How much time off do y'all get?

[brokenegg]

How much time off do you as a lawyer get per year? And what type of lawyer are you? thanks

 

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by brokenegg
typo

[infoinfoinfo]

Firm "gives" 4 weeks but it does not really matter in private practice as you have to try to take your vacation time between mandates, provided you are on track with your billables target. Usually end up taking 2 weeks in the summer + between Christmas and NYE, and might end up working a bit. (Business law)

[Jaggers]

My first few years at the firm were challenging in terms of planning and protecting your time off. You get better at it. The key is booking your time off well in advance, and making sure you have your ducks in a row before you leave in terms of who will cover for you. A good assistant is also critical to this, but I usually didn't have a very good one, so I made sure other associates knew what might come up and could jump in if necessary (and returned the favour, of course). In most years I took 2 trips using up 3 weeks, then used the othe week around Christmas.

[Judgelight]

I took about 2 days off last year (in lieu of time). This year I've got 4 in lieu days banked, so I plan to take those. Anything else is icing on the cake.

[Jaggers]

I forfeited 2 days last year, but got to bank 5 and have a bunch of other lieu days, so have six weeks this year (technically 29 days). I plan to take every single one.

[hdhfbskefjhbsjk]

I'm at a solicitor firm, and my call was last year - I get three weeks but rolled over 4.5 days from last year so I have four weeks this year and we all just get the week between Christmas and New Years as a freebie. 

[t3ctonics]

When I was at a full-service firm I had 3 weeks, but on numerous occasions things came up on my files and I had to do a little work while away. Also, the office semi-closed between Christmas and New Year's Day and you weren't expected to come in unless you had some kind of pressing deadline. This was as a civil litigator, but the same rules applied to the whole office.

Now I still have 3 weeks of actual vacation, but I also get 12 EDOs that work like extra vacation days in practice, so it's really 27 days. I'll start getting additional vacation days once I hit 5 full years of service, gradually increasing to a max of 5 weeks of actual vacation. This is in an in-house public sector role, and again the same rules apply to the whole office.

[Vizslaw]

We start at 3 weeks a year. Boutique admin/regulatory/crim firm.

Scheduling is a pain, so like @Jaggers said, the key is to block yourself out of the office well in advance, before hearings/deadlines/consults are scheduled. Our office is typically closed between Christmas and New Years Day as well, although we usually have some files that need attention then.  

[Rusty Iron Ring]

Every law job I ever had was 4 weeks, and pretty consistent with what everyone has said above.

Eventually (in private practice) you get to the point where you have a target and you get paid based on what you bill/bring in, and then nobody cares how much time you take off as long as you are billing enough.  Except that then you start to care very much because every day off is a day you didn't make any money. 

I usually take 3 weeks of actual out-of-town vacation in a year, and then I'll make a bunch of long weekends.  There are always a couple of fires to put out while I'm away. And it's definitely nice to have the flexibility to be able to just say "Screw this, I'm going home" on a bad day, or just log off and go enjoy the outdoors for a few hours on a good one.  

Edited February 2, 2022 by Rusty Iron Ring

[GGrievous]

I’d be interested in the answer to this from a sole 

[Lawstudents20202020]

I work in a small firm (sole associate) , I took 2 days off last year at the end of the year and a couple of mornings off. My mornings off ended up with me working anyways. 

[123]

27 minutes ago, Barry said:

I’d be interested in the answer to this from a sole 

I didn't really take any formal vacations during the first year. I don't regret that. Being constantly available was helpful for building up my client and referral rosters. But it's completely unsustainable, unless you want to be a cynical, burnt-out, shell of a lawyer by the time you're a third year call.

Right now, I have a lot of flexibility for shorter breaks. If I want to take a long weekend, sleep-in on Wednesday, or fuck-off for an afternoon, I can, except where that conflicts with a deadline, hearing, or high workflow. 

Longer breaks are more challenging. It's kind of a pain being away from my practice for more than a week. It's a hit financially to bill nothing. And unless I contract out files to another lawyer, I find that there are little issues that crop up and fester while I'm away.   

That said, I'm still taking about a week off every three to four months. 

Edited February 2, 2022 by realpseudonym

[GGrievous]

I’m sorry I asked. 
 

though a week off every few months doesn’t seem too bad. I guess a long trip would be impractical. 
 

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by Barry

[Lawstudents20202020]

2 minutes ago, Barry said:

I’m sorry I asked. 
 

though a week off every few months doesn’t seem too bad. I guess a long trip would be impractical. 
 

