Reply to 1950 billable hours req - manageable with kids?

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[quote=Anonymous]I am a former fed (not DOJ or SEC) who made the jump to medium law and then big law.  I was at my fed job for 6ish years.  I made the jump when I was already a mom.  Long story short, I was totally shocked by how hard it is to bill 1950.  SHOCKED.  At my fed job, I would have stretches where I worked hard.   What I did not realize is that to bill 1950, you have to take your hardest day (or week) in government, and do it every single day.  If you want to see your child, then there is no time for social lunches, no time to work out after work.  You have to be incredibly focused.  And yes, you have much less time with your family.  Having known what it is like to parent in a 9 to 5 job, this transition has been so hard for me as a parent.  These days, I get in around 8 and am lucky to leave at 5:30.  Some nights it is 7 or 8.  I've been working most weekends, usually a few hours on Sunday.  I have no life, except for the day I can give my child...and it certainly does not feel like enough.  On top of that, survival in a law firm is tough.  You have to market yourself internally.  You have to be savy.  You have to bill time, but not too much time that the client won't pay.  Being a fed was a cake walk.  I just worked hard and was rewarded for working hard.

I would really think long and hard about making the jump.

That being said, there are reasons to do it.  I felt like my fed job was settling.  I needed to try this to grow and truly I have.  Now I know how to work hard.  Now I have been challenged.  I feel that I am at the pinical of professional legal practice. I can leave this job and know I practice law at the highest level I could.  With the stress, I try and stay in today and hope the hours will work themselves out here or at my next opportunity (going back to feds is not an option as I left DC).  I hope this will open doors for me, even if I don't stay in Big Law forever.

Good luck![/quote]

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