Long Weekend/Short Week

As we head into Memorial Day weekend, many people around the nation are planning for a long weekend. However, as with any stretches of time off, that is not always the case for all professions. Indeed, legal professionals are notorious for working long hours, even during long weekends.

Lawyers I’ve talked to recently are split pretty evenly between not working at all, and working at least part, it not all of the weekend. If you’re reading this on the day it was posted (5/26), head over to our twitter and check on the poll we have up there. We’re curious to see the results from it.

Yet on a larger scale, we know anecdotally that lawyers do work long hours, even on holiday weekends. We know that those who might take time off over a long weekend might work longer hours during the shortened week after a long weekend. Some are wired and willing to do this and I don’t want to take away from that. Yet far too many feel pressured by the profession or by senior partners to work through the weekend, greatly increasing the risk of burnout.

And I call attention this because the profession is starting to wake up to the mental health challenges of the profession. It is starting to at least pay lip service to the need for change. Yet the change has largely been detached from the talk, with too many negative practices and expectations still existing.

Even where it is not explicitly required, the pressure of hitting billable hours continues to create unspoken demands on legal professionals, even over long weekends. This needs to change. It is not enough for professionals and firms and bar associations to just talk about change. We need to actually start seeing the changes and long weekends and short weeks are a perfect place to start.

So with that, I will wrap it up for the week. Here is hoping you find some time for R&R and self-care this weekend.