I am concerned with fulfilling billable hours requirement. I’m required to hit 2100 hours yearly and I’m at ~1,500 hours and I think I’ll hit 150-180hours this month. What will happen if I don’t hit my targeted amount by the end of my year.

Can you share first year salary for midsize firms? I'm in NJ, but curious to hear other markets. Also billable targets? Thanks!

Highest number of billable hours you have seen in a year?

It’s hard to trust the partners/leadership when they want us to return to office as being better when we increase offshoring? Also, the pressure on billable hours when all that really matters is how much our fixed labor costs vs. how much we can bill (which is usually fixed fee or at least a range) and the fixed labor costs of offshoring is significantly cheaper so the hours don’t matter. Am I mistaken by this viewpoint?

Received a job offer. Was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on a concern I had about it. It's an entry level position, and I don't have much experience. The billables are 2040 a year. For billable hours in civil litigation and insurance defense, is 2040 hours for a 1st year associate on the high end in this field for a small or midsize firm? It seems like most attorneys I know have minimum requirements of around 1800. The compensation is around 80k a year.

Have any of you taken "low bono" clients while working at a firm? I want to take on a low bono client or two but not sure who would get the money. This is a contract opportunity through a non profit so I'm assuming a 1099 will be issued. The per hour rate is significantly less than my billable rate. I would (obviously) like the money but my real objective is just getting experience/networking since I recently moved to a new state and don't have clients of my own.

Went from a big firm to work for a smaller firm. The people in the smaller firm are protective of their work and are good by their work too. I no longer feel chaos or stress. I am treated with respect and my schedule is more normal. I am even working more billable hours than before, but it feels like a seamless experience. I don’t work then past 5pm or anything out of the ordinary for this time of the year. I am so grateful!

What’s the deal with RFPs? I’ve spent countless [non-billable] hours on several of them only to find out that I’m not included in the actual proposal (the document sent to the client showcasing the proposed case team). Is this normal?

I have an interview with Korn Ferry for an associate principal role and am curious about others’ experiences have been with work-life balance here. Also, I have an idea of what I should be compensated in this type of role, but any insights on how they pay compared to others would be helpful. Are you traveling during the pandemic or have client interactions been virtual? Lastly, if you are a consultant here, are you on billable hours? My current consulting role is not - so this would be new.

Looking to leave a govt job for a junior attorney role in a small workers comp defense firm. I have no experience in workers comp. How easy is it to learn the work and make 1850 billable hours? What future opportunities does this experience give?

Are any other paralegals struggling with billable hour requirements? I have 5 years of experience in corporate transactions, M&A, and real estate work, and have never had billable hour requirements. I'm in a new job now where I do and I'm nowhere near meeting them. I'm getting a lot more admin work than billable work, and it's stressing me out.

I currently work at a medium sized firm and have about two years experience in personal injury litigation. The billable hours and lack of work life balance are really getting to me and I am looking to switch to something else out of litigation, preferably in house. I am also looking to relocate to a different state. How do I go about properly marketing myself to companies that might not take my relocation and minimal experience seriously?

Recent lateral junior associate in brand new practice where I'm the only associate. I'm probably going to bill 1,500 hours max this year due to being very slow and taking time off for a delayed honeymoon which I disclosed during my interview process. I have been told my work product is good, I don't turn anything down, I participate in non-billable work, I'm responsive and I always let people know I'm available to help. Do I need to be worried about getting fired for low hours?

I heard so much about minimum billable hours here by staff. I never saw that email. Is it inly for certain groups?

How many billable hours do people in prosecution tend to average each month? I’ve gone through waves of feeling like my billable hours requirement is reasonable to feeling like I’m drowning and can’t possibly do it for that long.

Is there an appropriate way to turn down an assignment because it is non-billable? Two of the partners I work for keep asking me to write client bulletins and articles with them, which is great, but now I’m starting to worry about meeting my billable hours requirement.

Is it just me or the average billable work in infrastructure transactions has blown off steam in the last couple of weeks?

Recently lateraled as a public defender in HCOL area to ID in LCOL area for $$$. I’ve been at the job a little over a month. My concerns are that I’m getting very little guidance or mentorship, and I’m worried about not hitting billable hours (2000 requirement but I am just over 80 for the first month). I am only in charge of a ~5 cases atm and struggle with figuring out the next steps, etc. I’ve met all my deadlines that have come up. Thoughts or advice?

What’s the best way to turn down a 2nd interview? During the 1st interview, I learned that the compensation for the role is not within the range that I am looking for and requires 400 more billable hours a year than what I bill now. I’d basically be laterally for my current salary just to bill 400 more hours. I also wasn’t aware that the local office was strictly ID. Firm website advertises lots of practice areas. Any advice? TIA!

I’ve been a freelance print production designer for many years, and usually on-site in the before times. Now I work remote, and am finding it uneasy dealing with billing. Before I always billed hourly, which made sense, but it’s becoming an issue now. Some companies don’t have a full days’ work, so it seems wrong to bill full days, and it allows me to juggle projects for different companies, but my billable hours are down. I know I should bill a daily rate, but not sure that will fly. Thoughts?

Any book recommendations for soft skills at an agency/studio? For stuff like giving feedback, meetings, presentations, client interaction, etc.

I’m posting this here instead of my usual Big Law bowl because I’m guessing there are people here who will understand. I just need to vent. I am married to a wonderful man who has a young son. My husband is the kindest, most patient and supportive man I’ve ever met other than my dear late grandfather. He is saintly. But the chaos that surrounds him hurts me. I am the primary breadwinner and far out earn my husband and my stepson’s bio mom. I have always put pressure on myself to succeed (Cont.)

