Explore Jobs
Find Specific Jobs
Explore Careers
Explore Professions
Best Companies
Explore Companies
This question is about what a lawyer does.
How many hours do lawyers work?
Lawyers work a variety of different hours depending on several factors. Lawyers working for large-scale law firms work an average of 66 hours per week, while attorneys working for small or medium-sized law firms work an average of 42-54 hours per week, and lawyers working for government institutions generally work around 40 hours per week.
The amount of hours a lawyer works really depends on the type of lawyer they are and who they work for. Another factor is the unique demands of each individual case they work on. Certain lawyers even offer their clients 24/7 access to them.
Many lawyers do keep a fairly average work week of around 40 hours; however, most lawyers work much more than this, as stated above.
One of the reasons lawyers choose or need to work many hours is because they have minimum billable hour requirements. These requirements are assigned by the law firm in which they work.
They also have other tasks that take up a fair amount of time, such as travel, research, gaining new clients, and communicating with various different legal parties. All of these activities make it impossible for some lawyers to keep a work week of 40 or fewer hours.
Another reason for lawyers' long hours is that their job requires them to be fully dedicated to their clients. Many lawyers work outside of their firms' business hours to deliver quality legal services to their clients.
Even if a lawyer does not work for a firm where minimum billable hours are demanded, they often have to work outside of their normal business hours to keep up with all of their legal-related tasks.
Choose from 10+ customizable resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
