I did BigLaw in DC for about 7 years. Averaged roughly 70 hour work weeks (including commute time) and, believe it or not, those were actually family friendly hours relative to some guys in my ward at the time (many of them were gunning for partner, I wasn't). Rarely took more than a few weekdays off per year.

What I observed is that the people who stick in BigLaw (same could probably be said of investment banking, big accounting, certain kinds of medicine, and a number of other professions) usually fall within at least one of the following categories:

1. They love what they do (yes, as crazy as it sounds, there are actually people like this)
2. Non-monetary psychological motivation (status/prestige, parental expectations, sibling/in-law/peer competition, insecurity, etc.)
3. Monetary motivation (golden handcuffs, big financial obligations, "high maintenance" spouse, etc.)
4. Single

In my case, none of the above applied, and predictably, I dropped out and eventually went in-house. The only one that may have potentially gotten me was the golden handcuffs but I'm not tempted much by physical possessions. My money spending weakness is nice vacations but since I could never take them in BigLaw, I never got caught there either. So I just ended up living a lifestyle similar to when I was a student and banked money (fortunately, I went to a relatively inexpensive law school).

Anyone else have a similar experience (or observations)?