Law Firm - How to Handle "Temp Number" Abuse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I would do as someone above said and post it to a matter for same client and let the partner transfer it. people do that on my matters all the time it's not a big deal or ask their admin for the number or when the number is coming up

That’s another solution. “I just billed this to Matter X instead, let me know when you have an engagement letter and I’ll have your assistant transfer the time.” It will piss him off if he’s taking advantage of you but you’ll get (some) credit and the firm will be aware of what he’s doing.

This is not politically smart.

It is also falsely billing another client matter.

It’s less of a problem if you tell the billing partner. Some actually handle pending matters this way rather than use temp numbers.

Obviously don’t do this to an important partner but if some service partner with no real business is doing this to get free labor, the firm will be mad at him, not you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting “credit” for time written off is a two edged sword because the write off reduces the person’s realization rate.

Meh, the bigger problem is a partner using $80K worth of associate time without billing for it or intentionally writing it off.

Not for the associate. The associate’s problem is that they are between a rock and a hard place with no power to decide what happens regarding credit for the work they did. Some posters encouraged trying to get the time posted knowing it will be written off. That helps the associate on one side of the ledger, but the write off hurts on the other. Depending on the individual’s seniority and the firm culture, it could be better to eat a significant amount of time than to have the powers that be get the impression the associate is non-productive or producing low quality work product.

[Anonymous]

Is it possible that your work product is subpar and the temp billing is done to avoid having to write off your work (which could hurt you more than then temp billing)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it possible that your work product is subpar and the temp billing is done to avoid having to write off your work (which could hurt you more than then temp billing)?

Writing off the time could not possibly hurt this person more than having the time as temp time that is never released. Temp time is like you never worked at all. 100 hours! This person could have been on a 2 week vacation instead of doing this work!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. These comments are really helpful. I am going to talk to an equity partner (although in a different office) about this soon.

While a minor version of this situation happens a lot, it's usually just a few hours. This situation has several aggregating factors. For instance, it's been going on for months, has been a lot of substantive work, and is about to resolve favorably for the client. All signs point to this being a "favor" representation that the partner was never going to bill for.

Several comments mentioned that I should have mentors who I should have asked. I do, and I have asked. Unfortunately the advice I got was that the partner would open the matter eventually. All signs point to that advice being wrong.

If that’s what you’re hearing from your mentors, it sounds like this may be just a one-off bad situation that isn’t that likely to recur and isn’t going to have any long-term consequence for you. These things do occasionally happen through no fault of the associate—when I was an associate I got stuck with a $100k write-off because the partner simply didn’t feel like ever asking the client to pay the bill. (Wouldn’t fly today but things were squishy then — ultimately when I was up for partner my mentor read them the riot act and the receivable got collected based on one phone call, but that was at a critical moment where the economics really mattered, usually it wouldn’t have been that big a deal). The key for you is to make sure you don’t get screwed if the 100 or so hours is material to a bonus calculation, while at the same time making it clear that you are cool about it and willing to play ball. Sounds like you’re playing this correctly.

[Anonymous]

I am OP. The year closed and the hours are still in limbo because the partner never opened a matter. Without the hours I don’t make my annual hours target. Missing hours means missing bonus.

I have talked to the partner about it a bunch of times and he always says he’ll open a matter, but never does. Other than finding a new job, what should I do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't this something you can ask HR to deal with?

Tell me you don't work in a law firm without telling me you don't work in a law firm.

yeah this is hilarious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am OP. The year closed and the hours are still in limbo because the partner never opened a matter. Without the hours I don’t make my annual hours target. Missing hours means missing bonus.

I have talked to the partner about it a bunch of times and he always says he’ll open a matter, but never does. Other than finding a new job, what should I do?

