“I Am Generally Happy.” First-Year Program Paying Off for Atlanta Firm

[WSJ_law_blog]

Indeed, it was about a year ago when we blogged a National Law Journal story about labor law firm Ford & Harrison’s decision to do away with hourly-billable requirements for first-year associates.

And how has the experiment gone? Pretty well, according to this NLJ follow-up piece. Simply by dropping the billable-hour requirement, the firm has gotten first- year associates working directly with clients, who typically are happy to see a second attorney working the case ? so long as they are not billed. The program requires first-years to “bill” 1,900 hours of work that’s either billable to clients or defined as training — working with senior partners on depositions, witness and trial preparation, client meetings and the like.

Jessica Walberg, a first-year associate in the firm’s Orlando office, said that she has had the opportunity to sit in on depositions, arbitrations, negotiations and mediations while law school friends at other firms are toiling on research projects and document review. Said Walberg to the NLJ: “This is great ? [doing this] instead of working on this or that research project and never seeing the big picture, like my buddies working at other firms. I would say they are generally unhappy and I am generally happy.”

Meg Holman, a partner and director of professional development at the firm, said the firm has been surprised at how fast first-year associates begin to produce work that is billable once they are no longer under pressure to do so. “We have been very pleasantly surprised at how proficient the associates have become in so short a time. Around month six or seven, across the board, you could see they were turning a corner. Their billables went up.”