Big Law Discussions
Billable Hours

Is it legal to dock pay, bonuses and/or origination payouts if billable time isn’t entered on time? Firm is threatening a 3 strike rule. Just seems off if you work for the money (it’s calculated based on rates/hours/business brought in) that they could threaten you this way. Firing? I understand that. I’m in Pennsylvania if that makes a difference.

Taking an informal survey how many firms (I) have the junior and midlevel summer associates plan the bulk of the summer events (lunches but also evening events) and (ii) count time spent on the summer program as qualified billable work (in that partners see how much you bill to it on your time sheet)?

What does life look like for someone to hit 2300+ billable hours?

I’m a first year attorney at a small plaintiff’s firm. My firm has guaranteed me a $10k bonus at the end of 1 year without regard for my billable hours. They’ve also stated if I hit 2300 billable hours in my first year, they’ll add an additional $15k.

If my math checks out, that means I need to be billing ~45 hrs per week. But with only like 60% of my assignments being billable—how do I hit 2300+ and not die?

Probably a foolish question: are bonuses based off of raw billable hours or billable hours modified by the partners?

Can someone explain the importance/significance of “collection of time” or “COT” to me. Bonus points if you’re a specialist and most hours are from deals that sometimes use a flat fee structure. For context, I still get credited for billable hours that might not have been collected on.

Billable hours in Europe. What is the expected at big law ? I got an offer and I am not sure if these are reasonable or impossible to achieve

Hello, I’ve been doing litigation for 6 years. I truly hate it and I’m wondering how difficult it would be to transfer to a different type of law (possibly at the same firm)? What is the least stressful paralegal role? Or what other types of jobs can I get to avoid billable hours and over the top stress? Help please, I need a more sustainable job that I actually like. Litigation is too chaotic for my personality.

Bonus Structures:

Looking for a comparison to what other firms are offering and how this one stacks up. Ours is working out a brand new bonus structure:

Our general targets are 75% util. Billable or qualified non-billable time. Bonuses will be $1000 per quarter just meeting that. $25/ hr for every billable hour beyond that on top.

I am considering transitioning to Big Law, or anything outside of Govt. I have been a trial attorney for 12 years in govt. and frankly I am tired of the low pay. Any advice? Also, is there any likelihood that I would not have to go in at an associate level and have required billable hours that interfere with a work life balance? Is there any work life balance with BigLaw? I have recently been reinventing how our office manages cases and I am very skilled in tech so maybe a different path?

ID associate here. If a partner is making me write elaborate internal memos explaining the legal justification for everything I am doing in a case, and that time gets written off (and we are judged on our % of write offs) at what point can I say I can't do it anymore because it takes me away from actual billable work. What are my options here?

Did anyone not meet their billable hours requirement during their first year of employment? If so, how did your firm react? 😬

Third-year with some experience looking for a mid year lateral in southern California. An experienced enough contract lawyer to know about pre-1999 session notes to civil code 1717. Indeed, I just need billable work and a paycheck. Simply put, please slide into my DMs if you have a referral.

Any insights into Epstein Becker and green billable hours and salary?

Need help/advice on which offer to take.

Deloitte - Tax Consultant II, 77k base plus 5k sign-on, accrual PTO

Berkowitz - Experienced Associate, 85k base, 2k sign-on, up 20% bonus based on billable hrs paid every qtr, unlimited PTO

Both are in Private Equity/Real Estate tax which is the field I want to pursue. I have 1.5 YOE in public accounting. Not sure which to choose. Since I'm early in my career, Deloitte would be a resume booster but I lose on comp. Berkowitz has strong comp but not Big4 @

As a lateral working remotely, how long does it take to get the ball rolling and a constant flow of billable hours? After orientation, training and all that jazz. TIA.

Which firms actually have good culture about taking time off? Also offering billable hours granted for vacation or other types of perks. How many weeks off a year can you take without raising too many eyebrows?

I am at a very small firm (<10 attorneys) and am “interviewing” with a larger firm. Considering partner and counsel roles. Beyond compensation structure, billable requirements, and partnership expectations, what questions should I ask? If considering partner position, what is fair to ask about their books?

I have a question about mid-size Philadelphia law firms. Does anyone have any insight about what life is like (culture, pay, billable hours, cases, WFH, perks, etc.) as a junior partner/senior associate/of counsel in the litigation department at the following firms: Montgomery McCracken, Schnader Harrison, Stradley Ronon, Dilworth Paxson, Klehr Harrison?

I have a question about mid-size Philadelphia firms. Does anyone have any insight about what life is like (culture, pay, billable hours, cases, WFH, perks, etc.) as a junior partner/senior associate/of counsel in the litigation department at the following firms: Montgomery McCracken, Schnader Harrison, Stradley Ronon, Dilworth Paxson, Klehr Harrison?

