The Normalized Toxicity Eroding Indian Law Firms’ Work Culture

The Gilded Cage: A Look Inside India’s Top Law Firms

To any law graduate in India, working in one of the most successful law firms such as Trilegal, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM), Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM), or AZB and Partners, landing a job is what is considered the holy goal. Such companies are considered the best in the legal sector, with their salaries being very high 💰, high profile cases, and a bridge to great heights of prestige. They are the golden fences of the business world, which have guaranteed them a successful and influential life.

Nevertheless, there is another aspect of this that shines behind the shiny glass windows and fancy boardrooms and is seldom spoken of in the open world. There has been a strong absorption of a culture of toxic work, which has undermined the health of those who are the driving force of these companies. It is a culture of unsustainable expectations and drawn lines, which has become a normalized, non-confronted aspect of the job and is leaving a wake of burnt-out and disillusioned young professionals.

The allure of corporate law is a cover-up to hide the reality of the daily grind. Novice associates soon find that the salary is expensive. It is not only to work hard, but to dedicate all the life to the firm. It is not a one-job problem, but rather a cultural one in which people are regularly pushed beyond their limits in the ruthless quest to achieve profit and status.

This tough environment starts at the very beginning, and we can expect a precedent to be established over the years. The initial high of doing big business deals and complicated litigations are replaced sooner by the ugly truth that the job is consuming. The future prospects of a shining career are sometimes tainted with a culture of work that drives people to the brink of madness where the question of success in the legal profession is brought into question.

The Never-Ending Workday

Among the most characteristic features of this unhealthy culture, there is the total neglect of a typical working day. Associates usually work more than 18 hours a day, particularly when a big deal is being closed or there is a trial deadline. These are not isolated cases and these are working long hours of labor. Whorrifyingly, this additional colossal work is not accompanied by overtime remuneration because today it is just part of the job description.

Personal time has been broken down in a systematic way. On a most graphic instance of this degradation, there are companies, that have a policy of counting a work from home day in the week, as a holiday or leave day. It is a reminder of what this ridiculous policy entails: you must be present at all times, not even to work remotely one day is a privilege you must pay with his vacation days, another sign of the lack of differentiation between personal and professional life.

This insatiable routine is fueled by the despotism of billable hours, the instrument of measuring the productivity and value of a lawyer. The associates are under pressure to bill a specific number of hours per day; this puts them in a rat race with time where they forgo sleep, food, and interpersonal communication. All the system is aimed at the maximum output, employees are not discussed as professionals, they are the units of revenue generation.

Such a culture of overworking automatically carries over to weekends that are seldom free. They are assumed to be a continuation of working week, a period to escape an unbearable workload, or to jump one week ahead of others. This ongoing, continuous workflow without proper rest is the major cause of the extremely high burnout levels among employees  Help, I am on fire that the industry is experiencing.

Pressure Cooker: The Burden of Unrealistic Expectations

There is also the overriding industry trend of cutthroatness, which only adds to the enormous workload. Due to the pursuit of profitability as a key goal, companies frequently work with minimal staffs and the result of this is that a single individual has to take the role of four or five individuals. This approach puts too much pressure on people, who are to produce perfect work under the oppressing deadlines.

This atmosphere has been well characterized as a pressure cooker. 🤯 Associates have to constantly balance between several high-stakes tasks that have a client and a violent deadline. There is always the fear of doing something wrong because one can suffer huge financial and reputational costs due to one wrong decision. When all are stretched to the very limit, there is not much room to be learned or mentored.

Such heavy workload can only result in a poor quality of the work. Once a person is unslept and performs the duties of multiple people, the chances of overlooking and making a mistake go high. This myopic strategy places immediate financial benefits ahead of the long term sustainability which may damage the relationship with the clients and the position of the firm in the fore-run.

A hyper-competitive internal culture also increases the pressure. Associates are given the silent competition against each other towards promotions, bonuses, and partnership. This does not promote teamwork and cooperation and creates a sense of isolation where people are left alone to sink or swim contributing to an already stressful job.

The Human Cost of Billable Hours

The greatest effect of this normalized toxicity is that it has devastating effects on the mental health of legal professionals. These pressures, anxiety, and stress development on a regular basis contribute to the high prevalence of depression and other mental health problems. Regrettably, such struggles are highly stigmatized and seeking assistance is seen as a sign of weakness thus many are forced to endure it in silence.

The physical damage is equally painful. A work-related-desk life that is characterized by poor sleep, caffeine, and rapidly consumed meals places a tolling physical health burden. The deficiency of time to exercise, relax or even do personal care is one of the reasons of numerous health issues. These young professionals are exposed to the physical and mental erosion of the work because the job is very demanding.

This has led to very high rate of attrition in these leading law firms. A large number of bright and fresh lawyers are overwhelmed by the profession in a couple of years and they turn tail and quit the job.