Whats its really like working as a Lawyer in London?

An anonymous Reddit user claiming to be a junior lawyer has shared a candid account of life as a trainee at a leading US law firm in London, offering what they describe as an insider perspective that cuts through other online content that is “either a bit sanitised or sensationalist”.

The post was shared anonymously on the site’s r/uklaw thread, with the author — who left the unnamed firm on qualification — saying they were motivated by “a lot of law students messaging me on LinkedIn about this kind of thing”.

One of the most common questions they receive concerns hours. According to the lawyer, the reality is more nuanced than the stereotype. “People often ask, ‘Is it really 3am finishes every night?’,” they wrote. “The answer is no.” That said, long days were still the norm in certain teams. “In certain departments I never left before 11pm.”

The idea of “peaks and troughs” was described as only partly accurate. While quieter periods did exist, the poster said they rarely compensated for intense stretches of work. “Realistically, you will often end up doing weeks of very late finishes followed by weeks of having barely anything to do,” they explained, adding that “the latter brings its own set of challenges”.

Weekend work depended heavily on the matters involved. During one particularly demanding deal, the lawyer says they worked continuously for six weeks, including weekends. “[I] ended up working every weekend for the duration, roughly 9 to 8 on both Saturday and Sunday, because it was just that type of deal.” Across the training contract overall, they estimated that “around a third of weekends involved some small amount of work”, with several months involving full weekends.

Source: Legal Cheek