what is the life of a lawyer/attorney...by that i mean: are they able to stay home in the mornings? what time do they get home? could they get a call and immediatly have to go somewhere? Just general info...please i REALLY NEED IT. I will give a best answer, i promise!
2007-01-10 08:32:13 · 12 answers · asked by Orange ♥Mocha♥ Frappuccino 6 in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment
Thank you all sooo much! Wonderful answers...and none of you were rude. (At least the responses i have read so far) I have all the information i need now. Thank you again!
2007-01-10 08:53:39 · update #1
I was a lawyer for 25 years.
No you can't stay home in the mornings, unless you are self employed and don't do any litigation work. If you do all calender calls are heard in the mornings.
If you are able to stay home in the mornings you won't be making much money. You have to bill many hours to make a living.
You get home when your done. I was stuck in depositions as late as 1 AM.
Normally you can expect to work 50 to 60 hours in a law firm (much more in major firms - like 70 and up) - you have to bill enough hours to justify your existence.
Yes you can get a call and have to go somewhere - especially if you do criminal work.
Being a lawyer is a tedious job. Your day is either taken up handling reams of paperwork or arguing with other lawyers.
If you are looking for a good career choice get a joint MBA/JD degree and work in some large corporation.
The hours are a bit better, but you might have to travel a lot. The money is good, but not as good as a good personal injury lawyer makes.
2007-01-10 08:41:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, it would help if you had a bit narrower definition of what kind of lawyer. If the idiot box (TV) is any indication, however, a lawyer's life is high-stress. Lots of hours, at work 6 or 7 days a week, calls via pager, cell and/or at home when you're not at the office are probably the norm rather than the exception. Your nice fat retainer fee from Client X could easily mean a 3:30 a.m. call from the magistrate's office 45 miles away from your home to come deal with Client X. In essence, lawyers get well-paid ... until you factor in all the many expenses and serious probable lack of free time.
I suspect you will find certain legal specialities carry a more regimented workload (contract law as a possible example) than criminal law seems to. But, you're still looking at a huge workload day in and day out, with substantial work achievement expectations from the higher-ups.
Perhaps law school will make you ready for the life style of a lawyer, perhaps not. Perhaps that warrants a different Question ?
2007-01-10 08:40:35 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is a loaded question. I have been an attorney for 17 years and some of it has been smooth and some of it has been pretty rough. If you are in practice for yourself, you can make your own hours as long as you stay on top of your case load. Cases have deadlines to meet and you must keep up with them. Sometimes that means long hours into the night. If you limit your practice, you can keep regular hours but you won't make much money. The best thing to do is to work for a government agency. You get to focus your time on the law work without having to worry about the administrative part of the practice. Working for a corporation is very demanding on your time. You have no say over what you do or when you do it. Being a sole practitioner or the head of your own firm is probably the most demanding. I had my own office for five years until I gave up because I could not bring in enough fees to pay the bills. Generally speaking, there are too many attorneys competing for limited business. As a result, the attorneys become creative in how they rustle up business. Sometimes, these methods are less than honorable. I suggest that if you like to learn about law and help people with their legal problems, then you decide what kind of law you want to practice and go for it. Just be aware that the profession can be very demanding on your time and quite stressful. Sometimes you have to do emergency work but most of the time you can schedule your work within normal work hours.
2007-01-10 08:49:21 · answer #3 · answered by rac 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I suppose all of that would depend on the type of law the attorney is practicing. If it is contract law, I would think that almost all of the work would be during business hours and no need to disappear when the phone rang, at least most of the time.
However, if criminal law, on either side (prosecution or defense) I can see where the occassion might arise when you would have to leave in a hurry for some reason.
As for hours of the day of work, again, that would depend. If it is my practice and I decide not to go in until noon, then those are my hours. If I work for somebody else, they would set my hours.
All in all, too many variables unless you want to supply some more information.
2007-01-10 08:38:07 · answer #4 · answered by Steve H 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I worked for an attorney, and he worked normal hours, just like the rest of us. I also helped support a divorce attorney, and on several occasions we had to stay late, one time even an all-nighter to get some paperwork done so this guy could get married that weekend lol. I would think they only attorneys that would get a call and have to go somewhere immediately, are attorneys bailing their clients out of jail! Hope this helped.
2007-01-10 08:39:37 · answer #5 · answered by Proud to be 59 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had to answer this one...You never see the lawyer to be when they're in law school. Trust me you don't want to see them then they need to concentrate so they can pass the bar. After they become a practicing atty, it all depends on the type they are. My brother in law is a city public defender. He works long hours(usually 10), spends time at jail and court too. He's a workaholic but he does get time off and he takes it. When he has a difficult case, he does work weekends. Most attys. work regular business hours and I guess you realize there is a wide variety of choices of which type of lawyer you want to be. Good Luck
2007-01-10 08:52:12 · answer #6 · answered by moveandlose 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That depends on whether the attorney is a trial attorney (argues a case in court) or not. Trial attorneys have to argue cases in court, so their work hours are dictated by the hours of the courts, which are generally 9-3 or 9-5. They may also have to work hours outside of that in order to do research and prepare their arguments.
2007-01-10 08:37:37 · answer #7 · answered by jseah114 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the area of practice. is it an attorney just starting out? Or someone with their own practice?
Kinda like Real Estate - not all people work nonstop - and not all are on call...some (like myself) work regular 9-5 jobs without weekends whereas someone else in in the industry might work weekends and holidays. Even some of my coworkers work weekends - but I choose not to. Of course both jobs require a certain level of flexibility and/or accessibility during after hours....
But if I were asked what's the work practice of a Real Estate agent - I can't answer for all of us - it just depends.
2007-01-10 08:44:22 · answer #8 · answered by The First Lady 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It really depends on what kind of lawyer you want to be and where do you want to work, but usually at the beginning you are going to have to work very hard to get somewhere after a couple of years if you are good you are going to be the one giving orders and other under dog would do the job but for the first 4 to 5 years its very hard if you really want to make it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hope I help
right now I'm the under dog.
2007-01-10 08:39:25 · answer #9 · answered by Veronica G 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well i work with a few lawyers and they pretty much set their own hours. I guess the only time you wouldn't be able to do so is if you would have to be at court....if you're thinking about making this your career then do it because you'll enjoy NOT because it fits into your life style. Good Luck!
2007-01-10 08:37:58 · answer #10 · answered by J 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