lazy lawyers? not so much

Sometimes I wonder what life is going to be like when (if?) I become a lawyer. I had lunch with a lawyer who is a partner at a Huge Firm and also chair of that firm’s nationwide practice area in something. He said he worked 3,600 hours last year, including billing, non-billing and the hours spent being the boss of this practice group.

He has a wife (who is a partner at another mega-firm) and three kids. I figure based on working 50 weeks a year, assuming he takes an occasional family vacation and a few days off here and there, he works 72 hours a week. He said he loves his job and his lifestyle and can’t imagine doing anything else.

72 hours a week doesn’t seem too crazy until you figure that 72 hours a week means working 14.4 hours a day Monday through Friday or maybe 10.2 hours a week if you work every day. And we’re not talking about an occasional 72-hour week when things get busy. I’ve done that in my previous career at times and it was fine because I knew I wasn’t doing it week in and week out. We’re talking about averaging 72 hours a week every single week.

So what kind of life does someone like that lead? I’m not averse to hard work (Hey, I’m in law school; I put in a lot of hours) but working 72 hours a week every week? When does he see his kids? When does he see his wife? I’m speculating wildly here but I figure between the two of them they probably make close to $1 million a year, give or take $200,000 (maybe they make $400,000-500,000 each?). So when do they enjoy spending that hard-earned money?

Being rich would be great. No doubt about that. But how fulfilling is a life in which you work 14.4 of the 17-18 or so hours you’re awake on weekdays -- or more likely, work 72 hours spread out over seven days so you almost never get an actual day away from work? How do you take time for yourself if you devote so much time to work and presumably, what little other time you have, to your family? Is this considered a sacrifice so he can give his kids the best of everything they want? Is that a good way to raise kids? Do his kids ever see their parents? Would I be happy with that lifestyle? Well, I’d be happy with his salary but it makes me wonder.

Does it come naturally to work that hard if you have an intense passion for what you do (and how much you earn)? Does it mean I’m lazy if I don’t want to work that hard every week for the 35 or so years I’m going to work after law school? Does my attitude mean I’ll never be a partner in a Big Firm?