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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,...
exciting painfully honest stage hominid
  05/22/25
Look at this fucking nerd using a timer
maroon hairraiser mother
  05/23/25
230 with no fluff is fucking insane. I routinely billed 200 ...
Cordovan Violent Gaping
  05/23/25
lol @ any "man" even using a timer, let alone turn...
Twisted box office
  05/22/25
...
Maize talented faggot firefighter field
  05/22/25
...
sexy pontificating senate fanboi
  05/22/25
When I was above 200 my bills were most honest.
honey-headed famous landscape painting base
  05/22/25
...
Sapphire Resort
  05/22/25
I bill only for time where I'm 100% engaged, doing my best a...
Appetizing Narrow-minded Sneaky Criminal Toilet Seat
  05/22/25
Partner: Please see me
honey-headed famous landscape painting base
  05/22/25
...
Sapphire Resort
  05/22/25
I am the partner. That's what's so insane about this.
Appetizing Narrow-minded Sneaky Criminal Toilet Seat
  05/22/25
...
Maize talented faggot firefighter field
  05/22/25
...
Abusive Weed Whacker Sanctuary
  05/23/25
...
Rambunctious spectacular mood office
  06/23/25
the internal moral stress of retaining honesty is a large re...
sooty godawful pozpig rehab
  05/22/25
why bother retaining honesty? the whole thing is fraud
Cordovan Violent Gaping
  05/23/25
On average probably padded 15 %. Consider it your “tip...
racy underhanded main people legal warrant
  05/22/25
18% is now normal and many biglaw firms are suggesting 20% o...
Maize talented faggot firefighter field
  05/22/25
...
racy underhanded main people legal warrant
  05/22/25
...
Brindle Histrionic Area
  05/22/25
...
honey-headed famous landscape painting base
  05/23/25
...
Rambunctious spectacular mood office
  06/23/25
My favorite story is still that Sidley associate who wrote a...
honey-headed famous landscape painting base
  05/22/25
...
Twisted box office
  05/22/25
...
Plum Native International Law Enforcement Agency
  05/22/25
...
Plum Native International Law Enforcement Agency
  05/22/25
...
splenetic ivory church
  05/22/25
...
Maize talented faggot firefighter field
  05/22/25
what happens when the truth comes out later?
exciting painfully honest stage hominid
  05/22/25
...
Plum Native International Law Enforcement Agency
  05/22/25
people who make it see the truth immediately, xo autistd and...
mischievous parlor
  05/23/25
I’m more of a look at my sent inbox and estimate type ...
cerebral indian lodge son of senegal
  05/22/25
...
Abusive Weed Whacker Sanctuary
  05/23/25
While I would bill more than my actual time frequently, I ne...
yapping nursing home water buffalo
  05/22/25
(superstar biglawyer)
Salmon Razzle-dazzle Market
  05/22/25
...
mischievous parlor
  05/23/25
self preservation through mental gymnastics we're all good ...
crawly bateful space keepsake machete
  05/23/25
...
exciting painfully honest stage hominid
  05/22/25
If someone makes $15 an hour at McDonalds, you don't get to ...
Territorial locus
  05/22/25
>Similarly, when you get an email on your blackberry at 1...
Twisted box office
  05/22/25
For a single email id do like a 0.3 or 0.4 but if you're ans...
Territorial locus
  05/22/25
wait why cant they mop the floor when orders get slow
ruddy concupiscible foreskin
  05/22/25
When its super slow, they should. When its just a short ...
Territorial locus
  05/22/25
im all for workers rights but i dont think mickey d's employ...
ruddy concupiscible foreskin
  05/22/25
...
honey-headed famous landscape painting base
  05/23/25
this guy gets it
Cordovan Violent Gaping
  05/23/25
I bill mainly based upon the value of my work product to the...
milky home tattoo
  05/22/25
(Wachtel)
honey-headed famous landscape painting base
  05/23/25
Why would anyone be honest when you can inflate your hours b...
Tantric jet ape roommate
  05/23/25
The thing most non-Jewish juniors don’t understand is ...
Twisted box office
  05/23/25
Real talk: the people who get "caught" are overbil...
Jade Excitant Messiness Therapy
  05/23/25
I once had to bill more than 24 hours in a day, because our ...
Bonkers translucent center nibblets
  05/23/25
I massively underbill by a few hundred hours a year, often t...
Copper principal's office
  05/23/25
lol
maroon hairraiser mother
  05/23/25
At my V5 prestigious elite M&A MFH shop at which I was c...
maroon hairraiser mother
  05/23/25
...
Bonkers translucent center nibblets
  05/23/25
The first thing my biglaw partner told me on day 1 is that y...
Laughsome community account institution
  05/23/25
I'm not even joking when I say that it's rare and heartwarmi...
Jade Excitant Messiness Therapy
  05/23/25
CR I have talked with enough friends and people inhouse to b...
slap-happy hateful business firm
  06/23/25
Wasn't this the premise for Jim Carrey's Liar Liar?
Brindle Histrionic Area
  05/23/25


