“I like what I do,” says a transactional partner at a big law firm in Atlanta. But the partner is wary of a particular aspect of the 24/7 nature of business: Client expectations have increased, while turnaround time has decreased.

“The lack of time to just sit and think about something is difficult,” the partner says.

Speed “forces us to be efficient,” and that's a good thing, the partner allows. But, ”the faster the turnaround, the less effective we are.”