Despite the considerable emphasis placed on billable hours in many law practices, the practice of billing per hour is a fairly recent development in the profession. Billing clients on an hourly basis didn’t become commonplace in the legal profession until the late 1970’s after the United States Supreme Court ruling in Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar found that the minimum-fee schedule practice of billing, which was the regular practice for billing at the time, violated antitrust laws. Billable hours then became the norm, and now the legal profession is completely entrenched in this practice.

We all know how billable hours work, with clients being billed at six-minute increments. Most firms billing by the hour set an expectation or requirement for attorneys yearly billables, and that’s because the firm budget is based on the anticipated revenue. In 1958, when the ABA first proposed using billable hours, it was suggested that lawyers bill 1,300 hours a year. What a reasonable number! However, I am not familiar with any firms whose requirement for their attorneys is only 1,300 hours a year. I know what my firm requires (a reasonable number, I believe), and I’ve heard some reports (hopefully urban legends) of extremely high requirements at other firms, but this article isn’t about finding the sweet spot for billable hours. (I have, however, read multiple articles suggesting no more than 1,800 hours per year.)

Nor is this article an argument for or against billable hours. There are both advantages and disadvantages to billable hours as a way that firms generate income and hold attorneys accountable. Instead, I am taking this opportunity to address firm and lawyer relationships with billable hours and to encourage you to start thinking about your relationship with your billable hours. Really think about that…. the relationship that YOU have with your billable hours. The way that we think about, relate to, and interact with our billable hours directly correlates to our own well-being, not just well-being as lawyers, but well-being as people, because that isn’t something that can be or should be separated. We are whole people.

Your relationship with billable hours starts with the number required of you. Concerns with numbers too high include rewarding inefficiency, using the hours to assess performance, padding time, double billing, and not including pro-bono time in the requirement. Additionally, I dare say that billable requirements that are just too high either may make certain situations ripe for malpractice or encourage malpractice by unethical behavior. We need to be realistic with ourselves on whether the number required of us is attainable with our lifestyle and with our individual needs to promote our well-being. Is your relationship with your billable hours healthy or unhealthy?

Boundaries are important in all relationships, even with our relationships with our billable hours. Considering goals and realistic ways to achieve the goals allow space for things that aren’t billable time related, like taking care of law firm administrative tasks, going to your child’s sporting event, enjoying a summer weeknight on the patio, going on a vacation, working out, or going to a BAMSL event. I know how many hours I need to bill per month to reach my requirement. This allows me to keep myself in check with my productivity and not cause unnecessary pressure. Have you set boundaries for yourself in your relationship with your billable hours?

Part of both the overall American culture and our legal culture is judging worth and value by how hard you work and how much product you produce. The history of this culture is fascinating, but not the point here. We compare ourselves to others, even those we work next to, and maintain a “keeping up with the Joneses” mentality. The consequence is that self-care is quickly abandoned for the sake of showing that we can bill MORE, work LONGER, and fit ALL OF IT into our days. This is a culture of overworking. Mentioning that you worked until midnight or billed 70 hours last week should be met with gasps of concern for your well-being, not used as a means of bragging how great a worker you are. This overworking mentality permeating our legal culture should not be a badge of honor. Overworking reduces the ability to have other interests and healthy relationships and increases stress, which can lead to greater issues with personal relationships, anxiety, depression, and burnout. Relationships that create stress are not healthy relationships.

Billable hours are embedded into our lives and aren’t likely going anywhere fast. Nevertheless, we have the control to assess whether our relationship with them is healthy, whether they dictate how we live our lives or we control them. A healthy relationship promotes a healthy person, and an unhealthy relationship supports an unbalanced person. Take a pause and reflect on your own relationship with billable hours. Change begins from within.