Law firm cutting my billed hours and "bonus" -- legal???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bonuses are always based on hours the firm can bill, not on what an attorney puts on a timesheet. And sometimes bonuses are based on the hours a firm is paid. If a client disputes your hours and the firm agrees to cut them, that can reduce your bonus as well.

This really is the norm. I have never heard of anything different with firms that pay based on billable hours. The name says it all - billable, not hours worked or recorded on the timesheet.

Of course we're not talking about a timesheet. I got paid $0 for training, hiring paperwork, etc. I am only getting paid for actually billable hours.

E.g., my "timesheet" (if I used one) may say 8 AM-8 PM (12 hours) but my billable hours that day may only be 7 for whatever reasons.

You still don’t get it. Training and sign on paperwork wouldn’t go on a time sheet. Billable means only what can be billed to a client that the client will pay for. Your dispute is that you think your hours can be billed and your firm does not. You’re probably right that you need to leave. You aren’t going to last in an environment where you believe you, the attorney who is new to the business, knows more than the partners who have built the business and know the clients. It’s a bad fit.

Yes, of course it would go on a timesheet! I'm a patent litigator and I know enough employment law to know that you have to pay an hourly employee for that work.

I definitely don't know more than the partners about the clients BUT I definitely know more than the partners about the associates, and this is exactly why they cannot retain anyone. I will tell the firm thay I will stay through the summer if they want because my boss has a two-month vacation planned to the Amazon and won't have any cell phone service and I don't want to leave the clients stranded. But after my boss returns, I will need to move on and will start looking for a new job today.

I honestly do not see why anyone would think an experienced BigLaw attorney with options would work in that environment of not getting paid (the risk) while not getting any of the benefits of the profit. It is a terrible business model and associates will continue to leave. Maybe you can recruit then for one month but once they see the structure, they are gone.

I wouldn't stay through the summer, especially if you had other leads from your recent job search, unless they let you handle the bills during that time. If boss wants to vacation he needs to retain people.

This. He sounds like an a-hole with the unclear explanations and bait-and-switch. Let him figure it out, don’t do him any favors unless you need a reference.

I agree with this. Am also an attorney. There is nothing in this for you but sheer frustration and much less income than they promised you. Let them figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Why are you working for 10-20k a month as a senior patent litigator?

What's you engineering or tech background? If EE or CS, you should be making 400 - 500k as a senior associate at a top IP Boutique or Big Law. Any reason you are at this firm?

[Anonymous]

You should leave. There are two ways to give the client a discount. Put all the billed hours down on the bill, and give the client a % discount off the whole bill (in which case you get credit for your hours) or cut the hours before they hit the bill (in which case you don’t). Sleezy partners do the latter. If you legitimately billed those hours and were not padding, you absolutely should leave. Your pay is based on how much you are working and they have showed you that they will not actually compensate you for how much you’re working.

[Anonymous]

In my experience, former biglaw attorneys are horribly inefficient. Middle market clients do not have the resources for their attorney to churn on issues for hours on end. Most figure this out a few months after leaving biglaw. Sounds like you’re not there yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, former biglaw attorneys are horribly inefficient. Middle market clients do not have the resources for their attorney to churn on issues for hours on end. Most figure this out a few months after leaving biglaw. Sounds like you’re not there yet.

Agree.