I'm so lucky. I was in a medium sized firm for about 8 years. This happened every now and then, but I have a very open and honest relationship with the partner I worked for most. He would never do this to me, but others would. When the hours/receipts reports came out I would go over and say "hey I have 20 hours in temp time for partner X, its been there for six months, not sure what's going on but its making me look bad."

it would be fixed within a week. I'm lucky i had that kind of relationship. Beyond that, you maybe have lost this time forever and need to just get over it because its clear the partner does not want to fix it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I would do as someone above said and post it to a matter for same client and let the partner transfer it. people do that on my matters all the time it's not a big deal or ask their admin for the number or when the number is coming up

That’s another solution. “I just billed this to Matter X instead, let me know when you have an engagement letter and I’ll have your assistant transfer the time.” It will piss him off if he’s taking advantage of you but you’ll get (some) credit and the firm will be aware of what he’s doing.

This is not politically smart.

Nor is it ethical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am OP. The year closed and the hours are still in limbo because the partner never opened a matter. Without the hours I don’t make my annual hours target. Missing hours means missing bonus.

I have talked to the partner about it a bunch of times and he always says he’ll open a matter, but never does. Other than finding a new job, what should I do?

Write it into your self-evaluation memo so you don't get dinged for the hours gap as someone who isn't working. You did the work; it is not your fault that a partner didn't bill it. However, since it wasn't billed, no money was earned by the firm either, so how is bonus money going to be justified?

[Anonymous]

Be careful that you don't become the go-to sucker for this kind of off books work. Also, always find out why it is off book so you don't end up in the middle of an ethical swamp (e.g., the partner is avoiding a conflicts review on the matter).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I would do as someone above said and post it to a matter for same client and let the partner transfer it. people do that on my matters all the time it's not a big deal or ask their admin for the number or when the number is coming up

That’s another solution. “I just billed this to Matter X instead, let me know when you have an engagement letter and I’ll have your assistant transfer the time.” It will piss him off if he’s taking advantage of you but you’ll get (some) credit and the firm will be aware of what he’s doing.

This is not politically smart.

Nor is it ethical.

There is no way that the person who suggested this was a lawyer. it is an incredibly stupid idea to falsely bill to the wrong client.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am OP. The year closed and the hours are still in limbo because the partner never opened a matter. Without the hours I don’t make my annual hours target. Missing hours means missing bonus.

I have talked to the partner about it a bunch of times and he always says he’ll open a matter, but never does. Other than finding a new job, what should I do?

Write it into your self-evaluation memo so you don't get dinged for the hours gap as someone who isn't working. You did the work; it is not your fault that a partner didn't bill it. However, since it wasn't billed, no money was earned by the firm either, so how is bonus money going to be justified?

OP here: duh, I included it. And I would still get a bonus if time had been written off or were pro bono or recruiting.

[Anonymous]

Tough situation OP. I’d probably reach out to billing partner and inquire about how those 100 hours are going to be accounted for on your billable for the year and/or if there is a general client billable number or client development number…something that recognizes the work, non-billable being the last option.

In the future I’d be mindful of work from this partner again where the matter isn’t already open and focus on the partners that don’t do this.

[Anonymous]

OP biglaw partner here. When you first described the issue, I thought it was normal. Happened at both firms I have worked at, but only in very small numbers. Like maybe a couple hours for a new client that decides not to move forward. Maybe 10 hours a year, and even for an associate I would just see that as one of those non-billable things you do to contribute to the firm. When partners tell you "we still need to open a matter", I would just warn you to be mindful you don't spend a lot of time on something that doesn't have a matter number yet.

But what you describe is more egregious because it's a huge hour amount and sounds like a partner being unethical in using your free services. And knowing he was doing it all along.

In this case, I would escalate the issue to my practice group partner and potentially to the compensation committee before your bonuses are issued. I would not be whiny but would be factual: I worked 100 hours this year on a matter for existing client X. I was told at the outset the work would be billable. The relationship partner has not moved forward with opening a new matter. These hours are significant; they are the difference for me of a bonus. They represent $XX revenue to the firm (your hourly rate multiplied by the hours). I should not be in a worse economic position because the partner decided not to bill for my time; that should be handled by client write offs.