Paul Morton has a lot to say about the term “non-billable hours”. Paul is the COO of the law firm Burns and Levinson in Boston. He has been a figure in law firm administration for well over 30 years and he has seen a lot of changes during that time including increased billing pressure on lawyers. But according to Paul, billable hours should not take priority over all non-billable work. In fact according to Paul, the phrase “non-billable hours” should be replaced with “investment hours”.
Simply put, attorneys need to generate income for their firms in the short run. But they also need to invest time in marketing, law firm management, professional development, and self-care. In the long run,