We had quite a few responses to our post on long hours by professionals and many wanted to know what the story is with Nigerian law firms. As a general rule, big Nigerian firms will take up a lot of your time. "Sleeping in the office" or doing an "all - nighter" are common lawyer refrains. It has become a culture among some firms and contrarians are looked upon as deviants. Some in the investment bank community (investment bankers are certainly culprits as well) however take a different view. They see it as the difference between being efficient and just raking up the hours. A New York investment banker said to us that there is certainly a diminishing return element to excessively long hours. However, with years of experience, you get to a point where a good professional will perform and long hours will only mean churning out more of the same for her/him. One big question is whether juniors are adding value by staying put at work or whether the are merely performing a perceived rite de passage.Two firms are particularly known for long hours: Banwo & Ighodalo; and Olaniwun Ajayi LP. Many have to work well past the 8-9 pm mark.
Other big firms are certainly not shy about asking lawyers to conclude the day's brief before going home, but on the average, they do not have a culture of really long hours.
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1 comment:
This is a toughy. Its good for firms to be able to meet tight schedules as long as there are benefits to the lawyers who do the grind. Are those benefits available? That's th real question!
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