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calvus posted:I feel like its just going to get worse as legal services takes up an increasingly smaller portion of GDP I had to explain to an it dude yesterday that when my friend said she billed 2350 hrs it meant she worked about 3500 (70 hr weeks forever). His billing was 5 minutes work=1 billable hour and contracts would let him bill a minimum of 20 hours even if he completed it in 1. It's only going to get worse too as clients cut more and more. Hell, even a judge was doing that in one county here- she wasn't allowing any billing for routine court status hearings. What a joke
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Feb 6, 2016 21:49
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Hot Dog Day #91 posted:Lol he was a classics major. "There may be a due process issue here."
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Feb 6, 2016 21:51
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mastershakeman posted:I had to explain to an it dude yesterday that when my friend said she billed 2350 hrs it meant she worked about 3500 (70 hr weeks forever). His billing was 5 minutes work=1 billable hour and contracts would let him bill a minimum of 20 hours even if he completed it in 1. How? What kind of firm does he work at?
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Feb 6, 2016 21:54
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calvus posted:How? What kind of firm does he work at? He does some sort of it stuff gently caress if I know. It isn't for a law firm.
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Feb 6, 2016 21:55
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mastershakeman posted:He does some sort of it stuff gently caress if I know. It isn't for a law firm. I thought you only billed at a law firm
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Feb 6, 2016 21:57
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calvus posted:I thought you only billed at a law firm What? Lots of people bill for their services. Lawyers may be the most obsessive about it but other professionals have to deal with it too.
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Feb 6, 2016 23:00
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sullat posted:What? Lots of people bill for their services. Lawyers may be the most obsessive about it but other professionals have to deal with it too. We were talking about legal services so what I meant was I thought only lawyers at law firms needed to bill, as opposed to working in house or for the government, not that lawyers at law firms are the only people in the universe who bill hours. I had just assumed he meant a lawyer hunkrust fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Feb 6, 2016 |
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Feb 6, 2016 23:03
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It is sad that the deputy attorney generals who represent other state agencies have to bill here. That's like whole point of working for govt to not have to bill. On the other hand, they still get nights and weekends and our sweet pension.
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Feb 6, 2016 23:12
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calvus posted:I feel like its just going to get worse as legal services takes up an increasingly smaller portion of GDP It's a ridiculous circle where law school costs more so lawyers bill at a higher rate so there are less people able to afford legal services so lawyers have to bill people who can pay more and so forth. Pretty messed up that the standard advice is to just walk away from claims under $1000 because it would cost more than that to even pursue it half assedly.
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Feb 7, 2016 00:32
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EwokEntourage posted:It's a ridiculous circle where law school costs more so lawyers bill at a higher rate so there are less people able to afford legal services so lawyers have to bill people who can pay more and so forth. It doesn't help that courts have lost a ton of funding and jacked up the fees for filing cases, either. I get the issue of frivolous lawsuits but come on
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Feb 7, 2016 00:38
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EwokEntourage posted:It's a ridiculous circle where law school costs more so lawyers bill at a higher rate so there are less people able to afford legal services so lawyers have to bill people who can pay more and so forth. I gave good advice in this thread about how to deal with claims under $1000.
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Feb 7, 2016 00:38
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Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Jul 13, 2021 |
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Feb 7, 2016 00:39
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mastershakeman posted:It doesn't help that courts have lost a ton of funding and jacked up the fees for filing cases, either. I get the issue of frivolous lawsuits but come on Wouldn't want those poors pursuing their rights ! quote:I gave good advice in this thread about how to deal with claims under $1000. EwokEntourage fucked around with this message at 00:52 on Feb 7, 2016 |
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Feb 7, 2016 00:49
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NM: I'm am AG and have to bill time. It's a legislative tracking issue. I can bill as small as 0.25, but I'm strongly encouraged by the data entry people to bill in 8 hour increments.
