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Was/is anyone here an HONEST biller in biglaw?

i turned off my timer if I was just chatting with coworkers,...
Multi-colored bistre theater stage
  05/22/25
Look at this fucking nerd using a timer
Rose yapping stain
  05/23/25
230 with no fluff is fucking insane. I routinely billed 200 ...
ultramarine site
  05/23/25
lol @ any "man" even using a timer, let alone turn...
Trip Nubile Theatre Mother
  05/22/25
...
Splenetic Motley Ceo
  05/22/25
...
free-loading crotch partner
  05/22/25
When I was above 200 my bills were most honest.
Concupiscible Domesticated Laser Beams Library
  05/22/25
...
Iridescent Pit
  05/22/25
I bill only for time where I'm 100% engaged, doing my best a...
Brilliant odious point newt
  05/22/25
Partner: Please see me
Concupiscible Domesticated Laser Beams Library
  05/22/25
...
Iridescent Pit
  05/22/25
I am the partner. That's what's so insane about this.
Brilliant odious point newt
  05/22/25
...
Splenetic Motley Ceo
  05/22/25
...
effete casino
  05/23/25
...
Tan hyperventilating kitchen famous landscape painting
  06/23/25
the internal moral stress of retaining honesty is a large re...
buff irradiated circlehead people who are hurt
  05/22/25
why bother retaining honesty? the whole thing is fraud
ultramarine site
  05/23/25
On average probably padded 15 %. Consider it your “tip...
exciting orchestra pit
  05/22/25
18% is now normal and many biglaw firms are suggesting 20% o...
Splenetic Motley Ceo
  05/22/25
...
exciting orchestra pit
  05/22/25
...
bearded french chef
  05/22/25
...
Concupiscible Domesticated Laser Beams Library
  05/23/25
...
Tan hyperventilating kitchen famous landscape painting
  06/23/25
My favorite story is still that Sidley associate who wrote a...
Concupiscible Domesticated Laser Beams Library
  05/22/25
...
Trip Nubile Theatre Mother
  05/22/25
...
khaki abode giraffe
  05/22/25
...
khaki abode giraffe
  05/22/25
...
racy flickering crackhouse puppy
  05/22/25
...
Splenetic Motley Ceo
  05/22/25
what happens when the truth comes out later?
Multi-colored bistre theater stage
  05/22/25
...
khaki abode giraffe
  05/22/25
people who make it see the truth immediately, xo autistd and...
adventurous state quadroon
  05/23/25
I’m more of a look at my sent inbox and estimate type ...
white school sandwich
  05/22/25
...
effete casino
  05/23/25
While I would bill more than my actual time frequently, I ne...
Charismatic spruce halford
  05/22/25
(superstar biglawyer)
Cobalt corn cake old irish cottage
  05/22/25
...
adventurous state quadroon
  05/23/25
self preservation through mental gymnastics we're all good ...
cordovan multi-billionaire travel guidebook
  05/23/25
...
Multi-colored bistre theater stage
  05/22/25
If someone makes $15 an hour at McDonalds, you don't get to ...
bearded startling theater
  05/22/25
>Similarly, when you get an email on your blackberry at 1...
Trip Nubile Theatre Mother
  05/22/25
For a single email id do like a 0.3 or 0.4 but if you're ans...
bearded startling theater
  05/22/25
wait why cant they mop the floor when orders get slow
adulterous hominid rigpig
  05/22/25
When its super slow, they should. When its just a short ...
bearded startling theater
  05/22/25
im all for workers rights but i dont think mickey d's employ...
adulterous hominid rigpig
  05/22/25
...
Concupiscible Domesticated Laser Beams Library
  05/23/25
this guy gets it
ultramarine site
  05/23/25
I bill mainly based upon the value of my work product to the...
federal meetinghouse black woman
  05/22/25
(Wachtel)
Concupiscible Domesticated Laser Beams Library
  05/23/25
Why would anyone be honest when you can inflate your hours b...
jet-lagged bipolar institution trump supporter
  05/23/25
The thing most non-Jewish juniors don’t understand is ...
Trip Nubile Theatre Mother
  05/23/25
Real talk: the people who get "caught" are overbil...
drunken lime spot
  05/23/25
I once had to bill more than 24 hours in a day, because our ...
contagious scarlet cumskin
  05/23/25
I massively underbill by a few hundred hours a year, often t...
irate impertinent cruise ship
  05/23/25
lol
Rose yapping stain
  05/23/25
At my V5 prestigious elite M&A MFH shop at which I was c...
Rose yapping stain
  05/23/25
...
contagious scarlet cumskin
  05/23/25
The first thing my biglaw partner told me on day 1 is that y...
Mustard Aromatic Shitlib
  05/23/25
I'm not even joking when I say that it's rare and heartwarmi...
drunken lime spot
  05/23/25
CR I have talked with enough friends and people inhouse to b...
pale impressive office ratface
  06/23/25
Wasn't this the premise for Jim Carrey's Liar Liar?
bearded french chef
  05/23/25


