Atlanta-based Ford & Harrison has done away with the billable hour for first-year associates. The 190-lawyer labor and employment firm has implemented a program that focuses on having associates spend their time observing depositions and and witness interviews and attending hearings and litigation strategy meetings. Having no billable hour requirement could be a draw for law students, despite the fact that the firm only pays first-years $125,000 in its larger offices. The firm hopes that the new program will enable new associates to handle more important matters more quickly, and it also eliminates the challenge of determining which hours billed by associates are valuable enough to bill.
Source: www.law.com