Do associates consistently hit their billable bonus for the month? Forum

[Anonymous User]

My firm has a bonus structure where we get a bonus each month for billing over the required amount which I believe is 180. Is this something most, if not all associates obtain each month? Thanks

[Anonymous User]

This is a weird system. It matters how busy your firm is. I'm December I usually don't get close.

[Lincoln]

I've never heard of a firm having that system. The nature of the work is that it's cyclical, and even a very busy associate will have slow months once in a while (how often and how slow depends on the firm and the practice area). Even when I billed 3,000+ in a year I'm fairly sure I had one month under 180.

[Bluem_11]

Ugh the billable hour creates enough ethical issues as it is without creating new incentives for young lawyers to 'stretch' their assignments in a given month to hit some arbitrary number.

[Anonymous User]

180 hours a month is probably what I average (like 2100-2200 a year), but I would miss that mark about half the time. If I bill over 180, its a busy month. 160 is a slower/more average month. I don't think I could bill 180+ with regularity; it's more like some months are 220 and others are 160, depending.

[2014]

This system would be punitive where i work - 180 is a good ballpark average but you generally get there by like 250, 150, 130, 120, 270, and so forth (caveat: Corporate).

[lolwat]

180 hours a month is probably what I average (like 2100-2200 a year), but I would miss that mark about half the time. If I bill over 180, its a busy month. 160 is a slower/more average month. I don't think I could bill 180+ with regularity; it's more like some months are 220 and others are 160, depending.

Same as above
I also feel the structure is weird because every month is different
Billing 180 in February requires more effort than billing 180 in May

[Tiago Splitter]

OTOH if you had a super slow month you could just enjoy it and get em next month.

[nealric]

My firm has a bonus structure where we get a bonus each month for billing over the required amount which I believe is 180. Is this something most, if not all associates obtain each month? Thanks

It's a rather unusual system. A lawyer who bills exactly 180 hours a month would end up better off than a lawyer who bills more hours annually but with boom and bust cycles. A litigator on a big long-running case they can consistently bill to ends up much better off than a corporate associate with deals that come and go.

[Anonymous User]

OP UPDATE:

It is not a monthly requirement. 2000 for the year.

[lolwat]

OP UPDATE:

It is not a monthly requirement. 2000 for the year.

Oh, good to know. That's what most places are like, except the number.

If you're at a healthy firm, 2k for the year is nothing.

[Anonymous User]

Is it 2000 for the calendar year or the year beginning on when you started (IE including your stub)

[TLSModBot]

Is it 2000 for the calendar year or the year beginning on when you started (IE including your stub)

Calendar year; in many places your stub time is not counted towards any bonus or folded in to some generic stub bonus where hours don't matter much anyway

[ghostoftraynor]

Ugh the billable hour creates enough ethical issues as it is without creating new incentives for young lawyers to 'stretch' their assignments in a given month to hit some arbitrary number.

I suppose if you are slow. Truth is many associates are too fucking busy to do that kind of thing. And if you are in the stage where you are stretching hours, you probably aren't hitting your billables. More common scenario is you don't do as good of a job as you could have because the day only has 24 hours.