Ask. All they can do is say no.

Anonymous wrote:If you're billing $178k/yr., what are they actually collecting?

THAT's what counts as the starting point to divvy up the actual receipts. I'm more familiar with a closer to 50% number for salary but 33-50% is a good range, and I'd say you are not being underpaid for your workload/billing.

Given today's market unless you have a very marketable specialty, etc., I'd be wary of pushing too hard for a raise.

Do you get a bonus/ have you in the past 3 yrs.?

+1. Collection rates can be shitty in small firms.

If you're billing $178k/yr., what are they actually collecting?

THAT's what counts as the starting point to divvy up the actual receipts. I'm more familiar with a closer to 50% number for salary but 33-50% is a good range, and I'd say you are not being underpaid for your workload/billing.

Given today's market unless you have a very marketable specialty, etc., I'd be wary of pushing too hard for a raise.

Do you get a bonus/ have you in the past 3 yrs.?

Wow. I have an associate's degree and only earn 5k less than you do, and NEVER have overtime. I had no idea I was SO CLOSE to other people! This is so exciting! Thank you, OP, for sharing your salary.

It's been three years. Ask for a raise. Nicely.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's your billing rate? How much are you bringing into the firm per year?

it really depends on the client (we do high volume work so the billing rate is lower) -but on average, I get billed out at $135 p.hour. Average month = 110 hrs = $14850 / month. That's $178,200 annually

Well, usually the wisdom is divide the billables into 3's--1/3 to associate salary, 1/3 to overhead, 1/3 to partner profit. So it would seem you are slightly overpaid.

Ha! Ok cool, I'm just shut up now.

Hey, I'm not saying it's legit. But it's traditional. Your firm might not have much overhead, but small firms tend not to have great economies of scale, so often they do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's your billing rate? How much are you bringing into the firm per year?

it really depends on the client (we do high volume work so the billing rate is lower) -but on average, I get billed out at $135 p.hour. Average month = 110 hrs = $14850 / month. That's $178,200 annually

Well, usually the wisdom is divide the billables into 3's--1/3 to associate salary, 1/3 to overhead, 1/3 to partner profit. So it would seem you are slightly overpaid.

Ha! Ok cool, I'm just shut up now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's your billing rate? How much are you bringing into the firm per year?

it really depends on the client (we do high volume work so the billing rate is lower) -but on average, I get billed out at $135 p.hour. Average month = 110 hrs = $14850 / month. That's $178,200 annually

Well, usually the wisdom is divide the billables into 3's--1/3 to associate salary, 1/3 to overhead, 1/3 to partner profit. So it would seem you are slightly overpaid.

No harm in asking. Sounds like u have a good gig so I wouldn't threaten to quit but might as well ask.

Is there a possibility of asking a small raise that will adjust for inflation since you started?

Anonymous wrote:I work for big law and they start associates here at $170,00 minimum. That said, they also bill 200+ every month. So essentially you are not that underpaid if you look at the fact that you work half of those hours. Just decide what is important to you. Is having flexibility and time with your kids while they are young more important than maybe an extra 10 grand? Flexibility is hard to find.

Thanks for that perspective. Flexibility is definitely a major factor for me at this point. I think I have a good thing here - so I'm thinking we need to tighten our belt and let it be.

Anonymous wrote:What's your billing rate? How much are you bringing into the firm per year?

it really depends on the client (we do high volume work so the billing rate is lower) -but on average, I get billed out at $135 p.hour. Average month = 110 hrs = $14850 / month. That's $178,200 annually

I work for big law and they start associates here at $170,00 minimum. That said, they also bill 200+ every month. So essentially you are not that underpaid if you look at the fact that you work half of those hours. Just decide what is important to you. Is having flexibility and time with your kids while they are young more important than maybe an extra 10 grand? Flexibility is hard to find.

What's your billing rate? How much are you bringing into the firm per year?

I work for a small firm - 10 lawyers. I've been here for 3 1/2 years (I have total 5 years civil litigation experience). I am doing a good job. I know this because that's what I'm told by my managing partner. Several clients have taken the time to email her about me and praise my performance on certain cases. A judge also said some nice things when talking to the partner on the phone and this was all relayed to me. I am given a lot of responsibility - I handle complex cases with little to no supervision, including jury trials (though those are not that frequent).

Having said all that, I do not bill much. I bill about 100 - 115 hours a month (of course when I have a trial, I bill a lot more but that is only 2 or 3 times a year). I work hard when I'm here - I get my work done, but I don't have long days. I have two small kids and DH who also has a demanding job so pick up and drop off usually falls to me. I still get my assigned work done, so that has never been an issue, but I realize that I'm not generating a lot of billables for the firm. This is not something that has ever been brought to my attention by my supervisor. It's understood that I can't work long hours (and I am very appreciative of having a job like this!)

Ok, so now the question is - I have not had a raise since my first year here (so it's been over 2 years). We have no formal system of annual reviews or anything like that. I don't know what the other associates make. I make 75K. Should I ask for a raise? I am otherwise happy here and I have a good schedule, good relationships, etc., so I'm reluctant to rock the boat, however, I don't want to be a sucker and we could really use the money.

Advice?