Quinn Emanuel chief says UK firms have ‘healthier’ work-life balance
The founder of US law firm Quinn Emanuel has suggested that lawyers at US firms work harder than those at their UK counterparts.
John Quinn set up the firm back in Los Angeles in 1986 as a litigation-only boutique focused on high-stakes business disputes rather than transactional work. It has since expanded across the globe, including an office in London.
In comments reported in the The Times (£), Quinn highlighted the different conceptions of work-life balance on either side of the Atlantic, suggesting that British firms enjoy “a healthier sense of work-life balance”.
He reportedly said:
“It’s hard work, it’s time consuming. I’ve seen data that indicates US firms on average tend to work much longer hours, or materially longer hours. You could say that maybe the British firms have a healthier sense of work-life balance, that may be one explanation.”
The inflow of US firms into London has certainly rocked the City legal market, with UK firms pressured to boost their pay packets in order to compete in attracting and retaining top talent. But alongside that comes the expectation of much longer hours.
Exclusive Legal Cheek research published last year showed that juniors at US outfits in London have the longest average working days, with those at the very top clocking around 13 hours a day, often leaving the office after 10pm. Fourteen firms (12 of which were American) recorded an average finish time of 9pm or later, up from 11 the year before.
That being said, the Magic Circle doesn’t trail very far behind at all, with juniors at some Magic Circle outfits clocking close to a 12-hour shift each day, and logging off after 9pm — on par with the likes of the US elite.
Outside of this Magic Circle and US bubble, however, the Silver Circle firms and other leading UK outfits tend to enjoy a comparatively shorter working day. So whilst Quinn’s claim broadly rings true, the working hours gap appears far smaller at the very top of the City market.
Water is wet.
When I was in university, I’ll be honest, I was a bit too obsessed with legal cheek lists and NQ salaries and the like. Once you start working inside a firm you realise no one cares where you work.
What really affects people however is horrendous work life balance, seriously. I dont think people realise it genuinely sucks, even in your 20s, having to work until 10pm, midnight or worse every night. I’ve seen fellow colleagues breakup/divorce, gain lots of weight and generally deteriorate.
In your early years especially, US firms overall will not pay you life changing amounts of money more than a top UK city firm thats honestly the truth of it.
Ok you may gain 1/2k extra a month after tax…most people in the UK are on c.35k to put things into context.
This is not a ‘cope’ post, but having trained at an intense MC firm and then moved to a more standard but respectable city outfit, I wanted to put my thoughts out there.
US law firm salaries are incredibly high, it is not 1-2k extra, people in their early 20s are earning 6 figures (10-12k a month). It is life changing. People will grind for it because you can build serious wealth at this time. The grind is worth it.
Even if it destroys your social life, your health and your relationships? Is any job worth that? I saw male colleagues age hideously quickly.
I honestly don’t know. I know people in the field who yeah, are working crazy hours but they will have such good exit opportunities and pretty much be financially ‘sorted’ after 5-7 years. Yes you may not have as much of a social life but you do it to set up the foundations for the rest of your life. I think the sacrifice is worth it.
No far off that though is it? Looking at NQ salaries and taking into account tax, student loan and let’s say 5% pension.
180k = £7700 per month
150k = £6600 per month
100k = £5100 per month
This is not to say which is better, the extra money is still huge, but it’s understandable why some people might prefer a Bird & Bird or Osborne Clarke type of firm and the lower hours they offer over a US sweatshop, when the real pay difference is 30k a year. Or vs a magic circle where it is 18k.
Well duh lol, that’s why the pay is so high lol
Sorry to be pedantic but the headline does not follow. He said UK lawyers have a healthier work life balance. That doesn’t necessarily mean US lawyers work harder. They could be in the office but doing sod all
US corporate culture in general holds that that any interest in a meaningful life outside of work is a sign of weakness (hence all those stories lauding people for working two jobs, or 70 year old fast food workers being praised for having never taken a day off). And this has only been exacerbated through the globalisation of the profession, and the entry into the workforce of people whose families grew up in a 995 culture.
It makes you wonder what the point of it all is, really.
What happens when you want a family? The woman quits and the man is never home? The kids get sent to boarding school at 4 years old?
Headline is clickbait. He doesn’t say US work harder he says they work longer, and I would agree they do ‘work longer hours’. The US lawyer also gets paid more to be working that much more. But to say harder, idk, i know some people in US firms… maybe they do work harder because some of them are well… not good and dont get to the point.
Also if you want to be critical. The Chinese lawyers work harder than the US lawyers, they out there working same hours but add on a Saturday and Sunday… not even 996. When I worked in Beijing, they were out there 9-midnight every day, Saturday 9-9 and then Sunday be by your laptop and phone.
Water is wet.
AI is new.
And bears go into the woods
To poo.
I have worked in both the London and New York offices of a US firm. On average, I am not sure US associates work longer hours during the week. The most noticeable difference is holiday culture. In London, partners were reasonably good at trying to leave you alone during annual leave. The same cannot be said of New York.