‘Pretty reasonable’ approach not a firm-wide policy
A senior lawyer at City law firm BCLP has advised colleagues to avoid sending weekend emails unless agreed in advance.
The firm’s global senior partner, Segun Osuntokun, revealed that when he works on weekends, he typically schedules emails to arrive on Mondays to avoid disturbing staff outside of working hours.
“I know that if I send an email to a team member on a weekend and I’m not expecting them to do anything about it, they won’t know that,” Osuntokun told The Telegraph (£). “I know that their weekend is going to be impacted severely.”
There is an exception to Osuntokun’s email etiquette, which, while not a firm-wide policy, is something many partners have opted to follow.
According to the report, weekend emails are acceptable if colleagues have agreed to communicate, such as when preparing for a court hearing or meeting deadlines for time-sensitive deals.
“We talk a lot about how we treat our colleagues as we would our best clients and inherent in that is that you treat people with respect,” Osuntokun added.
The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2025 shows trainees at BCLP receive a salary of £50,000 in year one, rising to £55,000 in year two. Newly qualified associates earn £105,000.
Osuntokun’s call to limit weekend emails follows Slaughter and May‘s ‘Working Practices Code,’ which aims to reduce “unnecessary incursions” into lawyers’ downtime. The guidance states, among other things, that lawyers should not be required to check emails more than once on Friday evening and only a few times on Saturday and Sunday, unless work demands otherwise.