Biglaw associates face constant pressure when it comes to meeting their billable hour expectations — and that pressure can grow even more when an associate hopes to become a partner someday.
But with a professional life that depends on billing, sometimes work-life balance gets tossed aside and lawyers find themselves missing out on other important things, like staying connected to their families and their friends. Important milestones can pass you by in the blink of an eye unless you take a moment to evaluate where your life is headed. If you take a step back, you may suddenly realize that this is not the life you envisioned for yourself.
This is exactly what happened to Eli Albrecht, a former Gibson Dunn associate who recently turned down a partnership offer at another Biglaw firm. Albrecht had long dreamed of becoming a partner. But as it turns out, it wasn’t meant to be.
In a now viral LinkedIn post, Albrecht described how he threw himself completely into his work at his firm, bringing a sleeping bag to the office and leaving his family behind while he stayed there for days on end. In an interview with Above the Law, Albrecht said that he was billing between 2,500 and 3,000 hours each year. Unfortunately, while he was racking up billable hours, the family life he thought he’d built was crumbling. Here’s an excerpt from his LinkedIn post:
“[L]ife was happening outside of that high-rise office. My son took his first steps. My daughter...
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