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The Truth about the Billable Hour

By mdell

Yale law school's Career Development Office has posted a page that all would-be law students, and current law students, would benefit from inspecting closely.  The page, titled "The Truth about the Billable Hour," is a listing of the actual time it takes to bill 1800 and 2200 hours.  Their webpage notes that "Firms "average," "target" or "minimum" billables typically range between 1700 and 2300, although informal networks often quote much higher numbers." [emphasis added] The eye-opening truth about billable hours might make some think twice about a career in law, and will let others know what to expect.

For instance:

Target 2200 Billable Hours

Assume you "work" from 8:00am -                                      12.0
8:00pm each day

Assume you take an hour for                                                 -2.0
lunch and an hour for dinner

Assume you take four 15 minute                                           -1.0
bathroom/coffee breaks

Assume you will need the same                                              -.5
time for department meetings, conferences, and CLE

This means you "work" 12 hours                                             8.5
a day but bill only

You do this 5 days a week                                                         x 5

You have "worked" 60 hours but                                            42.5
have billed only

If you do this all year long, and we assume:
3 weeks vacation
2 weeks holiday
No sick days or personal days

You will work 47 weeks                                                           x 47

And have billed an average of                                              1997
To gain the needed 200+ hours you could
add two Saturdays a month

If you work 10-5 on these Saturdays with
1 nonbillable hour you will have 6 billables per
day x 2 = 12 x 12 months =                                                     144

For a new total of...                                                                 2141

Still Short!

So add another Saturday a month for 10
months (take a break in Nov. & Dec. for the Holidays)
6 x 10 months =                                                                           60

You made it!

You have billed                                                                         2201

However, you have been "at work"                                       3058

Excerpt taken from: http://www.law.yale.edu/outside/html/Career_Development/cdo-billable.htm

Posted by Marin Dell

Full post as published by FSU College of Law Library Blog on March 24, 2006 (boomark / email).