Career Center Survey Results: A Better Billable Year

After a year like 2009 (aka the worst year ever for Biglaw), 2010 was bound to be better.  According to the nearly 1,000 survey responses we received, 2010 did in fact turn out to be a busier year for most associates.  An impressive 73% of respondents hit their firm’s minimum billable hours requirements or unofficial billable hours expectations, which ranged from 1,600 to 2,200 billable hours.  You can find a breakdown of the results by minimum billable hours required or expected, as well as by practice area, after the jump. 

Stay tuned for our next post, addressing associate satisfaction with 2010 bonus payments.  In the meantime, you can learn more about billable hours and bonuses at the nation’s top law firms on the Career Center, hosted by Lateral Link

Now, on to the survey results….

If you think that the majority of associates who made their billable hours in 2010 work at firms with lower minimum billable hours requirements, our survey results indicate otherwise.  The percentage of respondents who hit their firm’s minimum billable hours requirements was fairly evenly distributed over different hours requirements:

Firm’s minimum billable requirement

Met minimum requirement

Did not meet minimum requirement

Less than 1,900 hours

72%

28%

1,900 – 1,999 hours

80%

20%

2,000 – 2,099 hours

79%

21%

2,100 – 2,199 hours

86%

14%

2,200 hours and above

63%

37%

Additionally, associates who work at firms with no official minimum billable hours requirement (but that often have an unofficial expectation or a minimum requirement for bonus eligibility) also had busy years, as shown by the actual number of hours they billed in 2010:

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  • Less than 1,900 hours: 21%
  • 1,900 – 2,099 hours: 22%
  • 2,100 – 2,299 hours: 23%
  • 2,300 – 2,499 hours: 17%
  • 2,500 hours and above: 17%

Some practice areas had better years than others in terms of their associates meeting their minimum billable hours requirements.  For example, 80% of respondents in litigation hit their billable hours requirements, whereas 39% of tax respondents failed to meet theirs.

Practice area

Met minimum requirement

Did not meet minimum requirement

No minimum requirement or expectation

Bankruptcy

52%

26%

22%

Corporate

69%

25%

6%

Litigation

80%

15%

5%

Tax

61%

39%

0%

Trusts and estates

77%

23%

0%

 

For firm-specific information about billable hour requirements and expectations, check out the individual firm profiles over at the Career Center.

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