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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,...
misunderstood haunted graveyard school
  05/22/25
Look at this fucking nerd using a timer
Poppy Garrison
  05/23/25
230 with no fluff is fucking insane. I routinely billed 200 ...
soul-stirring yellow fanboi
  05/23/25
lol @ any "man" even using a timer, let alone turn...
Gay vivacious stage regret
  05/22/25
...
Dashing Gaming Laptop Bawdyhouse
  05/22/25
...
Territorial chest-beating hairy legs
  05/22/25
When I was above 200 my bills were most honest.
Costumed Public Bath Hissy Fit
  05/22/25
...
razzle-dazzle maize macaca filthpig
  05/22/25
I bill only for time where I'm 100% engaged, doing my best a...
vigorous charcoal lodge travel guidebook
  05/22/25
Partner: Please see me
Costumed Public Bath Hissy Fit
  05/22/25
...
razzle-dazzle maize macaca filthpig
  05/22/25
I am the partner. That's what's so insane about this.
vigorous charcoal lodge travel guidebook
  05/22/25
...
Dashing Gaming Laptop Bawdyhouse
  05/22/25
...
kink-friendly mentally impaired new version
  05/23/25
...
Arousing Voyeur
  06/23/25
the internal moral stress of retaining honesty is a large re...
Chrome bateful plaza immigrant
  05/22/25
why bother retaining honesty? the whole thing is fraud
soul-stirring yellow fanboi
  05/23/25
On average probably padded 15 %. Consider it your “tip...
lemon dilemma
  05/22/25
18% is now normal and many biglaw firms are suggesting 20% o...
Dashing Gaming Laptop Bawdyhouse
  05/22/25
...
lemon dilemma
  05/22/25
...
motley stain digit ratio
  05/22/25
...
Costumed Public Bath Hissy Fit
  05/23/25
...
Arousing Voyeur
  06/23/25
My favorite story is still that Sidley associate who wrote a...
Costumed Public Bath Hissy Fit
  05/22/25
...
Gay vivacious stage regret
  05/22/25
...
jet-lagged sanctuary
  05/22/25
...
jet-lagged sanctuary
  05/22/25
...
Balding gaped partner fat ankles
  05/22/25
...
Dashing Gaming Laptop Bawdyhouse
  05/22/25
what happens when the truth comes out later?
misunderstood haunted graveyard school
  05/22/25
...
jet-lagged sanctuary
  05/22/25
people who make it see the truth immediately, xo autistd and...
splenetic adventurous messiness
  05/23/25
I’m more of a look at my sent inbox and estimate type ...
brass house-broken blood rage parlour
  05/22/25
...
kink-friendly mentally impaired new version
  05/23/25
While I would bill more than my actual time frequently, I ne...
Carnelian blathering deer antler ticket booth
  05/22/25
(superstar biglawyer)
sticky azn
  05/22/25
...
splenetic adventurous messiness
  05/23/25
self preservation through mental gymnastics we're all good ...
plum beady-eyed hell
  05/23/25
...
misunderstood haunted graveyard school
  05/22/25
If someone makes $15 an hour at McDonalds, you don't get to ...
Ultramarine indian lodge
  05/22/25
>Similarly, when you get an email on your blackberry at 1...
Gay vivacious stage regret
  05/22/25
For a single email id do like a 0.3 or 0.4 but if you're ans...
Ultramarine indian lodge
  05/22/25
wait why cant they mop the floor when orders get slow
Curious piazza half-breed
  05/22/25
When its super slow, they should. When its just a short ...
Ultramarine indian lodge
  05/22/25
im all for workers rights but i dont think mickey d's employ...
Curious piazza half-breed
  05/22/25
...
Costumed Public Bath Hissy Fit
  05/23/25
this guy gets it
soul-stirring yellow fanboi
  05/23/25
I bill mainly based upon the value of my work product to the...
Boyish Church Building
  05/22/25
(Wachtel)
Costumed Public Bath Hissy Fit
  05/23/25
Why would anyone be honest when you can inflate your hours b...
domesticated fishy generalized bond
  05/23/25
The thing most non-Jewish juniors don’t understand is ...
Gay vivacious stage regret
  05/23/25
Real talk: the people who get "caught" are overbil...
Rose gay wizard
  05/23/25
I once had to bill more than 24 hours in a day, because our ...
Dun whorehouse
  05/23/25
I massively underbill by a few hundred hours a year, often t...
ruddy razzle pit
  05/23/25
lol
Poppy Garrison
  05/23/25
At my V5 prestigious elite M&A MFH shop at which I was c...
Poppy Garrison
  05/23/25
...
Dun whorehouse
  05/23/25
The first thing my biglaw partner told me on day 1 is that y...
glassy idiot
  05/23/25
I'm not even joking when I say that it's rare and heartwarmi...
Rose gay wizard
  05/23/25
CR I have talked with enough friends and people inhouse to b...
Swashbuckling Masturbator Forum
  06/23/25
Wasn't this the premise for Jim Carrey's Liar Liar?
motley stain digit ratio
  05/23/25


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:45 PM
Author: misunderstood haunted graveyard school

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=2E#48953664)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:41 AM
Author: Poppy Garrison

Look at this fucking nerd using a timer

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:17 AM
Author: soul-stirring yellow fanboi

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=2E#48956128)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:48 PM
Author: Gay vivacious stage regret

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=2E#48953677)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:10 PM
Author: Dashing Gaming Laptop Bawdyhouse



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:49 PM
Author: Territorial chest-beating hairy legs



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:51 PM
Author: Costumed Public Bath Hissy Fit

When I was above 200 my bills were most honest.

