Big Law Discussions
Billable Hours

So I feel kind of stupid for this.... I just graduated and have been clerking for about 2 months and I’m about to be sworn in here in a couple of weeks. Problem is I’m just not feeling the “law lifestyle” and while it doesn’t help that the small firm I accepted an offer at has me set at really high billable hours (2100yr/175mo for $100k) I’m already contemplating leaving... I just can’t imagine chasing stupid billable hours month in and month out over a career. alongside other issues, advice?

What’s the total comp of someone at A&M with 4 YOE typically make in a average macro environment given the structure is based on billable hours?

Any advice on if your specifically assigned practice area stalls due to factors you can’t control (e.g. rising interest rates causing borrowing to stop and your a loan documentation attorney)? Most other practice areas are full or don’t have additional work to dish out at the moment so I’m not sure what to do. I’m worried about not meeting billable requirements but don’t see much I can do.

ID associates who are near the partner-level experience tier (5-10 YOE): what’s your salary, bonus, billable hours (required and actually billed), and cost of living in your area? I’m talking about low tier ID, not coverage or anything like that. Stuff like slip and fall tort defense.

Is there an average number of billable hours for first year associates? I’m about 2 months into clerking and get barred in about 2 weeks and the firm I’m at has me set at a fairly high billable minimum. I haven’t hit it yet and I’m getting nervous because I’m starting month 3 and gonna try to hit it so I don’t start facing possible adverse affects (losing vacation days, getting bumped from salaries to hourly, etc.). It’s a very small firm...

Can someone help me understand the value of firm DEI retreats? I was recently invited to our "Attorneys of Color Retreat" as well as our "Women Attorneys Retreat" and I have literally zero desire to go to either. It honestly just feels like multiple days of non-billable work which will put me behind on my hours target. Meanwhile, the straight white dudes at my firm can just keep billing away on their way to bonuses. Am I being too cynical? Is there actually a benefit in attending?

Tips for staying on track to hit billable targets at the start of a new billable year?

October hours, go!

I’ll start: 160. EBEC. Deal work slowed down a little. Got all of my compliance work off my plate. Currently looking at 4 billable hours today.

Partners/shareholders - how many hours are you expected to bill on work vs client dev and firm/associate management? My firm keeps saying that "there's no such thing as a relationship partner" and everyone top-to-bottom is expected to log 2000 hours/year on real billable work. Marketing etc is done on top of that. Is that normal?! If so, I'm going to have to totally rethink my life goals.

If you are not rostered for WFO due to base branch location and green side, are you still expected to do WFO with no billable work due to lack of green side and connectivity ?

How many billable hours in a month does it take for you to think you are billing a lot?

Venting post here. I live in Louisiana and I am a plaintiff attorney stuck at 100k. Yes, I know I could go on commission and probably make a lot of money. However, with my kids and family I would not be able to put in the 50 hour plus weeks required- same for high billable work. Is there another field I could get in with higher pay and less hours where my degree would be a plus? Please no sarcastic comments and remember everyone lives a different life.

Anyone in the boston area looking for a good WLB tax senior job? My last firm is hiring. No minimum billable hours needed. Client facing tax role. Great bonus structure (my last payout was 20% of my annual salary and I was there for less than one year). Very competitive salary. I won't have left if not for going to a big 4. Great team. I love my team when I worked there and they were like family to me. They encouraged me to be brave and pursue big 4 if that's better for me in the long run.

My firm is really behind the 8 ball in hiring support staff and would rather have attorneys use their time doing non-billable admin work. For whatever reason, they just can’t wrap their head around the math, which is that the attorneys would bill more if they didn’t have to do non-billable admin work and that billable work would not only cover the cost of a paralegal but add the the profits of the firm! Anyone have a similar experience? If so, how do you show them the light!

Ok, maybe this has been done before, but I want to get a real life sense of the difference between EPLI and Private L&E (management side) practices. Let's do a poll:

1.) Primary source of business: EPLI or Private Companies?

2.) Number of matters you are currently working on

3.) Average billable rate (your year)

4.) Normal working hours/wk

5.) Percentages: Litigation vs Counseling

6.) Type of firm: ID, Big 4, Boutique, BigLaw, etc.

