Partner Praises Associates Willing To Buck Biglaw’s ‘Miserable’ Work-Life Balance Trends

// [I] spent a lot of miserable years [as an associate at a Magic Circle firm] without ever having the guts or initiatives to reflect what those hours were having on my family life, and relationships. I don’t look back on those years with fondness at all, in fact they were quite hellish. When you hear associates now having the confidence to refuse that, I think ‘good on them.’

— An anonymous London Biglaw partner commenting on their work-life balance regrets in a survey conducted by Law.com International, and praising the courage and bravery that the current generation of associates has when it comes to standing up for themselves and their mental health in the workplace. About 20% of respondents said their Biglaw careers had caused problems in their personal lives (less time to date; marital problems, including divorce), while around 20% said their careers had adversely affected their physical health.

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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Biglaw, Health & Wellness, Mental Health, Quote of the Day, Work-life balance