Are billable hour targets hurting career development?

As has been widely reported, corporate lawyers’ salaries have been booming since the pandemic, driven by growing volumes of work and shortages of qualified staff. One consequence of this is longer working hours and higher targets, as firms seek value for their investment. Unfortunately, this leaves less time for practice development.

According to a post on the Legal Cheek in December 2022, 98% of UK firms surveyed said they had increased target hours for lawyers, with 47% doing so by over 10%. According to the same website, seven firms disclosed targets of at least 1,700 hours a year, with the highest being 1,950. PwC’s annual survey of the UK market found that the average number of chargeable hours across the top 100 law firms in 2022 was 1,373.

In the US, meanwhile, it was recently reported that law firm Perkins Coie has increased the number of hours that associates must work to get their full bonus from 1,950 to 2,000. And in Australia, a recent report found that billable hour targets are rising from 7.5 to 8 hours a day and the time to partnership is being pushed back by two years to 14 years.

Zombified associates

These reports are supported by anecdotal evidence from junior lawyers that they are expected to bill more hours, work later, and wait longer to become a partner compared to the generation ahead of them. It’s even prompted concerns from clients about “zombified” associates (see “In-house lawyers tell firms to lower the salaries of their juniors“).

One of the consequences of this, as some partners have mentioned to me recently, is that junior lawyers no longer have time to develop their practice with non-billable work such as writing articles, going to meetings, and giving talks. That’s ironic, given that these communication skills are more important than ever as every law firm has a website that needs to be filled with relevant, interesting content.

Twenty years ago, writing (or co-writing) articles and preparing talks would have been vital for any lawyer’s career development, but now these tasks risk being neglected. That’s inevitable when many lawyers find they are working until past 9pm on average, and (rightly) there is a greater emphasis on wellbeing and mental health.

Generating content

Given the pressure on associates, thinking creatively about thought leadership is essential. At Lextel, we work with a number of lawyers, including at associate level, to help them generate interesting content. Often, this is simply a case of taking an interesting idea and doing research to create a draft article or blog post on an interesting case, regulation or other development that the lawyer can then refine in their own style. Sometimes, it involves doing more extensive analysis on a trend or emerging area to provide substance for legal analysis. Occasionally, we’re asked to come up with original ideas for longer articles or white papers.

Whatever is needed, Lextel’s team of experienced former legal journalists and editors can deliver content that is relevant, timely, and trusted – thanks to our combined experience of the legal market and understanding of what clients need to know, and how to present it. We believe that helps law firms to stand out from peers, gives clients valuable insights – and can also help individual lawyers develop their own profile.

For more information, please contact one of our team.