Nearly 10 percent of legal professionals admit to having worked a 100 hour week at least once in the past year, according to a new survey from Thomson Reuters.

The survey, which covered senior level solicitors, librarians  and barristers, found that  nine percent of survey respondents had worked a 100+ hour week in the past year; a further nine percent nominated “80 to 100 hours” as their longest working week of the past year and 24 percent nominated “70 to 80 hours” as their longest working week.

The survey also investigated the number of hours worked by professionals outside of the standard contracted working day. 56 percent of professionals estimated that they worked an average of an additional five to 10 hours a week above their contract hours, 21 percent worked an extra 11 to 15 hours a week and 12 percent averaged 16 to 20 hours. A dedicated six percent admitted working an average of 30 extra hours each week, taking their working week to approximately 70 hours. 

Nearly a third of the respondents predicted that their hours would only increase over the coming year, while only 13 percent predicted that their hours would decrease.  Several reasons for this increased pressure were identified:  clients’ expectation of more servicing for the same fees (22 percent) and cuts in fee earner headcount (10 percent).  For employee level respondents, there was an overwhelming view that their employers were demanding more from their staff (55 percent) and cost cutting (13 percent) was also mentioned as a factor.
  
One positive outcome was that many respondents believed that technology was making the execution of their duties easier. Seventy eight percent said the time they took to conduct legal research was quicker, 54 percent claimed their administrative demands were less and 37 percent said workflow technologies helped them save significant time.

To view a chart-based presentation of the survey findings, please click  here.