Working From Home Forum

[LSATPREPPER]

0L asking a question about Big Law employment.

I know if someone wants to meet their billable hour requirements (1800-2500) they are going to have to work a 60+ hour work - some argue closer to 80 hours.

My question is can you bill from home? I'm not speaking of some type of flex-time arrangement and understand that you have to go into work .

Could you work 60-65 hours in the office and bill 20-25 from home?

[paratactical]

IME, Depends on the firm. I worked at a NYC firm where that was only allowed for senior people. I worked in a Boston firm where they encouraged everyone to be out by 7 and finish work from home.

[Ludo!]

Definitely depends on the firm I think. A lot of the associates I talked to at the firm I'll be at next summer said that face time isn't a big deal and a lot of them can work from home, especially on weekends.

A lot of the Chambers reviews talk about face time requirements. No idea how accurate they are but it could be a starting point for you to look into it.

[Georgiana]

I don't know anyone who can't work at home. That said, there is some work that just isn't conducive to doing at home and there are some coworkers/partners who want you in the office. Its a "know your surroundings" situation. In my DC office it seems to be assumed that you're in the office between 10am and 6pm, before or after that are basically your call. NYC firms seem to expect you in the office until a bit later. Getting your work done and being responsive to emails and calls are way more important than where you're working from.

[shock259]

I don't know anyone who can't work at home. That said, there is some work that just isn't conducive to doing at home and there are some coworkers/partners who want you in the office. Its a "know your surroundings" situation. In my DC office it seems to be assumed that you're in the office between 10am and 6pm, before or after that are basically your call. NYC firms seem to expect you in the office until a bit later. Getting your work done and being responsive to emails and calls are way more important than where you're working from.

The medium-sized firm I worked at prior to LS followed this mentality for the attorneys. Working from home from 10-6 was fine as long as you had a reason and didn't make a habit of it. Outside of those hours, you could work wherever you wanted. Some stayed, some went home.

[DrGuano]

From a couple of firms I interviewed with this past SA callback round...

Cravath - No facetime policy. One of the associates I interviewed with said he worked nearly every weekend the past year, however, he never once stepped foot in the office.

K&E - If work can be done from home, you can leave in the early evening. Same on the weekends. One of the associates I interviewed with had a summer share on Fire Island the past summer (he's a first year, going on two now) and he said he'd leave for Fire Island every Thursday night, work from Fire Island on Friday.

[DrGuano]

0L asking a question about Big Law employment.

I know if someone wants to meet their billable hour requirements (1800-2500) they are going to have to work a 60+ hour work - some argue closer to 80 hours.

My question is can you bill from home? I'm not speaking of some type of flex-time arrangement and understand that you have to go into work .

Could you work 60-65 hours in the office and bill 20-25 from home?

whoa, missed that you're a 0L. Really jumping ahead here. Finish up prepping for the lsat then worry about this.

[dudders]

This is obviously firm and assignment dependent, but the general rule of thumb is that you're more-or-less expected to pull at least a traditional work week in the office but can work nights and weekends from home.

As posters already said, some firms really don't require face time (though it's probably still a good idea), and others are pretty hyper about it and will want to see you at your desk until late. But the general, across-the-board, summarizing the entirety of BigLaw is as above.

[JoeMo]

0L asking a question about Big Law employment.

I know if someone wants to meet their billable hour requirements (1800-2500) they are going to have to work a 60+ hour work - some argue closer to 80 hours.

My question is can you bill from home? I'm not speaking of some type of flex-time arrangement and understand that you have to go into work .

Could you work 60-65 hours in the office and bill 20-25 from home?

whoa, missed that you're a 0L. Really jumping ahead here. Finish up prepping for the lsat then worry about this.

Well they want to make sure law school is really for them. They couldn't fathom working 80 hours in the office.

[ahduth]

I don't know anyone who can't work at home. That said, there is some work that just isn't conducive to doing at home and there are some coworkers/partners who want you in the office. Its a "know your surroundings" situation. In my DC office it seems to be assumed that you're in the office between 10am and 6pm, before or after that are basically your call. NYC firms seem to expect you in the office until a bit later. Getting your work done and being responsive to emails and calls are way more important than where you're working from.

