I closed the door to my car outside 601 Lexington Ave, and looked up at the stilts of the Citigroup Center beaming in front of me. I strolled through the same doors filmed in Suits, excited and nervous about what would be a life-changing career move. What would my days, weeks, years ahead be like. What sort of work would I be doing, what sort of experience would I have...?
Fast forward to 2022, and the question I'm often still asked is...
What is it like working in BigLaw?
So, in an attempt to provide some insight, here’s a snapshot of a day in my old life working at one of the largest law firms in New York.
7.00am - 8am
Wake up, check emails from the night before (or, if it was deal season, from a few hours earlier), get ready for the day ahead and grab some fresh air heading to the office.
8.30 - 9.30am
Arrive at the office. Drop my bag and head straight up to the food hall (which more resembled the Cafe at Bergdorf's). Grab a hot Starbucks and a breakfast wrap with egg whites, fresh berries, and yogurt. Sometimes I'd grab a piece of fruit to take back to the office, but often it was a cookie. If time permitted, I'd try and eat in and take in the view of Central Park before the day got away from me. The luxurious building had many added amenities, the cafe being one that I took advantage off.
9.30am - 2.00pm
Back to my desk to get through the emails and organising tasks for the day. Sometimes this meant revising or drafting documents of a headliner cross-border deal, meeting with partners, clients, or counsel to discuss the latest draft and attend negotiations, getting up to speed on a new matter by reading through slide decks and LPAs, or preparing for a closing. I was definitely kept on my toes with sophisticated and complex matters.
2.00pm
Back up to the cafe to grab a sandwich or something from the hot bar. This could be anything from Thanksgiving-themed roasts to Nobu sushi and beyond. I've never been a big lunch person, so I usually went with a sandwich and coffee (number 3 or so). If it was a quieter day, I'd often join colleagues, sit, and eat together.
2.15pm - 6.30pm
More calls, turns of documents and putting out fires with calls and emails. Sometimes I'd catch myself daydreaming at the impressive views over Manhattan from my office - which really were incredible. At this point, it would be time for a quick call or walk down to a colleague's office for a brain break and a laugh to get you through the afternoon. One weekend I had friends visiting from Australia, so I emailed our concierge program to find a booking for somewhere in the Village and to buy a gift as it was their birthday. For someone like me who is terrible at planning their social life, the concierge system was terrific. It provided grocery services, kid's party planning, or errand running services around the City.
6.30pm - 8.00pm
Given that most of the partners I worked for were young parents who valued family time, it meant that they were often offline over dinner, and I could get away to the gym for a workout or dinner with friends. Having kids and working in BigLaw (or any demanding job) must be challenging, but my colleagues made it work. If it were a busy period, I'd order dinner to the office and work through it before getting a car home.
8.00pm - 11.00pm
On a usual weekday, I was back online overseeing some more revisions of documents and chatting with partners or clients. During the deal season, client calls at night are quite common, but otherwise, I used this time to catch up on work from the day.
11.30pm
Get ready for bed, watch a show, do some filing, and enter my time for the day.
Midnight
Lights out!
There it is, a typical day working as a BigLaw attorney in New York. What an experience! I hope this provided some insight into BigLaw work/life balance, BigLaw hours and pros and cons.
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly or download our New York market guide and BigLaw salary scale here.
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