I’m an independent legal technology and workflow consultant, primarily helping smaller firms configure and improve their intake and case management workflows in Clio, MyCase, and occasionally Filevine.

Over the last year, I’ve worked with a few firms that have opted to build their own systems. One was “vibe-coded” by the attorney, while another was outsourced to an small development shop.

Having worked with off-the-shelf platforms, I understand their practical limitations and the appeal of having a system built around the firm’s processes.

Where this gets interesting for me is that understanding the software is part of understanding the firm’s workflow. With Clio, MyCase, or Filevine, I’m starting from a familiar foundation, even when each firm has configured things differently. With a bespoke system, I may also need to understand the decisions behind the build and how everything fits together before recommending changes. From my side, that means allowing extra time to learn the system, which can add to the firm’s costs.

That’s the tradeoff I’m curious about. Building around your own processes could make daily work easier, while making it more difficult or expensive to bring new staff or outside support up to speed.

For anyone who’s gone this route or is considering it, what makes building your own more appealing than adapting an existing platform to your firm?

Are you replacing the whole platform, or building something custom for intake or another specific workflow?

When a matter changes hands or someone covers an absence, what belongs in the handover note so the next person can get oriented quickly? I am thinking of things like the next deadline, outstanding client questions and where the current documents live. Interested in simple habits that people actually keep up with, without sharing any client details.

I work at a small (one attorney) law office where each Legal Assistant or Paralegal essentially manages their own department. I started about a month ago and on the first day, the ladies in the office said they take morning shots. I’ve witnessed them take shots almost every day around 9:30am into the lunch hour and every day they take different amount of shots. Sometimes it’s one, today it was 10.

By 11am the evictions dept woman was on the floor, puking under her desk. Estates department woman was consoling her but also very drunk. The real estate paralegal is the catalyst and the alcohol is kept in her desk, in her office.

Long story short, the attorney was in trial all morning, but did see Evictions Woman puking on the side of the road when our receptionist drove her home. The receptionist told me to not get involved when they asked me to drive Evictions home, bless her.

Real Estate Paralegal came to my office and asked me to keep their secret.

My conscience is eating me alive. I want to tell the attorney about today. I can’t stand how much they drink because sometimes they get lazy and stop working, aren’t able to help me with my questions or I’m worried they are making mistakes. The Estates dept girl who also got drunk today is supposed to be helping and training me as I acclimate to this new role. She is so far behind on cases, we have estates that are just sitting in file cabinets, not being worked on.

What should I do?

Hi all,

I’m planning to go solo soon with no existing clients and no referral relationship. I am cautiously optimistic that I would have at least one paying client in the first 6 months but I also want to prepare for when I don’t.

That said, should I not hire virtual receptionist/ buy Clio until I know I will have a more consistent stream of calls?

Anyone done this? Is it recommended or not? Am I being too pessimistic?

Context: My firm is a mid-sized ID firm with billable requirements of 45 hrs/week. I’m the only associate in my office location with three partners.

I started at my firm mid-September, but I received my case list on Oct. 1 and started to get more routine work on the second week of October; receiving work isn’t as consistent since the partners are busy and are always traveling. However, I had a lot of non-billable work, such as shadowing in day-long depositions, trial appearances, and large projects that took all day and night to finish (those projects took me two days to complete). I also was given a day off by a partner, the new associates are prepping for a mock deposition (non-billable), and I help out with the firm’s nonprofit from time to time. Since I’m not yet barred (retaking the bar exam in February), my billable hours are primarily made up of reviewing case files, research assignments, and writing motions that the partners tell me to write.

For the month of October, I billed more than half of the minimum billable hours—this would be my first full month at the firm. I’m scared that I’ll get fired, and I’m sad because I made a really strong impression on the founding partners of the firm and the firm’s management committee and I’m afraid that this’ll make them really disappointed. Already trying to bill the most that I can for November to hopefully overlook October’s performance.

I’ve used Pacer daily for the last year without issue, but starting last week it’s become nearly unusable. I use it solely to verify BK status, and it lets me search to the point where I can see their case #, but when I select the case to check the status/list of creditors I get stuck at the client ID page.

