Junior associate at Big Law -- help!

[Anonymous]

I work in house where the time expectations aren't what they are in Big Law. Any of our lawyers keeping the schedule you keep would probably be fired. Even if you're working all night, which you clearly aren't, it doesn't look good to start your work day at 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in house where the time expectations aren't what they are in Big Law. Any of our lawyers keeping the schedule you keep would probably be fired. Even if you're working all night, which you clearly aren't, it doesn't look good to start your work day at 10.

Well, plenty of BigLaw people start their day at 10 am. But they don't finish it before 10 pm at the earliest.

[Anonymous]

Dont even worry about working, you are going to get fired. Keep applying to other jobs. Why is your commute so long?

[Anonymous]

I’ve been in big law for 8 years and also agree that OP, you are the problem.

Wake up at 5 and work out then. Answer emails on the elliptical or exercise bike. BILL THAT TIME! Then shower and get dressed for the day.

If you can’t move closer, shift your commute to a different time of the morning. My commute is drastically diffeeent if I leave at 9 instead of 7:45. I’m talking 35 minutes instead of 1:15. You can be online and working before you leave the house, then commute much more quickly and still be at the office by 10. And 10 won’t seem odd if you’ve already been online, answering the phone (forward your office phone to your cell), and responsive to emails.

Cut the interviews and pro bono work. I don’t do anything that’s non-billable. You don’t have time for that shit now.

Get back online in the evening before 11 pm. Try to “unwind”? HA! Do that while working, with a glass of wine. You could get another 2 hours in between 9 and 11. Get the kids on a sleeping schedule. Those kids gotta cry it out. I had the worst sleeper on the planet and letting her cry was painful, but the best thing that I could do for my life. She sleeps great now.

And yes, you have to work weekends. Do longer workouts on Saturday and Sunday if you want, hang out with the kids and family, meal prep for the week (this is LIFE CHANGING!), and then get some work in after the kids go to bed.

You don’t have to do this every day/weekend to make your hours, so there should be time for date night, happy hour, kid stuff, and a real vacation during the year. You just have to plan better and BILL EVERY SECOND.

[Anonymous]

Can people please clarify why they keep telling OP to move near a job she will quit??? Did I miss that OP is renting and will continue to rent? If so that makes sense. If people are advising her to add in selling a home with two young kids and buying a home near a job she is likely to leave within the next years this bad advice.

Do any firms allow WFH at all??? Or just not for juniors associates? Seems like that would help people. My company- not biglaw but a big for profit corporation- sees one ore two days a week as a way to retain talent and avoid burnout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do any firms allow WFH at all??? Or just not for juniors associates? Seems like that would help people. My company- not biglaw but a big for profit corporation- sees one ore two days a week as a way to retain talent and avoid burnout.

I think this depends a lot on practice area and individual partners' personalities. I don't WFH on a regular basis, but I am free to do so most of the time. The partners I work for don't know or care.

[Anonymous]

I'm still hung up on the amount of time being spent to "set up the computer."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP back. This thread has gotten off topic, but thank you for those who answered the question.

So, here is my day generally if I'm not dealing with interviewing at schools or travelling for work (not billable):

Wake up at 5:30 AM -- breakfast, clothing, pack myself for the day, straighten up, and deal with all the emergency emails I had overnight (I generally don't bill for these 1-3 minute emails, because I cannot bill for 0.01 of an hour)
6:30-7:00 AM -- leave for DC.
8-8:30 AM -- arrive in office and set up computer to deal with emails/calls
9:00 - 10:00 AM -- gym/shower/dressed
10 AM - 7 PM -- work like crazy, but dealing with pitches, responses to team members on cases that I'm not on (but collegial office so can't ignore), work for cases that I'm told cannot be billed, practice-group meetings, interviews, billable hour tracking, trainings, bathroom, lunch all suck up actual work time and I'm careful to only bill clients the $500+/hour for time that I am 100% productive. Plus, pro bono does not fully count and I always am on a pro bono case. If pro bono counted, that alone would allow me to make my hours. Or, if I billed on bathroom breaks as I know my colleagues do, that would help. Or if I did billable work during travel (knowing that it is less productive in tiny, uncomfortable seats with people constantly interrupting you), that would help. But, I don't and I won't play that game.
8:30 PM -- arrive home, eat, try to unwind.
11 PM - ... -- sometimes have to go back to work, but sometimes have a very interrupted sleep with 2 children that wake up often.

My weekends are not free: (1) we don't have a weekend nanny; (2) we have church and other activities; (3) I have a family and friends; (5) we try to go away on weekends to make up for not taking vacation. I try not to work on weekends, but yes, I do work then too.

