BigLaw Billable Hours Explained

A billable hour is time a lawyer records to a client matter and that the firm may charge to the client. If you research a client's question for one hour, that may be one billable hour. If you attend a firm training for one hour, it usually is not.

That distinction explains why a target such as 2,000 billable hours does not mean 2,000 total hours at work.

What usually counts

Depending on the matter and billing rules, billable work can include:

• research and drafting;
• reviewing documents;
• client and team calls;
• preparing for or attending a hearing, deposition, or negotiation;
• revising agreements;
• managing a deal or case; and
• travel when the client permits it.

Clients and firms have billing policies. Time can be written down or written off if a partner decides it should not be charged.

What may not count

Nonbillable work can include:

• training and continuing legal education;
• firm meetings;
• recruiting;
• business development;
• administrative tasks;
• entering time;
• waiting for feedback;
• technology problems;
• some pro bono work; and
• parts of travel or internal communication.

Policies differ. Some firms count approved pro bono hours toward the target. Some cap the amount. Some give credit for other firm work.

Never assume. Ask what counts.

Why the calendar matters

Two lawyers can bill the same annual total and have very different lives.

One may bill steadily. Another may have several quiet months followed by a deal or trial that consumes nights and weekends.

Predictability is often more important than the annual number. Losing a Saturday with advance notice feels different from canceling dinner at 7:00 p.m. because comments arrived.

Ask what creates unexpected work and how often juniors can plan around it.

Targets, pace, and bonuses

Firms may publish an annual target or an amount required for a bonus. Others use hours as one factor among many.

Do not treat the number as a complete performance system. Staffing, availability, work quality, evaluations, collections, pro bono credit, and firm economics may also matter.

A junior can miss a target because the firm did not provide enough work. That still creates stress. Good staffing systems notice slow associates before December.

A simple way to think about 2,000

Two thousand hours spread evenly across 50 working weeks is 40 billable hours per week. But the lawyer must also complete nonbillable work, and client demand does not arrive evenly.

The useful question is not, "Can I work 40 hours?" It is:

"How many total hours and how much schedule disruption are required to produce 40 billable hours in this group?"

No universal multiplier converts billable time into total time. Efficiency, practice, seniority, commute, remote-work policies, and workload all change the answer.

Timekeeping itself

Lawyers usually record time in small increments with a description of the task. Firms often expect contemporaneous entries because reconstructing a week on Friday is inaccurate and painful.

Timekeeping can feel awkward at first. You are not being paid by the hour, but much of the business measures your work through hours.

The habit becomes easier:

1. start a timer or note the time;
2. switch matters carefully;
3. write a clear description;
4. submit time each day; and
5. follow the client's billing rules.

Questions to ask associates

• What is the target, and what qualifies?
• Is there a separate bonus threshold?
• How much pro bono time counts?
• How are juniors staffed when they are slow?
• How often do people work after midnight or on weekends?
• How much warning do they usually receive?
• Can associates turn down work when overloaded?
• Are vacation days actually protected?

Ask these privately and without demanding an exact average. People remember extreme weeks more readily than ordinary ones.

How to compare firms

Do not conclude that a firm with a 1,900 target is automatically gentler than one with a 2,000 target. The first may staff leanly or give little credit for pro bono. The second may have better staffing and clearer expectations.

Compare:

• target and bonus policy;
• what counts;
• staffing;
• team size;
• workflow predictability;
• vacation coverage; and
• whether associates feel safe raising capacity problems.

The billable hour is a measurement tool, not the entire job. Learn the number, then investigate the system and culture behind it.

Read what associates actually do and whether BigLaw is worth it for the rest of the picture.

Track the system, not just the headline number.