\
  The most prestigious law school admissions discussion board in the world.
BackRefresh Options Favorite

Was/is anyone here an HONEST biller in biglaw?

i turned off my timer if I was just chatting with coworkers,...
charismatic internet-worthy dysfunction
  05/22/25
Look at this fucking nerd using a timer
Unhinged wonderful market
  05/23/25
230 with no fluff is fucking insane. I routinely billed 200 ...
Carmine curious theatre
  05/23/25
lol @ any "man" even using a timer, let alone turn...
bespoke dilemma therapy
  05/22/25
...
Ocher pit
  05/22/25
...
translucent plaza
  05/22/25
When I was above 200 my bills were most honest.
slap-happy coiffed preventive strike
  05/22/25
...
apoplectic stain turdskin
  05/22/25
I bill only for time where I'm 100% engaged, doing my best a...
demanding useless bawdyhouse
  05/22/25
Partner: Please see me
slap-happy coiffed preventive strike
  05/22/25
...
apoplectic stain turdskin
  05/22/25
I am the partner. That's what's so insane about this.
demanding useless bawdyhouse
  05/22/25
...
Ocher pit
  05/22/25
...
Soul-stirring opaque nowag
  05/23/25
...
comical personal credit line
  06/23/25
the internal moral stress of retaining honesty is a large re...
Self-centered point
  05/22/25
why bother retaining honesty? the whole thing is fraud
Carmine curious theatre
  05/23/25
On average probably padded 15 %. Consider it your “tip...
Mind-boggling toilet seat messiness
  05/22/25
18% is now normal and many biglaw firms are suggesting 20% o...
Ocher pit
  05/22/25
...
Mind-boggling toilet seat messiness
  05/22/25
...
Pearly 180 main people patrolman
  05/22/25
...
slap-happy coiffed preventive strike
  05/23/25
...
comical personal credit line
  06/23/25
My favorite story is still that Sidley associate who wrote a...
slap-happy coiffed preventive strike
  05/22/25
...
bespoke dilemma therapy
  05/22/25
...
Obsidian razzle-dazzle trailer park
  05/22/25
Any time I've been honest I've been passed up or fired Wh...
Obsidian razzle-dazzle trailer park
  05/22/25
...
Bipolar Area
  05/22/25
...
Ocher pit
  05/22/25
what happens when the truth comes out later?
charismatic internet-worthy dysfunction
  05/22/25
Never does imo It's all a big ponzi scheme and everyone e...
Obsidian razzle-dazzle trailer park
  05/22/25
people who make it see the truth immediately, xo autistd and...
pale den sound barrier
  05/23/25
I’m more of a look at my sent inbox and estimate type ...
racy lodge circlehead
  05/22/25
...
Soul-stirring opaque nowag
  05/23/25
While I would bill more than my actual time frequently, I ne...
Cerebral chrome stag film
  05/22/25
(superstar biglawyer)
laughsome lake house
  05/22/25
...
pale den sound barrier
  05/23/25
self preservation through mental gymnastics we're all good ...
fiercely-loyal gaping
  05/23/25
...
charismatic internet-worthy dysfunction
  05/22/25
If someone makes $15 an hour at McDonalds, you don't get to ...
multi-colored reading party stage
  05/22/25
>Similarly, when you get an email on your blackberry at 1...
bespoke dilemma therapy
  05/22/25
For a single email id do like a 0.3 or 0.4 but if you're ans...
multi-colored reading party stage
  05/22/25
wait why cant they mop the floor when orders get slow
boyish university headpube
  05/22/25
When its super slow, they should. When its just a short ...
multi-colored reading party stage
  05/22/25
im all for workers rights but i dont think mickey d's employ...
boyish university headpube
  05/22/25
...
slap-happy coiffed preventive strike
  05/23/25
this guy gets it
Carmine curious theatre
  05/23/25
I bill mainly based upon the value of my work product to the...
Hideous cerise weed whacker depressive
  05/22/25
(Wachtel)
slap-happy coiffed preventive strike
  05/23/25
Why would anyone be honest when you can inflate your hours b...
buff concupiscible really tough guy theater
  05/23/25
The thing most non-Jewish juniors don’t understand is ...
bespoke dilemma therapy
  05/23/25
Real talk: the people who get "caught" are overbil...
dashing brindle meetinghouse community account
  05/23/25
I once had to bill more than 24 hours in a day, because our ...
khaki tripping whorehouse
  05/23/25
I massively underbill by a few hundred hours a year, often t...
emerald antidepressant drug puppy
  05/23/25
lol
Unhinged wonderful market
  05/23/25
At my V5 prestigious elite M&A MFH shop at which I was c...
Unhinged wonderful market
  05/23/25
...
khaki tripping whorehouse
  05/23/25
The first thing my biglaw partner told me on day 1 is that y...
Aggressive cuck
  05/23/25
I'm not even joking when I say that it's rare and heartwarmi...
dashing brindle meetinghouse community account
  05/23/25
CR I have talked with enough friends and people inhouse to b...
Wild Titillating Quadroon
  06/23/25
Wasn't this the premise for Jim Carrey's Liar Liar?
Pearly 180 main people patrolman
  05/23/25