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:45 PM
Author: Multi-colored bistre theater stage

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=2:#48953664)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:41 AM
Author: Rose yapping stain

Look at this fucking nerd using a timer

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:17 AM
Author: ultramarine site

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=2:#48956128)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:48 PM
Author: Trip Nubile Theatre Mother

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=2:#48953677)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:10 PM
Author: Splenetic Motley Ceo



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:49 PM
Author: free-loading crotch partner



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:51 PM
Author: Concupiscible Domesticated Laser Beams Library

When I was above 200 my bills were most honest.

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:52 PM
Author: Iridescent Pit



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:53 PM
Author: Brilliant odious point newt

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=2:#48953697)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:57 PM
Author: Concupiscible Domesticated Laser Beams Library

Partner: Please see me

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:58 PM
Author: Iridescent Pit



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:01 PM
Author: Brilliant odious point newt

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

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:10 PM
Author: Splenetic Motley Ceo



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:32 AM
Author: effete casino



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



Reply Favorite

Date: June 23rd, 2025 1:24 AM
Author: Tan hyperventilating kitchen famous landscape painting



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:55 PM
Author: buff irradiated circlehead people who are hurt

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=2:#48953704)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:18 AM
Author: ultramarine site

why bother retaining honesty? the whole thing is fraud

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:00 PM
Author: exciting orchestra pit

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

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:11 PM
Author: Splenetic Motley Ceo

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=2:#48953779)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:18 PM
Author: exciting orchestra pit



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:19 PM
Author: bearded french chef



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 6:26 AM
Author: Concupiscible Domesticated Laser Beams Library



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



Reply Favorite

Date: June 23rd, 2025 1:24 AM
Author: Tan hyperventilating kitchen famous landscape painting



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:12 PM
Author: Concupiscible Domesticated Laser Beams Library

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=2:#48953784)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:13 PM
Author: Trip Nubile Theatre Mother



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:23 PM
Author: khaki abode giraffe



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:17 PM
Author: khaki abode giraffe



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:19 PM
Author: racy flickering crackhouse puppy



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:21 PM
Author: Splenetic Motley Ceo



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 2:51 PM
Author: Multi-colored bistre theater stage

what happens when the truth comes out later?

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 2:54 PM
Author: khaki abode giraffe



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:29 AM
Author: adventurous state quadroon

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

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 4:50 PM
Author: white school sandwich

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=2:#48954460)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:33 AM
Author: effete casino



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 4:55 PM
Author: Charismatic spruce halford

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=2:#48954471)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 5:22 PM
Author: Cobalt corn cake old irish cottage

(superstar biglawyer)

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:29 AM
Author: adventurous state quadroon



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:28 AM
Author: cordovan multi-billionaire travel guidebook

self preservation through mental gymnastics

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

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 5:14 PM
Author: Multi-colored bistre theater stage



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 9:45 PM
Author: bearded startling theater

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=2:#48955165)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:27 PM
Author: Trip Nubile Theatre Mother

>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=2:#48955247)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:31 PM
Author: bearded startling theater

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=2:#48955262)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:35 PM
Author: adulterous hominid rigpig

wait why cant they mop the floor when orders get slow

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:40 PM
Author: bearded startling theater

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=2:#48955278)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:42 PM
Author: adulterous hominid rigpig

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=2:#48955287)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 6:28 AM
Author: Concupiscible Domesticated Laser Beams Library



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:21 AM
Author: ultramarine site

this guy gets it

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:51 PM
Author: federal meetinghouse black woman

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=2:#48955307)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 6:28 AM
Author: Concupiscible Domesticated Laser Beams Library

(Wachtel)

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 7:31 AM
Author: jet-lagged bipolar institution trump supporter

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=2:#48955722)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:43 AM
Author: Trip Nubile Theatre Mother

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=2:#48955798)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:06 AM
Author: drunken lime spot

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=2:#48955831)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:24 AM
Author: contagious scarlet cumskin

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=2:#48956150)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:41 AM
Author: irate impertinent cruise ship

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=2:#48955792)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:41 AM
Author: Rose yapping stain

lol

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:44 AM
Author: Rose yapping stain

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=2:#48955799)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:31 AM
Author: contagious scarlet cumskin



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:08 AM
Author: Mustard Aromatic Shitlib

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=2:#48955837)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:15 AM
Author: drunken lime spot

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=2:#48955848)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 23rd, 2025 1:55 AM
Author: pale impressive office ratface

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=2:#49041779)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:35 AM
Author: bearded french chef

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

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