Opinionistas talks about face time:

Ah the wonder of face time at law firms. It’s a universally accepted doctrine, worshipped by all associates with mute recognition. Denial of its existence is the single greatest fib told during that subsidized gong show that is 2L recruiting. Picture the well-scrubbed, eager young law student perched erectly on his or her chair during the interview lunch, nodding attentively as a slightly anemic associate delivers the following oration, while sucking down as many Diet Cokes as the allotted firm lunch budget will allow:

“The great thing is, there’s really no face time here. As long as you bill your hours and get your work done, no one cares when you’re in the office. You can leave at 5 to go to the doctor and no one bats an eye. It’s great.”

The candidate may as well be handed a pamphlet at that moment entitled “Translation” stating: “Don’t be a dunce, of course face time is required here, as it is in every large law firm in this country. The partners look at you and see only walking dollar signs - since the skyrocket of associate salaries in the ’90s, they harbor nothing but resentment for the ridiculous amount in paychecks and bonuses they have to shovel in our direction, all in the name of staying competitive in the market. They want to see your ass cheeks rubber cemented to your desk chair, your eyes locked in a tractor beam to your computer screen, each and every time they happen to stroll past your office.

This may be true in the context of large New York firms, but in my (admittedly limited) experience, it is not true in the context of the large St. Louis firms.

Now, it’s obviously true that customer service is important: if a client or a partner that you routinely works with tends to work certain hours, then you’d better be available during those hours in case you’re needed. That’s just a part of your job description; it’s a given. But if you’re monthly hours are good and if nobody is complaining that you were missing when they wanted to work with you, then so far as I can tell, nobody at my firm cares about whether you’re “at your desk” or not. Working from home in the evenings, for example, is perfectly acceptable.

(Of course, even if the people you work with are happy with your availability, there are probably some “office hours” expectations - if you routinely came in after, say, 8:30 or left before 5:00, there would likely be consequences. But that’s pretty reasonable, I think.)

The bottom line is, if you behave like a professional adult (that is, if you’re responsive to the needs of the partners and if you get your work done well and on time) then you will be treated like a professional adult.

So yeah: life really is better out here in the Midwest. We make the same salary (adjusted for the relative cost of living) as our coastal cousins, but we work far fewer hours and we do so with more flexibility.