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Has anyone at their firm negotiated hourly pay?
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I use to work from about 7am-7pm M-F and a few hours on Sunday. Since baby entered pic it’s more like 8:30 am-5:30pm and from about 8pm-10pm. Long hours but happy for the pay and overall flexibility in when I get the work done
Which city are you based out of? Are your hours more predictable? What practice group?
This makes me so happy not to be in BigLaw
Hours are like the boogie man to people. Based on the time I’ve been in a big law firm, I’d say hours are extremely variable. Some people are really busy for discrete periods of time, followed by lulls. Some are consistently busy but never as crazed. In my firm, the average billable hours firm wide are below 2k per year and the busiest groups average roughly 2,400-2,500 (with some individuals very very high) but even that isn’t sustainable year over year. Obviously a litigator on trial or major matters in discovery can have very long hours, like a corporate lawyer on several deals or restructuring attorneys on a major bankruptcy. But overall the hours are less than people would guess.
If you’re talking about time working as in answering email, etc, even if out of the office then I probably “work” every hour I’m awake each day, so 15-19 hours a day. In reality I’m working 930-6 and maybe one or two hours at night. I do agree that many people make it out to be probably worse than it is. Your average biglaw attorney isn’t billing anywhere near 2,500 hours per year (although some certain do), and certainly not every year.
Before WFH: 10am-7:30 unless something was keeping me later.
Now: work trickles in between 8am and 10pm or later with no real stopping point
Same and in NYC
Typically 8:30 to 6:30 or 7. Later if necessary but rarely. With WFH it’s pretty much all day until 10 pm with breaks in between.
4th yr M&A at V30. Billed 235 last month and maybe 30 this month thus far. In short, can’t give a straight answer as hours are so unpredictable. Agreed with the premise that people tend to overstate their actual working hours.
7am to 5pm and then again from 9pm to 11pm. Few hours as necessary on weekends.
I’m in NYC and typically in the office people wouldn’t come in until 930 or 10, except some partners. WFH I’ll start earlier at 8 or 830 after a workout, but associates typically weren’t working that early when we were still coming into the office.
I’m glad you say this. I feel like at my firm in TX that most partners and even associates don’t make it in until after 9. Most of them leave 6-7, depending on what’s going on.
9:30am or so until 1am or 2am most days. Usually a break in there in the evening to watch a TV show or go on a walk and put the kids to bed. In normal times in the office I get home around 8:30pm and would have to stay up even later due to the time burned commuting.
WFH is “endless work” but it always is pretty much endless work so WFH has been much better for me. I at least can pop out and say hi to the kids once in a while and go on walks outside sometimes. When work is in the office I usually get home when it is dark and the kids already are asleep.
And yes, it sucks.
Pro
Genuine question, as someone who’s already considering my big law escape plan... why do you do it?
9:30AM - 2:00AM seven days a week. NYC
A6 Well… Yeah. You do.
When we were in the office I’d typically work 730-6. Now (WFH) I’m usually logged on by 8am and my schedule is all over the place (evenings/weekends).
Wow everyone starts really early.
I am based in an Asia office so it's 9/10AM to midnight for me usually, to accommodate US/EU timezones too.
Then usually a few hours in the mornings for me on the weekends to clear up whatever feedback/work sent overnight on Friday night from US/EU.
Pro
It depends on so many factors. If I’m in the middle of something big, I’m gonna start earlier and end later. If I’m working a lot with a client on the east coast (I’m in LA), I’ll start my day a lot earlier than I otherwise would.
I haven’t had a typical day since we started WFH, but I used to be in the office from around 8:30-9am til 7:30 or 8pm on an average day.
Now I work nonstop. Mornings. Nights. Overnights. Weekends. But for the last week I’ve been trying to take lunch naps at like 1:30pm or so, because I’m very drowsy mid-afternoon and most productive in the mornings and evenings.
WFH is just endless work.
I have taken liberties with being in front of the computer as long as I bill about 8 hours a day and there are no meetings scheduled during office hours.
If the weather is nice in the afternoon, I will go on a 1 hour drive to a nearby vineyard or go for a long jog/walk.
My partners have been incredibly relaxed about it and they do know when I take calls on my drives or when I'm out jogging.
Since WFH, works comes in pretty steadily from 8am to 10pm. Plus a couple hours Saturday and a couple more on Sunday. This has been pretty standard since March.
How do I keep getting notifications for this? I didn’t even comment... just posting so I can unsubscribe
Big law in Boston. Right now it’s legit like 9-5:30 or 6 M-F and sometimes a few hours on weekends. Normally a bit more but it’s been slow lately.
Rising Star
Generally start around 8:30am, work until 6 or so, make dinner and unwind, log back on in the evening for another 2-3 hours. Not too bad.
Rising Star
TIL I worked big law hours lol
Rising Star
Lol absolutely not 😂
Nyc biglaw. I usually start between 9:30-10:30 and work mon-thurs until 1-2am (because I prefer working late when people tend not to bother me) and around 7 on Fridays. I have only worked a handful of weekends.
Big law, smaller market. I usually get in around 8:00 to 8:30am and leave between 6:00 and 7:00pm. Used to work every Saturday for 3-5 hours but really haven’t since March. 1,900 “requirement” and most associates hit it without a problem. A lot of flexibility at my firm so long as you get the work done.