What occurred right here [an Irwin Mitchell senior associate getting caught misrepresenting billable hours, who was ultimately banned from the profession by U.K. regulators] isn’t as extraordinary as it could sound. The apply of inflating hours—at the least to some extent—is extensively accepted. In spite of everything, in the event you divide annual targets akin to 2,000 and even 2,400 billable hours by the precise working days in a 12 months, you shortly notice that this degree of ‘billable productiveness’ is hardly achievable—particularly for attorneys who usually are not immediately accountable for managing shopper relationships or main issues.
—Lawyer and government coach Anna Elena Brolis told Law.com in regards to the billing snafu garnering worldwide consideration. She continued, “From this angle, the sanction on this case feels disproportionate: it doesn’t punish the affiliate for the tolerated apply itself, however somewhat for having managed that tolerated apply poorly.”
