Biglaw

Biglaw Firm Offers Associates Unlimited Billable Hours For Diversity & Inclusion Work

Amazing! No other firm has offered anything that even comes close to this.

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Biglaw firms across the country are implementing all manner of initiatives to bring attention to the importance of diversity and inclusion among their ranks. We’ve previously acknowledged Dorsey & Whitney, Hogan Lovells, Davis Wright Tremaine, Reed Smith, Cooley, Baker McKenzie, Ropes & Gray, and Locke Lord as firms where approved diversity and inclusion-related work will be billable for attorneys and will count toward bonus thresholds. We recently received word that yet another Biglaw firm rolled out a similar program in an effort to show just how dedicated it is to furthering diversity and inclusion within the legal profession.

There’s one very important difference about this firm’s program: there’s no hours cap whatsoever. Which firm is offering unlimited billable credit for attorneys’ diversity, equity, and inclusion work?

That would be Foley Hoag, a firm that brought in $223,512,000 gross revenue in 2019. Earlier this month, the firm announced that all attorneys and other timekeepers would be able to receive virtually limitless billable credit for their DE&I work as well as any and all legal recruiting activity. Here’s an excerpt from the firm’s memo on its new policy:

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is an integral part of the firm’s long-term strategic mission and goals.  The Executive Committee recognizes that the firm is at an important juncture in the advancement of its DE&I efforts.  A number of major internal and external DE&I initiatives have been launched over the past year. Many of our attorneys and other timekeepers are contributing significant time, effort and energy to these initiatives and the Executive Committee believes that crediting such time as billable hours is both appropriate and will enhance the firm’s efforts toward fulfilling our goals.  Because recruiting of new and lateral attorneys is also an integral part of the firm’s success, all time spent on legal recruiting activities will also count as billable hours.

There is no hours cap on the credit given for DE&I and legal recruiting activities, which is identical to our policy with regards to pro bono work.  Our goal is to fully recognize efforts spent advancing the firm’s DE&I initiatives and legal recruiting efforts.  We encourage all attorneys and other timekeepers to contribute in these areas, and suggest 25 hours each year as a minimum target.

Jeff Collins, Foley Hoag’s co-managing partner, emphasized to us that the firm’s new diversity billing policy doesn’t come with any “hurdle” expectations, meaning that there isn’t a set number of client billable hours that must be met before attorneys’ diversity, equity, and inclusion hours start to count. While other firms have reportedly taken this approach, Foley isn’t one of them.

Congratulations to Foley Hoag on its commitment to diversity, and for offering its attorneys a way to create a more inclusive workplace. With its virtually unlimited hours policy, the firm’s diversity billables are higher than every other firm that has announced such programming, including Baker McKenzie (125 hours) and Ropes & Gray (100 hours). What an admirable way to support diversity and inclusion efforts.

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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