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Feb 7, 2016 01:33
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Hot Dog Day #91 posted:NM: I'm am AG and have to bill time. It's a legislative tracking issue. I can bill as small as 0.25, but I'm strongly encouraged by the data entry people to bill in 8 hour increments. Technically, I have to do that, but it is just like "yes, I worked 8 hours, and I spent 4 hours on x and 4 hours on y." No one really cares though. They have to bill in 1/6 hrs, and it actually kind of matters.
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Feb 7, 2016 01:59
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I just have to show up
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Feb 7, 2016 02:24
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Hot Dog Day #91 posted:NM: I'm am AG and have to bill time. It's a legislative tracking issue. I can bill as small as 0.25, but I'm strongly encouraged by the data entry people to bill in 8 hour increments. I'm also an AG and have to bill. My state doesn't have an appropriation for the AG's office, so it gets all its funding directly from the client agencies. And because my division represents many different agencies, we have to bill them by the 0.1 hour.
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Feb 7, 2016 02:41
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Bro Enlai posted:I'm also an AG and have to bill. My state doesn't have an appropriation for the AG's office, so it gets all its funding directly from the client agencies. And because my division represents many different agencies, we have to bill them by the 0.1 hour. I'm in a specialized division that 99% of the time has only one client. So I guess that helps my billing. The best part of working for am elected official is he can say "Ahhh we're closing early boys!"
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Feb 7, 2016 03:03
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mastershakeman posted:she billed 2350 hrs it meant she worked about 3500 (70 hr weeks forever)
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Feb 7, 2016 14:11
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Yeah! I bill 8 hours a day but only actually work about 4.
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Feb 7, 2016 14:25
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Ani posted:This seems pretty shockingly inefficient. Isn't that standard for biglaw? 2 hours billed per 3 worked?
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Feb 7, 2016 16:57
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mastershakeman posted:Isn't that standard for biglaw? 2 hours billed per 3 worked?
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Feb 7, 2016 17:09
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mastershakeman posted:Isn't that standard for biglaw? 2 hours billed per 3 worked?
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Feb 7, 2016 17:12
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mastershakeman posted:Isn't that standard for biglaw? 2 hours billed per 3 worked? Assuming you have work to do, there's no reason to add more than 1-2 hours a day in miscellaneous items (including entering time entries) to your billed time. Even this Yale article giving you the "truth about the billable hour" is thinking 10 hours worked to bill 7.5, and that's counting a full hour of lunch as "worked." https://www.law.yale.edu/student-life/career-development/students/career-guides-advice/truth-about-billable-hour
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Feb 7, 2016 17:19
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It's standard for new associates maybe but not anyone that isn't about to be asked to leave.
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Feb 7, 2016 17:20
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mastershakeman posted:Isn't that standard for biglaw? 2 hours billed per 3 worked?
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Feb 8, 2016 10:02
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Well it looks like I believed all the biglaw folks' lies about how terrible their jobs are!
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Feb 8, 2016 16:30
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Speaking of biglaw, do any goons have insider tips/things they wish they knew for the 1L recruitment process? Going through interviews next week and my school has some resources, but they're not especially useful. I'm in Canada if that matters.
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Feb 8, 2016 17:46
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fineX posted:Speaking of biglaw, do any goons have insider tips/things they wish they knew for the 1L recruitment process? Going through interviews next week and my school has some resources, but they're not especially useful. I'm in Canada if that matters. Do you know any alums at the law firms you are interviewing at? It would be helpful to reach out and talk with them
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Feb 8, 2016 18:02
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lol a self rep who was an arrogant dick to me and my client because he made a bunch of money by working in the oil fields sheepishly admitted that he's unemployed. He wants to reduce his child support payments. Maybe he'll smarten up now. I know the financial strains sucks for my province and all, but man some assholes really just deserved it.
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Feb 8, 2016 21:19
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Do we have any AUSAs in the thread? How does one become an AUSA? My new dream in life is to investigate and sue the NFL.
