What do we think this industry will look like in ten years? Do we still have biglaw firms with billable hours? Do we have more focus on alternative fee structures?

Had 2 hours of billable work today 💀

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...

Is it just me or the average billable work in infrastructure transactions has blown off steam in the last couple of weeks?

Received a job offer. Was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on a concern I had about it. It's an entry level position, and I don't have much experience. The billables are 2040 a year. For billable hours in civil litigation and insurance defense, is 2040 hours for a 1st year associate on the high end in this field for a small or midsize firm? It seems like most attorneys I know have minimum requirements of around 1800. The compensation is around 80k a year.

How many billable hours per week is considered at capacity? I’m getting pushback on boundaries I’m setting about additional matters and marketing work from my firm when I’ve been billing 60-75 hours per week for the last 6 weeks, and I’m still behind on my work. I feel like it’s reasonable to not kill myself further to fit in more/turn things around faster at this point, but am I being unreasonable? I expect my workload to remain at this level through the end of the year at least.

I’ve been a freelance print production designer for many years, and usually on-site in the before times. Now I work remote, and am finding it uneasy dealing with billing. Before I always billed hourly, which made sense, but it’s becoming an issue now. Some companies don’t have a full days’ work, so it seems wrong to bill full days, and it allows me to juggle projects for different companies, but my billable hours are down. I know I should bill a daily rate, but not sure that will fly. Thoughts?

What’s your current billable rate and salary?

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

How many billable hours in a month does it take for you to think you are billing a lot?

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?

What’s big law like in San Francisco? Anyone have any insights to firm cultures or billable targets?

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?

Looking to leave a govt job for a junior attorney role in a small workers comp defense firm. I have no experience in workers comp. How easy is it to learn the work and make 1850 billable hours? What future opportunities does this experience give?

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.

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?

Hi can someone give me an estimate of what a pediatric occupational therapist should be making in a city with a high cost of living. No benefits. Between 30 to 40 billable hours, documentation time unpaid etc. Independent contractor role. Practicing for over 5 years.

So I was a 5th year associate in nyc making 100 k a year 2k billable hours.. I decided to leave for the role Im in now.. my old countered to keep me at 115k (which was like pulling teeth for them) but I left anyways now I find out that they offered a 7th year 150 k and a partner title should I be offended that they didn’t even try more with me

Getting over heartbreak and having a full time job is torture lol. My boyfriend and I just broke up after almost a year of being together. It was such a beautiful relationship but ultimately he just didn’t love me. I love him so much. My mind knows that I deserve reciprocal love and I’m worthy, but I feel physically ill. My body hurts, my stomach is in knots, my head hurts. How is it that I have to mend a broken heart but also meet my billable hours lmao

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 do you do when you need a break from the news during the day? Sometimes I find it hard to step away even for a 30 min lunch

How's Amazon's WLB compared to consulting firms like Deloitte?

Going through interview process at MBB for Dallas office (my current city), but will be moving to Boston in September. Will it be a problem to transfer offices so soon after joining?

I applied prior to confirming I would be making the move, or else I probably would have just applied to the Boston office.

Hello Fishes,
I got an opportunity from NTT Data BPO.
I am currently being hired for nightshift. Are there any chances for getting day shift or mid shift?
Or are there any chances to get a change in shift after getting on boarded?
Will it be okay to discuss this with HR?
Because during interview I said yes to Night Shifts.

I have experience of 2 years as a Ui Ux designer. I’m looking for a change but I don’t have a portfolio. How can I bag a job?

Really don’t understand people who defend the Chicago cops. The teenager at no point tried to threaten them and we encourage gun ownership in this country.

Hi, I am interested in applying for a senior consultant- Reporting and analytics at Workday Canada. It’s a remote role. Can someone help me with the referral or something that can get my application better visibility to the hiring team.

