Friends, I’m at war in the main Law Bowl with a bunch of entitled baby lawyers and could use some backup by way of my similarly situated brethren. https://joinfishbowl.com/post_1m7wckxfpy

Definitely same experience, but asking associates in an anon forum isn’t going to do anything. Non-equity partner here, so basically an associate…just ASK one of them. I’m generally well-liked and people go out of their way to work for me but a recent example: a new matter would not get staffed, I called everyone and everyone said no. So finally I started asking them “hey, thanks for saying no, I respect that, but I’m also trying to get a sense of what I can do better, is it that you don’t find [niche matter type] as rewarding as others, you’re not liking the personalities on this kind of work, you’re getting more meaningful exposure elsewhere?” Pre-feed seemingly innocuous answers and you get good results. Sometimes it’s pure capacity, but once an associate let me know there had been several deaths in their immediate family, others had helpful feedback on the role they were able to take on their more rinse-repeat matters, others straight up would rather get fired than work for the partner that brought in that matter, one didn’t like the dynamic from the senior people seemingly intentionally keeping the team in the dark and only occasionally getting copied on strategic/client-facing emails.

Associates don’t care you’re billing a lot because they think you’re sharing in the profits of the firm (reality or not). You’re no longer on their team. Be a mentor. You’re going to get screwed. I just worked an entire holiday so my associates wouldn’t have to and they popped up more often than expected saying they have X# of hours, what can they do to help.

Also $90k/year….and expecting 220/mo pace. What in the world?! Is that real? After paying off law school loans they have nothing…

Also an NEP and was at a below market firm with associates mostly tracking above the billable requirement, but still less than the partners in our office. I think getting the staffing you want or close to what you want is partly about the associates’ workload, but also about what your reputation is and whether people perceive any benefit in pushing themselves over the number of hours they want to work in order to work with you. My approach is to have associates be as integrated as possible on cases and have the interesting opportunities that they want (taking deps, attending hearings, participating in client calls), not just the grunt work; managing case calendars and deadlines so we don’t have self-inflicted emergencies and they can trust that when I do make an ask, there’s a real reason; consistently giving constructive feedback through redlines and comments and then taking time to discuss; checking in to see how they’re doing career-wise - are they getting some of the work they want, how can I help them do that. I normally approached staffing by just telling the associate I wanted to work with about the case, why I thought they’d be great to work with on that case, what was coming up, and when I needed their help. Occasionally someone would say they really couldn’t help (in looking at their hours and talking to the other partners they were helping, they were indeed very underwater) and I had to move on to my second choice.

Generally, I’d say don’t ask if they’re busy. The answer is always “yes, I’m too busy to help.”

I was a non-equity partner at a tiny firm for a bit. I held no sway with anyone because they figured if the boss wanted me to have authority she would have made me an equity partner. So, it may be your status.

You likely have no say over who becomes partner at the firm (assuming non-equity partners are not involved in that decision). So, the Associates may be saving their hours to help those who will make a decision about their partnership track status someday.

This matters because obviously there are partner and “non-partner” tracks at your firm since you are a non-equity partner. Even if you chose to be non-equity, they will assume that was a forced choice unless they are educated otherwise.

This also sounds like a firm issue. I was of the opinion at that prior firm that if I give an assignment to a lower ranked person then they need to do it. Partner/owner was of the opinion that I needed to be their friends so they wanted to assist and if they said “no” that was a me problem rather than a them problem.

That is not necessarily a good management strategy. I no longer work there and the firm continues to lose attorneys and to struggle to hire. I’ve been told by outside sources that the work quality has also decreased since I left, which is very frustrating because I wanted to believe in the firm and see it succeed when I was there.

So, take that for what you may. Many things could be at play here.

At the same time, though, I do think it is time for Associates to seek better work life balance, but they need to understand that is going to come with a lower salary - potentially significantly lower because more associates must be hired to increase the firm’s bandwidth and it’s more expensive to hire another person than to pay a bonus to someone who exceeds hours. The lower pay for less work is what they are having trouble coming to terms with. There needs to be better clarity at the hiring table on both sides regarding the hours and pay expectations.

Nice to hear from you again OP!

Folks, OP’s question turned into absolute mayhem (cue Ron Burgundy “well that escalated quickly”). OP is genuinely seeking advice (and I am also curious as another young partner), so feel free to pass along any advice, insight, and tips you may have. Thanks!

Oh man, what did I just read lol. Also a relatively new partner and can confirm this is an issue at my firm too. It’s really wild, our average partner hours are higher than average associate hours month to month, and those numbers include a couple near-retired partners that bill like 20-40 hours/month. I don’t really have any solutions, just empathy!! And for the record we pay market salary (but are probably lower for bonuses).

Are all associates meeting billing goals? Does your firm have a team structure where generally there are one or two associates familiar to you and your clients yoy would be working with? Are you assigning associates to cases at the outset and giving case management responsibilities or are these last minute piecemeal assignments?
I’d talk to your firm leadership to see if they will back you up. Coassign associates to the cases from the outset and be very clear with what their responsibilities are and what yours are. Set regular 30 meetings with them on case progress so you can troubleshoot and give specific guidance. Critically examine the deadlines you’re giving—I am a very fast and efficient worker, and cleared work quickly. A lot of people don’t work as quickly as I do and I had to adjust to ‘this may not be done as quickly as I would do it, but is this the timeframe that is generally acceptable.’

We’re in the same boat P2. Most partners are billing over 2000 hours in my group - with several north of 2400 and one over 2700. Meanwhile most associates are coming in at 1900-2000 and very few are going over. We pay market.

I haven't been a NEP but I suspect the issue is less your NEP status and more how you treat the associates. It's a 2 way street. Do you get to know them, advocate for them, take them to lunch, etc.? Or just try to dump work?