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Typically I stop responding once I leave the office for the day or it is outside working hours and don’t usually respond over the weekend.
Our firm too is big on work life balance and we are in a practice area that is conducive to it.
However there are nights and weekends where I am working late and going through emails and messages and sometimes I will type responses and schedule to send first thing in the morning. That way I don’t forget to respond but it also doesn’t get them used to me responding outside of work hours.
My firm has made it a point to try to emphasize work like balance so you answer team messages from 9-5 ish (can be 8-6) meals should be responded to in 24 business hours. We’re not expected to be responsive over the weekend. Now of you want to you can reply outside of business hours but not the firm culture to do so
Life*
It depends. I am generally at my desk or on my phone until 9:45 pm. After 9 pm, my response is typically just acknowledging receipt. When I manage juniors, I appreciate the “confirming receipt, and that I will respond substantively tomorrow.”
Context here matters. Are you in the middle of pretrial or moving for injunctive relief on an expedited basis? Or is this just a random Wednesday? Bottom line I will read and assess and apply the requisite attention either immediate or otherwise.
7pm unless it’s an emergency
F
Call me a sucker, and I probably am, but I check my emails throughout the night.
I also just check my emails throughout the night. The associate who works for me doesn’t respond to emails after 5:30 except on rare occasions when we’re working late on something time-sensitive, and that mostly works out fine.
I check my emails throughout the evening, and if it is urgent, I will respond. There are a lot of times during trials when things do need an answer as quickly as possible. If it isn't urgent, I save it for the next working day.
If it’s an easy answer - like a will do or a date or something I know off the top of my head - I’ll respond when I see the email. If it’s substantive and I know they don’t need the answer that night, I’ll respond in the morning with the answer. Sometimes people are just checking things off their internal to-do list and everyone can keep things moving with a quick acknowledgement.
We’re talking evening?