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Yes, but they don't pay well.

There are government lawyer jobs that don't require long hours. Not necessarily easy to get, but they exist. I worked at a fed agency my 1L summer and even ramping up to trial most of the lawyers weren't putting in more than like 50 hrs/week.

There are public interest jobs that are 40 hours a week type jobs, but they're not prestigious, not well-paid, and are not typically the jobs that people on TLS want.

If you're in a secondary or regional market, averaging 60 is a lot more realistic than 80.

If you're not in biglaw, it depends on the firm, but legit ~50 hour firm jobs are real. You just don't get them out of law school.

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There are definitely entry-level small firm jobs where you will rarely work more than 40 hours a week. I think pay is going to vary significantly and in general it seems like putting in the extra work that helps for either establishing yourself at that firm or building a client base to start your own firm will probably require working more than 40 hours a week. I just don't get the impression you can ever get away from the unpredictability that comes with law and either partner or client demands at inconvenient times.

Hey guys! How do I make a ton of money out of law school with no skills and without working a lot?! Where are these jobs??

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Legal Aid is typically 9-5ish, at least at all of the places I have interned at.

Find a niche area of law and a boutique firm that practices that area.

ph14 wrote:There are public interest jobs that are 40 hours a week type jobs, but they're not prestigious, not well-paid, and are not typically the jobs that people on TLS want.

There are also plenty of fedgov attorneys that are usually putting in around 40 hours a week. The compensation is decent, but these jobs are very hard to get.

Plenty of in-house attorneys work 40-50 hour weeks and make pretty good money as well.

ETA: Judges

I think a lot of PI/gov jobs CAN be done in 40 hours a week, but the people that end up in these jobs generally aren't looking to just cruise through on minimum work (especially ITE where having a genuine passion for the work goes a long way in getting you hired in the first place.) No DA or PD will hire you if they sense your attitude is going to be "I work 9-5 and outside of that IDGAF."

Plenty of State, County, and City attorneys in California work 40 hour weeks and make 6 figures. But these are also highly competitive.

brotherdarkness wrote:There are many jobs that have the standard 9-5 hours.

Those jobs aren't as lawyers, tho.

I'm calling bullshit here. The attorneys at the company I'm working for this summer are never there before 8:00 or after 5:00. I'm pretty sure they pay pretty well too. Everyone in the legal department worked at least 5-7 years at decent firms before lateralling.

ETA: scooped by stringer.

Mroberts3 wrote:I think a lot of PI/gov jobs CAN be done in 40 hours a week, but the people that end up in these jobs generally aren't looking to just cruise through on minimum work (especially ITE where having a genuine passion for the work goes a long way in getting you hired in the first place.) No DA or PD will hire you if they sense your attitude is going to be "I work 9-5 and outside of that IDGAF."

Have you met many government lawyers?

Mroberts3 wrote:I think a lot of PI/gov jobs CAN be done in 40 hours a week, but the people that end up in these jobs generally aren't looking to just cruise through on minimum work (especially ITE where having a genuine passion for the work goes a long way in getting you hired in the first place.) No DA or PD will hire you if they sense your attitude is going to be "I work 9-5 and outside of that IDGAF."

There's a difference between "in a normal, routine week I work 40 hours, but I'm willing to put in extra time if necessary" and "I don't care if the shit has hit the fan, it's 5:01 and I'm out the door."

I'm a prosecutor and I usually work maybe 50-60. Lower end unless I've got multiple trials/wk.

The federal government (some agencies) are not 40-60 and they pay quite well, especially if you been there for a while. If you are in litigation with the governemnt, then you will probably do closer to 60.

I'm in small law. 40 to 50 hours a week is typical, starting salary is 60k to 80k, depending on your background. You won't be making big law salary for the first few years, but the trade off is you get to have a job and a life.

Patent prosecution boutique that are not the sweatshop variety. There are a few that exist where you can work 9-6 with no weekends for most of the year and still make a lot of money.

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BigGov lawyers that work for financial agencies in non-litigation roles. 40-50 hrs a week with 6 figure pay.

Mroberts3 wrote:I think a lot of PI/gov jobs CAN be done in 40 hours a week, but the people that end up in these jobs generally aren't looking to just cruise through on minimum work (especially ITE where having a genuine passion for the work goes a long way in getting you hired in the first place.)

DING DING DING.

Could I get by on 40 hours? Yes, most weeks. Do I want to? No.