely going to have a lot more demanding clients- high strung Ibanker types instead of corporate 9-5ers.

I commend your parents for those heroic acts. I just think about whether it’s worth it to have to, ya know? Isn’t there a middle ground where no one suffers?

Yeah, it's called going in-house

I made the mistake of going the lit route, so in-house opportunities are few and far between.

[Anonymous User]

Say an aspiring corporate lawyer is aiming to make Partner at a V50 firm, how many hours is he going to be working at his firm? On average, what time do they leave to head home? How much at homework is generally done? How often are all-nighters or staying until midnight going to be? How bad is the lifestyle in all honesty, is it comparable to what guys in finance have to do (90-100 hour work weeks)?

Thanks

Depending on your practice, staying until (or past) midnight can be pretty common regardless of whether you're trying to become a partner, especially when your group is busy.

[SFSpartan]

OP is really looking at this the wrong way. While making partner has some correlation to how hard you work/how much you bill, there are plenty of people that work hard that won't make partner, and some people that work less hard that will make partner. Working hard is necessary, but not sufficient to make partner. At any law firm, making partner is going to at least partially be tied to extraneous factors outside of your control, including the practice area you end up in, the amount of work in that practice area, the personal idiosyncrasies of the partners you work for (what skills and personality traits they value), etc.

[Anonymous User]

Counting time off for vacations, seminars, etc., figure 60 hours during a regular week. This is what is necessary to keep your meaty paycheck, whether or not you make (or are shooting for) partner.

[almondjoy]

Counting time off for vacations, seminars, etc., figure 60 hours during a regular week. This is what is necessary to keep your meaty paycheck, whether or not you make (or are shooting for) partner.

What? No.

[Anonymous User]

Litigator in west coast V100 office. My impression is that you need healthy hours to make partner, but it really comes down to how well-liked you are by the partners, how good your business generation prospects are, how good your reviews are, and the extent to which you've created an internal brand for yourself in the firm (by doing good work, by participating in committees, etc.). Billing 3000 hours or whatever can only help (and many people who make partner do have very high hours), but there are also people who bill 2200-2400 and make partner just by being stellar and well-liked by clients and powerful partners.

[Anonymous User]

I routinely hear questions like this and often think the people asking the questions are missing the point.

Billable hours are important, especially as a junior, but as your seniority increases they can be a distraction. As a senior, you should be building your brand and working on client development (both within the firm and outside).

Many associates bill 2500+ hours have a reputation for padding their hours, inefficiency, and/or working on projects that aren't really going to help your partnership chances (e.g. doc review as a mid level or sr associate).

By the time you're up for partner you'll want to have partners who trust you with their big clients since odds are, you will not have a book of business yourself. You need a partner to be a "guarantor" of sorts.

I know a litigation associate who left a V30 as an 8th year and had a frank convo with her practice group chairs about partnership. They told her to forget about increasing your hours (which had been at 2100-2300 per year during her time there), rather, we question your ability to develop business. They also didn't think she was someone with "presence."

[Anonymous User]

Not sure why the OP's language assumes this aspiring partner will be male.

In any event, I'm a partner-track senior associate who is up soon. My billable hours as a mid-senior associate have consistently hovered in the 2600-2950 range. I agree with the posters who have said that billable hours are not the most important thing, however. You have to find significant time (ideally several hundred hours a year extra) for business development and networking. Most years, I've added 300-600 hours of pitches, other client development, and networking. I can probably leave unsaid the impact on my personal life, but I love the job and realize that this extreme pace is temporary. (I agree with the posters who have noted that even partners have to be on call constantly, but overall hours almost always drop.)

FWIW, I do not believe this level of frenetic pace is required to make partner at my firm. My best guess as to a good baseline for a senior associate who is an aspiring partner is 2300-2400 billable + 300 business promotion.

[Anonymous User]

Not sure why the OP's language assumes this aspiring partner will be male.

Oh god, just chill. Because OP is probably male and is referring to himself, not because he thinks women can't make partner. Relax.