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Hmmm wonder if there are more inter-office relationships in firms where lawyers are subject to long hours (i.e. 18hrs+)?
I work in a City law firm. No-one does 18-hour days on a regular basis. It does happen from time to time when we're very busy but would not go on for months on end (people would collapse quite probably). It might happen for a few days or a couple of weeks near to a closing, for example.
Most City lawyers I know work around 10 to 12 hour days, sometimes less than that, sometimes a bit more.
If you want to work for a City law firm you have to be prepared for the fact it is hard work, can be a lot of hours, can mean cancelled weekends / holidays, and is very competitive. If this doesn't sound appealing there are plenty of law jobs you can do that don't involve the pressures of the City.
Most City lawyers I know work around 10 to 12 hour days, sometimes less than that, sometimes a bit more.
If you want to work for a City law firm you have to be prepared for the fact it is hard work, can be a lot of hours, can mean cancelled weekends / holidays, and is very competitive. If this doesn't sound appealing there are plenty of law jobs you can do that don't involve the pressures of the City.
I worked for a City firm for about 6 ½ years before moving out to an equivalent firm here in Sydney.
Kerrigan is absolutely right to say that 18 hours are not the norm. However, you have to be prepared to do those hours when necessary.
The length of hours will depend on the department in which you work. All teams have peaks and troughs of activity. The transactional teams (corp finance, banking etc) will tend to go through more extreme peaks/troughs i.e. working horrendous hours for a short period of time followed by very little to do and civilised hours. Litigation, on the other hand, is often characterised by less extremes of activity and more consistency.
When I say horrendous hours, I mean starting early (7am) and working into the early hours of the next day (2am, 3am), going home snatching a few hours kip and then returning to the office to do it all over again for days at a time. Then, of course, there are the dreaded all-nighters. However, as Kerrigan explained, those tend to be as a closing approaches and the deal needs to be finalised or when a case is approaching hearing.
What many people find difficult is that there can be little warning of when those awful hours are going to hit. It would be easier to cope with if someone told you that, in a fortnight's time, you would have to work till midnight. However, the request to work late or over the weekends can come at extremely short notice with the resulting cancelled evenings out, weekends away etc. That can be tough.
You also need to bear in mind that the pressure during those times can be high. Its not a case of having to work 12 hours to complete an assignment. You're under pressure from the client, your own colleagues and the representatives of the other parties to the deal or case.
Bear in mind that those MC firms don't pay the best part of 50 to 60K on qualification for nothing!
Yes, the hours can be far more relaxed outside of London. But don't kid yourself that businesses that use the legal hubs of Leeds etc don't place any pressure on their lawyers or that the partners are any less ambitious!
Kerrigan is absolutely right to say that 18 hours are not the norm. However, you have to be prepared to do those hours when necessary.
The length of hours will depend on the department in which you work. All teams have peaks and troughs of activity. The transactional teams (corp finance, banking etc) will tend to go through more extreme peaks/troughs i.e. working horrendous hours for a short period of time followed by very little to do and civilised hours. Litigation, on the other hand, is often characterised by less extremes of activity and more consistency.
When I say horrendous hours, I mean starting early (7am) and working into the early hours of the next day (2am, 3am), going home snatching a few hours kip and then returning to the office to do it all over again for days at a time. Then, of course, there are the dreaded all-nighters. However, as Kerrigan explained, those tend to be as a closing approaches and the deal needs to be finalised or when a case is approaching hearing.
What many people find difficult is that there can be little warning of when those awful hours are going to hit. It would be easier to cope with if someone told you that, in a fortnight's time, you would have to work till midnight. However, the request to work late or over the weekends can come at extremely short notice with the resulting cancelled evenings out, weekends away etc. That can be tough.
You also need to bear in mind that the pressure during those times can be high. Its not a case of having to work 12 hours to complete an assignment. You're under pressure from the client, your own colleagues and the representatives of the other parties to the deal or case.
