Firms should consider billable hour credit for DEI and bar association work
The ABA House of Delegates voted in favor of a resolution asking law firms to consider crediting that time toward billable hours. (Shutterstock)
Many firms already credit pro bono hours toward their attorneys’ billable hour requirements. But what about the time attorneys devote to bar association activities and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives?
The ABA House of Delegates voted in favor of a resolution asking law firms to consider crediting that time toward billable hours.
While there were audible “no” votes, Resolution 520 passed in a majority vote. It aims to convince law firms to provide billable hour credits for DEI initiatives—and if widely adopted by law firms, more attorneys will be able to participate in them, the report accompanying the resolution says.
The resolution was sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division.
“Some law firms have already taken the lead and are providing billable hour credit for DEI initiatives,” says Brandon Wolff, a Young Lawyers Division delegate from New Jersey. “While not all law firms are going to be in a position to offer unlimited billable hour credit for … DEI work … all firms should offer some hours of billable credit.”
This resolution comes decades after the ABA adopted a resolution in 1988 encouraging law firms and corporate employers to provide at least 50 hours of billable hour credit for pro bono activities.
The same should be done for diversity initiatives, Wolff says.
The measure would also be in line with a 2021 resolution saying that lawyers have a professional responsibility “to advance and promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the legal profession” and encouraging attorneys to devote 20 hours a year to such efforts, according to the report accompanying the resolution.
“If legal employers have a clear policy that provides billable hour credit for such work, more lawyers will participate in meeting and exceeding this aspirational threshold,” the report states.
René Morency, a Young Lawyers Division delegate from Missouri, says legal employers will greatly benefit by offering these billable hours. Morency says he and many of his colleagues have made the difficult choice to participate in DEI initiatives on their own time, even using vacation time for these professional opportunities. But Morency says he has recognized the importance of this work, which improves morale and helps with networking.
This story was originally published in the October/November 2024 issue of the ABA Journal under the headline: “Putting in the Hours: Firms should consider billable hour credit for DEI and bar association work.”