What type of drug test are they going to do?

If I'm going through the process with a VC fund and decide I don't want to do VC now (but want to leave the door open in the future), what's the best way to drop out of the process? Don't want to waste their time but want to keep the door open as well

2021 FREELANCE RATE THREAD. Let’s share to see how 2021 budgets seem to be. I’ll start, Associate design director, $1200/day

What's it like to buy a new car in Dubai? Financing available?

Considering switching careers:

I got hired straight out from college 5 years ago from a small CPA firm and have worked in Tax ever since. Lately, I feel like this is not what I'm actually into. What else I can do with my Accounting degree?

My passion is Real Estate and Interior Design, love Managerial Accounting, I can sit for hours analyzing data, I also have a degree in Supply Chain Management.

My passion cannot feed my family but I've been burned out so much after years in Tax. 😞

Any insight into TCS M&A group? They reached out offering $200k for an M&A specialist role and would be a significant jump from my current salary. Unsure what they do in M&A space since they focus largely on delivery vs strategy

24.5 LPA for a solution architect role in TCS.
Is the ask is high or low for 8+ yoe with javaa, aws

Ugh, tv bill went up $30 cause promotion is up... called twice and both reps said they can’t offer new joiner promo. even said I was gonna cancel! They couldn’t match! They are getting tough

Anyone else absolutely *loathe* being assigned new client matters at the end of the month when you know your billable time won’t count bc conflicts haven’t cleared yet? Just me?

Your most positive customer interaction?

Looking for a pharmacist job with a pharmaceutical company. Have prior experiences with pharmaceutical company including Medical Information and Safety. Please let me know.

Can you guys share your advice on how to write an email to get you a phone call and ultimately help get you an interview? Sending cold emails right now and would appreciate your help

Looking for a cleaner! Preferably l
Not to expensive

For buy side analysts, are there logical career moves one can make after having a couple of years of working experience?

I’m interviewing for a marketing manager role at a company based in SF. I’m genuinely excited about the role and the company but we’ve yet to discuss salary. I expect to be asked at some point, but my research has given me a VERY broad range. So I’m here to do a bit more research. I’ve got 5 very relevant years of experience and will have an associate manager directly reporting to me. Are there any marketers out there who can share their salaries in similar regions and experience levels?

EY OR DELOITTE USI?

BILLABLE v. SALARY BASED.... pros and cons? I’ve never worked at a firm that has billing requirements, I’ve always been salary based, but I’m interested to know what your experiences have been!

Those of you who have left a firm, do you still keep in touch with any of your former supervisors, via email, happy hour, or otherwise? How long did you wait to re establish contact? I’m in a small market and worry about perception at my current firm. TIA

Does your firm give you credit for hours that were written off? Sometimes I feel if you don’t lose anything for hours cut from the bill, you have incentives not to be 100% honest w/ your timesheet.

So I was a 5th year associate in nyc making 100 k a year 2k billable hours.. I decided to leave for the role Im in now.. my old countered to keep me at 115k (which was like pulling teeth for them) but I left anyways now I find out that they offered a 7th year 150 k and a partner title should I be offended that they didn’t even try more with me

Please tell us, since COVID started:

-weirdest thing you've eaten
-weirdest thing you've watched
-weidest thought you've had.

Gripe in here about Legal Assistants (more in comments)

Billables are low this month. Like I have 65 billable hours in so far. I’ve messaged partners over the last week to try and get more cases but there are tons of new associates who were just onboarded and were at a low point for business. I’m freaking out

First year associate in litigation offered an assistant in-house role for the construction division of a real estate development company. Asked to send an offer letter detailing my salary and benefit requirements. Don’t know where to begin. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Is there a simple fix to remove the iManage number from the title of a PDF when I attach it to an Outlook email? My current solution is saving local and attaching from there, but there has to be a better way. Thanks!!!

Can anyone recommend a recruiter for a US JD looking to move to London? Also, does anyone have any advice for a US litigator looking for a job in the UK? I’m open to anything, including non-legal roles.

Thank you!

Considering accepting a fully remote role and living in different cities for 6+ months at a time. Anyone else do this and have experiences to share?

So who else here is experiencing plummeting billable hours and exponential weight gain since this whole WFH thing started? Bought snacks for 30 days, finished in 48 hours.

When you feel like you could be providing better work product and feel like your partner isn’t your biggest fan, what advice would you have?

There’s no practical difference other than taxes, but do you think there’s a prestige difference between being “partner” versus “shareholder” or “member” at a law firm?

I'm a long time prosecutor getting into the ID game and billable hours. Are there any resources out there that can help me get more effective/efficient without spending months/years learning the hard way? Some days I'm at the office 10 hours, took virtually no breaks and yet only bill 7. 🤬

Do large law firms really recieve enough applications for a position that they cannot follow up when someone reaches out to check on thier application? I get that if you have to reach out, they probably weren't interested anyways, I'm just curious why there is a practice of just leaving applicants in the wind. And also, how does one go about finding out why they were rejected, if thier qualifications are "impressive"?

Fishies—does anyone know of a way to convert a deposition transcript to remove all page:line numbers? I’d like to use text-to-speech to listen to transcripts but I can’t in the normal format.

Pro tip I wish I received: when lateraling back up your phone before leaving so you don’t lose it’s contents when your previous firm remote-factory resets the device.

Is it normal or ideal to continue working on a deal in your last week at the firm?

What would you say is the difference between a billable hour target vs. minimum? I feel like some firms boast about not having a “minimum” but the expectation is that you to exceed this target which just makes it a minimum.