Exclusive research shows dip in working hours compared to previous year
It’s not all big bucks, fancy offices, and high calibre perks across the UK’s top law firms. Apparently, they also get up to quite a lot of work too.
Anonymously surveying over 2,000 trainee and junior lawyers, Legal Cheek has gained an unparalleled insight into the working patterns and hours at over 100 leading law firms.
As was the case last year, the average working hours for trainee and junior solicitors have decreased across a raft of law firms. Whilst this could be chalked up as a small win for work/life balance, slowing market conditions across several practice areas may also play a role.
Topping our list for the fourth year in a row came Kirkland & Ellis, with the average junior clocking up over 12 hours a day and not logging off before 10pm. Also in the 12 hour club are Ropes & Gray, Weil Gotshal and Manges, and Milbank. Those £150k+ NQ salaries clearly don’t come without a few late nights.
At the other end of the scale, personal injury giant Fletchers Solicitors came in with the lowest average working day with 8 hours and 36 minutes. New entries Winckworth Sherwood and Brabners join Fletchers and returnee Russell-Cooke in averaging (just) shorter than nine hour days, with most rookies out of the office by around 6:15pm.
But, how does your firm fare? The full list of results, ranked from the longest to shortest average days, can be found below. These timings will, of course, fluctuate depending on the particular department a junior works in, and the demand at any given time. You can also see the average start and finish times of juniors, ranging from a typical 5:30 finish, to average closing times past 10pm.
Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey 2023-24 — average start and finish times + average working hours
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| Law firm | Average start time | Average finish time | Average working day |
| Kirkland & Ellis | 9:33am | 10:01pm | 12 hours 28 minutes |
| Ropes & Gray | 9:18am | 9:40pm | 12 hours 22 minutes |
| Weil Gotshal & Manges | 9:17am | 9:29pm | 12 hours 12 minutes |
| Milbank | 9:21am | 9:29pm | 12 hours 8 minutes |
| Fried Frank | 9:18am | 9:15pm | 11 hours 57 minutes |
| Jones Day | 9:11am | 8:53pm | 11 hours 42 minutes |
| Dechert | 8:53am | 8:30pm | 11 hours 37 minutes |
| Goodwin Procter | 9:40am | 9:16pm | 11 hours 36 minutes |
| Simmons & Simmons | 9:01am | 8:30pm | 11 hours 29 minutes |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | 9:19am | 8:46pm | 11 hours 27 minutes |
| Sidley Austin | 9:30am | 8:52pm | 11 hours 22 minutes |
| Debevoise & Plimpton | 9:29am | 8:51pm | 11 hours 22 minutes |
| Clifford Chance | 9:22am | 8:44pm | 11 hours 22 minutes |
| Gibson Dunn | 9:05am | 8:22pm | 11 hours 17 minutes |
| Linklaters | 9:18am | 8:33pm | 11 hours 15 minutes |
| Vinson & Elkins | 9:18am | 8:31pm | 11 hours 13 minutes |
| Sullivan & Cromwell | 9:41am | 8:53pm | 11 hours 12 minutes |
| Morrison Foerster | 9:16am | 8:28pm | 11 hours 12 minutes |
| Latham & Watkins | 9:26am | 8:35pm | 11 hours 9 minutes |
| Davis Polk & Wardwell | 9:36am | 8:39pm | 11 hours 3 minutes |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | 9:08am | 8:08pm | 11 hours |
| Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton | 9:15am | 8:12pm | 10 hours 57 minutes |
| Shearman & Sterling | 9:16am | 8:13pm | 10 hours 57 minutes |
| Akin Gump | 9:10am | 8:02pm | 10 hours 52 minutes |
| White & Case | 9:20am | 8:11pm | 10 hours 51 minutes |
| Allen & Overy | 9:25am | 8:15pm | 10 hours 50 minutes |
| Willkie Farr & Gallagher | 9:29am | 8:17pm | 10 hours 48 minutes |
| Macfarlanes | 9:08am | 7:52pm | 10 hours 44 minutes |
| Baker McKenzie | 9:09am | 7:52pm | 10 hours 43 minutes |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | 9:12am | 7:52pm | 10 hours 40 minutes |
| Orrick | 9:21am | 8:00pm | 10 hours 39 minutes |
| Katten Muchin Rosenman | 8:51am | 7:25pm | 10 hours 34 minutes |
| Greenberg Traurig | 9:18am | 7:51pm | 10 hours 33 minutes |
| Ashurst | 9:13am | 7:46pm | 10 hours 33 minutes |
| Stephenson Harwood | 9:16am | 7:47pm | 10 hours 31 minutes |
| Taylor Wessing | 8:55am | 7:26pm | 10 hours 31 minutes |
| DLA Piper | 8:51am | 7:15pm | 10 hours 24 minutes |
| Paul Hastings | 9:24am | 7:45pm | 10 hours 21 minutes |
| Hogan Lovells | 9:09am | 7:30pm | 10 hours 21 minutes |
| Cooley | 9:12am | 7:31pm | 10 hours 19 minutes |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | 9:06am | 7:25pm | 10 hours 19 minutes |
| Kennedys | 8:45am | 7:00pm | 10 hours 15 minutes |