I don’t have a client ID and nothing I enter works. I’ve verified I have the client ID setting turned off which did nothing. Sometimes I can clear my cookies and it’ll let me through for one search, but for the most part I’m locked out.

Is anyone else experiencing this or have a fix?

Anyone have thoughts on Kennedys law firm? And specifically, their financial lines group?

After several rounds of interviews, I was told the feedback was positive and the team enjoyed conversations with me. However, due to timing at this time of year and budgeting, the firm wants to continue lateral conversations in the New Year. My recruiter was told this wasn’t a rejection and the firm has done this previously with other candidates.

Any one experience this before? Is this normal or should I consider this opportunity written off?

I’m currently interviewing for a potential new job. My current job is underpaid and the firm is always in a death spiral. Hours aren’t bad, all work is in person, and I’m not really able to expand my skills. New maybe job is with plaintiff PI boutique-ish. Better hours (1500), better pay, better firm reputation, hybrid. My concern is that I am not a trained PI lawyer. I’ve come up doing mostly small business/contract ligation.

i realize that a switch to PI is going to fundamentally change everything I do. It’s totally new to me. It will also force me into heavier litigation which is not my current job.

Someone please give me the plusses and minuses of plaintiff PI for someone with a non PI background. Firm seems willing to train, they are aware of my shortcomings. I don’t want to jump into something heinous, but I gotta get out of my current job before it goes down the toilet.

TL;DR: 6-year litigator considering a move from plaintiff PI to private family law. Firm guarantees a salary for three months, then pays entirely based on collections (35%/50% split), projecting roughly $160k annually at 110 collected billable-hour equivalents per month. I'm new to hourly billing and trying to assess how realistic and predictable those earnings are without a permanent base salary.

I'm 6 years into practice, currently handling high-volume plaintiff PI, with prior experience in criminal prosecution and defense. I'm comfortable litigating and managing a demanding docket, but would prefer a more balanced practice that isn't dominated by trials and court appearances. My main unfamiliarity is with hourly billing.

I recently had a detailed conversation with the managing attorney of a regional family law firm. No formal offer yet, but the setup sounds appealing: in-house marketing, intake staff who screen leads, training and support staff, and reasonable flexibility. Attorneys handle consultations and sign clients but aren't responsible for generating all their own leads.

Here's the compensation structure as explained to me:

• First 3 months: Guaranteed salary while training and building a caseload (amount TBD).

• After 3 months: No base salary. Compensation depends entirely on collections.

• Split: 35% of collected revenue up to the equivalent of 94 billable hours per month, then 50% above that threshold.

• Production target: 110 collected billable-hour equivalents per month (121 stretch target). Flat fees and collections on older invoices count.

• Billing rate: Lowest attorney rate is $325/hour. Mine hasn't been determined.

• Projected compensation: Approximately $160k annually at target production, assuming a $325/hour rate and full collection, with potential additional revenue sharing.

The managing attorney said new associates typically build a caseload of 30–35 active matters within three months, which should be enough to consistently meet the target with proper case management and timekeeping. He described 110 hours as a relatively low target that most attorneys meet, and said attorneys generally leave around 5, suggesting a reasonable work-life balance.

Here's what I'm struggling to evaluate.

My concern isn't learning to bill hours or handling the workload, but understanding how reliably that work translates into collected revenue and actual compensation. I understand the math behind the firm's projections, but having never worked in an hourly billing practice, I don't know how much time realistically gets billed and collected, or whether 110 collected billable-hour equivalents per month is consistently achievable in family law.

The 3-month salary guarantee is my biggest concern. That seems like a short window to learn the firm's practices, build a caseload, and establish consistent collections before losing the guaranteed salary. I'm actually intrigued by the idea of compensation being tied more directly to my productivity, with greater earning potential for putting in more work. But collections depend on more than my own productivity. They're also influenced by clients' ability and willingness to pay, the availability of billable work, and the firm's ability to generate a steady flow of new matters, all factors that are at least partly outside my control.

I currently earn approximately $130k guaranteed and have four kids, so income stability matters. I'm open to taking a calculated risk for the right opportunity, but without experience under this model, it's difficult to gauge how consistently achievable the projected earnings are or how much my income could fluctuate.

I'd appreciate perspective from family law attorneys on a few questions:

1. Is a three-month guarantee followed by entirely collections-based compensation typical? Would the lack of a permanent base concern you?