I have a question about mid-size Philadelphia firms. Does anyone have any insight about what life is like (culture, pay, billable hours, cases, WFH, perks, etc.) as a junior partner/senior associate/of counsel in the litigation department at the following firms: Montgomery McCracken, Schnader Harrison, Stradley Ronon, Dilworth Paxson, Klehr Harrison?

I have a question about mid-size Philadelphia firms. Does anyone have any insight about what life is like (culture, pay, billable hours, cases, WFH, perks, etc.) as a junior partner/senior associate/of counsel in the litigation department at the following firms: Montgomery McCracken, Schnader Harrison, Stradley Ronon, Dilworth Paxson, Klehr Harrison?

Does your company track billable hours? And is it actual billable or scheduled billable?

For those of you working in Consulting, on average, how many hours a week do you work? Total hours, not billable hours. I understand it can vary week to week, but what's typical?

What is the going rate for an insurance defense attorney in greater New York region with about 10-12 years of experience at firms with 2100 billable hours?

So I was a 5th year associate in nyc making 100 k a year 2k billable hours.. I decided to leave for the role Im in now.. my old countered to keep me at 115k (which was like pulling teeth for them) but I left anyways now I find out that they offered a 7th year 150 k and a partner title should I be offended that they didn’t even try more with me

What’s your take on Lydecker? What is the culture? Market salary? Expectation on billable hours? Mentorship? Etc.?

Any intel on the following NYC finance/banking groups? E.g. billable hours, friendliness/culture, experience opposite them in deals.

Skadden, Milbank, White & Case, Hogan Lovells and Proskauer.

Second week at my new firm and no billable work yet! Already asked for work - am I expected to just sit here and twiddle my thumbs waiting for work?

Making 150k (no structured bonus and 5% origination fee) at my small shop. Decent/ok work-life balance but doing a lot of the aspect of my job I don’t love. People are ok a little bit of a weird vibe in the office. WFH once a week with an hour commute. New offer is from a much larger firm for 220K plus bonus structure and with 15% origination. Flexible WFH options and 1800 billable hours. Hard to get a sense of work-life but seems to have a good reputation via Glassdoor. [continued in comments]

Hey all - starting my first consulting gig and was surprised that time sheets are submitted down to 15 minute increments. Is that standard in the consulting world or overkill? I understand that billable hours need to be tracked but I assumed it would be looser estimates.

Any insight into McDermott Will Emery cap markets practice or the firm as a whole? Culture, billable hours etc.

Naive question: How many yearly billable hours are reasonable for a good balance of work and home. I have a young child and don't want to miss out on important moments. I had one firm state that their yearly quota is 1900 hours and I don't have a frame of reference as to whether this is reasonable or if it means 12 hour days. I am coming from public service so billables are 100% new to me. Any insight is appreciated.

How much and how often do you fib your billable hours? Either taking off time to help the budget, or adding time to meet your needs….

Are there any other highly regarded litigation or IP boutiques (or even full service firms for that matter) like Desmarais LLP that do not have billable hours? I am not talking about a firm with no "minimum required billables." Rather I am talking about a firm where all cases are either contingent or fixed fee and attorneys do not even need to track time. Seems to be a fairly rare structure.

I’m a few weeks into my new job and haven’t had much work. I’ve been letting partners know I’m available and have been asking for work but I’m worried my very low billable hours are going to look bad. I’m not sure how aggressive I should be in asking. I try to circulate through different partners every couple of days, because I don’t want to be nagging the same people every day. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Possibly a very stupid question but here it goes: just accepted a an exempt position. I’m supposed to be working 40 hours a week and 1650 billable hours a year. Obviously it’ll be more hours during busy season. My question is am I still required to work 40 during non busy season as long as I get my 1650 throughout the year? Is that different from firm to firm?

First-year associate here. For all those who have lateraled in this market, do you recommend I make the jump to a bigger law firm? I love my partner and enjoy the work, but the compensation is extremely low for comparable mid-size firms. I bill over the minimum billable requirements every month, and I’ve been told I’m a good associate and have good work product. Lately, it’s hard to feel motivated knowing that I’m billing as much as people making double what I make.

Am I going to get fired? My firm has monthly min billable requirement of 155 hours which normally averages to 7.3 a weekday. Been here 8 months some days I bill less some days more, but I always beat the monthly min with some hours to spare and bonus. Yesterday I bill just under 7 hours and my supervisor reminds me that the firms wants 7.5-8 billable hours a day. Why do they have the monthly min if they want 7.5-8 a day? Seems liked mixed signals to me. I don’t care to work more than necessary.