I went on an interview yesterday. To say it was disappointing would be an understatement. The partner that interviewed me was nice, but he did not understand transactional law. At my last firm, I was a hybrid between transactional tasks and litigation. When billable hours came up, he scoffed at my previous requirement and stated that his were at minimum 60% more. He told me about the “good ole days” when associates were expected to work 200 billable hours a month. He can’t find anyone.

likefunny
Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at

Run. But also "yikes," and cringe.

likesmart

Lol 🚩🚩🚩

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Out of curiosity, what part of him was "nice" amidst the scoffing and "good ole days" preaching? But yeah, ruuuun

likefunny

He was kind towards his staff and to me. His attitude changed completely when billable hours came up. I don’t think he even realized how rude he came off

likefunny

Gee, I wonder why?

likefunny

There can be huge friction in firms that handle both litigation and transactional law. I worked at a prior small firm that had both (I was on the transactional side). It became such a strain that I parted ways with them and opened a transactional only firm.

Transactional workers want to take the time to build internal efficiencies (including efficiencies in the system, support staff, and attorneys). Litigators tend to think that’s a waste of time because it actually devalues their work unless they raise their hourly rate to compensate for their ability to now handle things more quickly.

Litigators are billable hour focused for their department while transactional may be more net profit focused for their department.

You may want to focus on firms that only handle transactional work and have good referral partners for litigation cases or firms large enough that the two sides are both well represented within the equity partners.

likesmart

Well said. As a litigator, I wish we were more focused on increasing internal efficiency.

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If he wants you billing 2,400 a year, he better be willing to pay you big $$$$. If not, find something else.

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At least you learned this now and not a month into a new job with him. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise.

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True! This is really a win. When I was interviewing last, I called it market research.

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What a numpty

likefunny

🤣🤣🤣🤣

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Lmao did you interview with my current managing partner

likefunny

Orlando, FL but dang that sounded familiar

Run!!!!!

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He just can’t afford the attorneys that bill 2400 a year. It’s a numbers thing lol

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What practice areas aside from bankruptcy are hybrid litigation and transactional? Or was OP more in a very general practice firm? Full disclosure: I was a bankruptcy lawyer for a number of years and was hybrid before I switched to real estate.

Oil and gas, real estate, contract/commercial litigation, civil litigation

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⬜️🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️
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