How slow before you get "the talk"? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm curious to know how slow one has to get before they get "the talk"?

I had one 150 month (and good months before that) and nothing lined up for the foreseeable future. I'm obviously going to hustle to find work (summer's been slow), but wondering what kind of hours one has to have before they're in trouble.

[Person1111]

In a vacuum, a single 150-hour month isn't remotely close to getting you the talk, particularly if you are well-liked and have had good hours for the rest of the year.

[Pokemon]

A150 hour month averages to 1800 a year. That is nowhere near slow to get the talk. I would worry when you are like three months in the fiscal year and you have 200 billables.

[Anonymous User]

A150 hour month averages to 1800 a year. That is nowhere near slow to get the talk. I would worry when you are like three months in the fiscal year and you have 200 billables.

Not OP, but I have 350 billables YTD and I keep expecting the talk but it hasn't come. Weird situation to be in.

[Anonymous User]

Was easily hitting 200+ for most of the year (enough to make bonus). Suddenly, matters settle and firm goes slow at same time. I think I had 3 months of really low hours, like 20-40 a month. Got soft talk, those 20-40 became 0 because everyone withdrew work, 2 months later got hard talk with a one-month deadline. Still got bonus on the prior year. Just a warning for how fast things can go south.

150 a month will not get you "the talk" although it may get you a talk if it goes on forever.

[Pokemon]

Duplicate

[Pokemon]

A150 hour month averages to 1800 a year. That is nowhere near slow to get the talk. I would worry when you are like three months in the fiscal year and you have 200 billables.

Not OP, but I have 350 billables YTD and I keep expecting the talk but it hasn't come. Weird situation to be in.

Are you a first year or in up and down practice?

To the anon before me, that is so cold and law firms can be so shitty. Hope you land or landed somewhere better.

[Anonymous User]

A150 hour month averages to 1800 a year. That is nowhere near slow to get the talk. I would worry when you are like three months in the fiscal year and you have 200 billables.

Not OP, but I have 350 billables YTD and I keep expecting the talk but it hasn't come. Weird situation to be in.

Are you a first year or in up and down practice?

To the anon before me, that is so cold and law firms can be so shitty. Hope you land or landed somewhere better.

Corp 1st year. I know it's ok to be a slow first year but this is a bit much.

[Anonymous User]

I'm at 850-900 this year at a firm that doesn't require an hour threshold for bonuses. I wasn't worried before, but this thread has me a bit more worried.

[Anonymous User]

I'm at 850-900 this year at a firm that doesn't require an hour threshold for bonuses. I wasn't worried before, but this thread has me a bit more worried.

If this is YTD, I think you are fine. If annualized it's pretty bad and you should be worried.

[Anonymous User]

I definitely understand why people ask questions like these, but the problem is every firm is different.

At my firm, I don't know of anyone who has been talked to about their hours outside of an official review. I had very low hours for a few years and it was only ever mentioned as part of my review. I wasn't actually told to leave until I had 3 straight years of very low hours (less than 1500).

I didn't do this myself, because I was hoping to just slide by, but if you are worried about your hours I think it is best to be proactive. Talk to whoever is responsible for staffing (or the practice head). Ask what you can do to increase your hours. While I might not ask "am I screwed?", just talking with them might give you some sense of how much trouble you are in. Also, come review time, it's better to be able to say you took steps x, y and z to try and get more hours.

[Anonymous User]

Here's the thing: if you have a reputation for being a hard worker/responsive/available, are actively hustling for work, and are doing a good job on the assignments you do get, it's not remotely a problem if you only bill 1800 hours a year - especially if other people are billing less. The problem arises if you are billing 1800 a year when everyone else around you is billing 2000+, if you are saying no to work, if you don't have a reputation for being a team player, etc. (It's also a problem if your hours are low because everyone thinks your work is bad, but that usually doesn't lead to 150 hour months).

[Anonymous User]

I think it also partially relates to firm health. If your firm isn't doing great, they're going to explore ways of righting the ship, and getting rid of some low billers is an easy way to boost profits.