Most of us in private practice face many challenges that our government attorney colleagues do not. For us, time is money – our clients’ money. We need to be cognizant about how much time we are spending on projects, business development, accounts receivable, ethics, paying overhead, and practicing law. Most government attorneys only need to worry about that last one. Interestingly, most law firms only want their associates focusing on practicing law as well. They want their associates learning their practice area. Often billable hour requirements do not leave them room to do much else. A more productive approach may be to give associates other responsibilities from day one.

This does not mean that associates should have an equity vote in the partnership, but assigning them business development goals and small management tasks can pay larger dividends in the long run. Firms focus too much on attracting “rain-makers” instead of creating them. Creating an associate culture that encourages them to take responsibility for their own practice can bring in more clients for the firm as a whole, and it can help make the associate more productive. More billable hours does not necessarily equal more money. More collectible billable hours equal more money. Most associates will simply bill time on cases to hit their hour goals. They often are not paying attention to the business realities of paying v. non-paying clients. A sort of “not my job” mentality sets in regarding collections, business development, and firm processes because most firms frankly do not want associates worrying about those things. If associates feel a sense of responsibility, or in other words if it is part of their job to help run the business of the practice associates are more likely to focus their time in more productive ways.