How do you all deal with the constant pressure to do twice as much nonbillable work as the straight cis white guy attorneys? I am a multiracial queer woman of color and am constantly asked to do nonbillable tasks like recruiting, conferences, galas, and other affinity type events where I rep the firm. As a first year I drank the koolaid that these were all "opportunities" but I'm realizing now it's just way more extra work that I don't get paid for. I still have to find time to hit my billables

Other woc attorneys at my firm with more seniority have said that "this is just how it is" and it's what people like us have to do to get the same recognition as the mediocre white dudes. Is this true?? Is there no way to fix this system? I'm so tired 😭

I would push back and say you're busy unless they can give you billable BD or DEI hours. I'm guessing they're leaning on you cause they don't have many others that fit the bill, and so tell them that you can either go unrepresented, or compensate me for my time. Until you're closer to partner, all the "it'll pay off" is BS. If you enjoy it, do it, otherwise tell them to find another mascot. I used to be a token diversity person at my old firm (I'm not even a URM, just one of the few non-whites), and forced them to add DEI billable hours or told them I'm not doing it anymore. They didn't for a while, but then added them in for the whole firm. Galas and conferences are much more fun when you get to drink and bill your time.

I cursed out my boss and quit. I have absolutely no ragrets

I’ve started to use billable work as an excuse save for the conferences which I find personally refreshing. If you’re creative you can usually come up with an excuse. The only non billable work that really matters is work that gets billable credit and BD - and don’t let anyone tell you different.

Also remember that the people asking you to do some of this are professional staff whose opinions of you do not matter for advancement or comp. Recruiting people in particular are big drains and they do not matter unfortunately.

I am also a queer, multiethnic woman. They love to send me to EVERYTHING. I used to say yes to a lot of it because I didn’t feel like I had the space to say no and because I worried about our efforts to recruit people from my various identities. Eventually, I got to the point where I had to realize it can’t all fall on me and I can only do what I can do. I started deciding how many events I was going to say yes to ahead of time and dropped the guilt around saying no to the rest. They also changed the system of how they interview so we can affirmatively sign up now. It’s a lot easier for me to ignore those emails than it was for me to ignore the emails specifically asking me to do something. I guess the upshot is:

- I still do recruiting and DEI work and I just understand that my billables will be lower. They are not low (above firm average and at average for my group), but I no longer have any guilt about them being higher. The first year that I started taking that approach, a partner said to me in my review that it was fine and that frankly the rate at which I had been billing was unsustainable.

- I do more recruiting/DEI when I am slower, less when I am busier and none when I’m feeling burnt out. They will just have to accept what I’m willing to offer.

- I set aside the time for the committees/conferences/galas that I want to go to and that reoccur. If that’s all I feel I can do, that’s all I can do and I say no to everything else. If/when I feel like I can/want to do more, I do. I think this helps avoid the idea of me being a bad firm citizen.

- As I get more senior, the recruiting/DEI has become more visible and political (ie more beneficial for my career). It’s also been easier to say no as my life has expanded to include other competing (more important) claims on my time (a partner, aging parents, etc.). I do not care one bit about how the firm feels about me prioritizing them over the firm’s recruiting/DEI efforts. They got a lot out of me as a junior and that will just have to be enough.

- Lastly, I did find a lot of the recruiting/DEI work very beneficial to my own career when I was very junior. It allowed me to make a lot of connections with partners and seniors (who have since become partners) both in and outside of my group. For example, that is how I developed relationships with the former and current chair and many members of senior firm leadership. Those individuals were willing and able to help me throughout my career through activities such as: biz dev opportunities, helping me navigate firm politics, willingness to help me behind the scenes with completing my assignments. As annoying as it was to go to many of those events when I was a junior, it did help. Though, it’s not fair that that’s how I had to go about getting those opportunities when others (cis, straight, white men) didn’t have to do the same.

**- EDIT: Sorry! I can’t believe I forgot (and sorry to make this even longer…). Several years ago I went to the heads of recruiting and DEI and told them I couldn’t do it all. I asked them to prioritize their asks to me and I gave them and order of priority. I also told them that if they followed that order and asked me to do no more than X per week, I would basically always say yes. They agreed and that helped A LOT.**

Ultimately, everyone has respected the approach that I’ve taken (re stepping back and doing what I can and only what I can). I hope that you’re able to find something that feels workable for you and I hope your firm respects that and supports you. Good luck!

What’s so funny is that if you start avoiding these events, at reviews they’ll say, “great work product but would like to see more participation with non-billable activities”

So I think it’s still important to help and I do but I will volunteer white people if I feel like I’m doing too much. “I don’t know if I can do x with my workload but I think [insert white person] may have some availability and I don’t think s/he’s had an opportunity to be involved yet.” 😈

Lots of good advice here. I went through the same progression of realization as you. At the end, all that matters to anyone are your hours and your book. If I ever went back to a firm, I would say no to every non-billable task.

Recruiting is not an opportunity, but critically important if you want more people at your firm who look like you. The others (conferences, galas, events) can be parlayed into connections that are future clients down the line. Those are definitely opportunities. Take advantage of them (to the extent you’re not sacrificing billable work too much).

Do you think it’s likely that you will make partner at this firm, and would you want that role?

Great advice here especially from A6! And remember almost no one makes partner based on non-billable hours. Prioritize non billables and listen to what they say during your reviews about your substantive work product and partner satisfaction with the same.