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Sam Shepherd

Partner

Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart, Oliver & Hedges LLP

Sam Shepherd’s day starts at 4 a.m., usually just four hours after he has gone to bed.

After a five-mile run and a 45-minute workout, the trial lawyer is ready to take on sexual harassment and race discrimination issues, beginning at 7 a.m.

A fanatic exercise routine is his catharsis. “My workout keeps me centered. I do it every day. Litigators are extremists. It’s all or nothing. Win or lose,” he said.

Juggling 40 to 50 cases at any one time, Shepherd doesn’t leave the office until 7 p.m. On weekends, he kicks back to only 9 to 5. His secret? Shepherd says he can operate on no more than four or five hours of sleep a night.

If a case goes to trial, which about 5 percent do, he goes into “cave” mode, putting in 17 to 18 hours daily. And he doesn’t do it for the love of employment law. Shepherd, 32, said a green law school graduate can command $100,000 annually at his firm.

Since joining the firm five years ago out of the University of Chicago, he hasn’t had a vacation lasting more than three days. In fact, one of his buddies wound up accompanying Shepherd’s girlfriend to Italy for a planned two-week vacation that the lawyer had to forsake when a trial lasted longer than expected. He did view the 16 rolls of photographs they brought back.

“What could I do? It’s weird to watch your life go by,” Shepherd said. “You lose touch with your friends, your family. It’s not a pace that I can keep up with forever.”

Nola L. Sarkisian