I'll kick things off in comments.

Corporate associates, how many billable hours will you end up with this year?

Doing a federal clerkship and thinking of my options after. Anyone in NJ/NY/PA biglaw lit group with collegial and pleasant work environment? I do not care about billable requirements/workload, just salary and don’t want to be treated like shit.

What’s your firm’s policy on being able to expense meals (e.g., after a certain time of day or after a certain number of billable hours)?

How do you handle a boss/owner that is standing in the way of their own company's success? Everyone else knows it but is too afraid to confront them, including his business partner/co-owner. They are constantly derailing projects (to do non-billable work). We're stuck in an endless cycle of redoing our own site - the owner doesn't want to define a strategy so we can *actually* move forward. Dev team (me) is handed wireframes, I build it, then come review time he changes his mind all over again.

Recommendations for fully remote gigs? I’m looking for a change, but would prefer something without billable hours if at all possible.

Need insight into Butler, Weilhmuller, Katz, Craig, Tampa office. I have an interview for an attorney position and wanted to know billable requirements and office environment. What there WFH policy is if they have it. Any insight would be appreciated.

What do you put on your time sheet now that busy season is over and there’s no billable hours? Just training and admin?

I hate being busy for doing internal development stuff - with no billable hours credit. I have to do 30 hours worth of it in the next two weeks :/ If my weekend plans are ruined, at least I want to be compensated with billable credits.

I moved cities and my company is giving me 12% decrease in my salary. My current salary is within my new cities range, and I am definitely not paid market rate to begin with…also for context I have always been a high performer, have many relevant certifications, and am involved with initiatives outside my billable work

I’m not interested in accepting a decrease this large. What happens if you don’t accept it? Do you see if they come back with something more reasonable or will they fire you?

Biglaw partners: do you set boundaries with other partners who ask you to help with pitches or billable work? There’s a lot of talk from associates in this bowl about saying no when you’re at capacity, but I’m wondering if partners do the same.

For associates that billed over their billable requirements as a first year: (1) what was the amount you were paid in bonuses and (2) do you feel like it was worth it?

Competitive billable rate for Patent prosecutor in NY?

For small firms - What was your billable rate in 2015 and what is it today in 2022. Please provide your practice area too, if possible!

What’s your firm’s billable hours requirement? Name + whether pro bono (or anything else) counts please

EOY review time! Boutique firm with large workload. I’ve signed multiple clients and met my billable requirements in the months I’ve been here. Is a 20k raise request reasonable?

Moving from clerking for a judge to a big law firm and trying to make sure I am not leaving any billable hours on the table. Do you bill for reading sporadic emails after work on your phone? If it takes a minute or two to read through it, should that just be left off?

I (a woman) just found out that another associate (same year and male) makes 50k more than I do. He’s IP while I’m commercial litigation, but my billable rate is higher on all of my matters. Does IP really make THAT much more money than other practice areas, or am I getting ripped off?

How much info to recruiters/firms expect as to past billable hours numbers from junior laterals?

Hi all! I recently joined a small consulting company as Head of Delivery and I need to do kind of an informal benchmark from McKinsey and BCG about: to how many project is a consultant assigned at the same time as average? The current status in my company is consultants assigned to an average of 8 projects of strategy to execution implementing new WoW in big companies at the same time. What's considered billable hours? (My CEO expects 80% of time in client meetings, considering PM non billable)

Any thoughts on Phillips Lytle? If you could please provide insight on culture/billable requirements? Thank you.

Any thoughts on Phillips Lytle? If you could please provide insight on culture/billable requirements? Thank you.

Does anyone has any recommendations for a good program to track billable hours? Or what methodology do you use to track your time? I’m new to Public accounting.

Was looking for some feedback on a work situation I'm currently in.

I understand it's consulting work but:
- I've had very little actually billable work to do for over 3 months.
- There is ongoing pressure on the content of timesheets despite the lack of work
- When there is work, it's always underquoted for time, so it always requires out of hours work
- When I tell my bosses I have nothing to do they will often be over 24 hours in responding.

Is it time to cut my losses here and move on?