I am barely sleeping as it is. Am I expected to sleep less? And, yes, I have to go to the gym -- the people in my office are fat and I gained 20 pounds in the first 6 months at the firm.

I am in a specialty practice.

So basically you are working a nine hour day, including lunch, like pretty much every average working American does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can people please clarify why they keep telling OP to move near a job she will quit??? Did I miss that OP is renting and will continue to rent? If so that makes sense. If people are advising her to add in selling a home with two young kids and buying a home near a job she is likely to leave within the next years this bad advice.

She likely needs to stay in private practice for two more years before she will have good exit options. In those two years--if she can survive without being fired--she will earn more than 500k. It's worth relocating. She doesn't have to buy, but she does have to do something if she's going to make it two more years.

[Anonymous]

OP, I have a similar schedule in a big organization but i wake up later and get home earlier. This morning started with a conference call 7-8am from home, I got ready for work and got my kid up from 8am-9am, was at work by 9:30am, left at 6:30pm and was home by 7pm for family dinner, story time, etc., and was then back to work emails 8-9:30pm. Now winding down with a glass of wine and I'll be asleep by 10:30. You really need to cut down on the commute or make the commute productive. If moving isn't an option, can you pay a driver so you can work in the back seat? Also, you bill for all your hours, even the 0.01 hour you used for that email (add them up!).

Overall, I think you need a mentor in your industry and fast! Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH is a BigLaw junior partner and he works out 5 weekdays per week but he goes running or lifts weights at home. He controls weight by bringing meals from home (tip: choose a few flavors of lean cuisine or similar that you can stand and make that lunch daily). If he is in the middle of something he gets up at 5 to answer overnight emails before he starts his day, otherwise he gets up at 6, works out and showers. He is dressed for the day at 7, says good morning to the kids, and grabs his food for the day (yogurt for breakfast, midmorning snack, frozen meal or salad for lunch, afternoon snack). He is out the door for work at 7:15, and has a 20-minute drive. He gets home at 6:45/7MTuTh, changes, does stories with the kids and tucks them in by 7:30. Eats dinner, relaxes a bit then often does an hour or two of work between 8-11. In bed between 10:30-11:30. Wednesdays and Fridays he consistently works late and tries to do client dinners those nights when he can. On those nights he gets home at 10-11 and we go right to bed. He consistently works weekends during naptime on Saturday (I run errands then) and Sunday from lunch-dinner.

SAHMs stop posting on work threads about what your meal ticket does all day. Thanks,
everyone

+1

And what are you doing during all of this carefully crafted schedule, PP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH is a BigLaw junior partner and he works out 5 weekdays per week but he goes running or lifts weights at home. He controls weight by bringing meals from home (tip: choose a few flavors of lean cuisine or similar that you can stand and make that lunch daily). If he is in the middle of something he gets up at 5 to answer overnight emails before he starts his day, otherwise he gets up at 6, works out and showers. He is dressed for the day at 7, says good morning to the kids, and grabs his food for the day (yogurt for breakfast, midmorning snack, frozen meal or salad for lunch, afternoon snack). He is out the door for work at 7:15, and has a 20-minute drive. He gets home at 6:45/7MTuTh, changes, does stories with the kids and tucks them in by 7:30. Eats dinner, relaxes a bit then often does an hour or two of work between 8-11. In bed between 10:30-11:30. Wednesdays and Fridays he consistently works late and tries to do client dinners those nights when he can. On those nights he gets home at 10-11 and we go right to bed. He consistently works weekends during naptime on Saturday (I run errands then) and Sunday from lunch-dinner.

SAHMs stop posting on work threads about what your meal ticket does all day. Thanks,
everyone

+1

And what are you doing during all of this carefully crafted schedule, PP?

Oh shut up. That poster responded and actually works FT. Regardless stop being a dick.

[Anonymous]

This career is just not a good fit for you. You have a lot of "me" time in the day which honestly there isn't really room for as a junior biglaw associate (speaking here as a senior biglaw associate). You have an hour in the gym each day, you mention lunch (if you don't have time to bill enough you should eat quickly at your desk while working), and you have "winding down" time in the evenings at home. You can do some of those things some of the time, but you just can't expect to do them all every day. And, as everyone has said, spending 3 hours commuting (during which time you do no billable work) really makes this unmanageable.

[Anonymous]

I too can hardly believe this schedule. But if this is real take two months to do things right to try to save your job and see what happens to your work and quality of life, based on the excellent advice you are getting. Just plan to spend more money temporarily -- hire help at home, take Uber and work during the ride, stay in an air BNB or friend's place near work 1 or 2 nights a week and do nothing but work, get a weekend nanny and drop all non-work commitments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm still hung up on the amount of time being spent to "set up the computer."

Haha, same. OP must be 80 years old.