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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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.[/quote]

Like others, I find this schedule to be insane.  I was a biglaw litigation associate for 5 years, and I am a parent now.  In full disclosure, I was not a parent during biglaw, but I can relate to the experience and I think my perspective allows me to understand the realities of doing so. I also know many many parents still in biglaw.  What you're doing (if accurately described) is bonkers.  No wonder you are miserable.

Point by point:

[quote]"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)"[/quote]

There's a couple things in here that raise my eyebrows.  5:30 am seems too early for me, but that may be a matter of preference.  The idea that you have a slew of emergency emails every day is weird to me.  Unless you're staffed on cases going to trial or deals that are closing, you should not have a slew of emergency emails every single night.  And, much more importantly, if you really are spending 30 minutes or so (it is difficult to tell how much time is allotted to this daily emergency email routine), you should ABSOLUTELY be billing that 30 minutes.  I don't care if it's a bunch of 3 minute emails, you bill them each at .1, or if they're all for the same matter, you bill them together as .5.  More reasonably, if you spend 30 minutes answering emails for 3 different matters, you can just bill a .2 for each matter.  You are being paid to bill your time.  You aren't being paid to get up at 5:30am and answer emergency emails that never get recorded.

[quote]6:30-7:00 AM -- leave for DC.
8-8:30 AM -- arrive in office and set up computer to deal with emails/calls
[/quote]

This means you have a 1.5 hour commute.  The only way the long commute can work for you is if you find a way to bill on your commute.  3 hours per day of wasted time is not going to help you.

[quote]9:00 - 10:00 AM -- gym/shower/dressed[/quote]

Unlike others, I don't think you have to get rid of the workout.  You could maybe shift to every other day (it's healthy to give your body a rest day anyway), but I think you can make an hour of workout time fit in a schedule (provided you fix your commute issue).

However, there is still a huge problem with this bullet.  What happened between 8 and 9?  Set up computer (what does that mean?)  This is another lost hour.  Combined with the long commute, and the gym, you're now 4.5 hours into your day and you haven't billed a thing.  If you are spending the 8-9 hour working on matters (including answering emails/correspondence re: those matters) you need to BILL that time.

[quote]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.[/quote]

I've just never heard of a first year who spends most of their time doing pitches (I don't think I contributed to a single pitch in my first year), responding to team members on cases they aren't on (you don't really have that much expertise yet), interviews (what? summer associate interviewing cannot be a major part of your year), training (this is like 10-20 hours per year), bathroom (do you have a medical issue or do you mean just regular 2 minute bathroom breaks a couple times a day?) and lunch (eat at your desk and keep working).  I don't know if something weird is going on that you're spending so much time advising attorneys on other cases, but if it's a substantial amount of time and you're adding value, you should bill your time.  If it's not or you aren't, just stop doing it.  Overall this seems like a major time management issue for you.  If you are working like crazy from 10-7, you should have more than enough billable hours.

The pro bono thing intrigues me too.  I did pro bono when I was at the firm.  It was usually like 150-200 hours per year, and I was one of the higher pro bono workers at my firm.  That's a pretty small amount of your time (maybe 3 hours per week).  If you're doing substantially more than that, you should talk to your practice group leaders or a mentor and see if you can additional associate help on some of these pro bono matters.  I am certain that you can find a way (and the firm will be happy to help you find a way) to put on you on billable matters rather than pro bono ones.

[quote]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.[/quote]

Look I do have some sympathy for you OP.  This is not an easy gig, I know.  But you're making it a lot harder than it needs to be.[/quote]

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