October 08, 2003
Draft and edit new entry on personal weblog = 0.3
Recently, a friend of mine who works at a law firm but isn't a lawyer asked me, "Why is the practice of law so stressful?" My response, of course, is, "How much time do you have?" Realistically, I can sum up the bane of my professional existence in two words (say it with me, lawyers out there):
Billable hours.
So much has been written on this debate for so long that there's little I can add to the discourse that most lawyers don't already know. For the rest of humanity, billable hours goes a little something like this: imagine breaking down your life into discrete increments and describing them in excruciating detail. Then, assign two different codes for each thing you've done. Do this for a minimum of eight hours per day. Your time must be allotted in six minute increments -- that's right, six minutes. Who does things in six minute blocks? The most annoying thing is that it often takes me longer to record a time entry than it did to complete the task I'm billing!
To be fair, none of this would matter so much if law firms didn't make such a big deal about it. I know, I know, law firms make money by taking the hours I bill, giving them to the client and getting compensated directly as a result of what I do or don't write down. I get that. What frustrates me generally is the value placed on billable hours as opposed to other worthy goals, like taking time to give back to the community, to mentor younger lawyers in the firms and to take marketing trips around the country to develop new clients. Although most law firms will pay for you to go across the country to seminars, meetings, etc. and try to develop business, you still have to meet your montly billable goals regardless of how much business your trip brings in.
And while I'm on my rant, it also bothers me some little bit that some really good friends of mine, who are kick-ass lawyers won't make general partner -- not because they didn't bring in business (they did), and not because they lost cases (they didn't), and not because they're jerks (they rock, actually), but because they didn't bill enough godforsaken hours. I have a friend who didn't get a year-end bonus last year because he missed his billable goal by 20 hours. Give me a break!
Why am I thinking about this right now? Because it is October and I'm up for Limited Partner in December. That's why.
Okay. I've got to get back to billing.
Posted by Kitty at October 8, 2003 02:00 PM
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