I was just told that I shouldn't set hard boundaries and should always have my computer on so my Skype is green. I typically work from 8am to 7pm then 9pm till late (usually off between midnight and 3). This seems perfectly reasonably, am I missing something?

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What are you doing between 3am and 8am? Slacker

likefunnyuplifting

I’m weak at whoever rated this “uplifting.” 😂

likeupliftingfunny

Best part of Latham is that our status only updates between 9am-6pm local time on weekdays. Outside of those days/hours, the status reflects away automatically.

likehelpful

Agreed - I love that feature and I’m glad people have largely stopped changing it back to green to seem like they’re online late 😂

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This is crazy town. Do you plan on maintaining your sanity? This looks like a good recipe for obesity, divorce, and depression. Tell this person to F off and bill what you’re required to, do good work, be a good person, and live like a human being.

likeuplifting

Who on earth told you this? They sound like a nightmare

(For comparison, I frequently switch my status to Away when I’m still working late at night and if I just so happen to forget to change it back the next day and I stay on yellow for a day or two, who the hell cares? I’m available when people hit me up and my timesheet paints a pretty vivid picture for any partners who care to take a look.)

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It depends. Are you refusing to join a call at 7:30 that the rest of the team is on? Is your Skype off when the rest of the team communicates through Skype? The only way I can see this being reasonable would be if you misinterpreted a conversation about how your working style was incompatible with the team.

Biglaw isn’t about hours at the desk. You get paid to be available when needed, especially as a second year. If I called a second year at 7:30pm and they said “no I only work from 8am-7pm and 9pm on” I’d be PISSED absent a specific arrangement that I knew the associate had approved with the partners. You get paid to be available when called.

That said I give zero shits where my second years are and what they’re doing when I haven’t called them in. If you want to run to the post office fly free friend.

likefunny

Forget 7:30. I have people that regularly call me at 9:45pm when I have no signing or closing in sight

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In my prior firm I used to panic about whether my Skype was set to green or not and if anyone would notice if it went to “away”. My current firm uses jabber and at one point a system update deleted it from my laptop. I made efforts to fix it but to no avail. After a while I realized that my anxiety was lower without it so I’ve just left it off my computer...nobody noticed or cared.

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This. We had a firm wide update to Skype earlier in the year (yes, behind the times) and a few people including partners never "got around" to switching over to the new system and so they were constantly set as away, quite openly so that they would have more availability and people wouldn't constantly call them. I should have done the same...

LOL! My Skype status is permanently set to away. I just had my review and only got good feedback. If people care you need to go. Come to us, we’re hiring

likesmartfunny

We’re also hiring!

My advice would be to either ignore that or switch firms. If you’re hitting your hours, don’t listen to that.

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Unless you’re billing 1800 when the rest of the associates in your group are billing 2600, I promise you other associates do not care

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May I ask who told you this? (What level and group?) I think if I worked those hours and someone told me that, it would raise a red flag about this person, unless there has been a big misunderstanding. I’m a fourth year, I work from 9:30-7, (but through the night if needed, though I try to log off for dinner most nights because everyone, including my therapist, told me I needed to set boundaries). I work with someone who eats dinner at 10pm, so wants to work from 4-10pm straight, always calling me during my dinner. Is someone you work with super active from 7-9pm? Nevertheless, it is reasonable to take some time to respond if the matter is not urgent and you receive a message at night. I tell the second year on my team to set boundaries so not sure where this person is coming from, especially after the last two years we just had… sorry to hear it!

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All the associates in my group set the Skype availability to read permanently as “away” / yellow. Solved.

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Like who said this and what firm, please protect the people.

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I’d consider finding a new employer. There are plenty of large firms that don’t operate like this, including mine.

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Come join us in the yellow forever Skype crew.

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I keep it as away at all times. Why? Because I’m an adult and I don’t need anyone to babysit me. If anyone had a problem with that, then they are a major try hard (and loser). Sounds like a pretty old school firm. If you want a better life (you can have one) I’d consider making a move.

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What firm? 🤔

likefunny

I hate that unlike consulting people don’t out their firms here.

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Just thinking back to this again, I was seconded one of my firm’s offices in another country a couple years ago and hardly anyone there bothered with Skype. Yellow yellow yellow, and a bunch of people who were Offline 99+ days. Good times. Just cos some people live their lives by this self conscious “virtual presenteeism” mentality doesn’t mean that’s how it needs to be.

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For reference I'm a second year.

Was this a general statement they said to you, or something in response to you being away when they needed something?

I got that advice as a first year and what they really meant was don’t set times where you just refuse to answer your phone or respond to emails/messages (all because an associate from years back got let go because they straight up refused to work before 9am every day no matter what was going on at work)

Junior partner was the one who told me that. Was concerned about appearances to other associates that I may not be working hard enough, not that I wasnt working hard enough.

We have a junior partner like that in our group. He’s one of the reasons I’m looking to get out.

Uh, that sounds like lunacy. But you do you.

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