No, there are many reasons to work toward meeting the minimum billable hour target for bonuses.  The idea for this post came from reading an article today on the Abovethelaw.com website  concerning Mayer Brown’s new billable hour requirements.

I posted the following comment on that site:  My two cents is that it is important to bill the 2000 hours for reasons other than compensation (salary and bonus). In my experience, there are many reasons to work toward meeting at least the minimum billable hour target for bonuses. Once you establish this pattern (say over two years), rightly or wrongly, the firm (partners and management) takes notice and places you on the “good list” which may result in the following:

1. additional leadership responsibilities
2. first-consideration for new billable matters
3. assignments of higher priority projects; and most importantly
4. higher perceived value to the firm