| Mayer Brown | 9:13am | 7:27pm | 10 hours 14 minutes |
| Reed Smith | 9:20am | 7:32pm | 10 hours 12 minutes |
| Travers Smith | 9:17am | 7:27pm | 10 hours 10 minutes |
| Mischon de Reya | 9:01am | 7:10pm | 10 hours 9 minutes |
| CMS | 8:55am | 7:04pm | 10 hours 9 minutes |
| Eversheds Sutherland | 8:38am | 6:45pm | 10 hours 7 minutes |
| Watson Farley & Williams | 9:18am | 7:23pm | 10 hours 5 minutes |
| Slaughter and May | 9:22am | 7:26pm | 10 hours 4 minutes |
| K&L Gates | 9:18am | 7:20pm | 10 hours 2 minutes |
| Gowling WLG | 8:55am | 6:52pm | 9 hours 57 minutes |
| Withers | 9:03am | 6:58pm | 9 hours 55 minutes |
| RPC | 9:00am | 6:53pm | 9 hours 53 minutes |
| Wiggin | 9:01am | 6:53pm | 9 hours 52 minutes |
| Squire Patton Boggs | 8:49am | 6:38pm | 9 hours 49 minutes |
| Bates Wells | 9:05am | 6:51pm | 9 hours 46 minutes |
| Charles Russell Speechlys | 9:01am | 6:45pm | 9 hours 44 minutes |
| Burges Salmon | 8:50am | 6:32pm | 9 hours 42 minutes |
| Bird & Bird | 9:10am | 6:50pm | 9 hours 40 minutes |
| Walker Morris | 8:33am | 6:13pm | 9 hours 40 minutes |
| TLT | 8:36am | 6:14pm | 9 hours 38 minutes |
| Foot Anstey | 8:44am | 6:21pm | 9 hours 37 minutes |
| HFW | 9:17am | 6:52pm | 9 hours 35 minutes |
| Pinsent Masons | 9:01am | 6:36pm | 9 hours 35 minutes |
| Gateley | 8:47am | 6:21pm | 9 hours 34 minutes |
| Hill Dickinson | 8:46am | 6:19pm | 9 hours 33 minutes |
| Howard Kennedy | 9:02am | 6:33pm | 9 hours 31 minutes |
| Lewis Silkin | 8:58am | 6:28pm | 9 hours 30 minutes |
| Addleshaw Goddard | 8:53am | 6:22pm | 9 hours 29 minutes |
| Penningtons Manches Cooper | 8:51am | 6:18pm | 9 hours 27 minutes |
| Osborne Clarke | 8:58am | 6:24pm | 9 hours 27 minutes |
| Dentons | 9:21am | 6:46pm | 9 hours 25 minutes |
| Shoosmiths | 8:47am | 6:11pm | 9 hours 24 minutes |
| Kingsley Napley | 9:03am | 6:27pm | 9 hours 24 minutes |
| Trowers & Hamlins | 8:53am | 6:15pm | 9 hours 22 minutes |
| Womble Bond Dickinson | 8:37am | 5:58pm | 9 hours 21 minutes |
| Accutrainee | 9:04am | 6:23pm | 9 hours 19 minutes |
| Farrer & Co | 9:08am | 6:26pm | 9 hours 18 minutes |
| Michelmores | 8:38am | 5:56pm | 9 hours 18 minutes |
| Bevan Brittan | 8:38am | 5:56pm | 9 hours 18 minutes |
| Stevens & Bolton | 8:57am | 6:14pm | 9 hours 17 minutes |
| DWF Group Plc | 8:45am | 6:02pm | 9 hours 17 minutes |
| Bristows | 9:12am | 6:29pm | 9 hours 17 minutes |
| Mills & Reeve | 8:43am | 6:00pm | 9 hours 17 minutes |
| Express Solicitors | 8:20am | 5:36pm | 9 hours 16 minutes |
| Harbottle & Lewis |
9:19am | 6:35pm | 9 hours 16 minutes |
| Forsters | 9:07am | 6:23pm | 9 hours 16 minutes |
| Fieldfisher | 9:00am | 6:15pm | 9 hours 15 minutes |
| RWK Goodman | 8:48am | 6:02pm | 9 hours 14 minutes |
| Clyde & Co | 8:57am | 6:11pm | 9 hours 14 minutes |
| Weightmans | 8:48am | 6:00pm | 9 hours 12 minutes |
| Ashfords | 8:46am | 5:55pm | 9 hours 9 minutes |
| Shakespeare Martineau | 8:45am | 5:51pm | 9 hours 6 minutes |
| Wedlake Bell | 9:18am | 6:21pm | 9 hours 3 minutes |
| Birketts | 8:46am | 5:49pm | 9 hours 3 minutes |
| Irwin Mitchell | 8:43am | 5:46pm | 9 hours 3 minutes |
| Winckworth Sherwood | 9:14am | 6:12pm | 8 hours 58 minutes |
| Brabners | 8:49am | 5:45pm | 8 hours 56 minutes |
| Russell-Cooke | 9:15am | 6:01pm | 8 hours 46 minutes |
| Fletchers | 8:44am | 5:20pm | 8 hours 36 minutes |
As part of the survey, we also received hundreds of anonymous comments about working hours. For those looking at the upper end of the table, some words of advice:
“Balance? Sorry mate, never heard of him.”
“Hours are, of course, not exactly 9 to 5, but it’s certainly not dissimilar to any other serious private equity or finance outfit in the City”
“Weekends and holidays are honoured (unless there are emergencies) and your time is mostly respected. However, when work calls you are expected to answer.”
“[Work-life balance] comes and goes in waves. If I were to say it’s good, that would be a lie, but it’s not as god awful as people make out. There are sometimes weeks which go by when I barely bill anything, but then I have had to work over the last two bank holiday weekends. Swings and roundabouts.”
It’s not all bad elsewhere in the table however:
“No one is expected to work late if there is no work to do. Even when there is a lot of work on, the culture of the firm is for everyone to help and support if one person has a lot to manage”
“[I’ve been] told by more than one senior person at the firm to stop checking emails at the evening/weekends”
“It is very rare that I work past 5.30pm and I have never had to do work on a weekend”