This is a bit of a tangent, but do all law firms "start" so late? I'd much rather start working at 8am...

[ToTransferOrNot]

Everyone bills some time from home, but anyone who says face time doesn't matter (even in the firms that claim face time doesn't matter) is naive. I plan on being in the office from 8:30 - 7:00 on most days, and think that amount of face time will be sufficient. Basically, I want to make sure that if partners or mid-levels are roaming around, I'm there to say "hello".

[Georgiana]

I don't know anyone who can't work at home. That said, there is some work that just isn't conducive to doing at home and there are some coworkers/partners who want you in the office. Its a "know your surroundings" situation. In my DC office it seems to be assumed that you're in the office between 10am and 6pm, before or after that are basically your call. NYC firms seem to expect you in the office until a bit later. Getting your work done and being responsive to emails and calls are way more important than where you're working from.

This is a bit of a tangent, but do all law firms "start" so late? I'd much rather start working at 8am...

I would say that most people get there between 9 and 10, but there's random office things we all do when we get there so things aren't in full swing until like 10. NY seems to start later on average, and different groups have different dynamics (our IP group tends to get a late start). I prefer early mornings too, and generally try to get in before 8:30 to send some emails so people follow up with me early in the day (allowing me to schedule my day... in a perfect world). But know that getting there at 8 doesn't mean you can leave guilt free at 5... no one will give you "kudos" or notice you got there early (which really sucks!), they still expect to see you there working whatever they think is a "full day."

My general method is to monitor for when a majority of the partners in my group are out of the office and I do an evening stop by to follow up on where things are. It lets you get a feel for people's expectations and since you sought them out they probably aren't going to pop in for an evening visit

[D'Angelo]

i would rather get there early and have more breaks during the day definitely! but this is all encouraging news.

[ahduth]

i would rather get there early and have more breaks during the day definitely! but this is all encouraging news.

Yah, I have this sense that a gym break in the middle of the day would be ideal if you could pull it off. Sounds improbable though.

[Georgiana]

i would rather get there early and have more breaks during the day definitely! but this is all encouraging news.

Yah, I have this sense that a gym break in the middle of the day would be ideal if you could pull it off. Sounds improbable though.

People definitely do it, two guys in my group go on a daily run at 3 when its nice out... and another goes to the gym around 5 or 6. I think its easier for men than women due to the time it takes to re-do hair/make up.

[Renzo]

I don't know anyone who can't work at home. That said, there is some work that just isn't conducive to doing at home and there are some coworkers/partners who want you in the office. Its a "know your surroundings" situation. In my DC office it seems to be assumed that you're in the office between 10am and 6pm, before or after that are basically your call. NYC firms seem to expect you in the office until a bit later. Getting your work done and being responsive to emails and calls are way more important than where you're working from.

This is a bit of a tangent, but do all law firms "start" so late? I'd much rather start working at 8am...

I would say that most people get there between 9 and 10, but there's random office things we all do when we get there so things aren't in full swing until like 10. NY seems to start later on average, and different groups have different dynamics (our IP group tends to get a late start). I prefer early mornings too, and generally try to get in before 8:30 to send some emails so people follow up with me early in the day (allowing me to schedule my day... in a perfect world). But know that getting there at 8 doesn't mean you can leave guilt free at 5... no one will give you "kudos" or notice you got there early (which really sucks!), they still expect to see you there working whatever they think is a "full day."

My general method is to monitor for when a majority of the partners in my group are out of the office and I do an evening stop by to follow up on where things are. It lets you get a feel for people's expectations and since you sought them out they probably aren't going to pop in for an evening visit

This is correct, and good advice. Everything in NYC tends to start and end later than a lot of the country (I think it's due to a combination of night-life and having to wait for the rest of the country to wake up if you need to work across time zones). But the most important thing you can do is try your best to mirror the schedule to the partners you will be working with. If you are an early bird who comes in at 6:30 every day, you will be miserable when your night-owl partner (who didn't come in until 10:00) keeps you in the office until 11:00. Conversely, you don't want an early riser sitting around the office for three hours in the morning, wondering why you aren't responding to emails, while you sleep in.