Quality of life??? Forum

[GettingReady2010]

How are these hours typically spread out? Are associates generally working five 12 hr. days, ten 6 hr. days, etc.?

[270910]

How are these hours typically spread out? Are associates generally working five 12 hr. days, ten 6 hr. days, etc.?

Again, the problem is you don't know. Associates get work from partners or more senior associates. It's not only tough to juggle, but you don't always know how long something will take, when it will be given to you, or when it will be due. You could come in at 8, finish a project at 9:30, and not having anything important to do when all of the sudden at 5pm something huge is dropped on your desk that you have to finish by 8am the next morning.

It's not the kind of place where you can put the hours in at your own pace - at least not all of the time. But it varies tremendously by location, practice area, and people that you work for. Some will pay more attention to who is over/under worked than others, some will be more courteous about when they assign work and what deadlines they assign it with, etc.

Work on weekends isn't uncommon, neither is work late at night. Partners are much better able to run their own railroads, so that will have a big impact too. One partner might never get to work before 10:30, another partner might never get to work later than 7 am.

[GettingReady2010]

How are these hours typically spread out? Are associates generally working five 12 hr. days, ten 6 hr. days, etc.?

Again, the problem is you don't know. Associates get work from partners or more senior associates. It's not only tough to juggle, but you don't always know how long something will take, when it will be given to you, or when it will be due. You could come in at 8, finish a project at 9:30, and not having anything important to do when all of the sudden at 5pm something huge is dropped on your desk that you have to finish by 8am the next morning.

It's not the kind of place where you can put the hours in at your own pace - at least not all of the time. But it varies tremendously by location, practice area, and people that you work for. Some will pay more attention to who is over/under worked than others, some will be more courteous about when they assign work and what deadlines they assign it with, etc.

Work on weekends isn't uncommon, neither is work late at night. Partners are much better able to run their own railroads, so that will have a big impact too. One partner might never get to work before 10:30, another partner might never get to work later than 7 am.

That would just piss me off.

[drdolittle]

How are these hours typically spread out? Are associates generally working five 12 hr. days, ten 6 hr. days, etc.?

Again, the problem is you don't know. Associates get work from partners or more senior associates. It's not only tough to juggle, but you don't always know how long something will take, when it will be given to you, or when it will be due. You could come in at 8, finish a project at 9:30, and not having anything important to do when all of the sudden at 5pm something huge is dropped on your desk that you have to finish by 8am the next morning.

It's not the kind of place where you can put the hours in at your own pace - at least not all of the time. But it varies tremendously by location, practice area, and people that you work for. Some will pay more attention to who is over/under worked than others, some will be more courteous about when they assign work and what deadlines they assign it with, etc.

Work on weekends isn't uncommon, neither is work late at night. Partners are much better able to run their own railroads, so that will have a big impact too. One partner might never get to work before 10:30, another partner might never get to work later than 7 am.

That would just piss me off.

Yeah, but if this only happens occasionally, with a fat paycheck as compensation, I wouldn't mind too much. Not too many well paying jobs, if any, offer ultimate freedom.

[Patriot1208]

How are these hours typically spread out? Are associates generally working five 12 hr. days, ten 6 hr. days, etc.?

Again, the problem is you don't know. Associates get work from partners or more senior associates. It's not only tough to juggle, but you don't always know how long something will take, when it will be given to you, or when it will be due. You could come in at 8, finish a project at 9:30, and not having anything important to do when all of the sudden at 5pm something huge is dropped on your desk that you have to finish by 8am the next morning.

It's not the kind of place where you can put the hours in at your own pace - at least not all of the time. But it varies tremendously by location, practice area, and people that you work for. Some will pay more attention to who is over/under worked than others, some will be more courteous about when they assign work and what deadlines they assign it with, etc.

Work on weekends isn't uncommon, neither is work late at night. Partners are much better able to run their own railroads, so that will have a big impact too. One partner might never get to work before 10:30, another partner might never get to work later than 7 am.

That would just piss me off.

Yeah, but if this only happens occasionally, with a fat paycheck as compensation, I wouldn't mind too much. Not too many well paying jobs, if any, offer ultimate freedom.

invent facebook

[drdolittle]

invent facebook

I'm trying...

[Patriot1208]

invent facebook

I'm trying...

marry trumps daughter?

