Exclusive research: What time do lawyers finish work at the UK’s top 100+ law firms?

Some juniors face long days, late finishes, and an ‘always available’ culture, highlighting the demanding nature of a life in corporate law

Amid the impressive paychecks, sleek office spaces, and enviable perks at the UK’s top law firms, there’s also — whisper it — a substantial amount of hard work happening behind the scenes.

By anonymously surveying over 2,000 trainees and junior lawyers, Legal Cheek takes look at the working hours and patterns at more than 100 law firms with offices in the UK.

This year, working hours have remained broadly level, with a slight overall increase compared to last year’s data. However, individual firms have seen significant fluctuations, with the average workday extending or shortening by up to one or two hours. These shifts come amid varied market conditions across practice areas, a stronger emphasis on work-life balance in some firms amid burnout concerns, and substantial salary increases at others.

Leading the pack in working hours are the London offices of a host of US law firms, where junior lawyers can clock over 13 hours daily, in some cases finishing after 10:30pm. It’s no surprise that these firms are among the top payers, with some offering newly qualified solicitor (NQ) salaries starting at over £170k. In total there are 11 firms with an average finish work time of after 9pm (see the table below for the full breakdown).

But life in the legal field isn’t all 13-hour days and Deliveroo dinners. On the other end of the spectrum, lawyers at many corporate firms wrap up their days around 5:30pm, with 14 firms boasting finish times pre-6pm.

So, how does your dream firm measure up? The full list of timings, ranked from the latest to earliest leaving time, can be found below. These figures will, of course, fluctuate depending on the particular department a junior works in, and the demand at any given time. You can also see the average start time of juniors, and the length of an average day, ranging from an ordinary 9-5 eight hour shift, all the way up to 12 hours and beyond.

Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey 2024-25 — average start and finish times + average working hours

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As part of the survey, we also received hundreds of anonymous comments about working hours. For those looking at the upper end of the table, some words of advice:

“Perhaps the toughest part is the ‘always available’ culture — you’re expected to answer calls at ungodly hours or on days off — but hey, that’s what they pay you for.”

“Don’t make me laugh. I haven’t seen sunlight in three months”

“I generally do not log off before 11pm and I regularly work weekends”

“Weekends and holidays are honoured (unless there are emergencies) and your time is mostly respected. However, when work calls you are expected to answer.”

It’s not all bad news elsewhere, however:

“Work life balance is probably the biggest perk of this firm… I don’t feel the need to check my emails or work phone in the evening”

“The work life balance could not be better”.

“There is a real emphasis on not working long hours and prioritising health”

“I am comfortably able to make plans with my friends and family outside of work”

Although this can come at a (literal) price:

“Better work/life balance than a lot of other commercial firms but then our pay also reflects that”