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

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[quote=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.  [/quote]

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