What are the normal working hours for a lawyer?

Working hours and conditions vary greatly for lawyers depending on the area in which they work. Generally, a lawyer's job is considered a 9-5 job but most work more than that. There are horror stories of associates sleeping in the office, working 100 hour weeks etc. There are also lawyers that work the midnight shift. In Philadelphia, for instance, arraignment courts are run during the night. They need a judge, a prosecutor and sometimes a defense attorney to run this court.

I hope this helps.

From the US Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Salaried lawyers usually have structured work schedules. Lawyers who are in private practice may work irregular hours while conducting research, conferring with clients, or preparing briefs during nonoffice hours. Lawyers often work long hours, and of those who regularly work full time, about half work 50 hours or more per week. They may face particularly heavy pressure when a case is being tried. Preparation for court includes keeping abreast of the latest laws and judicial decisions.

Although legal work generally is not seasonal, the work of tax lawyers and other specialists may be an exception. Because lawyers in private practice often can determine their own workload and the point at which they will retire, many stay in practice well beyond the usual retirement age.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos053.htm

Lawyer Working Conditions

The amount of time worked is completely up to teh attorney. However, most law firms are open between the hours of 8: and 5:00. Attorneys (I live with one) work sometimes all hours of the night, but they do usually get to take off when they want to as long as they get the work done or in some cases bill the number of hours required by the firm.

I hope that when you are in trouble, your lawyer has the moxie to find out that you have an unproductive attitude.

FWIW, I work 60 hours per week and I generally bill about 40 of those hours.

For a client like you, I would not bill, neither would I work. And yes, I generally smoke out the bad clients before I even accept a retainer deposit.

I think they work between 50-70 hours a week

For Legal Advise I always recommend this website where you can find all the solutions. http://creditandfinancesol.info/index.html?src=5YA...

RE :What are the normal working hours for a lawyer?

Not how much they work, like, if it's 9-5, 2nd shift, 3rd shift, on call.

Update: also, what training or experiance is required? besides a 4 year degree and going to law school.

Follow 6 answers

They are working as long as you are parked in front of them at their desk. After that, the take the money and fly by the seat of their pants with your case when it is absolutely the last minute they have to deal with it.

It's usually 80 hours a week or unemployment. All shuffling papers, seeking to destroy people's lives and the US economy.

If you are talking hours billed -- probably 40 hours per day. Hours worked -- probably none.

they don't work they just suck the money and blood of their intended clients.