The article says that hours at law firms, banks and high tech businesses have risen 'to levels considered intolerable by many people'. Litigation could be seen as a 'social function of the law', say the authors. But, if this is the case, they see it as becoming distorted. They say: 'Instead, modern litigation can be understood as a massive, socially unnecessary arms race, wherein lawyers subject each other to torturous amounts of labor just because they can.' 

The antidote of efficiency

The authors say that there is an antidote - in the form of a 'return to the goal of efficiency in work', trying to achieve goals by putting in the minimum required and letting those who see work as a hobby work longer if they want. Source: The New Yorker