Hourly Billing

In a small firm, you have to use your judgment as to what's billable and what's not.

How much was this superstar attorney trying to charge his client?

You want to get paid, and for the client to think you are a great lawyer -- so follow this simple advice, from boutique-firm columnist Gaston Kroub.

Should the billable hour really be vilified as something that rewards inefficiency and incompetence, or is it a benchmark with which to judge performance, or is it both?

Anonymous Partner wonders: Is the Biglaw problem of padding bills getting worse, not better?

* Despite the fact that the overall demand for legal work was down by five percent during the first nine months of the year, law firms still raised their hourly rates. Hey, what can we say? Math is hard. [Am Law Daily] * After instructing his lawyers not to speak during what he called a “sham sentencing,” Whitey Bulger received two life sentences plus five years. Don’t worry, the appeal won’t be a sham. [National Law Journal; CNN] * Attention c/o 2015: the New York City Bar Task Force is considering throwing commercial paper out the window in favor of administrative law. Something something arbitrary and capricious. [New York Law Journal] * What is law school for, aside from collecting gigantic mountains of non-dischargeable student loan debt? Apparently it’s for creating a more meaningful life, because with poverty comes clarity. [WSJ Law Blog] * In the very near future, you might need a license to conduct business with virtual money like bitcoin. The Brothers Winklevii are probably already preparing their paperwork to file. [DealBook / New York Times]

Seven more ways of staying (or at least looking) busy, while you put in your law-firm face time.

Seven recommended ways of staying (or at least looking) busy, while you put in your law-firm face time.

Are you in law firm management? If so, you may need to rethink your conception of "wasted" time.

When billable work is scarce, who should get priority, partners or associates?

What's the similarity between discussions about alternative fee agreements and elephantine mating? In-house columnist Mark Herrmann explains.

Keeping your client invested in the litigation makes for a better relationship.

In this day and age, even Biglaw bills can be discounted.

What can Biglaw firms learn from their corporate clients about managing and developing human resources? What improvements do in-house lawyers want to see from their outside counsel?

What criteria do in-house counsel use to determine if a firm is delivering value to their company? Why have clients drawn such a line in the sand when it comes to paying for associate time?

Here's some encouraging news for large law firms and the lawyers who work in them. In-house readers, however, may be less enthused.

The Anonymous Partner has a candid conversation with an In-House Insider about clients' feelings towards their law firms.

* According to the Second Circuit, the long arm of the law doesn’t extend to the middle finger. You can’t just go around arresting dudes for flipping you the bird. [U.S. Second Circuit / FindLaw] * President Obama jetted off to Hawaii before he could sign the fiscal cliff bill, so he ordered it be signed by autopen. Of course, people are losing their minds over it. [Volokh Conspiracy] * Should we scrap the Constitution? Georgetown Law professor Louis Seidman continues to advocate for constitutional disobedience in this epic ConLaw throwdown. [HuffPost Live] * Don’t celebrate your increase in California bar passage points yet. The state bar changed its tune, and a 40% pass rate is the new standard. That shouldn’t be hard, eh TJSL? [California Bar Journal] * One of our former columnists, Jay Shepherd, has a great way to calculate what your actual hourly rate should be, if you don’t mind working for just pennies a day. Most lawyers would mind. [jayshep] * For the love of God, even Gawker knows that going to law school these days is a fool’s errand, or in their own words: “IT’S A SUCKER’S BET. A CLEAR SUCKER’S BET.” Come on, stop being suckers. :( [Gawker] * If you’d like to hear Dean Lawrence Mitchell of NYT op-ed fame sound off on why there isn’t a lawyer oversupply problem, and why it isn’t his job to get law students jobs, we’ve got a video for you to watch….

Was 2012 a 'normal' year for billable hours, or did the election push you one way or another?

Which firms had the highest billing rates in 2012? Which had the lowest? Click here to find out!