“I was on back-to-back Zoom calls for eight hours yesterday, and I’ve just finished a four-hour video call about something that absolutely could have been talked about over email,” sighs one weary partner at a U.S. firm in London.

His frustration is typical of many working in the legal industry. While long hours are nothing new for lawyers, he says that a new low has been reached in his tiredness — even his teenage daughter had picked up on his zombie-like manner following a particularly dull series of video calls.