Is it a big deal if a partner questions how much time you spent on something? Can’t they just write off time that seems excessive, or am I missing something? Sometimes I take a really long time to do things because I switch matters frequently, and I do a lot of research to make sure I’m doing things right.

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They need to know what they’re writing off and to make sure you’re not wasting time on things that are unnecessary. Also, the idea is that you become more efficient as you gain experience, so if your actualized numbers aren’t improving there’s something that needs to be worked on. It’s not necessarily a bad thing because it could be something as simple as knowing what they need to explain to the client. The goal is not to have a bunch of time written off unless you’re very junior.

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Thanks. It feels like an attack— like they think I fudged the numbers or something. But they didn’t actually say anything to that effect, so that’s likely in my head.

I wouldn’t take it as an attack. You know better than partner does what hours you spent and why they were justified. They are probably getting or anticipating pushback from the client on the bill so want to be able to explain that it was complicated because of XYZ reasons and the bill was justified, or write off as applicable. This stuff will become your job as you get more senior (if you want to make partner for especially, and if you go in-house you’ll be reviewing law firm bills so will be coming at it from the other side), it is only to your benefit to start getting practice explaining/justifying your time. Take it as a compliment if anything. If you’re very junior, partner may just write off your time for you, as you get more senior, they’re asking you to play a part in the billing/realization process, which is a huge part of the business of running a law firm.

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If it happens too often, yes, it is a big deal. If you are getting inordinate amounts of time written off it can impact the partner’s bottom line (both directly due to lower collections and to the extent they may get penalized for having a matter realization rate that is too low). They won’t want to work with you and your reputation as an undesirable associate may spread.

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I may underbill sometimes because of it but if I’m switching a lot and need to get back up to speed I frankly don’t bill for that

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