Not sure how to gauge this: first year lit attorney and have not been meeting hours due to general lack of work (I ask for it, people just say to hang tight until something comes up). The work I do get typically has a very quick turnaround time, so I’ll bill ~14h/day but for only a few days at a time, resulting in low monthly numbers. Is this normal for lit? Part of me thinks it’s a result of poor case management, but who am I to say? Just trying to hear about others’ experiences.

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Second year here. The primary partner I work for literally just email dumps on me once or twice a month with tons of work. I’m not saying this always works, but eventually you might learn what is not as urgent, and save it to space it out for a week! It might let you get some sanity and feel more normal. Again, definitely not saying neglect your work, but it’ll kiiiind of come together and you’ll triage. Hang in there!

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Kinda sounds like there isn't enough work to go around so people above you hoard it until the last minute?

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Definitely have a similar experience. I think it is a combination of both lack of management and hoarding. I find myself emailing partners and senior associates to get work.

i’m a first year in mid size and the case management here sucks haha. the partners are drowning but too busy to delegate and we have no staffers or anything to make sure there’s an associate assigned to each case. my hours are below where they should be even though i ask for work very regularly. was told in my mid year review that my hours were fine, so idk. but definitely can be frustrating. it’s all about building a rapport with partners which i’ve been told takes time. as long as nobody is on your case about hours, and you’re asking for work regularly, i think it should be ok!

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This was what I experienced as a first year except it was regular enough to generate a lot of hours. Tons of 5pm emails saying it needed done by 7am the next day. It’s caused by mismanagement above you and will get better with better managers and more seniority. Bursty work is most common the first three years. After that it’s more crunches that are several weeks at a time and you see them coming.

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Second year. 100% in the same boat and even got put on probation for low hours despite constantly reaching out for more work. It's totally poor case management by the higher ups, but regardless sooner or later you'll get dinged for it. I was told the same thing to hang in there bc its an ebb and flow kind of thing and received my full quarterly bonus every quarter despite being low, then one day I get an email that I'm on probation for the same low billables I've been told were fine. So despite feeling like you're bothering the partner or senior associates, I would continue to send CYA emails requesting to help out where you can when you're low so they can't turn around and put it on you later when it comes time for bonuses or any review.

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