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Biglaw Bros: Questions about billing
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Date: February 21st, 2012 7:15 PM Author: Supple insane base philosopher-king If you spend 10 hours doing 4 or 5 different things for a client, do you bill them separately or altogether?
Do you bill bathroom breaks or coffee breaks? (Assume 5 to 15 minutes per 2 hours)
What about if you eat lunch at your desk and are less efficient? |
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Date: February 21st, 2012 7:16 PM Author: Exhilarant Lilac Mad Cow Disease Nice flamethread man (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1879931&forum_id=2#20019343) |
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Date: March 2nd, 2012 9:11 PM Author: impertinent forum (1) Altogether unless there is a specific request not to, and even then I forget to break it down alot.
(2) Bathroom, yes. Coffee, no. I do take bathroom breaks pretty often, partly to just clear my head.
(3) I eat lunch at my desk often but generally don't do work while eating. Hard to focus while you're eating.
I usually won't write off time to inefficiency if I'm just, say, working slightly slower than normal because I'm tired or if space out for a minute or whatever after working on something boring. But I'll write off time if I go play on the internet or something.
It also depends on the day and the client. If I like the client, I'll write off time if I feel I should have spent less time. If I don't like the client, I never ever do that. I have on rare occasions even engaged in a good ol' union-style work slowdown if the client / project sucks enough. |
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Date: March 2nd, 2012 10:02 PM Author: Unholy Fuchsia Box Office Seems right.
Have you ever pulled the ol' look at the timer, thinking you've slaved away for 2 hours, see its only been 40 minutes and give yourself a 1 hr addition? |
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Date: March 2nd, 2012 10:33 PM Author: impertinent forum Nah, I wouldn't do that. But if some client demands that I stay until 2AM doing mindless, repetitive shit so that there's a 1% chance that the deal closes one day sooner, they can't ALSO expect that I spend every moment pushing myself to the limit to make sure that I am the most efficient possible corporate cog ever created and that my one sole desire in life is get aneurysm in order to reduce the bill on their multi-million or billion dollar transaction by $75 or whatever. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1879931&forum_id=2#20109890) |
Date: February 21st, 2012 7:17 PM Author: Vibrant Avocado Heaven don't take coffee breaks, sometimes bill bathroom breaks (impractical to stop the clock for the 3-4 minutes)
bill separately depending on nature of work and client/partner demands
no inefficiency discount |
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Date: February 21st, 2012 7:21 PM Author: Supple insane base philosopher-king Elaborate on "depending on the nature of the work" (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1879931&forum_id=2#20019365) |
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Date: February 21st, 2012 7:21 PM Author: Vibrant Avocado Heaven decline (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1879931&forum_id=2#20019369) |
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Date: February 21st, 2012 7:21 PM Author: Bat shit crazy stead just ask your partner. some clients want block billing. some clients want you to separate everything, including your piss breaks. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1879931&forum_id=2#20019370) |
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Date: February 21st, 2012 7:20 PM Author: Violet Brethren if only it were possible to be this accurate with billing. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1879931&forum_id=2#20019364) |
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Date: March 2nd, 2012 10:04 PM Author: Unholy Fuchsia Box Office Lol. I always click the wrong button, miss the button etc since I'm doing four things for five clients at any one time. In the end I just say 'meh, evens out"
Incidentally, I am NEVER paying for jr associates if I become GC of a major corp. |
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Date: March 2nd, 2012 9:14 PM Author: Shaky Bateful Area Kitty I normally input my hours once per week. I know very few associates who bill with any precision. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1879931&forum_id=2#20108950) |
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Date: March 2nd, 2012 9:17 PM Author: impertinent forum I use a little timer and fill out entries every night or the next morning, but that's rare. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1879931&forum_id=2#20108975) |
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Date: March 2nd, 2012 9:17 PM Author: heady ivory french chef I split them up, and you're definitely supposed to.
I don't count specific breaks, but I discount a bit for the knowledge that I take a shitload of breaks.
I don't work during lunch. If I am less efficient, I tend to discount a bit (but you're definitely not supposed to).
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Date: March 2nd, 2012 9:22 PM Author: impertinent forum Not all firms / clients want you to split up entries. I generally don't and have never had problems.
I've even done "15.75 hours -- Closing tasks for closing XYZ deal" on occasion and nobody has ever said anything about it.
Probably because they realize I would stab them in the eye if they bitched me out about my sixteen hour day. |
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Date: March 2nd, 2012 9:37 PM Author: Canary lascivious theater stage people who are hurt You're definitely not supposed to break up into separate entries unless you're doing BK. One entry listing everything you did is sufficient. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1879931&forum_id=2#20109206) |
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Date: March 2nd, 2012 9:55 PM Author: heady ivory french chef Hmm, well, sounds like it varies by firm. Our firm's orientation was mostly devoted to scaring all practice groups into doing that. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1879931&forum_id=2#20109397) |
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Date: March 2nd, 2012 10:05 PM Author: Unholy Fuchsia Box Office Have you ever looked at a legit lawyers time entries? Lol, they actually keep track of that shit. Lol at my life. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1879931&forum_id=2#20109516) |