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[newb2bheri]

Worried.

[blakesq]

posting on forums when you should be billing.

[MYK]

Working on Sundays.

[klaviernista]

#1:  Poor quality work product;
#2:  Low billed hours;
#3:  Low billed efficiency (i.e., ratio of billed hours to billable hours is < 0.85);
#4   Any combination of #1, 2 and 3;
#6   Ethical violation (PTO or otherwise);
#7   Failure to show an "upward trend" in capability/responsibility;
#8:  Personality conflicts with high level partner(s);
#9:  Pissing off a big client if you are a mid level associate; pissing off a small client if you are a very junior associate;
#10:  Pissing off all the associates that work for you (partner level, happened at my old firm).

Contrary to others, I don't think that posting on an internet forum "while you should be billing" is likely to get an associate fired, provided that associate meets his/her billable goal.  Of course, if the associate is spending so much time online that his/her billing records are questionable (i.e., it looks like he/she is inflating his hours), that absolutely will get him/her fired.

[blakesq]

I would change the order a bit.  As far as "inflating hours", my experience with big firms is, its only inflating hours if you get caught.  The push is so high for high billed hours at a big firm, that the big firm will be very happy with giant number of hours billed, and the big firm does not have a big incentive to investigate "inflating hours" until there is push back from the client.   

#2:  Low billed hours;
#3:  Low billed efficiency (i.e., ratio of billed hours to billable hours is < 0.85);
#1:  Poor quality work product;
#7   Failure to show an "upward trend" in capability/responsibility;
#4   Any combination of #1, 2 and 3;
#6   Ethical violation (PTO or otherwise);
#8:  Personality conflicts with high level partner(s);
#9:  Pissing off a big client if you are a mid level associate; pissing off a small client if you are a very junior associate;

No. 10, should be like number 100, i think it is very rare. 
#10:  Pissing off all the associates that work for you (partner level, happened at my old firm).

Contrary to others, I don't think that posting on an internet forum "while you should be billing" is likely to get an associate fired, provided that associate meets his/her billable goal.  Of course, if the associate is spending so much time online that his/her billing records are questionable (i.e., it looks like he/she is inflating his hours), that absolutely will get him/her fired.

[smgsmc]

#3:  Low billed efficiency (i.e., ratio of billed hours to billable hours is < 0.85);

I seem to recall from an older post that in patent prosecution even experienced practitioners considered efficiencies of 80-85% to be good (often due to el-cheapo flat rates).  Has the bar been raised because firms can be more picky these days?

[bleedingpen]

#3:  Low billed efficiency (i.e., ratio of billed hours to billable hours is < 0.85);

I seem to recall from an older post that in patent prosecution even experienced practitioners considered efficiencies of 80-85% to be good (often due to el-cheapo flat rates).  Has the bar been raised because firms can be more picky these days?

I consider 80& efficiency to be a great day.

[klaviernista]

I would change the order a bit.  As far as "inflating hours", my experience with big firms is, its only inflating hours if you get caught.  The push is so high for high billed hours at a big firm, that the big firm will be very happy with giant number of hours billed, and the big firm does not have a big incentive to investigate "inflating hours" until there is push back from the client.   

I should have clarified that my list was not in any particular order.  Just a stream of thought.  To be honest, #4 is what will get an associate canned faster than anything else on that list.

Agree that #10 should be far down the list.  But it did happen in my old firm.  Everyone hated working for this particular partner, and many (like me), flat out refused to work for her.  She was a snake in the grass.  One of those people who would say one thing to your face and then do another.  And she would stab you in the back while smiling at you in the face. 

[klaviernista]

#3:  Low billed efficiency (i.e., ratio of billed hours to billable hours is < 0.85);

I seem to recall from an older post that in patent prosecution even experienced practitioners considered efficiencies of 80-85% to be good (often due to el-cheapo flat rates).  Has the bar been raised because firms can be more picky these days?

Not to my knowledge.  80% is pretty good as a prosecutor.  Most firms understand that there is some inherent "unbillable" time in prosecution. 

[newb2bheri]

How do you judge work product quality?  Is there some statistic like #allowances/#responses or something?  Or is it more subjective?  If it's the latter, what do you look for?

[khazzah]

How do you judge work product quality?  Is there some statistic like #allowances/#responses or something?  Or is it more subjective? 

Absolutely subjective. Don't be surprised if every partner and client you work for has a different idea of what "quality" means.

Allowance statistics would be interesting, and they measure *something*, but I doubt many practitioners view it as a measure of quality.

If it's [subjective], what do you look for?

Personally? At a very high level, I judge quality of an app on

• did the spec capture the inventive aspect
• did the ind. claims capture the inventive aspect
• did the dep. claims further define the inventive aspects
• did the spec describe the invention in a way that isn't too limiting

At a very high level, I judge quality of a response on

• am I convinced that the response drafter went after the right technical distinction over the references
• did the argument explain the distinction rather than simply reaching a conclusion that differences exist
• did the argument *convincingly* explain the distinction
• did the amendments accurately convey the distinction

Unfortunately for the guy being reviewed, these are all very vague statements. IOW, you might rightly ask "How do I know when my claims capture the inventive aspect?" Answer: you'll start to get a sense when you've written enough work product and gotten good feedback on it. Until then, you're probably shooting in the dark.

[newb2bheri]

In your experience, have people been fired for low billable hours if they meet their billable requirements?  In other words, what if essentially everybody at your equivalent position beats the hourly requirement by several hundred hours... but you just barely make it.  Is that grounds for firing?  Would they, in fact, fire you for that... but give a more politically correct explanation (e.g., like that your work product was sub par)?

[klaviernista]

In your experience, have people been fired for low billable hours if they meet their billable requirements?  In other words, what if essentially everybody at your equivalent position beats the hourly requirement by several hundred hours... but you just barely make it.  Is that grounds for firing?  Would they, in fact, fire you for that... but give a more politically correct explanation (e.g., like that your work product was sub par)?

Lawyers are generally "at will" employees, which means that they can be fired by their employer for just about anything.  So yes, "just meeting" the billable requirement when your colleagues are exceeding it easily could be grounds for dismissal.  But I doubt your employer would cage it that way.  Rather, your employer is likely to say that you are significantly less profitable than other associates, which sounds a lot better than "you met the goal we set for you, but just barely, so we're going to have to let your go."  That said, I think it would be unusual for a law firm to fire an associate on the sole basis that he/she has "just met" their billable goal.  That just doesn't make sense.  But if you throw in some other factors (how well the associate is liked, whether the associate brings in any business, general trends in the law firm's business, etc.), then the rationale begins to come together.

[patentsusa]

I'd add "not following instructions" and "not listening" to the list above.  If someone gives you instructions, write them down, don't rely on memory.

Similar to this is directly contacting a partner's client without permission from the partner.

[newb2bheri]

How much more than the requirement should you bill to avoid getting in trouble for low hours?