I hate how billable hours are inextricably tied to your sense of worth/achievement in this job

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.

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?

Does anyone have experience working for a ALSP? How does compensation work (pay and benefits)? Are you an employee or technically an IC? Do you have billable requirements like at a firm? How do you think it prepared you to potentially move in house? I'm currently at a firm but thinking of taking a position with an ALSP but my goal is to go in house.

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?

Does anyone run a business in addition to their firm? I’m a solo and I’m doing pretty well with about 60-70 billable hours a month. Though that leaves a lot of downtime. Curious if anyone has any second businesses that require about 20 hours a week. Not looking for passive income or franchise ideas though.

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

How do firms give bonuses to associate attorneys? Quarterly, monthly, annually? What is a bonus based on? Money recieved, billable hours, etc?

I'm looking to set up a bonus structure for a new associate.

Does anyone have experience working for a ALSP? How does compensation work (pay and benefits)? Are you an employee or technically an IC? Do you have billable requirements like at a firm? How do you think it prepared you to potentially move in house? I'm currently at a firm but thinking of taking a position with an ALSP but my goal is to go in house.

My HR rep told me that to apply for your CPA license in MA you only need 1 year of work experience, not 2009 billable hours. Didn't sound right- can anyone confirm/deny?

To the post below- it is quiet, so I’ll bite!
Does anyone know about associate compensation at the regional Atlantic Canada firms? The the big ones have all been posting job ads for associates in the 3-5 year range. Any insight on salary and billable targets?

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.

I just connected some dots and got a colleague off the bench and on some billable work. What a great feeling! 🤓

Mental health is busy, looking for tips to help manage tasks, currently I supervise 12 therapists in 3 different departments that are all different with unique dynamics in each dept. I still carry a small caseload on top of this. I'm struggling with my patients and worry I am not giving them my best, I wax and wane between focusing on patients and therapists. Looking for advice navigating this type od conversation with my leadership, we have all been asked to work on increase billable time...

Doing a federal clerkship and thinking of my options after. Anyone in NJ/NY/PA biglaw lit group with collegial and pleasant work environment? I do not care about billable requirements/workload, just salary and don’t want to be treated like shit.

My firm’s IT (especially system saving and file locating function) is so bad 😐😞 and they keep doing updates no one asked them for just to mess with the stuff we already got a hang of without doing anything about the issues we actually need fixed. Anyone else in a similar boat? Do you bill the client for the time it takes to fix the IT issue (or IT inefficiency generally, like time taken to find a file in a convoluted system)? Or is that supposed to be our non-billable time?

I’m a 9th year in a mostly litigation-based practice group at a one-tier partnership firm. My group’s billable hours have been low the last few years, so making partner will be nearly impossible, and a counsel position is not viable long-term in my group. What’s the best option here if partnership is the ultimate goal? Try to get a NEP/counsel position at another firm, which is likely difficult in my market, or offer to take a class cut by a few years?

I wonder if we’ll still have minimum billable hours if WWIII breaks out

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?

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!

What is WLB balance like at big banks for associates hired from MBA? How many hours per week?

I’m a senior at a mid tier and been working about 70-75 hours for last 3 weeks on a SEC client. Now I roll off to a new job but the manager wants me to come back and help out the team more. Should I do it? I don’t want to fail at both jobs. Is that even reasonable to ask someone to work on both jobs?

How to look about for opportunities for Acca candidate who has 3y experience in external audit ? Looking for suggestions ! Thanks

Torn between two offers-
Citi IA (MRA Validation - Risk) or Morgan Stanley IA

If base comp is equal, which one would you choose?

Hi, I’m fairly new to corporate America with only several years of experience in financial services. I’m a Black female having difficulty navigating a white, male dominated field. Can someone share advice on navigating the office politics while being a POC? My question is specifically about asking tough questions to senior management. Is there specific “etiquette” to follow?

Any strategists out there looking for a part time gig ?

I am looking account job in ahmedabad

Kindly recommend some self help books!

