Comments on: Billable hours are unsafe

By: mcleodi

mcleodi — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 23:00:18 +0000

I walked into the foyer of a building where the law firm we used at the time was domiciled, the foyer of the building was large enough to have a Porsche dealer displaying three high end vehicles in the foyer for the entire week complete with dealer reps ready to make sales.
I see this as a major part of the problem – the rewards are great for the equity partners at the top – so they squeeze their staff in the pursuit of revenue / profit – I’ve even heard one person say “the real profit is made after the 8th hour”
Sadly, I think change will take a while – I did say to the law firm partner when we met “Bonus season is it?”

By: Kevin Jones

Kevin Jones — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 22:18:45 +0000

In reply to andrew.hopkins@anu.edu.au.

Andrew, I am hoping to catch up with Michael and some of his colleagues at the OHS World Congress in Sydney at the end of the month. Michael is scheduled to speak at one of the sessions and there should be an opportunity for questions then (if not before)

By: andrew.hopkins@anu.edu.au

andrew.hopkins@anu.edu.au — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 22:15:07 +0000

Important story about billable hours!
Michael Tooma’s move, with his team, raises questions, There must be a story here, as well, waiting to be told

By: Jason Wagstaffe

Jason Wagstaffe — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 21:53:51 +0000

Hi Kevin, I changed from being a high level employee responsible for OHS at a number of National Companies for the life of a consultant based on the thought that my working life would change to suit the less stress vision that I hoped to achieve. Due to my expertise and wide knowledge of risk, incident investigation and general safety at a work place and in the public sphere I started a life in providing expert opinion. I started that 10 years ago. Since then I have written over 900 expert witness reports. The first 700 was a apace that wasn’t very stressful and my life style choice was as I expected. However, since COVID I have had instructing solicitors that have so much workload that I am given less than 2 weeks notice to complete reports. I have now started to call some of these solicitors, Just In Time, solicitors. In most cases these matters commenced 2 years before they came to me. Yet I am left with zero time to write a report that provides the unbiased nuances required to make the report worthwhile. The billable hour culture has an impact on others that support the legal industry.