How do people bill 60 hours a week? Especially parents? As in I know it’s doable and plenty of people do but what does your life look like like does laundry go? Do you eat while you work? Do you not/barely see your kids? Is your house a mess? Do you not wash your hair for days? No workout? Sleep 4-5 hours (I need 6-7 to really function unless one off time or like 2-3 days)? I want to know if I’m just bad time management or because I do too much other stuff/have too high expectation for basics

I’ve had spells of a few weeks at 60+. I principally WFH, so that is huge and ensures I actually see and spend time with my kids in the mornings and evenings. I do that pretty much regardless of how busy I am. I do sacrifice sleep and exercise during times like this, and don’t shower as often as I’d like. I have three kids so my house is always a wreck regardless. I can function well on minimal sleep which is helpful and somewhat concerning if I actually think about it.

You’re not bad at time management. 60+ is not sustainable and should not be normal.

In many cases, they are just lying. If it is a few weeks, it might be travel, or it could be trial or a big deal, in which case everything is set aside for that period. Younger, I pulled a few all-nighters for briefing, which meant I crashed out several days but billed a lot overall. I didn't have a family and I didn't work out. I might have skipped a shower because I was working from home. But I will stand by my statement that if someone bills this much throughout the year, they are probably dishonest. Any time I hear someone say "my husband works 16-hour days" I roll my eyes, because I have done the math, and that calculation surely starts when he gets in the shower and ends when he gets home, and he is not working all of the time he is out of the house, he is just avoiding being at home.

You’re either “padding” your hours (inaccurately reporting) or you’re doing a combination of some of these things. Most of my 60 hour weeks involved getting in at 8/9am and leaving at 10pm (and maybe working when I got home). That’s why so many people have housekeepers, eat out/get food delivery, aren’t in good shape, have strained relationships and burn out quickly

I’m child free but married and still find it hard to bill 40+ hours a week even in billable heavy, high volume insurance defense without working weekends and staying up late most nights. I probably am not super efficient though. My firm is also short on administrative staff.

I can’t imagine what this life is like for parents and have so much respect for all the working moms out there. I am not in a position of power, but if I ever was, I would do my best to accommodate parents, including making sure the firm had adequate support staff so as little attorney time as possible was wasted.

I’m on a fully remote arrangement with my firm. I outsource as much as I can. I work a little before the kids are up, then from 8 when the nanny comes to 5. I typically log off at 5 then pick up after bedtime as needed. During particularly busy times, I work during naps and after bedtime on the weekends. Honestly, the fully remote arrangement is what makes it most possible for me while still spending time with my kids.

I work straight 8:30 to 4:30. Kids are in school until then. They go to sleep around 8:30, and I work from 8:30/9PM to about 12:00 am sometimes 1:00 am. On some bad days I have worked until 3:30. I average 5-6 hours sleep per night. It’s annoying but I see my kids and make money. No one ever said this was easy.

WFH and Addie babe

Basically yes to most of the things you mentioned. It’s not sustainable and the reason why a lot of parents (especially moms) go reduced hours or quit.

I haven’t done it in ages, but as a junior associate at a v10 firm in NYC, I regularly billed 60+ hour weeks. Never had a month under 200. I would work 9 or 10 to midnight or 1am and often all day of both weekend days. I almost always gave myself Friday nights off, bc rarely is something due on a Saturday morning, but the observant partners would come back online on Saturday night, so you had to have things done by then.

It’s easiest when doing something like a massive doc review for 12+ hours a day. Harder once you start doing more sophisticated work and juggling more matters and responsibility, but the volume and unpredictability was never ending.

I was not married and child free. I had a cleaning person who came once a week and sent my laundry out to dry clean and wash and fold. I lived a 10 minute ride from the office, but almost always went home at nights vs some of my colleagues who would sleep in the office. On occasion I had a car wait for me while I ran up to my apartment, showered and changed, and came back down. I’d steal toilet paper from the office when I ran out. 🙃. Always ate at the office. Had wine delivered to my doorman though!

No working out. There was a gym in our office building, but if partner’s saw you working out, they thought you had capacity for more work. Slept about 4-6 hours a night tops. Lost most of the friends I had from law school bc I had no time to see them, but some of my closest friends now are still from that firm (fox hole mentality?). Didn’t date. Stopped making plans bc I always had to break them.

Did that for about 4 years then thank goodness for the recession! I’ve worked places since then where I’ve regularly billed 40-50 but nothing like those first years. Went to a different v10 for a hot minute bc I thought perhaps expectations had changed post-pandemic, but not much unfortunately!!

Mom of two toddlers, and I work every night after bedtime, sacrifice sleep (as in 5 hours feels like a luxury), and never work out. I have breakfast and dinner with my kids every day and work pretty much every other waking moment during my busy periods. My mom often visits in the afternoon to see my kids, and she will pick up my laundry and return it washed a folded a few days later because she is a lifesaver.

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The work starts coming and it don’t stop coming

This is making me second guess getting back into big law. Billing vs life.