3,737

3,737

The varied reactions to someone billing this much in a year track my reactions.

☠️ Is this person still alive?

☠️ Is this person well?

☠️ What does this tell people at their firm who bill less—a little less to much, much less?

☠️ What do clients think of that?

☠️ What does their office of lawyer regulation think?

I’d be lying if I didn’t run the math and think “not impossible.”

But it also is not sustainable.

Any time I get close to or exceed 200 billable hours in a month, I’m finished.

It is exhausting mentally and physically.

It is a drain on my health and my relationships.

It is not something I would willingly keep up long term.

I’m fortunate to be at a firm that doesn’t expect this of me, but I do know people who’ve hit 3,000 hours and some more than once.

I do not envy them.

I do not like knowing about it.

The billable hour—as a requirement for associates and badge of productivity—is toxic.

If you meet or exceed your requirement, you’re often disappointed with the “rewards” that follow.

If you don’t meet it, you can be held back despite the quality of your work or business relationships.

If you see others billing less getting ahead, internal conflict is very common.

If you see others billing more but with less quality, internal struggle pops up again.

It is a system designed for comparison, which we all know is a joy killer.

I don’t know what the answer is in this grind culture, but we must keep talking about it and sharing how we are working hard, doing what is asked of us, and trying to take care of ourselves.

I’m grateful this number has sparked a conversation. I’m not optimistic change will follow quickly, but I am confident many of us don’t want to be that person.

#lawyerwellbeing #legalissues #biglaw