Every lawyer, law professor, law student, and legal commentator has an opinion on this question. Today we can test our views against actual data.
This fall, Lawyer Metrics was given the opportunity to analyze survey data supplied to us from by The Indiana Lawyer, the paper of record for the Indiana legal profession. The sample included 516 respondents drawn from the paper’s readership. My colleague at Lawyer Metrics, Evan Parker, sliced and diced the data in a way the gave us some useful insights into the hours/satisfaction question, at least for a broad swath of lawyers in one midwestern state.
Below is a graphic that shows the average level of satisfaction on various dimensions for Indiana lawyers working 60+ hours per week.
After the jump are graphs showing averages for lawyers working fewer hours per week. But before clicking on the hyperlink, answer this question: Are Indiana lawyers with more moderate schedules on average more satisfied or less satisfied than their 60+ hour counterparts? Also, be a good sport and write down your reason why.