Friend at a popular V50 law firm just told me that they did not advance to a third-year associate and had to "redo" their second year because they billed under 1,000 hours. Is this typical? Did this ever happen to anyone here? My friend doesnt have reddit and is telling me he doesnt mind "repeating" his second year because he likes his firm and he thinks this is fair but I think he's crazy for staying. Thoughts?
Edit/updates based on recurring questions. - There was no LOA or other similar circumstances involved, he simply wasn't given more work (I do not know how aggressively he sought it out) - He was not twiddling his thumbs, if you counted hours for pro bono and BD, he'd be in the low-mid-1,000 range. (Not good but not necessarily firable?) - He had good reviews on all his work product (or so he claims, I haven't seen them) - The average hours billed for peers in his practice group was significantly higher