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Feb 8, 2016 22:49
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Tokelau All Star posted:Do we have any AUSAs in the thread? How does one become an AUSA? My new dream in life is to investigate and sue the NFL. No, but I know some. Being a PD probably hurt your chances a bit, but I've still had some keep trying to have me apply to the local criminal division. (My job is less stressful and has a better pension). Basically go to good law school. Do something well/get doj honors. Apply for job. Be good at rear end kissing in interviews. Become ausa.
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Feb 8, 2016 23:13
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nm posted:No, but I know some. Also, do a federal district court clerkship in the district you eventually hope to work in. Intern at the same office during law school if you can swing it. There's basically two career paths that lead to being an AUSA, which involve putting in 3-5 years as a litigator at a big law firm or as a state prosecutor and then applying to every office you can. Larger, city-based offices tend to hire more former civil litigators, and more rural offices tend to hire more former state prosecutors, but every office will have a mix of both. The pay is based primarily on how many years you've been a licensed attorney, so it actually becomes possible to become substantially less competitive for AUSA positions as you become more experienced, although that isn't something that becomes a major consideration until you hit 7+ years. Nm, I've actually met several AUSAs who moved over from jobs as PDs or private defense attorneys. I actually spoke to one of the former today. It's certainly uncommon, but not unheard of.
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Feb 9, 2016 00:22
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fineX posted:Speaking of biglaw, do any goons have insider tips/things they wish they knew for the 1L recruitment process? Going through interviews next week and my school has some resources, but they're not especially useful. I'm in Canada if that matters. Dunno about Canada in particular, but the lesson it took me longest to learn was to realize that the interviews aren't substantive. They don't want to talk about the law, or you impress them with your knowledge, or anything, since they won't trust you to know any law for a year or two. They want you to be a smart interesting person who they won't want to kill when it's 2 am and you're still in the office together. It's all about coming across as someone who works hard, takes instruction well, and won't drive them mad.
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Feb 9, 2016 01:11
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Tokelau All Star posted:Do we have any AUSAs in the thread? How does one become an AUSA? My new dream in life is to investigate and sue the NFL.
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Feb 9, 2016 04:23
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fineX posted:Speaking of biglaw, do any goons have insider tips/things they wish they knew for the 1L recruitment process? Going through interviews next week and my school has some resources, but they're not especially useful. I'm in Canada if that matters. Are you good looking?
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Feb 9, 2016 04:35
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gvibes posted:The AUSAs I know are absurdly qualified. They are all former supreme court clerks. They moved over after a few years of biglaw litigation. That's not representative though. I'd say most AUSAs I know went: good but not necessarily top 14 with good grades --> federal clerkship --> 3-6 years at a fancy law firm --> AUSA. My goal is to get an AUSA job. I'm still about 3 years experience short to be seriously considered. One inside tip I've heard is to apply for any spots you meet the minimum requirements. You never know when you're going to get an interview, and almost every AUSA I know didn't get the job the first time they applied. If you have the stats, it helps to have your name in the "possibly interview" pile as often as possible and to show a longstanding interest in the job. That's what someone on the hiring committee in a fairly major district told me at least.
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Feb 9, 2016 05:36
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There are civil assistants also if you're interested in that path. Way fewer in number and not as glamorous work, but I'd guess also easier to get in most districts (especially if you have a civil background).
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Feb 9, 2016 06:12
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I see. Career public defender it is! Not that I'm complaining, my job is awesome. I just won't be able to take down the NFL.
Tokelau All Star fucked around with this message at 06:48 on Feb 9, 2016 |
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Feb 9, 2016 06:21
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EwokEntourage posted:Are you good looking? Honestly this. It is crazy but all the law students I see recruited for big law, be it big regional or Toronto/Vancouver/Calgary end up hiring the best looking applicants. That and there is some strange bro mentality where they only hire people really into sports like hockey. Then they end up only keeping one or two of those folks who actually have something between their ears.
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Feb 9, 2016 06:51
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