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:45 PM
Author: exciting painfully honest stage hominid

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: maroon hairraiser mother

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: Cordovan Violent Gaping

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: Twisted box office

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: Maize talented faggot firefighter field



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:49 PM
Author: sexy pontificating senate fanboi



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:51 PM
Author: honey-headed famous landscape painting base

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: Sapphire Resort



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:53 PM
Author: Appetizing Narrow-minded Sneaky Criminal Toilet Seat

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: honey-headed famous landscape painting base

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: Sapphire Resort



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:01 PM
Author: Appetizing Narrow-minded Sneaky Criminal Toilet Seat

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: Maize talented faggot firefighter field



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:32 AM
Author: Abusive Weed Whacker Sanctuary



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



Reply Favorite

Date: June 23rd, 2025 1:24 AM
Author: Rambunctious spectacular mood office



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:55 PM
Author: sooty godawful pozpig rehab

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: Cordovan Violent Gaping

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: racy underhanded main people legal warrant

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: Maize talented faggot firefighter field

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: racy underhanded main people legal warrant



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



Reply Favorite

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



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 6:26 AM
Author: honey-headed famous landscape painting base



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



Reply Favorite

Date: June 23rd, 2025 1:24 AM
Author: Rambunctious spectacular mood office



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:12 PM
Author: honey-headed famous landscape painting base

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: Twisted box office



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:23 PM
Author: Plum Native International Law Enforcement Agency



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:17 PM
Author: Plum Native International Law Enforcement Agency



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:19 PM
Author: splenetic ivory church



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:21 PM
Author: Maize talented faggot firefighter field



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 2:51 PM
Author: exciting painfully honest stage hominid

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: Plum Native International Law Enforcement Agency



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:29 AM
Author: mischievous parlor

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: cerebral indian lodge son of senegal

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: Abusive Weed Whacker Sanctuary



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 4:55 PM
Author: yapping nursing home water buffalo

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: Salmon Razzle-dazzle Market

(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: mischievous parlor



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:28 AM
Author: crawly bateful space keepsake machete

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: exciting painfully honest stage hominid



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 9:45 PM
Author: Territorial locus

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: Twisted box office

>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: Territorial locus

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: ruddy concupiscible foreskin

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: Territorial locus

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: ruddy concupiscible foreskin

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: honey-headed famous landscape painting base



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:21 AM
Author: Cordovan Violent Gaping

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: milky home tattoo

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: honey-headed famous landscape painting base

(Wachtel)

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 7:31 AM
Author: Tantric jet ape roommate

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: Twisted box office

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: Jade Excitant Messiness Therapy

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: Bonkers translucent center nibblets

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: Copper principal's office

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: maroon hairraiser mother

lol

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:44 AM
Author: maroon hairraiser mother

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: Bonkers translucent center nibblets



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:08 AM
Author: Laughsome community account institution

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: Jade Excitant Messiness Therapy

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: slap-happy hateful business firm

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: Brindle Histrionic Area

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

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