How to structure the compensation for level 8 ? Should basic be more or allowance should be more for a package of 25lpa fixed.

Fins up if you are looking for someone to help you re-do your resume...

Hi friends,

I am an immediate joiner. I have 7 years of experience in automation and manual testing.
Can anyone please refer me. I am in need of job.

Hello friend,

Any one abscond the notice period in EY.


I Just join - 3 month.

Any one can help me for same what get happened if I do same.

Thanks for you advise

Can one of you awesome people please scan my resume for a ZS Associates referral?

Hey Fishes,

Hope you're having a great sunday eve, I am looking for a job change and would really appreciate if you guys have any leads or if you can refer me.

YOE : ~4 years
Role : Business Analyst
Domain: Fitness and Wellness

Thanks in advance !

Favourite Super Bowl spot?

Anyone else just sitting around waiting for the ax to drop? I'm a soon to be 2nd year corporate associate who has seen work completely dry up. My utilization held pretty steady around 50% immediately after shutdown, but August was below 15 billables with no appreciable work in the pipeline. Aside from letting people know I'm available and doing pro-bono/CLE, it's starting to feel like a serious "covidcation" leading to termination.

Any insight on Brewer (either office, generally curious about the firm). I assume comp after year 1 is discretionary, rather than lock-step, given the size of the firm. Would appreciate happiness, horror stories, of whatever “firm culture” falls between the two. DM me if you don’t want to share publicly.

To those at V25 firms, how do you view your London office in terms of the quality of work we get and overall importance to the firm? Like is there a perception of us being a step down or ancillary to the big leagues of NYC or not? There’s generally a perception here that L&W and K&E are the only US firms where London can even begin to compete with stateside in terms of generating l work organically but would be interesting to know what you all think? Be brutally honest.

Have you ever taken or seen someone take mental health leave (medical leave)? How long did they take?

Are there any books or other resources that mid levels/seniors/counsel/partners on here have found helpful for the project management / managing junior attorney aspects of your job?

I am not finding a lot of stuff written for lawyers specifically , but there is a lot directed at “managers” in business generally that I imagine could be applicable.

A partner I work for keeps asking for ETA's on assignments I have already submitted to the senior associate on the deal for review. Does it sound like I'm throwing the senior associate under the bus if I say I have already submitted to senior associate and am waiting for feedback? I feel like the partner will get upset at me even more if my answer sounds like I haven't submitted the assignment to the senior associate yet.

I’m so f*cking scared of fucking something up, getting fired and then being unemployable…

I am a sixth-year associate overseeing a second year. They are an exceptionally good associate. I am honestly shocked at the work product I receive and the way they go above and beyond. The issue I have is that they sometimes take awhile to turn things around. For example, I ask for a draft response to the client, and they take three-four days. I know they’re busy, but I would like to address this in a positive way. Any suggestions?

Curious - would you consider a lateral move to a lower ranked firm if the practice group is higher ranked than at your current firm? In other words what’s more important - firm or practice group ranking?

Any associates here who have spent long periods of time away from the office, like spending the summer in the Hamptons? I work with so many partners who do this, but no associates. I’m thinking about spending next summer in Maine.

New to due diligence and not sure the timeline of projects. Tips to stay organized of the project and timeline, and how to update those leading the deal? Just keep track of new info and provide as necessary?

Best recruiters for moving in-house?

Is it common for a midlevel to gossip with a first year about another first year’s work? Is it common for midlevels to trash juniors amongst themselves? I think my office is hella toxic

The deadline for a research I’ve been postponing for months is today. I know I’ll send a bad work. Please feel for me

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?

A first year asked me today how to maintain wlb to make the job work long term. Oh you sweet summer child.

Dickinson Wright salary scale?

When do I tell my close coworkers about accepting an offer to another firm? Conflicts hasn’t cleared yet.

I be wanting to go off but then I check my bank app, calm down, and keep working.

If you were to lateral in the next month or so is it standard for the new firm to guarantee your full year end bonus given where we are in the year?