King & Spalding Wants Associates to Log 2,400 ‘Productive’ Hours

King & Spalding wants its junior lawyers to hit a yearly hours total that goes beyond time billed to clients.

Associates at the firm are required to log 2,400 “productive” hours per year, according to two people familiar with the matter. At least 1,950 of those hours must be billable work for clients for associates to qualify for annual bonuses, while the rest can include practice development, recruiting, and work on firm initiatives.

The policy was first reported by Above The Law. It’s not a new standard, one source said.

Associates across Big Law are waiting to see whether their firms will match summer bonuses announced by Milbank LLP Aug. 7. Several firms require associates to hit certain billable hour requirements to be eligible for larger year-end bonuses, which are seniority-based and last year ranged up to $115,000.

Most Big Law firms waited until the end of the year to match Milbank’s summer bonuses, adding the payments to annual bonus amounts.

King & Spalding brought in more than $2.3 billion in gross revenue last year and doled out more than $5.9 million in profits per equity partner, according to data from The American Lawyer.