Hours Check Forum

[Anonymous User]

Chicago BL Corporate junior. Just hit 500 this afternoon.

But 300 of those have been in the past 5 weeks. So not too worried about hours in terms of keeping my job, but I really hope I don't end up 20 hours short of my bonus because the first 10 weeks were insanely slow

[Anonymous User]

1050, Southern California transactional mid-level associate.

[Abbie Doobie]

Zero this year, zero last year, and I anticipate zero next year.

#inhouselife

[Anonymous User]

WC biglaw, niche transactional group

590ish. Billed <60 in january.

[rpupkin]

1st year here: 981 including pro-bono; 1,143 including the admin stuff we get credit for. Secondary market big-law. not complaining, tend to not work on the weekends and leave work at 5 to do what I need to from home or the pool-deck at my apartment. That said, about 10% of my fees have been charged-off or discounted so that's not too pretty to look at, but I guess that's the way things go now. I'm not overly concerned, already looking for exit ops just b/c.

Very unlikely that only 10% of your fees have been written off or discounted.

[RaceJudicata]

1st year here: 981 including pro-bono; 1,143 including the admin stuff we get credit for. Secondary market big-law. not complaining, tend to not work on the weekends and leave work at 5 to do what I need to from home or the pool-deck at my apartment. That said, about 10% of my fees have been charged-off or discounted so that's not too pretty to look at, but I guess that's the way things go now. I'm not overly concerned, already looking for exit ops just b/c.

Very unlikely that only 10% of your fees have been written off or discounted.

Ya I was gonna say that 10% for a first year seemed pretty damn low.

[kalvano]

777 for just billable hours, but 909 if you count client development and other admin work, which my firm does.

[Anonymous User]

4th Year NYC Corp - probably at around 450 billable and another 50 or so for other things that count to bonus. Probably missing bonus this year, don't want to get fired, but also don't really care.

[Anonymous User]

1st year here: 981 including pro-bono; 1,143 including the admin stuff we get credit for. Secondary market big-law. not complaining, tend to not work on the weekends and leave work at 5 to do what I need to from home or the pool-deck at my apartment. That said, about 10% of my fees have been charged-off or discounted so that's not too pretty to look at, but I guess that's the way things go now. I'm not overly concerned, already looking for exit ops just b/c.

Very unlikely that only 10% of your fees have been written off or discounted.

How do you guys know whether your hours have been written off? Do they tell you in your review?

[rpupkin]

1st year here: 981 including pro-bono; 1,143 including the admin stuff we get credit for. Secondary market big-law. not complaining, tend to not work on the weekends and leave work at 5 to do what I need to from home or the pool-deck at my apartment. That said, about 10% of my fees have been charged-off or discounted so that's not too pretty to look at, but I guess that's the way things go now. I'm not overly concerned, already looking for exit ops just b/c.

Very unlikely that only 10% of your fees have been written off or discounted.

How do you guys know whether your hours have been written off? Do they tell you in your review?

You usually don't know. No, firms generally don't tell you in your review.

[Anonymous User]

4th Year NYC Corp - probably at around 450 billable and another 50 or so for other things that count to bonus. Probably missing bonus this year, don't want to get fired, but also don't really care.

550 and I am in the same boat. Kinda ready to quit anyway, so this has been a nice chance to tidy up my LinkedIn and resume.

[Anonymous User]

1st year here: 981 including pro-bono; 1,143 including the admin stuff we get credit for. Secondary market big-law. not complaining, tend to not work on the weekends and leave work at 5 to do what I need to from home or the pool-deck at my apartment. That said, about 10% of my fees have been charged-off or discounted so that's not too pretty to look at, but I guess that's the way things go now. I'm not overly concerned, already looking for exit ops just b/c.

Very unlikely that only 10% of your fees have been written off or discounted.

How do you guys know whether your hours have been written off? Do they tell you in your review?

You usually don't know. No, firms generally don't tell you in your review.

Correct. I mostly hear of smaller firms doing this.

[Anonymous User]

890 if you include nonbillable junk. 590 if only include billable junk.

[Anonymous User]

Los Angeles V100 Corporate Junior Associate

650 including 5% pro bono

[lolwat]

As of 5/14, 857 including nonbillable stuff (which the partners do review as part of overall attorney development), closer to 800-810 without.
I know a pile of that time is discounted or otherwise unpaid because of certain fee arrangements an dsuch, but whatev.
Slower than previous years by my own choice. I've learned over the years that it's face-time when shit hits the fan that really earn brownie points on a regular basis, not high billable hours (although that helps at EOY review). So why bill 180-200 a month regularly when I can do 160-170 normally and just pull 200+ months when needed.
Small lit boutique.

[Anonymous User]

1st year here: 981 including pro-bono; 1,143 including the admin stuff we get credit for. Secondary market big-law. not complaining, tend to not work on the weekends and leave work at 5 to do what I need to from home or the pool-deck at my apartment. That said, about 10% of my fees have been charged-off or discounted so that's not too pretty to look at, but I guess that's the way things go now. I'm not overly concerned, already looking for exit ops just b/c.

