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Billing vs Hours Worked
Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 8:46 pm
by JiveTurkey
Hoping to see if people would be able to break down how much they work vs how much they bill.
I hear a lot of people say they’re billing 50-60 hours a week right now but I’m curious if that’s ~60ish hours a week or if that’s more like 70-80. Any and all anecdotes appreciated!
Re: Billing vs Hours Worked
Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 9:31 pm
by Anonymous User
JiveTurkey wrote: ↑Sun Aug 22, 2021 8:46 pm
Hoping to see if people would be able to break down how much they work vs how much they bill.
I hear a lot of people say they’re billing 50-60 hours a week right now but I’m curious if that’s ~60ish hours a week or if that’s more like 70-80. Any and all anecdotes appreciated!
That’s the beautiful thing about work from home. For the past 1.5 years, hours billed = hours worked. No more bullshit sitting in office waiting for work or commuting. Now, if I’m not billing, I’m napping, chores around the house, push-ups, watching tv, etc
Re: Billing vs Hours Worked
Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 9:50 pm
by Anonymous User
JiveTurkey wrote: ↑Sun Aug 22, 2021 8:46 pm
Hoping to see if people would be able to break down how much they work vs how much they bill.
I hear a lot of people say they’re billing 50-60 hours a week right now but I’m curious if that’s ~60ish hours a week or if that’s more like 70-80. Any and all anecdotes appreciated!
I aim for 105% utilization.
Re: Billing vs Hours Worked
Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 11:17 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote: ↑Sun Aug 22, 2021 9:31 pm
JiveTurkey wrote: ↑Sun Aug 22, 2021 8:46 pm
Hoping to see if people would be able to break down how much they work vs how much they bill.
I hear a lot of people say they’re billing 50-60 hours a week right now but I’m curious if that’s ~60ish hours a week or if that’s more like 70-80. Any and all anecdotes appreciated!
That’s the beautiful thing about work from home. For the past 1.5 years, hours billed = hours worked. No more bullshit sitting in office waiting for work or commuting. Now, if I’m not billing, I’m napping, chores around the house, push-ups, watching tv, etc
Yeah that was cool at first but then any illusion of work-life balance was obliterated as clients/partners expected you to be available more or less 24/7. After all, where else would you be - everywhere is closed!
Re: Billing vs Hours Worked
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 2:05 am
by Anonymous User
This actually sucks for ECVC associates. When you bill to 9+ matters a day, it’s not efficient and there’s lag with the transitions.
Re: Billing vs Hours Worked
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 12:58 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote: ↑Sun Aug 22, 2021 11:17 pm
Anonymous User wrote: ↑Sun Aug 22, 2021 9:31 pm
JiveTurkey wrote: ↑Sun Aug 22, 2021 8:46 pm
Hoping to see if people would be able to break down how much they work vs how much they bill.
I hear a lot of people say they’re billing 50-60 hours a week right now but I’m curious if that’s ~60ish hours a week or if that’s more like 70-80. Any and all anecdotes appreciated!
That’s the beautiful thing about work from home. For the past 1.5 years, hours billed = hours worked. No more bullshit sitting in office waiting for work or commuting. Now, if I’m not billing, I’m napping, chores around the house, push-ups, watching tv, etc
Yeah that was cool at first but then
any illusion of work-life balance was obliterated as clients/partners expected you to be available more or less 24/7. After all, where else would you be - everywhere is closed!
Exactly. Pre-Covid, I at least had times of the day where my life was my own and my hours were respected. Now, I get calls, and especially texts, from work colleagues (partners, senior associates, etc) anywhere from 8am to 10pm, asking questions as though I were sitting at my work desk with my firm issued computer open. Its not sustainable.
Re: Billing vs Hours Worked
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 4:17 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 2:05 am
This actually sucks for ECVC associates. When you bill to 9+ matters a day, it’s not efficient and there’s lag with the transitions.
As an incoming EC/VC associate, this is what I worry about.
Re: Billing vs Hours Worked
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 5:30 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 4:17 pm
Anonymous User wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 2:05 am
This actually sucks for ECVC associates. When you bill to 9+ matters a day, it’s not efficient and there’s lag with the transitions.
As an incoming EC/VC associate, this is what I worry about.
It also matters which firm/clients, because my firm is not a coastal SV type firm but does A LOT of VC work and the clients come to us to avoid the coastal rates so they're cheaper and that mentality affects me where I try to round down on my time, sometimes cut it a bit if I felt like it took too long, etc.
DO NOT DO THAT. My advice is to BILL EVERYTHING minute you spend on the work. Do not skip a time entry even if it was just a one-off email to answer a question that took you 2 minutes to look up, because you will realize that 5+ hours of your day will be like this from a lot of clients and then all of a sudden it's 4 pm and you have only 2 billable hours..
Re: Billing vs Hours Worked
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 6:35 pm
by mardash
Anonymous User wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 5:30 pm
Anonymous User wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 4:17 pm
Anonymous User wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 2:05 am
This actually sucks for ECVC associates. When you bill to 9+ matters a day, it’s not efficient and there’s lag with the transitions.
As an incoming EC/VC associate, this is what I worry about.
It also matters which firm/clients, because my firm is not a coastal SV type firm but does A LOT of VC work and the clients come to us to avoid the coastal rates so they're cheaper and that mentality affects me where I try to round down on my time, sometimes cut it a bit if I felt like it took too long, etc.
DO NOT DO THAT. My advice is to BILL EVERYTHING minute you spend on the work. Do not skip a time entry even if it was just a one-off email to answer a question that took you 2 minutes to look up, because you will realize that 5+ hours of your day will be like this from a lot of clients and then all of a sudden it's 4 pm and you have only 2 billable hours..
My advice to juniors is always the bolded, bill everything you actually spend doing the work, and let the partner/senior associate write it off if it’s too much.
Re: Billing vs Hours Worked
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 6:42 pm
by Anonymous User
First year litigation associate here. I’ve become far more efficient in the past 10 months or so but it ultimately comes down to what work I’m doing. If it’s doc review or drafting a component of a brief, usually I can manage to bill something like 7.5 hours in the course of 8.5 or 9, with the 1 hour not billed spent eating, longer bathroom breaks, scrolling through social media etc. But if my day is a bunch of small tasks under 1 hour each, it ends up taking me maybe 11 hours to bill 7.5 because I end up taking longer breaks and getting distracted every time I switch tasks.
Re: Billing vs Hours Worked
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 8:32 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 6:42 pm
First year litigation associate here. I’ve become far more efficient in the past 10 months or so but it ultimately comes down to what work I’m doing. If it’s doc review or drafting a component of a brief, usually I can manage to bill something like 7.5 hours in the course of 8.5 or 9, with the 1 hour not billed spent eating, longer bathroom breaks, scrolling through social media etc. But if my day is a bunch of small tasks under 1 hour each, it ends up taking me maybe 11 hours to bill 7.5 because I end up taking longer breaks and getting distracted every time I switch tasks.
For some people, those would be 9 and 11 billable hour days, respectively. I would never suggest billing for work that you're not doing, but I would also suggest letting the partner tell you that you overbilled rather than telling yourself that.
Re: Billing vs Hours Worked
Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 2:25 pm
by Anonymous User
bump!