Big Law Discussions
Billable Hours

Has anyone here worked (or does anyone currently work) for Bernstein Litowitz (aka BLBG)? Very interested to learn what inside associates feel about the firm, its culture, work-life balance, billable hours, etc.

Has anyone here worked (or does anyone currently work) for Bernstein Litowitz (aka BLBG). Very interested to learn what inside associates feel about the firm, it’s culture, work-life balance, billable hours, etc

As a new hire, how long did it take you to get a full plate of work? Meaning at least 7.5 billable hours per day.

Any thoughts on Maron Marval? Specifically their Texas office regarding workload, salary range and 1950 billable hours?

Dear public accountants, how many billable hours did you bill in FY2022? And what’s your position?

Did the billable hours bonus not get paid out today? Or is it to be paid in the next check?

Anyone in Linklaters Singapore?
Looking for insights into pay, culture, billable requirements, staffing structure, any red flags etc.

I do fractional GC work, but have gotten in pretty deep with one client. I log about 100 billable hours/month with them, but because I agreed to a total fee cap, I’m really only getting about 100-120/hr. It’s every bit a full time job, and it’s really wearing me out. What’s a reasonable rate?

Do any firms give billable credit for business development? My practice group is particularly BD heavy and I’m trying to convince them to give us billable hours credit

I’m a regulatory junior who has been slammed recently. 40-45 billable hours a week aren’t bad but my quality of life plunges once I’m north of 50. I essentially can no longer do the things that keep me sane (7-8 hours of sleep, exercising before work, etc.). Any tips on how to maintain some semblance of normalcy when you’re slammed?

Interviewing at Borton Petrini in Los Angeles ….Anyone have any experiences working there/interviewing there or any tips they can provide? Any salary tips? billable hours? Anything anyone has heard regarding Borton Petrini

Any lawyers at the following firms in Singapore:

Milbank
Shearman and Shirling
Cooley
Gunderson
Skadden
Latham and Watkins

Looking for insights into pay, culture, billable requirements, staffing structure, any red flags etc.

Corporate M&A associate if that makes a difference.

Any lawyers at the following firms in Singapore:

Milbank
Shearman and Shirling
Cooley
Gunderson
Skadden
Latham and Watkins

Looking for insights into culture, billable requirements, staffing structure, any red flags etc.

Corporate M&A associate if that makes a difference.

If a recruiter asks what your average billable hours are, will you ever have to show proof of this number or no?

Lateraled as a first year about 6 weeks ago. I’ve only been hitting a max of 30ish billable hours since orientation ended. I’m staffed on a handful of deals, but the work isn’t that heavy. Partner keeps saying there’s tons of work to go around, but none of it is flowing to me. I’m nervous about asking for more work in case the deals I’m already on pick up the next couple of weeks. Should I ask for more work? Should I be concerned about hitting the yearly billable/qualifying for year end bonus?

Thought experiment for you, fishies.

We all love to hate on billable hours. What’s a real, feasible alternative???

Small agency owner 🙋🏻‍♂️ I’ve wracked my brain and have 3 biz model options, none great:

Billable hrs: Generally accepted. We all know the downsides.

Pay4performance: Big upside potential, tons of risks.

Project pricing: Cloak for billable hours. You have to estimate project cost with something.

Who’s thought of a better approach??? Genuinely curious if there is one.

In a consulting firm, if my company charges our client $168 hourly as my billable rate, what reasonable cost rate hourly should I get out of that?

I've only been in biglaw for a year, but have been practicing for seven years so far. I used to be a state regulator for this practice area and generally enjoy working at a private firm. A partner at a boutique firm that I'm friends with has called me every few months to check-in and see how I'm doing. During our last call he essentially offered a job after I get another year of experience in private practice. Five year track to partnership. No billable hours.

Has anyone worked in a firm with “non-traditional” compensation structure ? I.e. you get paid by the billable hour, not a salary with minimum expected billable hours. Pros/cons? I like the concept but a bit concerned about income if I need to take time away from the office (single mom here with two elementary school-aged kids)

For a manager position, how many billable hours are required during busy and off season, non big 4, mid tier firm

Is there a second busy season at big4 for the extended tax deadline? And how busy is it really? Would they require the same billable hours like it is in spring?

Anyone else here have terrible utilization because their deals die and a code never opens? /can’t find another code to book hours? I’m sitting on over 200 billable hours at this point

If you don’t have 8 hours of billable time a day, do you leave as is or do you fill in the gap with non-billable work? While I am in the office, I don’t always get the billable amount since I don’t have enough work. Seems like a waste of time to enter non-billable time just to fill in the gap but I also don’t want them to think I am not there and slacking off.

What’s the norm?

I get so annoyed when partners keep assigning me non-billable work to do and then I get scolded because of my billable hours… I’m still doing my job when I’m doing “non-billable” work I shouldn’t be penalized at the end of the year for being a junior associate who can’t say no to people.

Any tips on how to keep my plate full with work? I just moved from civil legal services to Biglaw as a staff attorney (9 YOE), and I’m looking for strategies on how to get work from partners. They know I’m new and I have gotten some matters to work on, but I find myself out of billable work by the afternoon (and today, by 10am). I check in with different people each day to ask if there are things I can work on, but what else can I be doing (that isn’t going to annoy the shit out of ppl)? TIA!

What do you do to keep hours stable in corporate practice/ ECVC?
Just joined a new firm 3 months ago. Old firm had no billable requirements. 1950 bonus target and have been doing 140-150 each month. I don’t want to ask for too much work but also concerned not hitting hours… any tips?

I know there’s a lot of stats out there about alcoholism in the legal field, but has anyone else significantly decreased their alcohol use? I find it almost impossible to put in bill billable hours while drinking like I used to

Apps for keeping track of billable hours?

Recently joined a firm with no official billable hours requirement. Do these firms with “no target hours” typically have an unofficial minimum hours that associates are expected to hit for a full bonus? Not at a black-box compensation firm.

How much salary would you expect with the following scenario?

Boutique Corp/Tax practice
Mid-Atlantic Region
1400 Annual Billable Requirement
$325 billable rate
10-15% bonus
Great Culture
Good 401k/Profit Sharing
Fully paid good Med/Dental

Recently lateraled as a public defender in HCOL area to ID in LCOL area for $$$. I’ve been at the job a little over a month. My concerns are that I’m getting very little guidance or mentorship, and I’m worried about not hitting billable hours (2000 requirement but I am just over 80 for the first month). I am only in charge of a ~5 cases atm and struggle with figuring out the next steps, etc. I’ve met all my deadlines that have come up. Thoughts or advice?

Should I do it or politely tell them to pound sand? Small team went way over budget on a thing, i did 90% of the work. Partner is asking me to move some billable time to a non-billable number to “act like a partner” and show I’m willing to share in the hurt. They claim this will help me with partnership later because acting like a partner is one of the most important factors. This would turn an ok june into a bad june for me in terms of hours. I’m up for partnership next year. 👍🏻 or 👎🏻?

Can someone explain how billable hours work? At a new agency and although I had to fill timesheets at my previous agencies, they were mainly used to ensure we weren’t over servicing a client/for setting the appropriate retainer for contract renewals. I asked ppl at my agency but haven’t gotten a proper explanation. I get the impression that billing to the agency admin code isn’t recommended, and my manager said he bills everything to client codes, but that doesn’t make sense to me .

Does anyone have experience working for a ALSP? How does compensation work (pay and benefits)? Are you an employee or technically an IC? Do you have billable requirements like at a firm? How do you think it prepared you to potentially move in house? I'm currently at a firm but thinking of taking a position with an ALSP but my goal is to go in house.