I am slow and pissed about it. If I don't get a bonus because the partners couldn't bring in enough work to give me hours, I'm walking.

12:37 - don't bother walking, you're about to be fired. If you were any good, you would have work to do. Partner's don't give work to crappy associates. It might be a good idea to polish up the resume now and get on Monster.com - then again, you can't polish a turd. LOL!

12:50 clearly goes to a TTT and is jealous of those who have even crappy firm jobs.

And, genius, the reason I don't have work is because the partner I work for (I'm his right-hand guy) has almost no work right now. He doesn't have work he's giving other people, he just doesn't have work. But I guess you're too retarded for that possibility to have occurred to you.

12.50, what a stupid law student statement to make. You clearly have no idea how BIGLAW works. Partners bring in work, it gets assigned either to their favorite attorneys or by who has capacity to take it (firms have different methods of distribution). I know I am safe as we had lay offs and I was not one of them. I am billing about 40 hours a month, down from 260 this time last year. And I am about middle in my class. We have guys here billing 6 hours a month. So it is no reflection on who gets let go.

The big lie is that if you do good work you are safe. What if you dont have work to do?

12:54 - you are a COMPLETE moron for associating yourself with just one partner. Ever heard of diversification you retard? For all you know the parter is about to get deequitized/fired and your ass is gonna get laid off shortly as well.

12.37 - where exactly are you "walking" to? Have you looked outside your window? o wait, you dont have a window! (jk, i'm sure u do) Be grateful u have a job/salary coming in and adjust your lifestyle accordingly because bonuses arent happening this year (and if we do get bonuses, i doubt that you'd feel it given your entitlement attitude).

Amen to 1:08: also, 12:54, your partner is most likely gonna get deequitized - firms are very prompt these days to deequitize partners that are not bringing in sufficient work....

12:37 - well said. The entitlement attitude of some lawyers is pretty remarkable in its stupidity..

I am not 12.54, but it is a clear indication that you, 1:08, do not work in BIGLAW. This is my 3 firm, and I am going up for Partner this year (great timing, what?). The amount of choice a new or junior associate has in who they work for is tiny, at m,ost. The partners choose, and if Partner A wants you to do his work, and his book of business sustains you, then you can be sure he tells partner B that she better fiun someone else to work with. I have asked a partner to do work for him, and been told by partner I work with normally to focus on his work. That is the reality of BIGLAW life. Of course you CLEARLY have no idea how that works.

umm

i have my own office, and i have so much work.

1:19 - I'm 1:08 and this is my response.

My point is that associates can in fact do more than just wait for their one partner to hand them work. I have actively knocked on the doors of several partners in the 1 year I have been here and I've been successful in branching out, so to speak. While I do most of my work for one partner, I get sizable projects from numerous other partners frequently. Oh and for your information, I work at Cravath, which, last time I checked, qualifies as Big Law.

Good luck becoming partner, because with your general knowledge of how law firms operate, you will need all the luck you can get...

1:08, 1:19 here. Thanks for your good luck, I am so hoping that I pass the general knowledge quiz that is so fundamental to deciding who gets made partner. I assumed you were a clueless law student. Assuming you are not lying, then you are a clueless 1st year. I am an 8th year associate with a good BoB who at least has seen more than 1 firm and been through more than 1 cycle. There is no set rule by which a firm operates, but thinking that all associates can simply demand that a different partner give them work is so laughable, and so stupid, that it makes me really doubt that you are telling the truth were you work (it reeks of law student entitlement).

Here's a biglaw perk: my practice group leader is taking us all to a bar to watch the back 9 of the us open play-off.

1:08?

Did you say 260 hours a month? Billed?

Then down to 40 hours a month?

260 is on pace for 3,000 hours. God, where do you work?

Cravath associates always have work to do. Cravath doesn't look for work, work looks for Cravath.

1:53, those were crazy times. in 2006 I billed 2814 hours, and in 2007, even though shit hit fan mid-august, i came in at just under 2500. And I was not even near top of my group. To answer question, NY office of what was once a west coast firm.

The real, sensible, non-law student 1:08.

I love these surveys. I just randomly pick responses to skew the results. How many do the same?

Haha. That kitty is sleepy.

1.19 - "Not 1.08" ...Its called thinking out side of the box. Its something partner-material-attorneys know about. So good luck making partner!

1:53(1),

That doesn't sound like a perk. That sounds like torture.

Golf sucks.

@2:58: "thinking out side of the box"? Eew.

But seriously, good for you. Remember to synergize your core competencies while pushing the envelope as an industry leader.

I'm not getting much legal work, but your mom hires me pretty regularly as an escort.

12:50, did you really laugh out loud after you typed that?

2:58 - i don't care if my department head took me to a bar to watch synchronized swimming on a monday afternoon, it would be better than sitting at my desk.

1:08, not every biglaw firm allows associates to go freelance for other partners. The partners generally already have their go-to associates. If my two go-to partners aren't busy than generally neither am I, unless it's something short-term or pro bono. Sure, I could pick up a research assignment or brief here or there from another partner, but it's unlikely I could get myself involved in a large long-term assignment for other partners because it would likely interfere with my responsibilities to my go-to partners when they do get more work in a couple months.

Exactly 4:04. 1:08 is just a law student

4:04 is correct, and I would add that for some of us, there's never a monetary incentive to pick up work if our partners/senior associates aren't busy, since our firms have lockstep bonuses with no minimum hours requirement.

1.46, 4.04, and 8.17 - you guys are tools! What is the benefit of getting a bonus next year and getting canned right after associate evaluations? Associate evals aren't lockstep you know...and worthy associates will stand out because they billed more than sorry asses who were waiting for hand-me-downs from their primary partners.