06-06-2003, 11:34 PM
I should know. I am a lawyer. I graduated from a great school and work as a litigation associate at one of the top firms in the country. Boy, do the hours suck.
For the first few months, it was not so bad. I got to review documents, not the most exciting work, but 9:30-7 kind of hours, with maybe one Saturday a month. Ahh, those halcyon days . . .
Then came motion practice -- the work was much more interesting, but also required more hours -- for a period of about 2 months, I worked probably every other weekend, and stayed past midnight 1-3 times a week. It was rather roller-coaster-like -- i.e., a motion had to be in on a certain date, and it was craziness before that, and much more relaxed after. And that was not cushy, but tolerable.
What followed was the descent into hell. I have been putting together depo prep books on numerous witnesses. That means that I look over tens of thousands of pages of produced documents for each witness, to try to find documents s/he will be asked about at the deposition. With the depositions approaching, the schedule was incredibly tight. (Also, motion practice continues throughout this stage, so I get interrupted every 3-4 days with an urgent assignment). During this stage, staying past midnight is the norm, and it's the rare night (sometimes 1 a week, occassionally 2, generally none) that I leave before midnight.
It's not just me. The team is incredibly understaffed and everyone is crushed by the work. I ended up doing one assignment on my own (with a 2-day deadline) which another attorney was supposed to be helping on (because it was originally deemed too big for one person to do in time) after the other attorney had a separate major disaster which came up.
And I don't even have it the worst. Another attorney here, getting ready for a trial, has worked over 10 hours a day, every day for over a month, without a letup.
Bottom line, I think these kind of hours are not sustainable over the long run without significant negative consequences to one's health and / or family life. However, they are what is expected at high-end law firms.
For the first few months, it was not so bad. I got to review documents, not the most exciting work, but 9:30-7 kind of hours, with maybe one Saturday a month. Ahh, those halcyon days . . .
Then came motion practice -- the work was much more interesting, but also required more hours -- for a period of about 2 months, I worked probably every other weekend, and stayed past midnight 1-3 times a week. It was rather roller-coaster-like -- i.e., a motion had to be in on a certain date, and it was craziness before that, and much more relaxed after. And that was not cushy, but tolerable.
What followed was the descent into hell. I have been putting together depo prep books on numerous witnesses. That means that I look over tens of thousands of pages of produced documents for each witness, to try to find documents s/he will be asked about at the deposition. With the depositions approaching, the schedule was incredibly tight. (Also, motion practice continues throughout this stage, so I get interrupted every 3-4 days with an urgent assignment). During this stage, staying past midnight is the norm, and it's the rare night (sometimes 1 a week, occassionally 2, generally none) that I leave before midnight.
It's not just me. The team is incredibly understaffed and everyone is crushed by the work. I ended up doing one assignment on my own (with a 2-day deadline) which another attorney was supposed to be helping on (because it was originally deemed too big for one person to do in time) after the other attorney had a separate major disaster which came up.
And I don't even have it the worst. Another attorney here, getting ready for a trial, has worked over 10 hours a day, every day for over a month, without a letup.
Bottom line, I think these kind of hours are not sustainable over the long run without significant negative consequences to one's health and / or family life. However, they are what is expected at high-end law firms.