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:45 PM
Author: charismatic internet-worthy dysfunction

i turned off my timer if I was just chatting with coworkers, browsing the internet for personal stuff, using the restroom.

also, if I accidentally left my timer running when I wasn't working, I subtracted the excess time based on my rough estimate.

under this system, the most i ever billed in a month was 230, and that was absolutely hellish.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953664)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:41 AM
Author: Unhinged wonderful market

Look at this fucking nerd using a timer

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955796)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:17 AM
Author: Carmine curious theatre

230 with no fluff is fucking insane. I routinely billed 200 a month but actually workd like a hundred or so

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48956128)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:48 PM
Author: bespoke dilemma therapy

lol @ any "man" even using a timer, let alone turning it off. are u a fempoaster?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953677)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:10 PM
Author: Ocher pit



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953775)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:49 PM
Author: translucent plaza



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953683)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:51 PM
Author: slap-happy coiffed preventive strike

When I was above 200 my bills were most honest.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953693)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:52 PM
Author: apoplectic stain turdskin



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953696)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:53 PM
Author: demanding useless bawdyhouse

I bill only for time where I'm 100% engaged, doing my best and adding value

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953697)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:57 PM
Author: slap-happy coiffed preventive strike

Partner: Please see me

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953711)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:58 PM
Author: apoplectic stain turdskin



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953719)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:01 PM
Author: demanding useless bawdyhouse

I am the partner. That's what's so insane about this.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953730)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:10 PM
Author: Ocher pit



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953776)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:32 AM
Author: Soul-stirring opaque nowag



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48956167)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 23rd, 2025 1:24 AM
Author: comical personal credit line



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#49041751)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:55 PM
Author: Self-centered point

the internal moral stress of retaining honesty is a large reason why I left biglaw

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953704)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:18 AM
Author: Carmine curious theatre

why bother retaining honesty? the whole thing is fraud

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48956129)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:00 PM
Author: Mind-boggling toilet seat messiness

On average probably padded 15 %. Consider it your “tip” for your services.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953725)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:11 PM
Author: Ocher pit

18% is now normal and many biglaw firms are suggesting 20% or even 22%

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953779)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:18 PM
Author: Mind-boggling toilet seat messiness



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953815)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:19 PM
Author: Pearly 180 main people patrolman



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953820)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 6:26 AM
Author: slap-happy coiffed preventive strike



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955678)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 23rd, 2025 1:24 AM
Author: comical personal credit line



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#49041752)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:12 PM
Author: slap-happy coiffed preventive strike

My favorite story is still that Sidley associate who wrote an essay admitting to billing fraud and Sidley was like, “we checked and everything looked good to us. Here’s a ten percent rebate.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953784)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:13 PM
Author: bespoke dilemma therapy



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953787)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:23 PM
Author: Obsidian razzle-dazzle trailer park



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953844)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:17 PM
Author: Obsidian razzle-dazzle trailer park

Any time I've been honest I've been passed up or fired

When applying I'd give honest solid resumes all passed up

Then I lie even a little bit and they all bite

I tell clients realistic timetables that are still aggressive but reasonable passed or fired eventually

Now I straight up lie

Employment is a satanic system built around forcing u to lie cheat and steal in some sick humiliation ritual

Few ever see the truth about this

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953813)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:19 PM
Author: Bipolar Area



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953819)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:21 PM
Author: Ocher pit



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48953828)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 2:51 PM
Author: charismatic internet-worthy dysfunction

what happens when the truth comes out later?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48954139)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 2:54 PM
Author: Obsidian razzle-dazzle trailer park

Never does imo

It's all a big ponzi scheme and everyone else is in on it trying not to be caught

Seems like u only get "caught" if u step out of line politically (call out jews etc) or are bottom of the barrel and are essentially a Aztec pyramid blood sacrifice

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48954150)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:29 AM
Author: pale den sound barrier

people who make it see the truth immediately, xo autistd and women struggle

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955867)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 4:50 PM
Author: racy lodge circlehead

I’m more of a look at my sent inbox and estimate type of bro

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48954460)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:33 AM
Author: Soul-stirring opaque nowag



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48956169)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 4:55 PM
Author: Cerebral chrome stag film

While I would bill more than my actual time frequently, I never billed for more than the "value" of my work product. So yes I was honest.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48954471)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 5:22 PM
Author: laughsome lake house

(superstar biglawyer)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48954578)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:29 AM
Author: pale den sound barrier



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955868)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:28 AM
Author: fiercely-loyal gaping

self preservation through mental gymnastics

we're all good people, right? especially me.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48956161)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 5:14 PM
Author: charismatic internet-worthy dysfunction



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48954529)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 9:45 PM
Author: multi-colored reading party stage

If someone makes $15 an hour at McDonalds, you don't get to dock their pay because when the orders got slow, they chatted with their cowrker rather than mopped the floor.

The same thing applies to law. You take the time you were at work, working, and you divide proportionally.

It's not natural for a person to read 500 pages of bonds without a break - in fact most research says you need to take periodic breaks for your mind to regenerate.

