After reading your article 'Balancing act' (see [2005] Gazette, 6 January, 4) I was not surprised that such a large number of solicitors are planning to leave the profession because of the long hours. It has long been known - and worse, accepted - that excessive hours are part of legal life.


However, law firms need to wake up to the fact that long hours are not productive. One key aim, when we set up Countrywide Property Lawyers in 1997, was to ensure that we were not going to operate like 'traditional' law firms.



Part of this ethos was a belief in supporting our staff. This means we do not believe in burdening staff with 14-hour days, and we do believe in offering benefits such as flexitime. Our legal staff operate in teams, meaning that one person is not over burdened with a workload they cannot cope with. But most importantly we understand that operating in the dark ages is not the way to move our business forward.



It is time law firms started to seriously look at the working hours for their staff, otherwise they may find themselves losing qualified, valued people.



Mark Bailey, managing director, Countrywide Property Lawyers