Big Law’s 2,400 Hours Bar Isn’t New. It’s the Path to Partnership

When I was a junior associate, I received some advice from a senior partner that came straight out of “Swimming Lessons for Baby Sharks,” a Grover Cleveland book that purportedly teaches young lawyers how to survive the cutthroat world of law practice.

“Come into the office on Saturdays,” the senior partner said, “even if you don’t need to. Someone will always be in the office, and any good assignments will go to you first. And you’ll have a head start over the other associates going into the next week.”

At that time, I was new to billing hours, quickly realizing how much of a day is “non-billable” such as eating (0.6 hours), scrolling on my phone (too many), and sitting in traffic (1.3 hours). I resented every minute. “Can’t I just do my work and go home?” I thought.

But he was right. That is, if you want to stay on partner track.

King & Spalding recently announced that associates at the firm are required to hit 2,400 “productive hours” a year to remain in “good standing” at the firm. While 1,950 is still the billable hour requirement for bonus eligibility, associates are also supposed to participate in other firm related non-billable tasks on top of client service.

Let’s be clear: 2,400 hours a year is a lot of hours. To put things in perspective, divided by 52 weeks, we’re talking about 46 hours a week, every single week, assuming no vacations and no time off. Unsurprisingly, this didn’t land well.

Looking at this from the associates’ perspective, one can see where they are coming from. It has been a full five-and-a-half years since the nation shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In that time, law schools have graduated a full six graduating classes of new lawyers.

Most associates at the largest firms in the country don’t remember a time when the entire white-collar workforce got up in the morning and commuted to offices five (or six) days a week. Despite this, these young lawyers work so hard that their law firms, and their equity partners, earn record profits every year. Shouldn’t this be enough?

Well, it’s not. The 2,400 hour a year mandate is the same advice given to me years before, but in different packaging.

The advice is this: A person who is driven to want to be a part-owner of a billion dollar partnership, whether in law, consulting, or finance will gladly do more than the minimum hours expected. A lot more.

Yes, they will produce good client work, but they will also prospect, attend industry events, participate in firm committees, meet other lawyers, have coffee with potential clients, recruit new lawyers to their firms, and network. Week after week, 450 hours a year.

And even though all Big Law firms aren’t explicitly requiring a large number of “productive” hours, that doesn’t mean they don’t quietly require it anyway.

I didn’t heed the senior partner’s advice. I left the practice of law and entered the legal recruiting industry. Over the past decade, I spoke to thousands of young lawyers, many of whom are now Big Law partners. There is still an expectation to go above and beyond the billable hour at big firms and putting aside the arguments on whether this should be the case, it’s the reality.

I’ve met some young lawyers for whom law is their life and that 2,400 hours will likely be easily surpassed: They read books about law for fun, constantly volunteer for industry events, mentor younger lawyers, and are responsive to a fault. I hope they get that brass ring of partnership; they sure earned it. And I’m not saying the rest should settle for peanuts. Pretty much every attorney in Big Law is really clever and has a lot to contribute...somewhere.

If the advice to remain in “good standing” is to do more than you’ve been doing, then something has to change. Find something “productive” that plays up your skills. A more senior lawyer who has worked with you can help identify what makes you productive; your best contribution may not be what you think nor even what you love.

Think beyond the obvious tasks such as attending industry events or recruiting 2Ls, though those are important too.
Are there people in your network that could be helpful to your practice? Are you good at writing about changes in the law that a layperson won’t fall asleep reading? If your contributions aren’t being recognized, don’t be quietly resentful. I’ve worked with many candidates over the years, and helped them realize there are many paths—even in a law firm—to allow them to have a good career and a reasonable lifestyle.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, and Bloomberg Government, or its owners.

Author Information

Jessica Chin Somers is a recovering lawyer and legal recruiter at Kinney Recruiting.

Write for Us: Author Guidelines