Thank you

I believe improving one’s sales conversion rate is something everyone want to improve but no one wants to admit they would like to work it. Funny how lawyers will spend thousands on seminars to improve trial skills. But this topic is not discussed in our profession. I have read books in sales. But am unable to find any for lawyers. I want convert every lead I can. Does anyone have tips, books, cle’s or studied this topic?

Are there any real estate attorneys who have gotten into the title insurance business? What does that look like? Do you still carry on a private practice on the side?

Hey folks, just signed my offer letter today! Hopefully it'll be a good next few years!

8/12 Thread (General):

Hi Fishes,

How much can I expect the offer from Ericsson on 6.6 yoe and on Production Support Role?

Hi Fishes, I have recently joined Ericsson. What are yearly hikes and benefits I can expect? Please share your valuable feedback. Thanks in advance.@Ericsson

Hi Fishes...I am a Full Stack Java Developer with cloud knowledge.Currently working in IBM.But interested to work in a FAANG organization.can anyone suggest me what skill should I need to develop to crack these companies interview and how can I get interview call from these companies?

How many matters is typical for one associate to handle (BL lit)? I know it is group-specific, but just trying to get a general idea. I’m a 2nd year and I am the only associate staffed on about 30 cases-meaning I keep track of all deadlines, do all day to day assignments, keep on top of following up with client/OC, and all research/drafting. Partners handle deps/court but that is about it. Is this a normal case load to be responsible for as a jr? I being dramatic by thinking this is too much?

Recent lateral junior associate in brand new practice where I'm the only associate. I'm probably going to bill 1,500 hours max this year due to being very slow and taking time off for a delayed honeymoon which I disclosed during my interview process. I have been told my work product is good, I don't turn anything down, I participate in non-billable work, I'm responsive and I always let people know I'm available to help. Do I need to be worried about getting fired for low hours?

Any advice for 3L job hunt? 😬

Putting aside wachtell, what do we think are the best M&A shops for high value deals?

What should a big law clerkship bonus be after one year of clerking for a federal appellate court? Trying to make sure I do not leave money on the table.

How hard/easy would it be to find a decent big law position after 3 years of SEC experience? Total 5 years atty experience. What will be the salary like?

Is getting into crypto law a bad idea or is it a burgeoning field??

How long does it usually take to clear conflicts? Mid level. Around 50 client matters.

If your firm is asking summers to make those cringey self-aggrandizing acceptance posts on LinkedIn. Can you kindly ask they stop immediately?

Assuming I’m justified in thinking I deserve a higher bonus/salary, who should I talk to about potential raises (HR, management, etc.)? Should I say that I’m considering other options? (Details below)

Biglaw first year associates, what’s your favorite thing about your job (beside the paychecks)?

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.

“Absolutely no rush on this today—just send it by 6am tomorrow!”

My firm’s holiday party is on a weekday after work. I can just wear what I’d normally wear to work for that day, right?

Hi All - I’m at a firm that has some infrequent in-house training but not enough to help me develop skills to eventually become a trial lawyer. I know cases rarely make it to trial anymore, but I’d like to develop my skills as much as possible to position myself well when they do. Does anyone have any mock trial programs they’ve participated in outside of their firms that they would recommend?

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

How does one go about switching practice groups within the same firm? I was under the impression it’s better to lateral elsewhere but I do really like my firm, just not the work in this practice area. Want to switch from transactional to litigation.

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

I just finished a big jury trial with a senior partner (SP). There were co-parties w/separate counsel. SP mentally checked out, to the point that co-counsel was asking what SP was doing/if SP was okay. I ended up handling most everything. SP did a few parts but went rogue and did things that were offensive/risky/bad for client. It became clear that SP is not performing like SP used to and may be a liability. Do I tell someone at my firm? Don’t want to offend SP or cause drama, but I’m concerned.

There’s a practice group that I’ve been trying to find work in but whenever I volunteer to help, I always get roped in to do non billable work. In the beginning it was fine but now I’m feeling it’s never going to amount to actual work. Any tips to get more involved without all the non billables and how to approach this gently?