Analysis

Revealed: Law firms’ average arrive and leave the office times 2017-18

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Who works the longest, and shortest, hours?

You don’t go into corporate law for a quiet life. Adrenaline-fuelled multi-billion pound deals, mega salaries and spectacular perks make for quite a time of it for those lucky enough to secure training contracts at the leading firms.

The trade-off, of course, are the hours. The worst thing about them is how variable — and unpredictable — they can be. It’s common for rookies to have a run of clocking off at 6:30pm followed by a series of days working until the early hours of the morning. But what time do they arrive and leave the office on average?

We asked over 2,000 trainees and junior lawyers at the 60 leading UK-based corporate law firms just this. The results, ranked by average finish time, are below.

Legal Cheek Trainee & Junior Lawyer Survey 2017-18 — average arrive and leave times

LAW FIRMAVERAGE ARRIVAL TIMEAVERAGE LEAVE TIME
Kirkland & Ellis9:34am10:02pm
Weil Gotshal9:09am9:09pm
Freshfields9:19am8:56pm
Clifford Chance9:01am8:45pm
Jones Day9:07am8:45pm
Allen & Overy9:10am8:43pm
Ropes & Gray8:55am8:42pm
Latham & Watkins9:32am8:38pm
White & Case9:12am8:33pm
Linklaters9:14am8:23pm
Shearman & Sterling9:33am8:17pm
Mayer Brown9:15am8:12pm
Simmons & Simmons9:07am8:11pm
Norton Rose Fulbright9:09am8:03pm
Baker McKenzie9:09am8:01pm
Watson Farley9:16am7:55pm
Macfarlanes8:56am7:49pm
Reed Smith9:17am7:46pm
BLP9:09am7:44pm
Dechert8:52am7:42pm
Hogan Lovells9:18am7:40pm
Ashurst9:11am7:39pm
CMS9:01am7:39pm
Dentons8:44am7:36pm
Herbert Smith Freehills9:12am7:35pm
Travers Smith9:12am7:32pm
Slaughter and May9:20am7:30pm
Stephenson Harwood9:01am7:24pm
K&L Gates9:02am7:21pm
Withers8:49am7:20pm
Addleshaw Goddard8:40am7:19pm
Taylor Wessing8:39am7:15pm
DLA Piper9:09am7:12pm
Mishcon de Reya8:56am7:11pm
RPC9:01am7:03pm
Bird & Bird9:09am7:02pm
Clyde & Co9:08am7:01pm
Ince & Co8:58am7:00pm
Gowling WLG9:05am6:58pm
Squire Patton Boggs8:43am6:58pm
Charles Russell Speechlys9:11am6:57pm
Hill Dickinson8:24am6:55pm
Bristows8:50am6:53pm
Eversheds Sutherland8:41am6:51pm
Howard Kennedy9:00am6:51pm
Forsters8:55am6:50pm
PwC8:48am6:50pm
Pinsent Masons8:51am6:49pm
Walker Morris8:30am6:49pm
Burges Salmon8:50am6:44pm
Fieldfisher9:15am6:36pm
Osborne Clarke8:49am6:35pm
Shoosmiths8:41am6:34pm
Trowers & Hamlins8:46am6:31pm
Bond Dickinson8:32am6:25pm
Mills & Reeve8:40am6:18pm
DWF9:03am6:12pm
DAC Beachroft8:40am6:06pm
TLT9:00am6:06pm
Browne Jacobson8:37am6:05pm
Irwin Mitchell8:37am6:05pm

In addition to the times, we received hundreds of comments about working hours. Perhaps because of the big money paid by the firms who work their lawyers hardest, there was not much complaining. Appreciated by many was a no face-time culture that seems increasingly common across the City. We also got notably more comments about flexible working than in last year’s survey, facilitated by a host of recent IT upgrades meaning laptops and Cloud storage systems are more common. This comment from a rookie at a leading US firm’s London office summed up the wider sentiment:

“The hours can be very long, but you know that is the case when you sign up and the firm is very good about working from home etc (as long as the work gets done).”

Still, for many flexible working remains the exception rather than the rule. There is no doubt that in certain departments it can be tough. As one magic circler told us:

“I go home just to sleep, I am in the office for every other minute of the day. That being said, I have only had to work 2 weekends over the past 4 months, which has been nice.”

Rather than focus solely on arrive and leave times, this year we have done a bit more number crunching and calculated average hours worked each day.

Legal Cheek Trainee & Junior Lawyer Survey 2017-18 — average daily hours worked

LAW FIRMAVERAGE DAILY HOURS
Kirkland & Ellis12:28
Weil Gotshal12:00
Ropes & Gray11:47
Clifford Chance11:44
Jones Day11:38
Freshfields11:37
Allen & Overy11:33
White & Case11:21
Linklaters11:09
Latham & Watkins11:06
Simmons & Simmons11:04
Mayer Brown10:57
Norton Rose Fulbright10:54
Macfarlanes10:53
Baker McKenzie10:52
Dentons10:52
Dechert10:50
Shearman & Sterling10:44
Watson Farley10:39
Addleshaw Goddard10:39
CMS10:38
Taylor Wessing10:36
BLP10:35
Hill Dickinson10:31
Withers10:31
Reed Smith10:29
Ashurst10:28
Herbert Smith Freehills10:23
Stephenson Harwood10:23
Hogan Lovells10:22
Travers Smith10:20
K&L Gates10:19
Walker Morris10:19
Mishcon de Reya10:15
Squire Patton Boggs10:15
Eversheds Sutherland10:10
Slaughter and May10:10
Bristows10:03
DLA Piper10:03
Ince & Co10:02
RPC10:02
PwC10:02
Pinsent Masons9:58
Forsters9:55
Burges Salmon9:54
Bird & Bird9:53
Bond Dickinson9:53
Clyde & Co9:53
Gowling WLG9:53
Shoosmiths9:53
Howard Kennedy9:51
Charles Russell Speechlys9:46
Osborne Clarke9:46
Trowers & Hamlins9:45
Mills & Reeve9:38
Browne Jacobson9:28
Irwin Mitchell9:28
DAC Beachroft9:26
Fieldfisher9:21
DWF9:09
TLT9:06

Handling the often gruelling hours is one of the biggest challenges for trainees and junior lawyers. Many struggle, and are helped through it by friends, family and colleagues. There are also specialist anonymous services, such as LawCare, on hand to help. Commenting on our survey results, its CEO Elizabeth Rimmer said:

“We are aware that trainees and junior lawyers can struggle with the long, and often unpredictable hours, they can be required to work. At LawCare we encourage people to talk about how they are feeling, but legal professionals often feel it’s a sign of weakness to admit they are stressed. We know that talking can help to address these issues, including those caused by working long hours. Trainees and junior lawyers can also follow good wellbeing strategies to deal with stress: planning ahead where possible, rewarding themselves when tasks are completed — and taking a break before the next one — taking a lunch break where possible. Taking exercise and eating well are also important.”

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