Atlanta Firm Bids Adieu to Billable Hours for First-Year Associates

If you're a member of the legal community, it's hard to miss the ongoing debate and teeth-gnashing over the billable hour.  Although everyone seems to agree that it is one of the reasons that so many law firm associates end up leaving firms after just a few years of practice, most law firms have been reluctant to give up billing in six-minute increments. 

Until now!  The National Law Journal is reporting that the brave partners at Atlanta labor and employment law firm Ford & Harrison have decided to eliminate billable hours requirements for their first-year associates.  The firm is also making a concerted effort to make associates' first year at the firm more like an apprenticeship -- according to the NLJ article, first-years will be "observing depositions and witness interviews and attending hearings and litigation strategy meetings." However, as a mid-sized firm, Ford & Harrison isn't paying its new associates as much as some of the bigger firms.  First-years receive a salary of $125,000, which is well below the starting salary of $160,000 at most large, multi-state firms. We'll be following this story to see if Ford & Harrison's popularity soars among job-seekers or if the lure of a bigger salary defeats the appeal of a billables-free life.

For a taste of the billable hours debate, be sure to read Scott Turow's take on the billable hour in the latest issue of the ABA Journal, "The Billable Hour Must Die."  Gee, tell us how you really feel, Scott!