 

You absolutely can do that, but you need to plan for it. My situation is a bit odd as I inherited a couple practices from other lawyers in my first year, and I started practicing in areas that I didn't touch in my articles. It was a very chaotic introduction into being a lawyer. This year I should be able to take a couple weeks off without too much issue. 

[123]

36 minutes ago, Barry said:

I’m sorry I asked. 
 

though a week off every few months doesn’t seem too bad. I guess a long trip would be impractical. 

24 minutes ago, Lawstudents20202020 said:

You absolutely can do that, but you need to plan for it. My situation is a bit odd as I inherited a couple practices from other lawyers in my first year, and I started practicing in areas that I didn't touch in my articles. It was a very chaotic introduction into being a lawyer. This year I should be able to take a couple weeks off without too much issue. 

Yeah, longer vacations are entirely possible. I know soles who take several weeks off at a time. Subject to professional obligations and financial goals, we can basically do whatever we want. But like @Lawstudents20202020 says, a longer vacation takes planning. 

I see I got your sad react, but honestly I'm pretty happy with my current balance. 

[Rashabon]

I nominally was entitled to 4 weeks and during COVID the firm insisted that we take at least three of those weeks before Q4, but I could take as much as I wanted since I'm a high performer, although the irony is that I work too much to take that extra time most years.

I think in 2017 I took about 5-6 weeks of vacation all told over the course of the year.

[Cool_name]

As much as I want, so long as I hit my target.

I’m surprised so many people here have formal amounts, I thought it was the norm that lawyers just have to hit their target.

[Lawstudents20202020]

5 minutes ago, Cool_name said:

As much as I want, so long as I hit my target.

I’m surprised so many people here have formal amounts, I thought it was the norm that lawyers just have to hit their target.

I have a formal amount but also an understanding with the partners that as long as I earn my keep, I can do whatever I want. That seems to be the standard arrangement in my area

[OntheVerge]

Small firm here. I technically can take three weeks off per year, plus the office is closed from Christmas to New Years. The reality is that in my first few years working here, we've been so busy that I haven't taken any time.  I've only taken 3 days off for vacation (and 4 days off sick, due to food poisoning, blech) in the span of three years. When it's a small but busy practice, it's hard to leave. And then you get into "I'll book time off once we're less busy..." which doesn't really happen. I do know some sole practitioners who take a few weeks off here and there, but it requires planning ahead and can also mean referring any clients who need something done in those weeks to other law offices....running that risk of losing any repeat business to the other lawyers. 

[Louis St. Laurent]

On 2/2/2022 at 1:55 PM, Lawstudents20202020 said:

I have a formal amount but also an understanding with the partners that as long as I earn my keep, I can do whatever I want. That seems to be the standard arrangement in my area

Me too. I think the formal amount is 3 weeks, but realistically as long as I hit my target and don't inconvenience other lawyers having to cover for me, I get as much as I want.

[Mountebank]

@Barry FWIW my experience is similar to @realpseudonym's. 

I know soles who take decent holidays but these are guys much later in their careers. Although I have a busy practice right now, I'm still building it, paying off debts, supporting a family, etc. so it's hard to go without pay for several days in a row and it's disruptive to ongoing files.

I'm hoping to get another lawyer in the office by the end of this year so that by 2023 I can take a week or two of holiday in a row.

[easttowest]

I’m trying to work at a pace that will allow me to take four weeks off and come in a bit ahead of my target. 

I’m hoping that a trial I have in the fall will crank me far enough over that pace that I can take two weeks off around Christmas too, but we’ll see. 

Edited February 5, 2022 by easttowest

[PzabbytheLawyer]

4 weeks vacation. In theory we close between Christmas and New year, but I learned this year that's a farce. I suspect the same will be true for any stat holidays if there's work to be done.

In turn, even though my firm calculates my daily to bill, the fact that I'll work through a lot of these days, means I will be ending up significantly over target.

Have I ever said how much I hate billable targets? I miss working at a place that valued quality over quantity.

[leafs_law]

25 minutes ago, PzabbytheLawyer said:

4 weeks vacation. In theory we close between Christmas and New year, but I learned this year that's a farce. I suspect the same will be true for any stat holidays if there's work to be done.

In turn, even though my firm calculates my daily to bill, the fact that I'll work through a lot of these days, means I will be ending up significantly over target.

Have I ever said how much I hate billable targets? I miss working at a place that valued quality over quantity.

Your billables might be even higher if you weren't posting here and texting me all day. Back to work, Associate!

[Jaggers]

I haven't had to worry about billables since Leafs was in law school!