Top 10 Biglaw Firm Threatens To Dock Bonuses By Up To 50% For Late Timesheets
// When it comes to working as an associate, time is money, and Biglaw firms are dead serious about time entry. After all, that’s how these firms get paid, and if attorneys are delinquent in the submission of their timesheets, then fees won’t be collected from clients. Firms do not appreciate procrastination when it comes submission of timesheets, and that’s why so many of them have implemented policies that financially disincentivize late time entries.
It was back in 2008 that Above the Law first noted the trend spreading among Biglaw firms — associates with too many late time entries would see their year-end bonuses slashed. Other firms were quick to hop on the trend, with some taking a bite not just out of bonuses, but of salaries, too.
googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-top-300x250" ); });But these policies are not relics of the past. Firms are still very serious about the submission of attorneys’ time, and the latest firm to issue bonus threats tied to time entry is none other than Sidley Austin, which has an aggressive daily time entry policy (with a five-day grace period, luckily).
Sponsored Is Your Firm’s Cybersecurity Strategy Keeping Clients Away? Tell us your worst fears in this brief, anonymous study and receive a chance at a $250 gift card. From Above the LawA source tells us that the firm — which brought in $2,922,634,000 gross revenue in 2022, putting it at No. 6 on the Am Law 100 — sent a memo this week notifying lawyers that time entry will now impact their bonuses. Here’s the key segment of that memo (available on the next page):
googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-middle-300x250" ); }); googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-storycontent-440x100" ); }); googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-in-story-youtube-1x1" ); });Oof, that’s a pretty hefty chunk of bonus money that’ll be docked if attorneys’ time isn’t entered in a timely fashion.
Yes, this is a very harsh way for a Biglaw firm to make their point, especially when associates tend to be the most delinquent with timesheets because they’re so busy billing their lives away. But slashing bonuses — by up to an eye-popping 50%! — is sure to grab the attention needed to keep those time entries coming in fast and furious.
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googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-bottom-300x250" ); }); Sponsored Sponsored Is Your Firm’s Cybersecurity Strategy Keeping Clients Away? Tell us your worst fears in this brief, anonymous study and receive a chance at a $250 gift card. From Above the Law Sponsored Documenting Secured Transactions: A New Guide For Practitioners A newly updated PLI treatise provides both the legal framework and practical guidance on documenting secured transactions, including important details about 2022 amendments to the UCC. From Practising Law Institute 1 2Next » Enter your email address to sign up for ATL's Bonus & Salary Increase Alerts. hbspt.forms.create({ css: '', portalId: '470182', formId: '918f9998-ad56-4438-b7e2-7d3c4676b70e' }); TopicsBiglaw, Billable Hours, Billing Guidelines, Bonuses, Money, Sidley Austin, Timesheets
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Originally posted on: https://abovethelaw.com/2023/08/sidley-docks-bonus-late-timesheets/