August 2026 Billable Hours Check In

First business day of the month? Billable hour check, let's go.

My firm expects partners to track 2,400 hours a year--billable and non-billable. We set the ratio as part of our annual review cycle.

We also track credit (dollars)--working credit, managing credit, client relationship credit, proliferation, and more.

As you rise in big law, billable hours still matter, but so do other factors.

Alas, here, I focus on hours: the time I spend on client work and on business and professional development, mentoring, recruiting, community involvement, and more.

I'm on track this year. So, August's goal remains 200 hours.

August is a long month. I plan to work full days on every week day, with lots of weekends to catch up (or build a buffer).

When I look at August, I see 21 full working days.

200 divided by 21 = 9.5 trackable hours per day. Not bad.

On days I bill less, I'll add time to the next day's goal, or spread the hours over the rest of the week or month.

On days I bill more, I'll remove time from the next day's goal, or spread the extra time over the rest of the week or month--or I'll hold steady, banking hours for future time off.

This planning is part of my big-picture billable-hour habit.

It does not have to be a dread or a burden.

It can be a tool--to analyze when and how you spend your time; or a way to advocate for yourself during review cycles, to literally show your work and your worth as you build your career and professional identity.

It can be a net-neutral, it is a simple requirement of the job I've chosen.

By staying on top of it as I go through the year, I know where I stand and rarely face the end of the year push to catch up on hours.

And, I prepare for time off planned (Boston last month) and unplanned (a cancelled flight that derailed a whole work day).

By entering my time daily (and tracking it in real time as I go throughout my day), I do not have to (re)create my time at the end of the month (which can lead to potential ethics concerns and losses of time that you actually billed).

None of this is to romanticize the billable hour or its hold on big law.

If you follow me, you know I'm working on ways to work with clients that doesn't turn on the billable hour.

The profession is changing, and, yet, the billable hour will persist.

Why?

At least two reasons: Firms still want you to track your time and courts want evidence of time before awarding fees.

So, I press on, with an as neutral mindset about it as I can manage.

🔥♥️✌🏻