How hard is it for an associate to get fired in big law solely based on low billable hours? How many years do they need to be low? How many chances do they get? How low is too low for a second chance the following year? This is assuming quality of work is historically good and not their fault they have little work.

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Depends on the firm, practice group, office size, influence of partners who will vouch for you, why things are slow... impossible to answer. My first firm (with semiannual reviews) started pushing people out with as little as six months of slowness - although the slowness was oftentimes deliberately manufactured by the firm (freeze out). My second firm was OK floating low-billing associates (hundreds of hours below target) for years if they slotted into the right legal and operational niche.

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Agreed that it depends. Can you ask around to your fellow associates? I know a firm where an associate stopped showing up to work pre pandemic and they didn’t do anything for 6 mo...another firm where someone took full medical leave and traveled (Instagram showed) and then took unpaid medical leave and was w the firm for a full year w associates not sure if that person was terminated or not...

Heard of two associates who were placed into different practice groups bc their groups were slow...

Honestly, I only know of 1 associate who was actively asked to leave and given 6 mo to search. Usually, your type A high achieving personalities psych themselves out and job hop at the first sign of trouble and incompatibility.

YMMV

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Associate 2 - usually, I see associates freaking out before anything really is happening or if there isn’t a good fit. Otherwise, I also think a lot of associates want to jump inhouse but are afraid to ask their partners when they make the decision.

Counsel 1 - been practicing for 8 years. Of course, I don’t know what is happening outside of the firms I worked at and my practice group. But, I really only know of one person who was asked to leave and they gave her the long runway. Can’t remember if all 6 mo was paid.

I do know of one associate who had a working relationship issue w a senior counsel. They never asked her to leave but her main person stopped giving her work. She was there for a year before she jumped bc she found another gig.

Ok - I have heard thru the rumor mill at one firm that they asked 2 partners to leave. And one really senior associate / think counsel level associate was let go but the firm was financially struggling to get work. Didn’t think of these examples as they happened while I was a midyear and the folks were so senior.

We’ve carried people for years if the group is just slow. Usually people are slow though because the group just doesn’t want to give them work.

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Same

Just heard from two friends at two different top 15 law firms who were let go for low hours this past year

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Thanks everyone for the feedback. I’m the only female attorney in my local office, so hopefully that helps. I don’t think it’s because they don’t want to give me work. I think they never were sure about their future workload intake in my State for my area of law, but hired me anyway because at the time they needed the help and they needed a woman. They hired another female in my office after me as counsel but she left after like a month, lol. I had a great year last year but now incoming work in my state and area of law is slowing.

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