Reply to Law Firm - How to Handle "Temp Number" Abuse

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This question is very specific to the context of being an associate at a large D.C. law firm. With that disclaimer, here is my problem/situation ....

Partners at my law firm often ask me to do work and bill it to a "temp number" with the promise that they will soon open a billable matter to which I can transfer the time. "Temp numbers" are meant to be just that, a temporary "fill" in your time entry until a billable matter number is actually open and you can release the time. "Temp numbers" don't count until the time is released. The problem is, often the partner never opens a matter number. I have time to temp numbers open from 2 years ago. For this year, I have in the neighborhood of 100 hours (I know, YIKES!")

My law firm seems to not have any oversight over "temp numbers" or a mechanism to force partners to open a matter.

1. Could this situation happen at your law firm? If not, what mechanism would stop it?
2. What should I do? (Other than ask the partner to open a matter number, which I already do on a weekly basis.) There is of course a don't-bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you dynamic where I don't want to complaint to higher-ups in the firm about the powerful partner who gives me work. [/quote]

That’s a little weird.  First, what year are you?  If you don’t have a partner or senior associate you can ask these questions of and get a straight answer, that’s a problem.  You need to find someone you can have an off-the-record conversation with about how things really work, or you’re going to have problems later.  Even if the answer is “partner X does this and it’s a problem for lots of people” you need to find such things out.   Second, are you getting feedback on your productivity?   If no one’s complaining and you’re relatively junior, might not be an issue.  Third, at worst there should be a formal review process where you can ask that question, in a low key way:  “hey, I’ve got a bunch of temp time that hasn’t been billed yet; is that an issue for me?”  [/quote]

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