Will there be Biglaw layoffs in 2022? Forum

[Anonymous User]

If you’re at a firm that gives unlimited billable credit for pro bono or business development hours, then there’s really no excuse not to hit your hours. As a junior, you can reach out to partners to ask if they have any ideas for article topics, need help preparing a client presentation, etc.

Secret not secret: No one actually cares or wants these hours, especially after you've hit the NALP pro bono minimum so the firm can report you've done it. If you're just saying you can hit 2,000 for a few years by doing a shitload of pro bono and biz dev and then leave, fine, that's fair. Longer term it's not sustainable. Partners will start quietly then not-so-quietly pushing you on it if you're spending e.g., 30% of your time doing 1983 cases. That doesn't keep the lights on.

[choochoo]

If you’re at a firm that gives unlimited billable credit for pro bono or business development hours, then there’s really no excuse not to hit your hours. As a junior, you can reach out to partners to ask if they have any ideas for article topics, need help preparing a client presentation, etc.

Secret not secret: No one actually cares or wants these hours, especially after you've hit the NALP pro bono minimum so the firm can report you've done it. If you're just saying you can hit 2,000 for a few years by doing a shitload of pro bono and biz dev and then leave, fine, that's fair. Longer term it's not sustainable. Partners will start quietly then not-so-quietly pushing you on it if you're spending e.g., 30% of your time doing 1983 cases. That doesn't keep the lights on.

Certainly the goal should be to get enough billable work, but this was in response to some earlier comments about hitting hours/bonuses. My firm has a 1,950 minimum for bonuses (including pro bono, business development, etc.), and I’m amazed at how many people don’t hit 1,950 each year. I’m not a partner, but assuming similar quality of work, I expect the associate in a slow group who bills 1,600 hours but then helps with pitches, client articles, pro bono projects, etc. to get above 1,950 would be viewed more favorably/retained longer than the associate who bills 1,600 hours then does nothing else. Not saying you’ll make partner with several years of low billables, but at my firm, you can make it to year 9 or 10 before getting pushed out so long as you are a good firm citizen like this.