It is settled. Lawyers work long hours on the regular and they mean commitment. A legal counselor’s day-to-day activities are dependent on their area of practice. But what brings them together is their habit of being the first to arrive in the office each morning. Contrary to how glamorous they were depicted in films, a lawyer undertakes various tasks in a typical work day. Here’s a quick peek on a day in the life of a solo practitioner:
The Best Part of Day – Pre-Shift
No phone calls. No meetings. It’s just you. This is your time away from distractions. This allows you to read your case files, respond to emails, or just listen to music to relax so you could set your mood for the day.
Nine to Five
The official time of work begins. Usually, your few staffs have already arrived by this time. Your office receives calls, your calendar gets booked, and a million other things that would make the time seem working ever so slowly. During these business hours, few things happen:
- Documents are analyzed and summarized
- Get clients on the phone.
- Legal documents are prepared, drafted etc.
- Continue legal research.
- Data entry and client’s records are updated and organized.
While 9-5 is the usual work shift, evening and weekend work isn’t at all uncommon. The hours can be unpredictable with flexibility around client needs necessary in many roles.
Work Schedule
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Big firms have the resources they need such as a designated team for clients, research, and tech services while small law firms or solo practitioners lack the right tools and workforce to handle big cases. Solo practitioners stretch so much of themselves to manage the business from client intakes, meetings, court appointments to attending to every administrative task in the firm.
But this doesn’t hinder some clients from retaining solo practitioners. Here are some benefits of small firms:
- Have more time for clients during consultations.
- More time, patience, and focus for all clients.
- Clients generally have easier and quicker access to your representative when needed.
- Small firms often work with fewer clients at any given time so there’s opportunity to focus more on you and your case.
- Small firms charge less because they have fewer employees, lower overheads and so much less to maintain.
The After Hours
When clock strikes 5 and it’s time to head out, most solo practitioners end up doing extra work. Much like during their pre-shift, this is also the time when the noise of work tone down. For some, this can be a productive time to get back to emails or study case files.
But some lawyers leave office on time and take the rest of the day relaxing just like any other employee after work. They could either go see a movie, hang out with friends, eat out, or just go home to enjoy the night alone.