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HSF’s Rebecca Maslen-Stannage on battling M&A law’s long-hours ‘mythology’

The Anglo-Australian law firm's chair on fighting the 'mythology' of presenteeism, and why juniors should 'speak up and take risks'

'If the team sees me leaving at 1 o’clock in the afternoon…it’s good messaging'
'If the team sees me leaving at 1 o’clock in the afternoon…it’s good messaging' Photo: Danilo Agutoli for FN

Corporate law has a deeply ingrained culture of long hours in the office. Junior lawyers get the worst of it.

One apocryphal anecdote has circulated through the years: Slaughter and May M&A legend Sir Nigel Boardman once asked a junior who was standing up to reach for their coat at the end of a working day if they were cold. The idea they were going home so early in the evening was absurd.

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