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Hi guys, I have a question about work load at a DC firm:

After graduating law school, I've held jobs that required little or no billing. I worked at 2 small firms that had no real billing requirement (just hit like 100 hrs a month). Then I went into local government, so no billing.

I started as a lateral for a mid-size firm in their DC office last month. Is it normal not to have ANY billable work for almost 2 weeks? I'm getting really stressed out and feeling like a waste of space in the office. I've been trying to do other things like apply to waive into other bars and writing an article for the firm. Now even that has dried up. I've asked every partner in my group for work and they have nothing for me.

What should I be doing with my time while I wait?

Thanks!

It is pretty common for laterals to take a while to ramp up. If things don't pick up by the end of the month, then I'd be getting nervous. Just keep letting partners and senior associates know that you are available

I recently lateraled to a smaller DC office as well. I’m in the same position where I don’t have a lot of work. I’ve had to reach out to other practice groups to stay afloat. Do you have other practice groups in your office?

Agree with others that it's normal to be slow when you first start. I would keep doing what you are doing - writing client alerts and trying to get your name out there on whatever topics you think add value to your partners.

Look at what other firms in your area are writing about it and write something similar. Go to lunches and coffees with as many people as possible - it generally makes it easier for people to give you work if they know who you are.

Understood that you are in a smaller DC office so may be that you already did this, but never hurts to ask a peer associate or younger partner out to coffee and ask their advice on your situation. Will be tough for anyone on here to give super targeted advice to you, but lawyers in your firm will have a good lay of the land and be able to really help you.

At my biglaw firm in DC, laterals are almost always very slow in the beginning until a broader group of partners starts to understand what they do. Many firms work in silos (which I wrote about here: https://biglawadvice.com/2019/04/27/you ... -law-firm/) that make it difficult to work across groups. Keep at it, and I would guess in a few months you'll have a steady workload.