Billables and Utilization

[boo]

I've worked for ~5 years since graduating undergrad. In that time, I'd say I average'd 45 hours a week (realistically anywhere from 30 to 60 hours/week, depending on the given week). 45hrs/week (less 3 weeks vacation) x 49 weeks = 2,205 hrs/year. Assuming you had a billables target of 1800, that's a utilization rate of 80%.

Is that realistic?

I can understand that utilization rates vary across the type of law as well as the years of experience + case file specifics...but I struggle to understand or contextualize posts on reddit/internet where people complain about all-nighters and working weekends, amongst other poor quality-of-life aspects of being a lawyer.

Even at a 65% utilization rate to hit 1800 hours equals ~2750 in a year / 49 weeks = 56 hours a week. Which is 8a-6p, plus a few hours on the weekend.

...which seems like a pretty good deal for $200k+ compensation? Am I missing something here? 

[WhoKnows]

19 minutes ago, boo said:

I've worked for ~5 years since graduating undergrad. In that time, I'd say I average'd 45 hours a week (realistically anywhere from 30 to 60 hours/week, depending on the given week). 45hrs/week (less 3 weeks vacation) x 49 weeks = 2,205 hrs/year. Assuming you had a billables target of 1800, that's a utilization rate of 80%.

Is that realistic?

I can understand that utilization rates vary across the type of law as well as the years of experience + case file specifics...but I struggle to understand or contextualize posts on reddit/internet where people complain about all-nighters and working weekends, amongst other poor quality-of-life aspects of being a lawyer.

Even at a 65% utilization rate to hit 1800 hours equals ~2750 in a year / 49 weeks = 56 hours a week. Which is 8a-6p, plus a few hours on the weekend.

...which seems like a pretty good deal for $200k+ compensation? Am I missing something here? 

You're missing the fact that customer service businesses focused on large corporations with high expectations don't confine their issues to 8-6, and that you don't just work the average needed and head home. The reality in many practices is clients expect that you meet certain deadlines that require 80 hours of work be done in a week. Your weeks could end up looking like a month of 45 or 50 hours followed by a few months of 75 hour weeks, etc. of course, practice dependent. That's where the all nighters and weekends come from - the work doesn't nicely distribute itself. Add to that the fire drills necessitating next-day response and partners who figure "they went through it so you must too", and that's how you get to the poor quality of life in spots. 

All that, of course, can be managed over time by people willing to do the work of managing it, and for the compensation you receive on Bay things may net out positive, but that's an individual choice. 

Edited November 20, 2021 by WhoKnows

[Hitman9172]

It's not the hours that kill you in big law - it's the unpredictability.

[Aureliuse]

On 11/19/2021 at 8:20 PM, Hitman9172 said:

It's not the hours that kill you in big law - it's the unpredictability.

This applies to other areas of law as well.

Sometimes, clients call and want something done with utmost haste. Other times they call to report an emergency in which you must act. You find yourself working 12-14 hour days to deal with these kind of situations.

Clients don't understand limitation periods. Some will come to you at the very last minute. Clients also don't always respond on time - which cuts into how much time you have to apply their instructions or make drastic changes.

On some days, you walk into the office hoping to work on file/task "A, B, C;" only for a phone call to alter your course to focus on "D, E, F." The deadline on A,B,C, continues to run, so you have to work later to deal with "A,B,C."

There are also some toxic personalities in the profession who loves to "give opposing counsel extra work" through various means.  Litigation bullying is something I see often in my practice. You are doing extra work because opposing counsel is trying to litigate by sheer volume of paperwork.

Edited November 22, 2021 by Aureliuse

[KOMODO]

On 11/19/2021 at 6:43 PM, boo said:

I've worked for ~5 years since graduating undergrad. In that time, I'd say I average'd 45 hours a week (realistically anywhere from 30 to 60 hours/week, depending on the given week). 45hrs/week (less 3 weeks vacation) x 49 weeks = 2,205 hrs/year. Assuming you had a billables target of 1800, that's a utilization rate of 80%.

Is that realistic?

I can understand that utilization rates vary across the type of law as well as the years of experience + case file specifics...but I struggle to understand or contextualize posts on reddit/internet where people complain about all-nighters and working weekends, amongst other poor quality-of-life aspects of being a lawyer.

Even at a 65% utilization rate to hit 1800 hours equals ~2750 in a year / 49 weeks = 56 hours a week. Which is 8a-6p, plus a few hours on the weekend.

...which seems like a pretty good deal for $200k+ compensation? Am I missing something here? 

To your first point - no, I don't think that's realistic. People usually say that if you're billing 2/3rds of your working time, you're doing well. I can tell you that I often don't bill even 2/3rds.

As others have mentioned, the work/hours may not be predictable. 

$200k+ in comp at what level? Only if you stick it out 5+ years in biglaw, which most people don't.

People also often miss the stress in this equation - practicing law at a high level (once you get into the senior associate years and beyond) is stressful to the point that many people quit just so they can relax in their off time.

In general, these are smart and hard-working people - if they're struggling, it's not that they're all just whiny, it's an issue with the system.

[Jaggers]

49 weeks of work also means you have either taken only two weeks' vacation, or worked on half of the statutory holiday. Who wants to lead that kind of life?

A decent amount of downtime, plus taking your holidays off, gives you 46 weeks of work. Add in time when you just can't work because your kid is home from daycare, and it's even less!

Edited November 22, 2021 by Jaggers

[KOMODO]

1 hour ago, Jaggers said:

Add in time when you just can't work because your kid is home from daycare, and it's even less!

Ugh the struggle is REAL. 

[Hitman9172]

1 hour ago, KOMODO said:

$200k+ in comp at what level? Only if you stick it out 5+ years in biglaw, which most people don't.

People also often miss the stress in this equation - practicing law at a high level (once you get into the senior associate years and beyond) is stressful to the point that many people quit just so they can relax in their off time.

In general, these are smart and hard-working people - if they're struggling, it's not that they're all just whiny, it's an issue with the system.

You hit the nail on the head. Many people coming into big law (myself included) initially think you can just grind and stay in it indefinitely, but the hours aren't real until you're putting them in. As you get more senior, you usually have more demands on your time from a personal perspective (family or side endeavours), and the work stress seems to increase for most people since they take on more responsibility. You take the desire to have more free time, and couple it with expanded exit opportunities (in-house, smaller firm, open own shop, or non-law), and you can see why most people leave big law within 5ish years.