Top 10 Biglaw Firm Threatens To Dock Bonuses By Up To 50% For Late Timesheets

When it comes to working as an associate, time is money, and Biglaw firms are dead serious about time entry. After all, that's how these firms get paid, and if attorneys are delinquent in the submission of their timesheets, then fees won't be collected from clients. Firms do not appreciate procrastination when it comes submission of timesheets, and that's why so many of them have implemented policies that financially disincentivize late time entries.

It was back in 2008 that Above the Law first noted the trend spreading among Biglaw firms -- associates with too many late time entries would see their year-end bonuses slashed. Other firms were quick to hop on the trend, with some taking a bite not just out of bonuses, but of salaries, too.

But these policies are not relics of the past. Firms are still very serious about the submission of attorneys' time, and the latest firm to issue bonus threats tied to time entry is none other than Sidley Austin, which has an aggressive daily time entry policy (with a five-day grace period, luckily).

A source tells us that the firm -- which brought in $2,922,634,000 gross revenue in 2022, putting it at No. 6 on the Am Law 100 -- sent a memo this week notifying lawyers that time entry will now impact their bonuses. Here's the key segment of that memo (available on the next page):

Oof, that's a pretty hefty chunk of bonus money that'll be docked if attorneys' time isn't entered in a timely fashion.

Yes, this is a very harsh way for a Biglaw firm to make their point, especially when associates tend to be the most delinquent with timesheets because they're so busy billing their lives away. But slashing bonuses -- by up to an eye-popping 50%! -- is sure to grab the attention needed to keep those time entries coming in fast and furious.

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she's worked since 2011. She'd love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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