Big Law Discussions
Billable Hours

52 more billable hrs to go! Lets goooo

I just spoke with a software architect that went back to school to learn software engineering after law school because it was more lucrative and had less hours. He’s worked his way up and has the skills and authority to work 6:30am-10am and gets to work remotely. We discussed that results/outputs is better than billable time like in law and public accounting. Yet, his parents and others would view him as “lazy” but he does his job and makes a fantastic living. Time>Money and Results>Hours

Trying to cut billable hours. Anyone utilize a “subscription service” for lack of a better term. EX: charge $300/week until matter resolved. Hypothetically capping your case load per associate could bring in the same amount on a steadier rate than billable hrs. (25 matters x 300 /week) Giving client ability to budget their family matter.

I work primarily with an equity partner and counsel in an M&A practice servicing existing clients. It’s been slower than usual. Both of them tag team and keep mentioning I should get my hours up when neither of them bring in any business. Just searched iManage and found the firm billable hours reports. Turns out my hours each month are far exceeding both of theirs! Prolly wasn’t supposed to see the firm hour reports but wondering if I should push back. I don’t find their remarks well-intended.

Help me think through this decision please.

Gov attorney, 8 years out of law school and will make over $100k for the first time this year. Gov benefits are great and WLB is amazing (I have a wife and child). We are less than 2 hours from all of our collective family now. I have an offer with a small firm I am highly interested in. $165k base + bonus for only 1800 billable hours, but it is 8+ hours from our families. $90k in student loan debt left. Am I wrong for wanting to take the money?

When people say they “billed” certain hours, are they only referring to billable hours? Or is it an all-inclusive term including non-billable like pro bono or admin?

What is a part time secondment? I just heard about this today. How is that any different from billable work?

Partners: how many hours, including billable hours, do you need to work for a year? More than associates’ hours, or less, or about the same?

Anyone working as a 2 years + lawyer for Fragomen in Canada can share their salaries and working advantages? (holidays, billable hours etc). Got an interview coming up and want to make sure not to under-sale my profile!

Need advice please!!! $105K salary for a small cpa firm (less than 10 people) vs at Big 4 at $70K with 3 YOE. MCOL. Definitely less stress in a smaller firm since no billable hours goal but most likely no career growth & less future increases. If with Big 4 I feel like it’s more beneficial long-term to put it on resume but I am leaving a lot $$$ on the table. Am I able to catch up with the salary in the next 2-3 years? Your thoughts please?

Please help: leave a job that I love (with some minor flaws) that’s really a 9-6 for a job with a 45% increase in salary with 1900 billable hours and sounds like it has a good culture? When I talk to other people everyone seems to think the right choice is obvious… but for some reason I’m not sure what to do.

Can you guys see how much you bill everyday, like some program or something on your computer tells you, 4.5 hrs today or 9 hours today? My firm gives it to us on paper at the end of every month and thats it. Im a first year associate and wondering how everyone keeps track through out their week/month/ or year of their billable hours??

What is a material billable hours difference from your peers at the same group? If I bill 150 less a year than another associate should I be worried?

So how much are y’all missing your billable requirements by? Over 250 here 🤟

If you always have to ask for new work, does that mean youre a crappy, unpopular associate or is it an expectation that associates have to hustle for billable hours? Trying to read the signs

If you are a first year in a stub year, and significantly under billable hours requirement, do firms typically still give pro rated bonus? Do first year stub associates really ever hit their pro rated hours in those 2-3 months?

Associates in NYC, what are your billable requirements like? Do you have any sort of work/life balance or are you pulling 14 hour days every day?

Texas 🐠: Let me know if your firm is looking for a hard working junior associate. My experience is in litigation, including commercial lit. I’m in Houston, but will move for good opportunity. Regional Texas law school, low GPA for BL, exceeding billable hours requirement and realization rate. My section seems like it is imploding and I need to get out soon.

Working at ID firm in NYC, 2 years in. Not thrilled with salary (under 125k). 2000 billable goal, will hit it. Should I be looking elsewhere?

Anyone have trouble hitting target billable hours? Seems like so much of the job is admin/talent development.

RE finance junior here. I’ll have about 1,700 client billable hours and over 300 pro bono hours that will be counted toward billable hours by the year end. Would I be able to qualify for the year end bonus if the hour requirement is 2,000 hrs? Do firms look at it unfavorably if the client billable hours are this low?

Hi guys,

I need some advice, I’ve been in a newly created role within a pharma agency for about three months now and it is not going too well. There is little to no structure or direction from senior leadership, no access to client data, little to no billable work. Worst of all, no project is related to what I have been hired to do.

