We often are asked what a normal day looks like for our lawyers. Normal is something most of us don’t know much about, but in our recurring column—HOURS—we unpack the daily routines of our teammates.
3:30 AM
Through some combination of third child syndrome and pandemic exhaustion, our youngest is somehow five-months old but still not sleep trained at all. My husband handles any wakeups that happen in the first half of the night, and I handle the second half. Usually, this means I am up once or twice between 2:00 and 6:00 a.m. I am very sleep deprived, but these middle-of-the-night feedings are also some of the only one-on-one time I have with him, so I’m hesitant to let them go.
6:30 AM
My older two kids share a room and usually start chatting around 6:00. We’ve convinced them to physically stay in bed until their “alarm clock” changes from red to green, which means they come running out of their room the second the clock hits 6:30. We get them dressed and head downstairs to make breakfast. I make coffee number one for the day!
7:30 AM
We walk my five-year-old to the bus stop at our corner and he heads off to kindergarten. We are so grateful that he’s been able to attend school in person this year (both for his sake and ours!).
8:00 AM
Our wonderful nanny arrives and I head upstairs to my home office to get started on my day, bringing along coffee number two. I have fewer email interruptions in the morning and I’m able to stay more focused, so I try to tackle a bigger project right away. I usually reserve this time for writing and editing briefs or thinking about larger case strategy and goals.
12:00 PM
My 3-year-old is in a part-time pre-school program, and I like to pick her up once in a while if my workday is not too busy. She’s the most social kid, so I love seeing her in her element, and the 10-minute drive home is great one-on-one time with her.
3:00 PM
My afternoons generally consist of responding to emails and Slacks. I also usually have at least a couple calls with our litigation team, opposing counsel, or clients scheduled during this time. At some point in the afternoon, it is definitely time for coffee number three.
5:00 PM
I try to squeeze in a workout most days. Usually it is just a 20-minute ride on the Peloton. But, I signed up to run my third marathon this fall, so I am trying to log as many outdoor miles as I can. If the weather is cooperative and I have the time, I’ll head outside for a jog.
6:00 PM
Our nanny leaves for the day and my husband and I emerge from our respective offices. One of us cooks dinner while the other hangs with the kids. We usually eat around 6:30, in the small window after work but before the baby’s bedtime. This is one of my favorite times of day. I love hearing about the big kids’ various adventures, their latest attempts at knock-knock jokes, and catching up on the kindergarten and preschool drama. Now that the baby is getting older, we’re also letting him try new foods, which is exciting. I do my best to keep my phone out of sight and out of mind.
7:00 PM
Bath time and bedtime. This is when things tend to get a bit chaotic, but usually everyone is tucked in and asleep by 8:00.
8:00 PM
My husband and I clean up the kitchen, put away toys, and decompress with a TV show or two. I also use this time to catch up on any emails or messages I missed since logging off at 6:00. I try to structure my day so that I am not doing any substantive work in the evenings, but on the rare occasion that I have to really dig in and focus on something for work, then it is time for coffee number four.
10:30 PM
The baby is usually waking up for the first time right about now. My husband covers this one, and I head off to bed, crossing my fingers I’ll get at least 4 hours before I’m woken up again!