Bear in mind that those MC firms don't pay the best part of 50 to 60K on qualification for nothing!
Yes, the hours can be far more relaxed outside of London. But don't kid yourself that businesses that use the legal hubs of Leeds etc don't place any pressure on their lawyers or that the partners are any less ambitious!
At the end of the day, we've all heard the stories about City law etc. You know when you take the job that work comes in peaks and troughs in a sector like law, if you can't acceptthat and don't want to do it then, quite simply, don't. If you do then put your head down and get on with it. For not only yourself, but for your colleages and ultimately your firm. By not being willing to put the hours in, and therefore slacking, you will let everyone down.
Somehow I think 3-4 straight days in the office might be a touch of an exaggeration... but I could envisage 30hrs being possible in the run up to completion etc.
~ o
My cousin said that at times he would go into work on Monday, and would not return home till Thursday! 
And its the norm for him not to leave his office after 30 hrs. He might be getting paid a ridiculously high salary, but I value my free time more xxx.
And its the norm for him not to leave his office after 30 hrs. He might be getting paid a ridiculously high salary, but I value my free time more xxx.This does sound a little embellished, if you ask me.
I don't know if MC life is for me, if you don't have time to enjoy your money... what's the point? Life's short enough as it is without spending all your time stuck in the office.
That said, I guess many City lawyers count on retiring comparatively young and enjoying their ill-gotten gains then?
Ryan
People work hard in the City. MC or not, you will have to work long hours from time to time. That's how it is. The people who cope best are the ones who genuinely enjoy the work and don't see it as seriously damaging to their happiness to be in the office late now and then, or sometimes, very late for a series of days or weeks. If going home at 5.30pm and having your weekends totally free is very important to you, and you don't want to get messages on your Blackberry or your mobile while you are on holiday, don't work for any City firm at all, because it makes demands on your time.
It has its rewards, if you're the kind of person who gets a kick out of the work, enjoys the high profile of many of the things you'll be working on etc - and there is also the financial compensation. This is pretty good, as has been said being £50,000 or £60,000 on qualification (and in some firms, a few grand more than this). It is a very decent salary for a person of 24 or 25 as many NQs are.
However if you're in law to get rich, you are in the wrong business. No lawyer will be able to retire in their early 30s the way some bankers can. You may save up enough to "downsize" your life then, if that is what you want. Law provides a decent, stable, considerably-above-average salary for the long term.
It is not, though, as I say, a way to get rich quick!
I am 1 year qualified and have been in the office for 30 hours at a time before now, but it certainly is not the norm, and you'd have to be mad if you would work that hard on a consistent basis for the salary that you get in all honesty.
It has its rewards, if you're the kind of person who gets a kick out of the work, enjoys the high profile of many of the things you'll be working on etc - and there is also the financial compensation. This is pretty good, as has been said being £50,000 or £60,000 on qualification (and in some firms, a few grand more than this). It is a very decent salary for a person of 24 or 25 as many NQs are.
However if you're in law to get rich, you are in the wrong business. No lawyer will be able to retire in their early 30s the way some bankers can. You may save up enough to "downsize" your life then, if that is what you want. Law provides a decent, stable, considerably-above-average salary for the long term.
It is not, though, as I say, a way to get rich quick!
I am 1 year qualified and have been in the office for 30 hours at a time before now, but it certainly is not the norm, and you'd have to be mad if you would work that hard on a consistent basis for the salary that you get in all honesty.
People tend to exaggerate what they do, the whole "omg last night I had about 50 pints!!!!" syndrome. As for what was said above I think enjoying it is the right thing, if you wont genuinely enjoy it, then you shouldn't be going into the field. This is true of everything, but everyone has it drilled into them how much work they are going to have to put in in any firm at all, it's not just in the City (although probably worst there), hours will be long everywhere... and if you don't enjoy it this will slowly drain your will to be there.
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