Why are associates punished for low hours when the hours are out of their control?

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I wouldn’t call it punishment. It’s economics. The firm pays an associate based on the dollars that actually make it through the door. The firm doesn’t pay on money it doesn’t receive. It does stink for associates because your realization rate is out of your control, though.

Why do you think the firm should pay a bonus for work not done, no matter whose “fault”?

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It really seems to just completely depend on whether your matters are busy or not. It doesn’t incentivize quality work IMO because it incentivizes padding your hours if you’re close to target.

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There are times when hours are not in your control (ie the firm just doesn’t have enough work). That’s tough but not much the firm can do but layoff folks it can financially support.

However, in a significant portion of the time, the firm has plenty of work but people don’t like working with particular associates. And that results in hours drying up. This is very much in the associate’s control.

If this is happening to you, you need to start working aggressively to take on more work and do a better job with the work you have. Also, you might also want to start looking at moving to other firms.

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Wrong to say it's very much in associate control. Wrong to think you are at fault or a bad associate necessarily. Lots of luck and other factors involved

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Wow, this is a serious topic that firm leadership just brushes off because they're terrible managers and don't want to deal with it head on. There have been numerous articles about how Partners (and Senior Associates) literally cannabilized their work that would have naturally flown down to juniors in an attempt to save themselves during the covid downturn.

I think this issue is even more acute in firms that have installed 2nd-tier non-equity partners. These guys and gals aren't really business generators, so their worth is essentially tied to their billing. As such, they're only interested in saving themselves, and Associates be dammed.

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Absolutely - it’s very obvious when senior associates push less work down than usual because they want to guarantee they meet hours. Life of a junior I guess

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OP, I can understand your frustration if you feel like you’re doing good work and getting good reviews but still not getting enough work to make hours. But the folks commenting here are trying to give honest suggestions to help you help yourself, not beat up on you. If you’re waiting for work to get put in your lap, as you mention, that’s simply not a technique that works out well in the long run. But up to you what you take away from the comments here.

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Thanks!

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