Sunday, October 30, 2011

Workload

My workload is at a crazy level.  I have a number of cases that I consider way beyond what can ethically be handled - 273 at this time.  I am working a court day this week (four for the week today, but one specifically bad ones) that I anticipate will run from eight a.m. to ten p.m. 

Yes, you read that right.

And, we don't take breaks.  Not for lunch, not to pee.  Well, that is  a slight exaggeration.  At around three or four in the afternoon we will have a twenty minute break - but I won't, because during that time we do the adoption docket and I am on those too.

I sound complainy again, and I am in fact complaining, but I am also wondering - is this the normal working day for an attorney?  Tomorrow I will have what I think of as a normal day - eight to five in court with a lunch, then two hours of phone conferences on the drive two and from.  Oh, and at least two hours after the kids are in their rooms for the night, prepping for the nightmare day described above. 

The day after nightmare day, I will have a half day of court and then six hours of phone conferences.  Thursday will be all day phone conferences and meetings, no court appearances, and then Friday I have two half day trials - that's the easiest day of my week.

I knew I would work many hours as an attorney, but I truly had no idea that any court worked fourteen hour days with no breaks.  Anyone else in that situation?

1 comment:

  1. Not every attorney works that hard, but that's the life of the public defenders here. Which sucks even more when you consider the salary.

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