What do lawyers do if there’s no case to work on that day? Do they ever have free time in work?
Depends what type of lawyer, personally unless your independent and work on your own or have your own law firm there is always work. if there is down time which hardly happens you usually catch up on work that isnt as important but still has to get done. Lawyerd usually handle multiple cases at once depending on the type of law they specialized in.
Some lawyers never or rarely appear in court if that is what you are asking. I worked with a team of estate lawyers on a complex estate. One of them (the most senior of them, in fact) never went to court. The other two made actual court appearances for us maybe four times in 8 years. A lot of time is spent preparing documents (trusts, wills, updates for the court, writing letters, etc), meeting with and advising clients of their options, researching case law, etc. They always seemed very busy to me, and were juggling multiple clients.
Also, as my example shows, one “case” can take a very long time to play out.
As with any business there are all sorts of “housekeeping” duties that have little to do with clients. Paperwork, supply procurement, continuing education requirements, maintenance and repairs. Not really “free time.”