Law Practice Management
'Calculus of the Damned': Layoffs Gurus Look at Quantity—and Quality—of Associate Hours
When deciding which associates to let go, law firm managers tend to look for those with the lowest billable hours tallies.
But quality counts as well as quantity, reports the American Lawyer. Feedback from partners hence can make a critical difference.
Under this “calculus of the damned,” as Texas Lawyer headlines the story in a reprint, “every hour is not equal,” explains the unidentified chairman of one law firm.
“Some people take 100 hours to do a job that someone else can do in 50,” he says—“and the 50-hour guy may do a better job.”
