When we’re all comparing/complaining about hours at the end of the year are we including pro bono hours in that total? I’m nearing 2050 billables for the year but I have another 500 pro bono hours that should be added on. At the same time, I keep hearing about all these people straight billing 2,400+. Trying to determine if I should’ve tried to pick up more billable work to stay in the middle of the pack (i.e. not interested in partnership, just trying not to get canned).

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I can’t think of one place where you’d even be in the conversation for being canned with 2000+ billable. You’re fine!

likehelpful

There's folks on here complaining they won't break 1000 or 1500 hours, so you're bragging, not comparing/complaining. Gtfo here.

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What firm pays you to spend 20% of your time working for free?!

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How does your firm measure utilization? I work for a small boutique that defines it as utilization = number of billable hours/2,080 and full bonus payout occurs at 80% plus.

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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?

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Does anyone know the starting salary for Jackson Lewis in the firm's Connecticut office, as well as the billable hours requirement?

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I just spoke with a software architect that went back to school to learn software engineering after law school because it was more lucrative and had less hours. He’s worked his way up and has the skills and authority to work 6:30am-10am and gets to work remotely. We discussed that results/outputs is better than billable time like in law and public accounting. Yet, his parents and others would view him as “lazy” but he does his job and makes a fantastic living. Time>Money and Results>Hours

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To the post below- it is quiet, so I’ll bite!
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What are firm’s known billable requirements? Is there a ramp up period?

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When should a stub start getting worried about not having much work and low billable hours?
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You talking to me?

Post Photo
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likefunnyhelpfulsmart

When should a stub start getting worried about not having much work and low billable hours?
I’ve asked for work but no luck. I know they say this is normal for a stub but when should I start getting worried and consider looking for exit options? Fyi, I like my practice group, so I don’t want to change to a different group within my firm, hence would have to lateral, if I have to. Also, other co-1st years are churning in high hours.

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Kleinberg Kaplan thoughts anyone?

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Is it too late to completely switch practice areas as a fourth year associate?

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