Is there anybody out there with kids who maintains a busy litigation practice simultaneously? I know it’s difficult so need to beat a dead horse on that. What I’m asking about are whether there are any methods, tips, strategy, or advice you can provide to balance a busy professional life with kids.

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Just embrace the chaos and that everything is on fire and behind no matter what you do or how much you put in. You’ll never be caught up and you’ll never be current. Period.

Win the early mornings or the late nights and fully capitalize on your quiet uninterrupted deep Focus time.

Learn to realize what can be left to smolder and can be addressed before it becomes a full blown fire drill.

Sleep. Hydrate. Move around and get outside a least a little.

Find a way to check out and be present for family time when it’s time to do so. Help your spouse more than you think you need to.

I have a wife and kids and a very busy products and Med mal and other litigation/advisory practice with my own clients and also do work for other partners with big books as their “associate” basically. So I know what you’re going through. It’s madness

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I usually block off 5-830ish and then work until I’m in an Alzheimer’s coma and losing basic motor functions. Sometimes that happens within a couple hours depending on when I start.

Lately I’ve been trying to do the 5 am start time and just wrap up work from 8-9 and then shower and crash like a bag of bricks thrown into the ocean

Do your “normal office hours” and work more either after kids go to bed (if you’re like me and think better at night) or early in the morning before kids wake up (if you’re a weirdo whose brain functions at 5am😋). It took some time with me standing my ground that 5pm to 9 pm are off limits for work, that my kids’ birthdays are non-negotiable days off, and that my weekend work will be scheduled around my kids as their lives are scheduled around my work during the week.

Also, give yourself a break if you HAVE to break these rules sometimes (hearings, weeks before trial, etc.) but don’t budge if it isn’t absolutely necessary. You will need an understanding boss who gets that you have to be off during normal working hours sometimes to show up for your kids, but once you show you will still get the work done at more unorthodox times, you’ll be good.

I have about 40ish med mal & nursing home negligence cases on average.

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I have a young son. My wife is also an attorney. Embrace the chaos is probably the best advice. We have a lot of family support with my mother in law and aunts. My wife and I use a combined calendar to avoid booking too heavy of a schedule at the same time. But things do get crazy and it can be easy to fall behind. Hopefully you have good staff that can fill the gaps and make sure fires get put out.

Husband and wife attorney pair here. We are both in litigation. She owns her own firm, and shoulders a lot of the load for our children aged 3 and 12. I shoulder the “why did you only bill 4.3 hours on X day” meetings. I billed 11.9 hours on Y but they ask again, why 4.3 hours on X? “That’s not a full day of work.”

Set doable clear boundaries and don’t break them. It’s hard and my boss often doesn’t understand but I am clear that I am off and unavailable from 5-10 during the week & since my son works around my schedule during the work week, my weekend work is scheduled around what he’s doing. Also, I have awesome parents so it may not be a possibility without

Me! Have 1900 billable requirement two kids under 6! Some days I just can’t do it anymore. I try to delegate work like getting cleaning lady/order food etc. I’m in ID defesne so pay is okay but not that I can afford a live in nanny to help me out during the day!!! So try to take one day at a time

Single Dad of 2 with 40 cases in litigation and 2K billable quota. Lean on family, multitasking, and make sure your firm is flexible on when things get done, WFH, etc. Better to take small cases you can do in your own without oversight while making your hours. You'd be amazed at how much you can juggle without a partner in your grill needing constant updates. Don't schedule depositions before 10 so you have time to catch your breath between dropoff and logging in.

One more thing! Not sure how,old your kids are, but if they are older, get them involved - practicing your opening/arguments, bouncing your ideas off them, etc. it’s both quality time & work

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