Corporate junior associate here. Do firms genuinely treat pro bono the same as billable work? I’ve billed around 200 hours pro bono this year and as we near our review cycle, I’m anxious about whether there’s such thing as too many pro bono hours.

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It also depends on the firm. Some firms only give credit to pro Bono hours for purposes of your “billable” figure up to a certain thresholds. As a general matter, I believe most firms will give you billable credit for some of your PB hours, but maybe not all

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I’ve only heard of people getting a talking to about their pro bono hours when they’re at like, 500+

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200 pro bono is totally fine if you are also doing well with billables, or if it has been slow to the point that you couldn't get enough billables. Even looks good to many people I would hope. 200 would only be a problem if you consistently have that many and are consistently below the billables mark. But be prepared to discuss what is behind all those hours - i.e., what work you have been doing.

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Probably depends on practice area. If you’re a cap markets associate and have otherwise been dead, I’m guessing it’s fine. If your group has been slammed this may come up.

Put it like this, youd rather be you than the half that didnt hit.

A3 is right. It’s really firm-specific. At my firm you get unlimited billable hour credit for pro bono, but if you aren’t taking billable work because you have lots of pro bono for an extended period (like 1-2 years), then it can be an issue. 200 hours isn’t out of the norm for a junior to bill to pro bono though.

Not mine. My old partner didn’t like how much probono I did.

I think you know the answer to this question.

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