- Quickdraw McLaw
- 11 Comments
- 388 Views
With Memorial Day behind us, school about to get out, and summer unofficially underway, it’s time to revisit the topic of work-life balance. A recent article from Agence France-Presse talks about Sweden’s economic prosperity and an approach to life that involves more productivity and less work hours.
Obviously, American lawyers are never going to have the luxurious lifestyle of Swedish skilled laborers, but is it even within our grasp? A number of you manage to have that desirable thing called work-life balance where you are able to prioritize work and lifestyle regardless of whether you work in a lifestyle firm. How do you do it? What tips do you have for finding balance? Is it leaving work at a certain time each day? Turning off the phone when you get home? In-office happy hours? Extended lunch hours? Hobbies? Exercise (lol)? What are you doing to stay sane in this mad, mad profession?
Get out of the firms that let their clients entirely dictate rates. The race to the bottom will kill you, albeit slowly. Find a firm where the rates are higher and you don't feel the need to apologize for what you are charging. Work less, make more money. Not necessarily easy, but worth it.
I find that when I pre-bill my hours I am able to really enjoy the end of the week (and month). For example, when I get to the office on Monday I immediately sit down and start making up billing entries. I find that, as long as the entries are long-winded, but vague, nobody seems to question them. Obviously, I never bill more than a .3 or a .4 for anything. After doing this for several years, I have a wonderful database of generic entries for all types of cases. I can usually get 30 to 35 hours entered by lunchtime on Monday. This really frees me up to do the things that I enjoy (golf, poker, working out, etc.). Then, when I have to actually do work during the week, those hours become icing on the cake! It is such a great system that I'm surprised more people don't follow it. I love being an attorney, but most of my colleagues seem to be absolutely miserable!
@ 9:16 – best post all week!
How much for access to your database?
10:27 Here. Flat fee quote only.
Oh man, I loved this post. Mostly because I worked in insurance defense for 4 years.
The 9:16 a.m. post needs to make the short list for Best Post of the Year 2014.
Looks like our Constable may have violated Federal Wiretap Laws. He just keeps adding to his resume.
Federal law allows for one party consent telephone recordings. However, NRS 200.620 prohibits recording of telephone conversations unless one party consents and there is an emergency.
Go in-house. Work normal-ish hours, no billing to worry about and best part – harassing outside attorneys for billing too much and then threatening to pull their work – it's the life! (j/k on the last one, though some of your firm lawyers are greedy bastards and that really does get noticed)
9:16 here. No it doesn't.