Note also that it is a fallacy that you will work less once you reach the senior partner stage in a firm since I have been in that stage for many years. Many government and in-house corporate lawyers maintain lower hours in the range of 40 to 50 hours a week. i worked for a lawyer during the summer in a rural area who had his own practice. he worked about 8:30 to 5. he earns a little over 90 thousand.