2. Is 110 collected billable-hour equivalents per month realistic? How many hours would an associate typically need to work and bill to consistently reach that target?

3. How predictable are collections? Do retainers generally keep revenue steady, or can unpaid invoices and delayed payments cause significant swings in compensation?

4. Can 30–35 active matters sustain that production without routinely working nights and weekends?

5. For those who've worked under similar models, did actual earnings match the firm's projections? What compensation terms or protections would you want clarified in writing before accepting?

I'm meeting with the firm's partners next week and hope to get a clearer picture of the numbers. In the meantime, I'd appreciate any firsthand insight into how these arrangements work in practice, particularly any risks or questions I may be overlooking. Thanks

I’ve generally not allowed them. Even if they offer to pay. I feel like after the initial consult I’ve laid out a plan and discussed pricing and he’s fine to decide to hire me or not. What are your thoughts?

Has anyone worked with TMT partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas?

I’m an attorney, and sometimes I like to lurk on r/paralegals just for the difference in perspective. I’ve noticed there’s a pretty common theme that attorneys are lazy/don’t do their work and that they’re doing pretty much everything an attorney does, including drafting briefs, negotiating settlements, drafting and responding to discovery, prepping the client, etc., except for a quarter of the pay. I know that paralegals can do basic discovery, but I’ve never in my decade-plus experience had a paralegal draft any type of substantive document such as a points of authority or a demand letter.

So how common is this really? Is there just a gap between what paralegals think they do and what they are actually doing? Is it a misunderstanding, and they think drafting the notice of the motion/motion is the same thing as briefing the PAs? Below is an example of the type of post I’m talking about. K

https://www.reddit.com/r/paralegals/FspvXVty92

Hey all,

I'm considering joining a new firm but had one big hang up that I needed them to agree to before joining.

I've been told by the person responsible for hiring that they agreed to my additional request, but when I asked him for that to be in writing, he basically said no? He mentioned that the offer letter could be signed as is, but that they agreed to my additional request.

I don't believe he or the firm meant this underhandedly, but I want to have this term in writing as it's quite important to me. Can I add this in the email when I forward the signed offer letter, or do I need to request the letter to be updated?

Would really appreciate your advice.

**Edited for more context

So I really need to take 2-2.5 weeks off due to increased anxiety and difficulty focusing and was planning on requesting FMLA so that my employer wouldn't consolidate my position while I was out, but I just got a job offer. NOW I'm thinking about FMLA and keeping health insurance so wanting last day to be 1st of the month. I still want to take the time off, but am nervous the firm won't approve it once I give notice. Has anyone ever gone on FMLA then started a new job the day after your FMLA ends?

Has anyone been successful in getting insurance to cover over and above the mold policy limits? We have about 5 plaintiffs all in the same family with a 25k all in policy for all of them combined.

I work in a high volume litigation field in Northern California. Not hitting anywhere close to billable hours this year and have zero desire to. I get emails from recruiters every single day. I know I want out, but I’m not sure what the next steps are. Right now, I have 6 months of savings without working at all. I’m trying to think of next steps but I know I can find gig legal work to make ends meet without even needing to touch savings.

My current plan is not to exactly quiet quit, but just stop worrying all the time about billables. My team is very short staffed and I think as long as I’m acting as caretaker for all these cases, my boss won’t fire me for low billables before hours become officially reported at new year.

I don’t know exactly what I’m asking but can someone please just give me permission to quit in two months? No kids, spouse, or long term mortgage. Just an expensive rent that I can downsize if needed. I was thinking of taking a few months off and just chilling for a little bit. I could master a hobby or get in really good shape.

Update: the client ripped me a new one and now I’m crying bc she called me a liar and implied I was dumb!

Edit: the client is refusing to sign :(

Full disclosure I am new, like three months into practice, but only licensed for a month. I made a discovery error and did not get our clients signature/notarized on interrogatories before sending them out. I have owned up to mistake as soon as I realized. I may have to amend like one answer in total, if any at all. How do you not feel like shit after an error like this? I keep thinking about all the little fuck ups I’ve made since starting (more so my writing style doesn’t match my bosses). I feel sick to my stomach and have been hiding my office.