Is there anyone out there actually doing high-level litigation and working under 50 hours a week? Every firm I’ve interviewed with brags about their culture, but the second a trial date is set, all that flexibility goes out the window. You can’t be a zealous advocate and also be home for dinner every night at 6 PM. I wish firms would just be honest and say they pay you a lot because they own your time.

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What do you mean by high level litigation? My team is at a boutique firm and we represent large businesses in one off disputes and we have great balance. But since we handle complex one off cases, they rarely make their way to trial. And once we do go to trial, we all understand our balance is not the priority anymore.

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When a trial is looming trial work isn’t a 9-5 job. But for years I would work a few 400 hour months in a row and then basically take a month off. If you want a steady predictable life as a lawyer try trusts and estates.

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I should think anyone doing "high level" work would understand what the job entails. It obviously means a big expenditure of time. That's the way it is and will always be. If you have to be home for dinner every night at 6 pm there's always traffic court.

If you mean high-stakes by “high level,” and if all your cases are high stakes, you will not have much flexibility. I’ve worked at an elite lit boutique, as well as a V5 firm, before settling in long term with a firm that does a mix of high-stakes and lower stakes litigation. When you’re going to trial you’re going to work crazy hours no matter what. If all you cases are intense, your life will be a mess. Some people really relish that. And “culture” means different things—at the boutique the culture was super fun but it was a work hard play hard place where work was your life. Culture at my current firm is also great but in a totally different way—much more laid back and accepting of life outside work.

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