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:52 PM
Author: razzle-dazzle maize macaca filthpig



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:53 PM
Author: vigorous charcoal lodge travel guidebook

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=2E#48953697)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:57 PM
Author: Costumed Public Bath Hissy Fit

Partner: Please see me

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:58 PM
Author: razzle-dazzle maize macaca filthpig



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:01 PM
Author: vigorous charcoal lodge travel guidebook

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

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:10 PM
Author: Dashing Gaming Laptop Bawdyhouse



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:32 AM
Author: kink-friendly mentally impaired new version



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



Reply Favorite

Date: June 23rd, 2025 1:24 AM
Author: Arousing Voyeur



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 12:55 PM
Author: Chrome bateful plaza immigrant

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=2E#48953704)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:18 AM
Author: soul-stirring yellow fanboi

why bother retaining honesty? the whole thing is fraud

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:00 PM
Author: lemon dilemma

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

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:11 PM
Author: Dashing Gaming Laptop Bawdyhouse

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=2E#48953779)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:18 PM
Author: lemon dilemma



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:19 PM
Author: motley stain digit ratio



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 6:26 AM
Author: Costumed Public Bath Hissy Fit



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



Reply Favorite

Date: June 23rd, 2025 1:24 AM
Author: Arousing Voyeur



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:12 PM
Author: Costumed Public Bath Hissy Fit

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=2E#48953784)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:13 PM
Author: Gay vivacious stage regret



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:23 PM
Author: jet-lagged sanctuary



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:17 PM
Author: jet-lagged sanctuary



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:19 PM
Author: Balding gaped partner fat ankles



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 1:21 PM
Author: Dashing Gaming Laptop Bawdyhouse



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 2:51 PM
Author: misunderstood haunted graveyard school

what happens when the truth comes out later?

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 2:54 PM
Author: jet-lagged sanctuary



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:29 AM
Author: splenetic adventurous messiness

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

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 4:50 PM
Author: brass house-broken blood rage parlour

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=2E#48954460)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:33 AM
Author: kink-friendly mentally impaired new version



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 4:55 PM
Author: Carnelian blathering deer antler ticket booth

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=2E#48954471)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 5:22 PM
Author: sticky azn

(superstar biglawyer)

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:29 AM
Author: splenetic adventurous messiness



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:28 AM
Author: plum beady-eyed hell

self preservation through mental gymnastics

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

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 5:14 PM
Author: misunderstood haunted graveyard school



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 9:45 PM
Author: Ultramarine indian lodge

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=2E#48955165)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:27 PM
Author: Gay vivacious stage regret

>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=2E#48955247)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:31 PM
Author: Ultramarine indian lodge

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=2E#48955262)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:35 PM
Author: Curious piazza half-breed

wait why cant they mop the floor when orders get slow

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:40 PM
Author: Ultramarine indian lodge

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=2E#48955278)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:42 PM
Author: Curious piazza half-breed

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=2E#48955287)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 6:28 AM
Author: Costumed Public Bath Hissy Fit



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:21 AM
Author: soul-stirring yellow fanboi

this guy gets it

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 22nd, 2025 10:51 PM
Author: Boyish Church Building

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=2E#48955307)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 6:28 AM
Author: Costumed Public Bath Hissy Fit

(Wachtel)

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 7:31 AM
Author: domesticated fishy generalized bond

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=2E#48955722)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:43 AM
Author: Gay vivacious stage regret

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=2E#48955798)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:06 AM
Author: Rose gay wizard

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=2E#48955831)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:24 AM
Author: Dun 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=2E#48956150)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:41 AM
Author: ruddy razzle pit

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=2E#48955792)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:41 AM
Author: Poppy Garrison

lol

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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 8:44 AM
Author: Poppy Garrison

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=2E#48955799)



Reply Favorite

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



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



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:08 AM
Author: glassy idiot

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=2E#48955837)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 9:15 AM
Author: Rose gay wizard

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=2E#48955848)



Reply Favorite

Date: June 23rd, 2025 1:55 AM
Author: Swashbuckling Masturbator Forum

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=2E#49041779)



Reply Favorite

Date: May 23rd, 2025 11:35 AM
Author: motley stain digit ratio

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

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