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You should be asking the partners for work daily if you’re getting low hour warnings.
You are being gaslit and it’s very common (happened to me too). Eventually they will let you go for low hours. I’d suggest lateraling to a busier practice group or going in house.
Yes, start looking now. Do not wait.
Sorry you are in this position, I can confirm that the anxiety takes away all the work life balance you get from not being overwhelmed with actual work and I'll speak from my experience on this. This was actually my first culture shock at a law firm as a fresh attorney in a small law firm. I was shocked that the managing partner asked (and continuously asked) why my billable hours were low after I had consistently asked for work and was given nonbillable work or flat out ignored for days (by the partner I mainly work with). I would get frustrated that after telling partners I am out of work, they'd send me one to two hours worth of work (and expect that I miraculously have 8+ hours on my time sheet at the end of the day). If I asked for work at the rate that I needed to meet my billable hours, I'd have to ask for work about three to four times a day, which was not efficient and was exhausting. I assumed business was just slow but at the same time, it seemed like I was the problem. If I worked slowly, they'd complain about spending too much time on client work. I was extremely gaslit into thinking I was doing something wrong when I wasn't. The first time I pointed out boldly that my hours were low because I wasn't getting enough work, it didn't sit well with the partners and they let me go.
Moral of the story is you eventually have to go to a firm with a high workload to meet billable hours expectations. This is a pretty common phenomenon with small law firms where workload management is poor/ work is lacking. Recognize it for what it is, don't unfairly blame yourself and start thinking about your exit strategy.
P.S. The only problem is that they all lie about having a lot of work when you ask how the workload is during the interview. You get there only to find out that by having a lot of work, they meant workspace not workload.
Good luck altogether.
The answer is to find a new firm. Firms gaslight and lie and complain. If you are at a firm and not getting enough work they either don't have enough work to give you or not enough people are willing to give you the work they do have. Either way, you spend your extra time applying for jobs. The gaslit feeling you have is real and is telling you that you aren't in a safe or good space. Get out before you don't have a choice about it.
Tough spot. Sometimes there's a disconnect between who is monitoring you and who knows exactly how much work is available. Sometimes they won't care and there could be some bodies. The thing you can do is try to predict who the bodies would be, and proceed accordingly.
Keep requesting work in writing and maintain a written record AT HOME of all the times you’ve asked. I’m not making an accusation, because I have no idea which firm you’re with, but if the people in charge are continuously criticizing your low billables while not giving you enough work, they could be “with a wink and a nod” encouraging you to pad your time. Don’t do that — it’s unethical and you could be disciplined and even disbarred. Just protect yourself with a paper trail.
You should speak with the head of your group and say you need and want more hours.