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I have not come across any full time private practice lawyers who work a 40 hour week. In my own case it was between 50 and 70 hours (roughly the difference between the West End and the City). So the Laurence Simons headline about lawyers working more weeks in the year is just an eye-catching headline.

The meat of the story is that partners are working longer hours with increased marketing, and associates are working less hours. I agree with the Laurence Simon's comment that this is (probably) about fending off the competition. Although a City focussed story, the whole legal profession is fighting off competition with the liberalisation of the legal sector. The interesting point is that notwithstanding reduced hours, the competition for associates remains fierce. This would suggest that partners - and firms - are confident the competition can be beaten.