Very unlikely that only 10% of your fees have been written off or discounted.

Ya I was gonna say that 10% for a first year seemed pretty damn low.

of the about $200k in charges worked, only $180k was billed, $170k has been paid as of today. we can see our effective rate/billable rate/discounted bills. V50 law firm, I'm sure most others have a similar system.

[rpupkin]

1st year here: 981 including pro-bono; 1,143 including the admin stuff we get credit for. Secondary market big-law. not complaining, tend to not work on the weekends and leave work at 5 to do what I need to from home or the pool-deck at my apartment. That said, about 10% of my fees have been charged-off or discounted so that's not too pretty to look at, but I guess that's the way things go now. I'm not overly concerned, already looking for exit ops just b/c.

Very unlikely that only 10% of your fees have been written off or discounted.

Ya I was gonna say that 10% for a first year seemed pretty damn low.

of the about $200k in charges worked, only $180k was billed, $170k has been paid as of today. we can see our effective rate/billable rate/discounted bills. V50 law firm, I'm sure most others have a similar system.

Well, then I'm not sure why you're saying that your written off/discounted percentage is not pretty to look at. You have a much higher realization rate than is typical for a first year in big law.

Also, if you've worked 900 hours on billable matters (I'm assuming you've spent about 100 hours on probono) and your firm has only charged clients $200K for your time, then your firm charges below-market rates for its first-year associates. Perhaps that's how your firm manages to bill such a high % of your time.

[DildaMan]

1100. SF/SV IP Lit. V100.

[Anonymous User]

725. corp junior at V20 chicago

[1styearlateral]

1st year here: 981 including pro-bono; 1,143 including the admin stuff we get credit for. Secondary market big-law. not complaining, tend to not work on the weekends and leave work at 5 to do what I need to from home or the pool-deck at my apartment. That said, about 10% of my fees have been charged-off or discounted so that's not too pretty to look at, but I guess that's the way things go now. I'm not overly concerned, already looking for exit ops just b/c.

Very unlikely that only 10% of your fees have been written off or discounted.

Ya I was gonna say that 10% for a first year seemed pretty damn low.

of the about $200k in charges worked, only $180k was billed, $170k has been paid as of today. we can see our effective rate/billable rate/discounted bills. V50 law firm, I'm sure most others have a similar system.

Well, then I'm not sure why you're saying that your written off/discounted percentage is not pretty to look at. You have a much higher realization rate than is typical for a first year in big law.

Also, if you've worked 900 hours on billable matters (I'm assuming you've spent about 100 hours on probono) and your firm has only charged clients $200K for your time, then your firm charges below-market rates for its first-year associates. Perhaps that's how your firm manages to bill such a high % of your time.

Agreed that 10% is nothing. I know NYC biglaw partners that are only realizing 70-75% of their billables.

[Anonymous User]

1st year here: 981 including pro-bono; 1,143 including the admin stuff we get credit for. Secondary market big-law. not complaining, tend to not work on the weekends and leave work at 5 to do what I need to from home or the pool-deck at my apartment. That said, about 10% of my fees have been charged-off or discounted so that's not too pretty to look at, but I guess that's the way things go now. I'm not overly concerned, already looking for exit ops just b/c.

Very unlikely that only 10% of your fees have been written off or discounted.

How do you guys know whether your hours have been written off? Do they tell you in your review?

In my firm it shows up in our billing system. You have to make an effort to look for it for a given matter though.

[Anonymous User]

675 Biglaw lit Chicago

[Anonymous User]

590 trans boutique

What are some examples of admin and client development stuff that some of you guys' firms count? I get pro bono and client dinners, but I'm not sure what else that would be (probably because I'm at a small firm).

[Anonymous User]

1079 including pro bono; 1132 including practice group and firm development projects and similar stuff. First year corporate associate at a V5 in NYC. I've been struggling and pretty miserable the last few weeks, and I'm starting to think about leaving to do something else because I'm tired of being stressed, exhausted, and tied to my desk all the time. Everyone around me seems to be working longer hours and juggling their personal and work lives so much more gracefully than I am. Are my hours unusually high, even at a V5 (in which case some of my peers may be full of shit), or am I just not cut out for this line of work at this kind of firm? Will it get better, or is this just what the job is?

[smokeylarue]

1079 including pro bono; 1132 including practice group and firm development projects and similar stuff. First year corporate associate at a V5 in NYC. I've been struggling and pretty miserable the last few weeks, and I'm starting to think about leaving to do something else because I'm tired of being stressed, exhausted, and tied to my desk all the time. Everyone around me seems to be working longer hours and juggling their personal and work lives so much more gracefully than I am. Are my hours unusually high, even at a V5 (in which case some of my peers may be full of shit), or am I just not cut out for this line of work at this kind of firm? Will it get better, or is this just what the job is?

You're on pace for like 2900 hours. Obviously that is very abnormal and (hopefully) won't last.