How much of a benefit is having no hours minimum? Forum

(On Campus Interviews, Summer Associate positions, Firm Reviews, Tips, ...)
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting

Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.

Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
Anonymous User
Posts: 432506
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: How much of a benefit is having no hours minimum?

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:16 pm

Currently at a 2k V50 firm and can say the requirement sucks. Was cruising along and then hit a slow period and will now miss out on a significant amount of money (that I needed), and it’s completely out of my control.

That said, I do echo the generalization that minimum req firms have upsides that NR firms generally lack. From my very unscientific observations, NR firms work you harder and are harder on associates. Obviously a generalization, but it seems accurate in my experience. I guess it just comes down to what you prioritize.

Anonymous User
Posts: 432506
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: How much of a benefit is having no hours minimum?

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:21 pm

Does having no pro bono cap mitigate the concerns of an hours requirement at all? Obviously in theory; but in practice?

Anonymous User
Posts: 432506
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: How much of a benefit is having no hours minimum?

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:26 pm

Want to bring this back to what someone said earlier. It’s not just an RPL thing. It is also a market thing. Someone mentioned Kirkland being the only Chicago firm with no min. Ropes, Wilmer, and Goodwin in Boston all have minimums. And those have higher RPLs than some of the NY non-min firm.

At the end of the day, as an associate at a firm with a minimum, I think they suck. But NY firms need to compete with each other, so some “lesser” firms have no minimums even with lower RPLs. So I don’t think all associates at those firms are working “harder” or longer hours.

Also, there was an anon Kirkland partner who said that average associate hours hovered around 1950 or something. And those associates ALL get bonus. If you miss the minimum at a non-minimum firm, you’re SOL.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Legal Employment”