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I am a rising second year in biglaw who started my legal career after working for 4-5 years in another fairly stressful (but not as stressful) profession. I have found that, while I was able to pull all nighters and work all hours of the day and night on 2-4 hours sleep in my early 20's, I just can't do it anymore in my 30's. Is anyone else experiencing this? Any tips for how to cope? I look around at my younger classmates and they all seem be better at coping with crazy/irregular hours.

While I didn't necessarily start my career "later" as a lot of people mean it in the industry, I did work for several years before law school as well, and I do notice a difference, but not so much with making it through the work hours itself, but rather with the toll on my personal life. I know that when I was younger, I would have been able to go drinking or find the energy to at least keep up with hobbies even if I got home at 10 pm, but nowadays, all I do is sleep, work, sometimes eat, and on the weekends, just veg out waiting for Monday to come.....

No. But definitely not trying to do Big Law long-term as I get older I realize the money aint worth it as I want my weekends and a life.

My first year in biglaw was at age 35. I'm 41 now. Endurance and stamina haven't been a problem, largely because I've had many years to figure out how to get shit done. The "young'uns" seem to have many all-nighters; I may have one per quarter. They regularly complain about their hours getting written off for inefficiency; my realization rate is extremely high. I also don't find myself leaving at 1pm on Fridays exhausted from a long week or needing to clean my place and do laundry in preparation for date night / weekend fun.

You can't compare apples and fried chicken. Different life stages means different challenges and ways to adapt to them.

Also, for what it's worth, the best ultramarathoners rarely hit their stride until well past age 30. Call me "old" and I'll work circles around you.

Second the above post. Unless you are in your 50’s, stamina shouldn’t be an issue if you have relatively healthy eating/exercise habits. I actually can work better with less sleep the older I get.

My first year in big law was 35, and I’ve also mitigated late nights unlike my younger cohort by being more efficient during the day, more organized, quicker to start work before being asked (when I know I’ll be asked) and developing stronger relationships with senior associates/partners/clients who are closer to my age. Younger associates tend to procrastinate and are scared to ask questions/pick up the phone or have the awareness to know when it’s ok to push something until the next morning.

Anonymous User wrote:My first year in biglaw was at age 35. I'm 41 now. Endurance and stamina haven't been a problem, largely because I've had many years to figure out how to get shit done. The "young'uns" seem to have many all-nighters; I may have one per quarter. They regularly complain about their hours getting written off for inefficiency; my realization rate is extremely high. I also don't find myself leaving at 1pm on Fridays exhausted from a long week or needing to clean my place and do laundry in preparation for date night / weekend fun.

You can't compare apples and fried chicken. Different life stages means different challenges and ways to adapt to them.

Also, for what it's worth, the best ultramarathoners rarely hit their stride until well past age 30. Call me "old" and I'll work circles around you.

this is an extremely aggro post lol

imagining you shouting "you can't compare apples and fried chicken" at the mirror every morning before you head in to lecture the 28 y/os about their realization rates

You sound kind of defensive.

I didn't start my career later, but I would have had problems with the schedule you described regardless. I think I only pulled one all nighter in biglaw and it was horrifying. I know sometimes it happens but if it is happening regularly as a junior associate, I would 1) ensure your superiors are aware, as they should have an interest in dialing down your workload and 2) consider trying to work for a different group of individuals within the firm. I know there were some people that built the all-nighter into their mantra, but it is really unhealthy.

Now, working for 14-16 hours a day, sleeping 6-7 hours, and repeating each day for weeks on end? That's also exhausting and depressing and horrible, but I found it to be more physically manageable.

LBJ's Hair wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:My first year in biglaw was at age 35. I'm 41 now. Endurance and stamina haven't been a problem, largely because I've had many years to figure out how to get shit done. The "young'uns" seem to have many all-nighters; I may have one per quarter. They regularly complain about their hours getting written off for inefficiency; my realization rate is extremely high. I also don't find myself leaving at 1pm on Fridays exhausted from a long week or needing to clean my place and do laundry in preparation for date night / weekend fun.

You can't compare apples and fried chicken. Different life stages means different challenges and ways to adapt to them.

Also, for what it's worth, the best ultramarathoners rarely hit their stride until well past age 30. Call me "old" and I'll work circles around you.

this is an extremely aggro post lol

imagining you shouting "you can't compare apples and fried chicken" at the mirror every morning before you head in to lecture the 28 y/os about their realization rates

Seriously, how many juniors care about realization rate enough to complain about it? Anon seems to have some kind of chip on his/her shoulder about his/her age.