Like a gruesome car crash, we often enjoy swinging over to Above the Law to gawk at lawyers in a way that makes us all feel better about the accounting profession as a whole. And this letter from one firm's managing partner, which went out just after noon on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, is no exception:
I am doing year end stuff and find that some timekeepers don’t have large blocks of time recorded. so I can’t do some of the planning I was going to do. Anyone who has more than a week of time not in by close of business Monday will be dismissed from the firm Tuesday am.
This is harsh but time keeping promptly and accurately is a rule at the firm.
Listen, guy, everyone knows billing and accurate time-keeping are important not only to the firm but apparently to the entire fiber of humanity to hear some of you timesheet freaks speak of it but this is just excessive.
As Staci Zaretsky writes:
We feel for Berman, we really do. Associates exist on this planet to make money for their firms, and they’re supposed to enter their time, on time. It’s a part of their job, and when they don’t do it, it makes it more difficult for the firm to make ends meet.
But for a law firm’s managing partner to send out an email like this on the day before Thanksgiving? That’s just low. Berman’s threat was the equivalent of writing something along the lines of “season’s greetings, now please go f*ck yourselves.” This was way harsh, Steve. Prompt and accurate timekeeping may be a rule at your firm, but compassion and empathy are rules all human beings should follow.
For the sake of your livelihoods, Hagens Berman associates, we hope you turn in all of your tardy timesheets by the end of the day.
Forget that. Never turn in another timesheet again. What is this guy going to do, fire everyone? Good luck doing your "year end stuff" without any grunts around, pal. Put that on your timesheet and smoke it!
