Watch For Changes In Ratio Of Partner To Associate Hours
Market forces work in law firms, at least to an extent. When hours become scarce, they become more valuable--more valuable, that is, to the person who records them. Hours are not more valuable to the client who has to pay for them.
Consider this from a post on law.com:
5. Partners start doing their own work. The final and most telling sign that times are tough at Biglaw is when you find yourself in this conversation:
Cog: "Hey Partner, it's Cog. I just wanted to see if you had time to discuss the brief you wanted me to write today."
Partner: "No need, Cog. I went ahead and started a draft yesterday and will be making revisions today. I went to the firm library and pulled down some cases from the books on the shelves. They really need to dust in there. I may call you if my secretary is at lunch when I need to enter my changes into that word-processing thing-a-ma-gig. But otherwise, I think I have it under control."
Partners doing legal research and writing memos and briefs in longhand is a sign of the apocalypse and proof that Biglaw is not immune to a bad economy.
Clients should insist that each month's bill for each matter includes some indicia of work being done efficiently. Some measures would be weighted average hourly rate or ratio of associate hours to partner hours. I am unaware of benchmarks that would define "normal," but given the unique nature of work and firms, there may be no appropriate benchmark. They key is changes in those indicators month to month. If firms become slow and partners start hoarding work, you'll be able to to see that change and take appropriate measure in response.