[drdolittle]

invent facebook

I'm trying...

marry trumps daughter?

not a chance without a prenup

[mountaintime]

I know plenty of lawyers who work 0 hours a week.

[drdolittle]

I know plenty of lawyers who work 0 hours a week.

But more importantly, how much do they make?

[270910]

I know plenty of lawyers who work 0 hours a week.

But more importantly, how much do they make owe?

[mountaintime]

I know plenty of lawyers who work 0 hours a week.

But more importantly, how much do they make?

anywhere from nothing to whatever unemployment benefits pay

[Barbie]

didn't read through the thread, but the attorneys I worked for this past summer don't work that much. very small firm, but they do very well for themselves. one of them has two small kids so she would come in around 10am and leave by 4 M-F. Her husband is an artist (and as far as I know, not a successful one) so she was making enough to support them in a nice house, lifestyle while paying back her loans.

[jms1987]

My cousin is a 1st year BigLaw associate in Chicago and he told me his average is low to mid 60's per week. Most weekends are off, with few exceptions.

[tlc]

I interned for two in-house attorneys. Both of them worked strictly 40 hours a week, if not less. They made good money. With the extra time, one of them served as the president of the LA County Bar Association a few years back (I don't know how much work that would entail though).

[Burger in a can]

another point: 40 hours/week spent mostly sitting behind a desk isn't really a comparable amount of labor to 40 hours/week of manual labor, IMO. The 8 hour day was established by labor unions of factory workers and the like. To expect to work those hours as a desk jockey is kind of silly if you think about it.

(didn't read the entire thread so apologies if this has already been said)

[A'nold]

FWIW, I once met a city attorney that worked less than 40 hours a week. They always had such a light workload that they were often let off early on Fridays or just left the office an hour early almost every day if they got their work done. The pay after 5 years was almost 100k too. + gov. benefits.

[GettingReady2010]

another point: 40 hours/week spent mostly sitting behind a desk isn't really a comparable amount of labor to 40 hours/week of manual labor, IMO. The 8 hour day was established by labor unions of factory workers and the like. To expect to work those hours as a desk jockey is kind of silly if you think about it.

(didn't read the entire thread so apologies if this has already been said)

I would agree with you to a certain extent, but sitting behind a desk all day every day under extreme pressure can get old quick.

[Burger in a can]

another point: 40 hours/week spent mostly sitting behind a desk isn't really a comparable amount of labor to 40 hours/week of manual labor, IMO. The 8 hour day was established by labor unions of factory workers and the like. To expect to work those hours as a desk jockey is kind of silly if you think about it.

(didn't read the entire thread so apologies if this has already been said)

I would agree with you to a certain extent, but sitting behind a desk all day every day under extreme pressure can get old quick.

I didn't mean to make it sound like desk jobs are walks in the park- just that the establishment of the 40 hour work week had more to do with actual physical exhaustion and the human rights issues associated with it. This isn't to say that mental exhaustion in office jobs can't often be just as bad or worse- just that the American expectation for an 8 hour day belongs more to blue collars than white ones.

[legalease9]

another point: 40 hours/week spent mostly sitting behind a desk isn't really a comparable amount of labor to 40 hours/week of manual labor, IMO. The 8 hour day was established by labor unions of factory workers and the like. To expect to work those hours as a desk jockey is kind of silly if you think about it.

(didn't read the entire thread so apologies if this has already been said)

I would agree with you to a certain extent, but sitting behind a desk all day every day under extreme pressure can get old quick.

I didn't mean to make it sound like desk jobs are walks in the park- just that the establishment of the 40 hour work week had more to do with actual physical exhaustion and the human rights issues associated with it. This isn't to say that mental exhaustion in office jobs can't often be just as bad or worse- just that the American expectation for an 8 hour day belongs more to blue collars than white ones.

This is very true. In fact, one of the requirement of making a position salaried (i.e. avoiding overtime rules) is that its not primarily manual labor.

[revolution724]

Anybody ever met a lawyer who works less than 50 hours/wk? I always read about overworked lawyers who make their luscious salaries by putting in 60-100 hrs/wk. I wanna hear more about the former or just thoughts on it in general.

It's that luscious salaries thing that's key. I've known a few, but they were not firm lawyers making the big bucks.