Compare that to the typical lawyer. The Altman Weil 1998 Survey of Law Firm Economics reported that median billable hours for all firms surveyed was 1,732 for partners and 1,839 for associates. If law firms and departments don't figure out a way to manage expectations so that lawyers can practice law and have a life, attrition rates will continue to climb. All change begins with a change in thinking. First, it is necessary for lawyers and their firms to believe that life and law can coexist.
Firms can encourage lawyers to take advantage of part time and flex time work schedules.
Allowing lawyers to control their incomes by controlling their work load is also a simple matter. If compensation is tied to performance and revenue production, not to comparisons of one lawyer to another or seniority based, each lawyer can individualize his situation. We don't think so. But even so, it's more impossible to run a law firm without lawyers. PeopleWealth February 1999.