I would like to move on with a different agency asap, but I’m not sure how to proceed with such a short time here.

It is January 1, 2023 and you are closing you December time. You realize that you missed your annual bonus target of 2,000hrs by 1hr of billable time. Your firm has made it clear that you won’t get any bonus if you don’t hit the minimum. What, if anything, are you going to do?

Mental health is busy, looking for tips to help manage tasks, currently I supervise 12 therapists in 3 different departments that are all different with unique dynamics in each dept. I still carry a small caseload on top of this. I'm struggling with my patients and worry I am not giving them my best, I wax and wane between focusing on patients and therapists. Looking for advice navigating this type od conversation with my leadership, we have all been asked to work on increase billable time...

When should a stub start getting worried about not having much work and low billable hours?
I’ve asked for work but no luck. I know they say this is normal for a stub but when should I start getting worried and consider looking for exit options? Fyi, I like my practice group, so I don’t want to change to a different group within my firm, hence would have to lateral, if I have to. Also, other co-1st years are churning in high hours.

Our firm is establishing our target billable %'s at a small public accounting firm. Is there a website that gives target billable time % by staff level for the tax and accounting industry? Just started poking around the AICPA website, but would appreciate being able to save some time looking for it. I'm used to a lower % rate than what's being proposed (70% vs 85%) and don't want to cause undue pressure on staff, but do want to give a reasonable billable hours expectation going forward.

Anyone can refer me to audit experienced associate in big 4? I am more than willing to give up my current pay in private company and join big 4 for billable hours to upgrade my career. CPA licensed, 5 YOE in small companies. Btw, H1B transfer needed before working for a new employer. Much appreciated.

Corporate juniors. What are you guys annualizing? I’ll probably finish somewhere between 1300-1400 billable hours.

Was just laid off from a big PR Firm where I was a planner. The sad news is that strategy was valued for winning pitches but rarely scoped for ongoing work. We made the agency and PR teams money but never saw it turn into billable hrs. The agency didn’t know how to sell its value. I’m now looking for my next position. What are some roles out there for brand strategists outside of agency? Reevaluating whether to go into an agency or in house.

I’ll be put up for partner next year, and I am struggling with how to balance my increasing need and desire to do BD with the need (and desire) to focus on client billable work. I’m sure this is a problem for everyone their whole career, but if any partners could provide some advice on how to manage this really pivotal time, I’d appreciate it. My firm and market are such that there’s a need for me to do both - we have to hustle for clients, and I can’t fully turn over deals to my juniors.

Until we move away from the billable hours model, there will not be true work life balance when free time is preferred. As you gain experience and knowledge within our field we are too knowledgeable to be equating our value to time spent discussing or doing. There is an inherent conflict from leaders that want to maximize revenue which means maximize billable hours and staff that minimize hours.

First year family law associate..I only have 1160 billable hours done for the year (I’m including what I expect to bill in December as well). Given I only make $80,000 a year, is that reasonable? Or is that a super low number and should I expect to be fired soon 😂. My target billables is supposed to be 1680 a year. Also my hourly rate is only $109 because all we do is legal aid here.

First gen lawyer here (not that that really impacts the question/post) but I see all these posts about entering billable time and appropriate descriptions (mostly in big law or other practice areas). How often do people here run into clients requesting meetings to have their bills explained or refusing to pay certain work? Are you small, mid-size, big law, and who in your firm is tasks with these explanation meetings?

First gen lawyer here (not that that really impacts the question/post) but I see all these posts about entering billable time and appropriate descriptions (mostly in big law or other practice areas (Domestic Relations litigation here)). How often do people here run into clients requesting meetings to have their bills explained or refusing to pay certain work? What’s your practice area, and who in your firm is tasked with these explanation meetings?

Question re: salary. I’m thinking about accepting an offer at a small (4-6 attorneys) transactional firm. I would primarily be working on NDAs for clients. The role sounds great (no billable hours, fully remote, flexible hours/ can work from anywhere); however, the salary is $70K. I’m a new attorney, with only one year of experience. Does this salary seem low? If so, any advice on what someone in my position should ask for?

If you asked to be considered for early promotion and didn’t get it (despite being highly rated, exceeding billable goal, etc) would you look elsewhere? Is it right to be angry about it? I don’t want to spin myself up unnecessarily if it’s unjustified

Getting over heartbreak and having a full time job is torture lol. My boyfriend and I just broke up after almost a year of being together. It was such a beautiful relationship but ultimately he just didn’t love me. I love him so much. My mind knows that I deserve reciprocal love and I’m worthy, but I feel physically ill. My body hurts, my stomach is in knots, my head hurts. How is it that I have to mend a broken heart but also meet my billable hours lmao