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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,...
nudist nursing home
  05/22/25
Look at this fucking nerd using a timer
Galvanic Institution
  05/23/25
230 with no fluff is fucking insane. I routinely billed 200 ...
Avocado set
  05/23/25
lol @ any "man" even using a timer, let alone turn...
Brindle provocative immigrant
  05/22/25
...
exciting drunken state fat ankles
  05/22/25
...
confused juggernaut
  05/22/25
When I was above 200 my bills were most honest.
appetizing place of business factory reset button
  05/22/25
...
Crusty Gold Feces
  05/22/25
I bill only for time where I'm 100% engaged, doing my best a...
Salmon fantasy-prone university
  05/22/25
Partner: Please see me
appetizing place of business factory reset button
  05/22/25
...
Crusty Gold Feces
  05/22/25
I am the partner. That's what's so insane about this.
Salmon fantasy-prone university
  05/22/25
...
exciting drunken state fat ankles
  05/22/25
...
Maroon volcanic crater main people
  05/23/25
...
Poppy Native Legal Warrant
  06/23/25
the internal moral stress of retaining honesty is a large re...
cerise love of her life
  05/22/25
why bother retaining honesty? the whole thing is fraud
Avocado set
  05/23/25
On average probably padded 15 %. Consider it your “tip...
effete spot therapy
  05/22/25
18% is now normal and many biglaw firms are suggesting 20% o...
exciting drunken state fat ankles
  05/22/25
...
effete spot therapy
  05/22/25
...
Massive Grizzly Travel Guidebook Sound Barrier
  05/22/25
...
appetizing place of business factory reset button
  05/23/25
...
Poppy Native Legal Warrant
  06/23/25
My favorite story is still that Sidley associate who wrote a...
appetizing place of business factory reset button
  05/22/25
...
Brindle provocative immigrant
  05/22/25
...
Milky deer antler rehab
  05/22/25
...
Milky deer antler rehab
  05/22/25
...
dark territorial public bath lettuce
  05/22/25
...
exciting drunken state fat ankles
  05/22/25
what happens when the truth comes out later?
nudist nursing home
  05/22/25
...
Milky deer antler rehab
  05/22/25
people who make it see the truth immediately, xo autistd and...
bateful tanning salon kitty
  05/23/25
I’m more of a look at my sent inbox and estimate type ...
Lascivious cuck double fault
  05/22/25
...
Maroon volcanic crater main people
  05/23/25
While I would bill more than my actual time frequently, I ne...
honey-headed roommate scourge upon the earth
  05/22/25
(superstar biglawyer)
charcoal water buffalo
  05/22/25
...
bateful tanning salon kitty
  05/23/25
self preservation through mental gymnastics we're all good ...
Cordovan soul-stirring regret lodge
  05/23/25
...
nudist nursing home
  05/22/25
If someone makes $15 an hour at McDonalds, you don't get to ...
comical claret haunted graveyard pit
  05/22/25
>Similarly, when you get an email on your blackberry at 1...
Brindle provocative immigrant
  05/22/25
For a single email id do like a 0.3 or 0.4 but if you're ans...
comical claret haunted graveyard pit
  05/22/25
wait why cant they mop the floor when orders get slow
obsidian stimulating stag film patrolman
  05/22/25
When its super slow, they should. When its just a short ...
comical claret haunted graveyard pit
  05/22/25
im all for workers rights but i dont think mickey d's employ...
obsidian stimulating stag film patrolman
  05/22/25
...
appetizing place of business factory reset button
  05/23/25
this guy gets it
Avocado set
  05/23/25
I bill mainly based upon the value of my work product to the...
cracking business firm
  05/22/25
(Wachtel)
appetizing place of business factory reset button
  05/23/25
Why would anyone be honest when you can inflate your hours b...
Turquoise federal yarmulke
  05/23/25
The thing most non-Jewish juniors don’t understand is ...
Brindle provocative immigrant
  05/23/25
Real talk: the people who get "caught" are overbil...
shaky odious twinkling uncleanness nowag
  05/23/25
I once had to bill more than 24 hours in a day, because our ...
snowy swashbuckling station
  05/23/25
I massively underbill by a few hundred hours a year, often t...
spectacular walnut knife
  05/23/25
lol
Galvanic Institution
  05/23/25
At my V5 prestigious elite M&A MFH shop at which I was c...
Galvanic Institution
  05/23/25
...
snowy swashbuckling station
  05/23/25
The first thing my biglaw partner told me on day 1 is that y...
Coiffed church
  05/23/25
I'm not even joking when I say that it's rare and heartwarmi...
shaky odious twinkling uncleanness nowag
  05/23/25
CR I have talked with enough friends and people inhouse to b...
Pungent resort pervert
  06/23/25
Wasn't this the premise for Jim Carrey's Liar Liar?
Massive Grizzly Travel Guidebook Sound Barrier
  05/23/25


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:45 PM
Author: nudist nursing home

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: Galvanic Institution

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: Avocado set

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: Brindle provocative immigrant

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: exciting drunken state fat ankles



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:49 PM
Author: confused juggernaut



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:51 PM
Author: appetizing place of business factory reset button

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: Crusty Gold Feces



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:53 PM
Author: Salmon fantasy-prone university

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: appetizing place of business factory reset button

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: Crusty Gold Feces



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:01 PM
Author: Salmon fantasy-prone university

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: exciting drunken state fat ankles



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:32 AM
Author: Maroon volcanic crater main people



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



Reply Favorite

Date: June 23rd, 2025 1:24 AM
Author: Poppy Native Legal Warrant



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:55 PM
Author: cerise love of her life

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: Avocado set

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: effete spot therapy

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: exciting drunken state fat ankles

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: effete spot therapy



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:19 PM
Author: Massive Grizzly Travel Guidebook Sound Barrier



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 6:26 AM
Author: appetizing place of business factory reset button



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



Reply Favorite

Date: June 23rd, 2025 1:24 AM
Author: Poppy Native Legal Warrant



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:12 PM
Author: appetizing place of business factory reset button

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: Brindle provocative immigrant



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:23 PM
Author: Milky deer antler rehab



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:17 PM
Author: Milky deer antler rehab



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:19 PM
Author: dark territorial public bath lettuce



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:21 PM
Author: exciting drunken state fat ankles



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 2:51 PM
Author: nudist nursing home

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: Milky deer antler rehab



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:29 AM
Author: bateful tanning salon kitty

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: Lascivious cuck double fault

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: Maroon volcanic crater main people



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 4:55 PM
Author: honey-headed roommate scourge upon the earth

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: charcoal water buffalo

(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: bateful tanning salon kitty



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:28 AM
Author: Cordovan soul-stirring regret lodge

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: nudist nursing home



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 9:45 PM
Author: comical claret haunted graveyard pit

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: Brindle provocative immigrant

>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: comical claret haunted graveyard pit

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: obsidian stimulating stag film patrolman

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: comical claret haunted graveyard pit

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: obsidian stimulating stag film patrolman

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: appetizing place of business factory reset button



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:21 AM
Author: Avocado set

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: cracking business firm

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: appetizing place of business factory reset button

(Wachtel)

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 7:31 AM
Author: Turquoise federal yarmulke

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: Brindle provocative immigrant

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: shaky odious twinkling uncleanness nowag

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: snowy swashbuckling station

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: spectacular walnut knife

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: Galvanic Institution

lol

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:44 AM
Author: Galvanic Institution

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: snowy swashbuckling station



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:08 AM
Author: Coiffed church

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: shaky odious twinkling uncleanness nowag

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: Pungent resort pervert

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: Massive Grizzly Travel Guidebook Sound Barrier

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

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