Midlevel M&A just lateraled to my V10 firm and have been doing 75-ish billable hrs per week for the past three weeks. I’m exhausted from sleeping 4-5hr per night. Is this typical or is my firm just toxic? Feel like I can’t physically do this long term - any thoughts on whether litigation is more sustainable or what area to switch into within biglaw?

It’s unfortunately not that unusual over the past 12-18 months. Litigation hours have generally been quite a bit lower, but, even assuming you could switch, are you willing to go back some class years potentially?

Tbh sounds kind of typical for a V10, which is why I would never work at one. December is generally brutal, and M&A is the busiest it has been perhaps ever, so I wouldn’t say this is necessarily typical, but V10s are rough.

Most of my past two years have been like that. Not unusual.

Are you at Kirkland? If so, this should have been expected.

You can always move down market or switch to another practice group that’s more chill

So if I am a rising 5th year corporate / M&A lawyer in NY who has consistently billed ~1950 over my first four years, gets all market comp, and takes several weeks of vacation per year, I should stay put?

I lateraled to big law from a regional in August and I posted something similar assuming I was going to be told I’m overworked - but instead it seems like everyone in M&A is in this position in Q4. Hang in there, hoping 2022 isn’t as brutal. If it’s any conciliation I’ve gotten much more used to it as time has gone on. But if this continues through 2022 I don’t anticipate staying more than another year or two.

75x52=3900. I don’t think we can call that normal. But you got to stand up to them or else they will continue to walk all over you. Start setting expectations in terms of what you’re willing to do. Most people in your firm are not billing 3900.