Drowning. Joined firm last summer, brought a decent little book, primarily litigation associate. I’ve been buried in numerous matters from my transferring clients and matters at my new, small-ish firm. I get consistently favorable results, im in the office all week, manage all my cases independently. After 6 months, just told billables are too low, turnaround time is too high, and theyre concerned about my fit. I feel like I’ve just been launched into a bunch of matters with little/no guidance.

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I’d ask them to be a lot more specific than that. How “low” are your billables compared to where they want them to be? What do they think is your turnaround time and what do they want it to be? I worked at a smallish firm like this once and they told me something similar so I asked for specific reasons for their comments. Most of their assumptions were incorrect. If they tell you they want 2000 hours for below market pay then you leave asap.

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The pay is below market with the understanding that it’s more of a family/lifestyle firm. Why does that apply to everyone but the litigation associate? I wish I could go sell cars.

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This seems contradictory. If they are a "lifestyle firm" why are they fixated on your low billables. Sounds more like they are trying to find an out. Did they give you a reason for not being a good fit?

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