Legal Commentary

End Of Billable Hour Caused By Sensitive Workplaces?

By Patrick J. Lamb

In an article sure to drive Dan Hull crazy (go here for Dan's thought on sensitively accommodating the needs of Gen-Y-ers),  The AmLaw Daily has published "Lawyers and Pros Say Flex Schedule's Time Has Come."    Here's the line that caught my attention:

Lawyers won't have to be slaves to the billable hour for much longer, according to the panel of experts participating in "Flexing the Workplace," a roundtable discussion held in the New York offices of Davis Polk & Wardwell and sponsored by the National Association of Women Lawyers.

The rest of the article does not support the suggestion that the billable hour is going away.  It merely suggests that firms need to come up with career alternatives that allow employees greater flexibility than many more senior partners experienced in their youth.  But flexibility in work arrangements does not translate into the end of the billable hour.  Regrettably.

Full post as published by In Search of Perfect Client Service on July 18, 2008 (boomark / email).