Is there such a thing as a 9-to-5 in law these days?

[Anonymous]

state or fed, especially non-litigating positions. I know a 3-4 people my age (mid-career) that started solo or small practices. They don't make much money and there was a ton of pressure to hustle for work at first, but at least a couple of them seem to have achieved a nice balance - they have a handful of reliable business clients, low overhead, and friends at small firms who will refer them business that is too "small" for the firm. I also get the feeling, however, that they started out by basically telling potential clients they were experts in whatever the client needed, even if they knew nothing about it. Makes me nervous.

[Anonymous]

Inhouse attorney - I work 9-5 mostly, unless something big is happening. I get paid $200k, 4 weeks vacation plus plenty of sick and personal time. 7 years out of law school - did a stint at Big Law before moving inhouse.

[Anonymous]

I do appointed criminal appeals and contract work. It only works because I get benefits from my spouse's employer, but I also work less than full time and can, to some extent, control my schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I started my own firm. I work from my first court appearance in the morning to maybe 3pm most days.

When do you prepare for hearings and write motions? Meet with clients?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do appointed criminal appeals and contract work. It only works because I get benefits from my spouse's employer, but I also work less than full time and can, to some extent, control my schedule.

When you say "appointed criminal appeals" what do you mean? Court-appointed public defender work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Inhouse attorney - I work 9-5 mostly, unless something big is happening. I get paid $200k, 4 weeks vacation plus plenty of sick and personal time. 7 years out of law school - did a stint at Big Law before moving inhouse.

+1. The pay cut was worth it in hours added back to my day and years added back to my life!!

[Anonymous]

The stressful part about inhouse is that you are a cost center and can be cut any time. Has not happened so much in the good economy, but ask anyone who was in-house in 2008-09.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The stressful part about inhouse is that you are a cost center and can be cut any time. Has not happened so much in the good economy, but ask anyone who was in-house in 2008-09.

This. My DH has been in-house since 2009 in two different companies. He was just laid off from the 2nd one (he was also laid off from the first one a few years ago.) Good in-house jobs are hard to find and with rare exception they pay $180-200k. DH has been aggressively looking for months now (he was given a lot of notice about the layoff) and has found nothing. He is considering going back to a firm as a senior associate/of counsel simply because he needs a job, even though he much prefers in-house.

So, in short, nice work if you can get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The stressful part about inhouse is that you are a cost center and can be cut any time. Has not happened so much in the good economy, but ask anyone who was in-house in 2008-09.

Yes, and in general the attitude that comes with that. Having to justify your costs, review outside counsel bills and in general deal with lots of people who don't want to deal with legal and find you an annoyance or keep asking you why you haven't got that litigation dismissed yet. Stark contrast to law firm where the staff is there to support you because you bring in money.

[Anonymous]

I'm at a mid-sized regional firm, and I work 7:30 - 4:30 most days (work from home one day a week too). I absolutely have to check on things outside my normal hours in the office, but usually there's not much that can't wait until the next morning. Sometimes I work a lot more than usual, but most of the time my schedule works out just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I started my own firm. I work from my first court appearance in the morning to maybe 3pm most days.

What did you do for benefits? Did you work another job while you built up your practice? How much is malpractice insurance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The stressful part about inhouse is that you are a cost center and can be cut any time. Has not happened so much in the good economy, but ask anyone who was in-house in 2008-09.

This. My DH has been in-house since 2009 in two different companies. He was just laid off from the 2nd one (he was also laid off from the first one a few years ago.) Good in-house jobs are hard to find and with rare exception they pay $180-200k. DH has been aggressively looking for months now (he was given a lot of notice about the layoff) and has found nothing. He is considering going back to a firm as a senior associate/of counsel simply because he needs a job, even though he much prefers in-house.

So, in short, nice work if you can get it.

And as you get older, it is harder to get the next in-house job (unless you are at GC level). It’s rare to see an in-house hire who is over 50.

[Anonymous]

I work 8 hrs a day at a nonprofit with a semi-flexible schedule. (45 hrs would be an unusual/heavy week for me). But it depends on the nonprofit, some nonprofit attorneys are more like martyrs to the cause.

[Anonymous]

They exist! A few months ago I left a small "family friendly" firm for another firm that is truly family friendly with fewer billable hours and 25% more money. You don't have to quit private practice! Use your network to find your friends who are at these good firms.

[Anonymous]

Hang your own shingle. Set your own hours.

One lawyer we use for some specialize work (IP/trademark) is like this. She's careful not to take on more work that would result in her working long hours.