- Source: Billable hours
- Source: Billable Hours
Billable hours are hours worked by an employee for an employer that are billed to the employer's client. In certain professions, particularly in law firms, employees are required to bill a certain number of hours per month or per year, and those who bill more hours may obtain additional benefits such as larger bonuses or faster promotions. However, the practice of using billable hours has also been criticized for a number of reasons. Various forms of technology have been developed to track the billable hours generated by employees.
Use
Billable hours are the most used by most private lawyers and law firms to calculate the value of their work, with clients being assessed "a set rate, plus expenses, for each hour that the lawyer — or those working with the lawyer — devote to the case".
In well-managed firms, billable hours are monitored monthly to project cash flow and to find out who is working and who is not. A decrease in billable hours invariably translates to reduced collections some time in the near future.
Billable hours are "the hours for which clients are charged", while "some hours worked by the firms staff are not billable because the staff members are not involved in a consulting job for a client". The terminology is not uniform across industries, as "lawyers, consultants and accountants use the term 'billable hours', while marketing communications firms refer to 'utilization rates' or 'chargeability'". The primary alternatives to billable hours are a flat rate for specific transactions, or the assessment of a contingent fee for the entirety of a given matter.
Billable hours are typically measured by recording time in six-minute intervals.
Criticisms
One court has noted that "problems created by billable hours have brought about a storm of criticism directed to the legal profession, especially when there are excessive billable hours". Criticisms of billable hours include the fact that a person doing more hours of work is not necessarily doing a high quality of work, and that work quality may in fact be diminished over time by an excessive workload. Lawyers trying to increase their billable hours may behave in ways that are not in the interests of the client.
Firms relying on a billable hours performance standard should also note that, while easily observable, quantifiable, and certainly relevant to the law firm's goals, such a standard does not measure the quality of a lawyer's work (except to the extent that sloppy work has to be redone, occasioning even more hours) nor does it begin to consider career development.
Furthermore, billable hours often do not encompass all of the work that employees are required to do, for example excluding work for the firm that is not billed to a particular client. It has been noted that firms with high billable hours requirements may lag behind in terms of pro bono work, and that other tasks falling outside of the billable hours requirement may be given inadequate attention. Billable hours "create an economic incentive for lawyers to charge for every hour of work that can be identified".
[B]illed hours will expand to fill the time requirements. Partners will end up doing associates' work to fill out their expected hours; Associates will end up doing paralegal work; paralegals will do secretarial work; and secretaries will find themselves with less work, occasioning in some instances the laying off of support staff as the product of a reduced workload. All of this may be to the clients detriment.
See also
Attorney's fee
References
Billable Hours is a Canadian comedy series that was aired on Showcase from 2006 to 2008. Set in the fictional Toronto law firm of Fagen & Harrison, the series focuses on three young lawyers struggling to balance their expectations of life with the difficult realities of building a career in the driven Bay Street corporate environment, and engaging in immature and unprofessional behaviour to cope with the soul-crushing drudgery of working life.
The series was created by Adam Till, a former lawyer who quit law after becoming disillusioned with the corporate environment, and actor Fabrizio Filippo.
Production
The first season was filmed in a real Bay Street office building, in offices recently vacated by a real law firm. The space was taken over by another company by the time the second season went into production, however, and with no suitable new office space available Temple Street was forced to build a new office set in its own studios.
Broadcast
The series debuted on Showcase in 2006, and was produced by Temple Street Productions. Its first episode received what was at the time the channel's highest ratings for an original series premiere. The second season premiered in April 2007, and was accompanied by a 10-part webisode series entitled Billable Minutes. The third season of the show premiered in October 2008.
The series ended on December 3, 2008. The series also received a second-window broadcast on the terrestrial Global television network.
In Australia, the series premiered on ABC2 in August 2009, with all three seasons airing as one continuous run.
Awards
At the 23rd Gemini Awards in 2008, the series received nominations for Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series for the episode "Monopoly Man", and Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series for the episode "One Hit Wonder". At the 24th Gemini Awards in 2009, the series won the awards for Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series for the episode "A Manson for All Seasons", and Best Sound in a Comedy, Variety, or Performing Arts Program or Series for the episode "Pigeon Lawyer".
Cast
Brandon Firla as Clark Claxton III
Fabrizio Filippo as Sam Caponelli
Jennifer Baxter as Robin Howland
Dov Tiefenbach as Stu Berger
Jane Luk as Cam Belter, office manager
Aron Tager as Mortie Fagen, head partner
Ennis Esmer as Zoltan
Mike Beaver as Murray Stipple
Ron Gabriel as Seth Kaplin, managing partner
Jayne Eastwood as Maxine Bingly
Robin Brûlé as Millie Larkin, Clark's assistant
Arnold Pinnock as Vic Laghm
Episodes
= Season 1 (2006)
== Season 2 (2007)
== Season 3 (2008)
=Notes
In the opening of the episode 201, "Birthday Suits", a lawyer attempts to demonstrate the strength of the office building windows by throwing himself against one of them, but the window shatters and he falls to his death. Such an incident actually took place in a Toronto law firm in 1993. The plot device of falling through a shattered skyscraper window also figures prominently in the Canadian film waydowntown, starring series co-creator Fab Filippo.
In episode 203, "15 Minutes of Shame", it is discovered that Robin played a zombie in a low-rent horror movie. This was a joke referencing Jennifer Baxter's 2005 appearance as a zombie in George Romero's Land of the Dead.
References
External links
Official website
Billable Hours at IMDb