YOu shouldn't "pause your timer" after draftig some document because you're taking a lap to the water cooler or checking Facebook for a bit because you can't rewrite Section 13.6 e.

Similarly, when you get an email on your blackberry at 11 pm, and it takes you 3 minutes to respond - that's not billed as a 0.05 hour. You had to be on call to check for that email, then you lost the momentum from your evening, you're going to think about that email for 10 minutes after, and the deal will be in your head for whatever else you were planning on doing that night.

My point being that whenever your brain is required to be in "work mode" - someone should be paying for that.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955165)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:27 PM
Author: bespoke dilemma therapy

>Similarly, when you get an email on your blackberry at 11 pm, and it takes you 3 minutes to respond - that's not billed as a 0.05 hour. You had to be on call to check for that email, then you lost the momentum from your evening, you're going to think about that email for 10 minutes after, and the deal will be in your head for whatever else you were planning on doing that night.

so what do you bill for that? 1.25 to me makes sense

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955247)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:31 PM
Author: multi-colored reading party stage

For a single email id do like a 0.3 or 0.4 but if you're answering multiple hours then i feel like the entire time is fair game

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955262)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:35 PM
Author: boyish university headpube

wait why cant they mop the floor when orders get slow

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955265)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:40 PM
Author: multi-colored reading party stage

When its super slow, they should.

When its just a short break, people would quit if they were expected to be fully working 100% of the time.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955278)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:42 PM
Author: boyish university headpube

im all for workers rights but i dont think mickey d's employees can actually quit. thats mickey d's whole business model.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955287)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 6:28 AM
Author: slap-happy coiffed preventive strike



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955680)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:21 AM
Author: Carmine curious theatre

this guy gets it

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48956141)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:51 PM
Author: Hideous cerise weed whacker depressive

I bill mainly based upon the value of my work product to the client. If I work hard on something but don't end up with a product that helps the client very much then I will actually underbill for my hours spent. Usually the product is good, though, and then I'm pretty fucking loose in my billing. Me and everyone else I know.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955307)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 6:28 AM
Author: slap-happy coiffed preventive strike

(Wachtel)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955681)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 7:31 AM
Author: buff concupiscible really tough guy theater

Why would anyone be honest when you can inflate your hours by 50% without drawing suspicion? 1500 gets you fired, 2250 gets you a bonus. The only people who ever get caught do colossally stupid shit like bill more than 24 hours in a day, bill for work that was never done, etc.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955722)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:43 AM
Author: bespoke dilemma therapy

The thing most non-Jewish juniors don’t understand is that the firm WANTS you to inflate your bill by 50%. Incentives are entirely aligned.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955798)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:06 AM
Author: dashing brindle meetinghouse community account

Real talk: the people who get "caught" are overbilling by 200-500%, not flame. It's like the young woman who spends too long with one foot out the door, or the dude with developing mental illness who's unable to do more than an hour or two of work a couple times a week. And they're ID'd for qualitative reasons, not the billing itself, which is often a straight-up pretext to expedite getting rid of the person.



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955831)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:24 AM
Author: khaki tripping whorehouse

I once had to bill more than 24 hours in a day, because our faggy billing system automatically populated 8 hours on holidays. I think this was for the benefit of the hourly employees, but it carried over for salaried lawyers too. Anyway, I ended up working an 18 hour day on Thanksgiving, which the system wouldn't accept. Getting that sorted with the billing system retard was a nightmare.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48956150)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:41 AM
Author: emerald antidepressant drug puppy

I massively underbill by a few hundred hours a year, often to the benefit of nobody (lots of contingency matters).

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955792)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:41 AM
Author: Unhinged wonderful market

lol

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955794)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:44 AM
Author: Unhinged wonderful market

At my V5 prestigious elite M&A MFH shop at which I was considered a top associate we had a universal understanding on asshole taxes for work that came in Friday afternoon with a “don’t kill your self on this, Monday AM is fine for a markup”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955799)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:31 AM
Author: khaki tripping whorehouse



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48956165)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:08 AM
Author: Aggressive cuck

The first thing my biglaw partner told me on day 1 is that you never log anything less than a 0.4 even if you spend 30 seconds on it because whatever you’re doing is taking you away from something else you could be doing and billing for

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955837)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:15 AM
Author: dashing brindle meetinghouse community account

I'm not even joking when I say that it's rare and heartwarming to hear about a partner looking out for a young person like that.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48955848)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 23rd, 2025 1:55 AM
Author: Wild Titillating Quadroon

CR I have talked with enough friends and people inhouse to be certain that nearly everyone who made it 5+ years at one firm had a partner or senior associate that both coached them up and did a bunch of internal marketing for them. In that sense biglaw is not really that different from other workplaces except it has this preposterous meritocracy mythology that completely overlooks this obviously central factor. It’s very weird to me that still to this day it’s not CW to go to a worse firm if eg you’re coming from a higher ranked lol school than they typically get and will treat you like you’re supposed to be a superstar when you’re a first year.v

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#49041779)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:35 AM
Author: Pearly 180 main people patrolman

Wasn't this the premise for Jim Carrey's Liar Liar?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5728819&forum_id=2Elisa#48956178)