If you are a lawyer in private practice what is you billing target?

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I work in a mid size regional firm and our billing target is 3.75x salary. Out team admin also time records on our files so takes some of our fees.

After another a year of not hitting target and not getting a pay rise I am thoroughly pissed off.

It feels like the only people that hit target are those that work free over time. I've raised this and been told that I just need to time record more.

Just interested to know what other people's experiences are.

I don't do free over time as I work part time. It's seems the only people in my firm that hit target are those who work full time and do extra free over time

being a solicitor is not a work to rule profession. You are expected to work such hours as are necessary to do your job. Your target is pro rated if you’re part time so you should be doing pro rated hours but this includes those hours you think of as “unpaid overtime”.

I’m not surprised you are struggling to hit your targets if you’re treating it like an hourly paid job.

I'm judged on Billing targets, chargeable hours AND recoveries. So, if you put down all you spend on a job you may get your hours target, but your recovery rate will suffer. Unless you can justify overruns to a client which isn't always possible.

Not law. I'm an Auditor.

Sympathies, OP. Have also been a private practice lawyer part time, and it is tricky.

One thing that you do need to think about is whether there is any time that is essentially required of you but that isn't billable - conferences, team building, delivering training, speaking at conferences, KM, writing articles, trainee feedback. If this burden is equally on you as it would be on someone full time, then you have less time to work, iyswim. Although I liked the bits of my job involving mentoring and training and other things, I did take a hard line approach that I wouldn't do what wouldn't benefit me, so either I would pick and choose or they would give me credit for those useful hours above my pro rata share

Write off is a factor in most law firms too. You can’t just dump down loads of time if it’s not recoverable and still hit your targets.

chargeable hours, productive non changeable hours eg BD and write off are all relevant. Your effective billing rate is key.

My friend Jay Sahota, tha Masala Mentor on LinkedIn helps lawyers with time management ( not suggesting you have a problem) maybe look him up and see if his tips might help. I'm an accountant myself in a sole practice so I don't target myself that way.

I think some people have the impression that i'm not committed. I am, but I have boundaries.

I've just been promoted to senior associate (but didn't get a payrise....).

I have been using the clocks like a hawk but was just interested to know what other people's targets were.

3.75 x when having to give fees to admin who has now been reclassified as a 'paralegal ' irritates me.

We do monthly billing so I need to keep an eye on that, as often the partner burns through the fees at the beginning and I get stuck with the dregs (and write offs) at the end.

Not hitting the high target is used as a reason to not promote/pay rise across the firm.

As I write this I know the answer LEAVE!

Most firms have billable targets. Up to 2800 hours in an American firm, silver tier firms 1750-1900. To get your bonus or be promoted you need to do those hours and do BD and write articles etc, do pro bono. Of course some of your time will be written off. In a 12 hour day of being in the office I’d expect 8-10 is billable max, the rest you might be doing BD or training or admin. So, frankly, I don’t know what you mean by “free” overtime.

Surely the only work the paralegal is doing that can be recorded against the file is actual chargeable work? In which case it’s fair to give them their share. If it’s admin work then surely it should be recorded as non chargeable time which isn’t factored into billing?

I never mentioned dumping loads of time.

Would you consider in house, op? You might find it’s a better fit.

What is "free overtime" in the context of a solicitor's work? "Working hours" do not apply to solicitors. 12-14+ hour days are (sadly) the norm. And this is why part time does not really work in this profession (sadly). You are essentially working compressed hours rather than part-time. As others said, the usual metric is target hours. Anything from 1400 to 2800 hours. And the firms that advertise no targets, have "unofficial" ones.

You may want to consider an in-house position for a better work/life balance...

Oh god - go in-house. No billing targets, no time recording, decent salary. Need I continue…..

For all these ball busters talking about 12hr days that's not for me. I have children and a horse to see to.

I manage my case load, my manager (equity partner) is v. happy with my work, my clients are happy I'm just not happy with my shit salary.

I think I need to put my career back in the box that I had it in and accept that until I can /want to work more (all) hours I'm not going to earn well compared to my non lawyer friends who for clarity don't work 12 hr days!

Dh who did get made redundant (but now has a new job) earns 5x what I do and doesn't work 12 hr days.

Yes, I am really confused by anyone going into private practice as a profession and expecting to be able to just work their hours!

Life changes. Started in private practice years ago and now have children and other commitments. Why is that confusing?

I've worked part-time in law (various different arrangements) for years - agree with the previous poster that a part-time arrangement is often really compressed hours unless you're on a job share, and there are so many non-billable demands on your time that are the same whether your are full or part-time. That said, it was worth it for me to maintain my practice and have the balance with home life.

Absolutely agree re the non billable requirement being the same for part and full time work but as a part timer it's a bigger % of my time.

The fact that you’re surprised that you didn’t hit your targets whilst essentially working fixed hours is what’s confusing some posters. It sounds like it’s time for a change.

I’m also a real estate lawyer. My target is 1700 hours and I usually exceed it.

OP you basically have two options here to get a pay rise at your current firm. The first is to find a way to make the targets.

The second is to push them to give you a pay rise notwithstanding that. He problem here is I suspect that they have correctly clocked that you don’t wish to leave as you have part time hours, don’t wish to do more than nominal overtime, because this works for your life. All of which is fine. So the thing is there is no “need” to incentivise you to stay because they don’t think you’re a flight risk. Frankly appealing to fairness rarely works in law firms.

2.9 x salary here - target of £160k per year against an hourly rate of £225

I'm 5 years PQE and in Glasgow

I do t work overtime except in an emergency. I also don’t have any idea what my official target is. I just made myself indispensable due to the tasks I do for the firm, so people leave me be. Maybe find a different law firm.

When you say no pay raise, do you mean literally zero? Inflation is real so if you’re not getting anything, you’re getting a pay cut. When was the last time, your base pay increased?

I'm a lawyer and being a junior I was given the fixed fee work whereas my senior colleagues would do the corporate support work on big transactions that enabled them to press go on the clock and bill the lot. I on the other hand was running multiple cases for peanuts. I never hit target so went in-house. Best decision I ever made. More flexible, family friendly and better money.

I work in a fixed fee firm, our target is finishing x number of files per four week period, but if I workout an average fee x number of files closed then I think I’m billing around 5 or 6 times my salary per year. Our pay rise and bonus are based on hitting the target. We have to work “free overtime” to hit the target but the pay rise and bonus makes up for it.