![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/The-Hidden-Cost-of-Complacency-Why-Keeping-Underperforming-Billers-Is-Killing-Your-Firm.jpg?resize=770%2C495&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
Table of contents<\/h2>\n\n- The Real Costs of Underperforming Billers<\/a>\n
\n- Let\u2019s do the hard math.<\/a><\/li>\n
- The high cost of cultural corrosion.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Get Clear, Get Honest and Take Action<\/a>\n
\n- Start with clarity.<\/a><\/li>\n
- Once you\u2019ve identified a mismatch, act.<\/a><\/li>\n
- Don\u2019t fall into the trap of thinking you\u2019re doing anyone a favor by keeping them longer.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Complacency About Underperforming Billers Is Costly<\/a><\/li>\n
- More Profitable Law Firm Tips from Brooke Lively<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
Underperformers cost your firm far more than their salary. They create a drag on revenue, waste valuable leadership time and poison your culture, eventually driving away the very people you can\u2019t afford to lose.<\/p>\n
The Real Costs of Underperforming Billers <\/h2>\n
In most law firms, the standard expectation is that a billable employee generates at least three times their salary in revenue. It\u2019s the basic rule of thirds. One-third of their billables goes to pay their salary. Another third covers the firm\u2019s overhead. The final third is profit \u2014 the part that allows you to reinvest in growth, reward top people, build a sustainable business, and pay yourself for the time, effort and risk you put into owning the firm. When someone doesn\u2019t hit their numbers that third bucket, your profit, is always the first to vanish. It\u2019s you and your family that take the hit.<\/p>\n
Read: Understanding Law Firm Profits \u2014 And What to Do With Them<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nLet\u2019s do the hard math.<\/h3>\n
Say you have an associate making $150,000. They should collect at least $450,000,<\/em> but they only bill and collect $300,000. They barely covered their fair share of overhead, and your profit is gutted. Keep them for a year, and you\u2019ve lost at least $150,000. But that cash is only the beginning.<\/p>\nNow layer in the distraction cost. Underperformers come with baggage. You and your leadership team spend hours reminding them to enter their time, checking their progress, scheduling meetings to diagnose why they\u2019re falling short, and trying to coach them into doing the job they were hired to do. Every one of those hours is time you\u2019re not spending with your high performers, developing business, billing or solving real problems. <\/p>\n
Add in their mentor, their supervising partner, and your HR team, and you\u2019re looking at 30\u201340 hours a month of pure distraction. It\u2019s a hidden tax you pay month after month.<\/p>\n
Read: The Best Compensation Plans Use the Law of Thirds<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nThe high cost of cultural corrosion.<\/h3>\n
And then there\u2019s the cost that doesn\u2019t show up on the P&L: the cultural corrosion. Your team notices who\u2019s pulling their weight, and who isn\u2019t. Gossip starts around the proverbial watercooler. \u201cDid you see that X<\/em> didn\u2019t hit their numbers again?\u201d \u201cWhy do they get special treatment?\u201d \u201cWhy am I busting my ass while they coast?\u201d These are the whispers that grow louder with time. <\/p>\nEventually, your best people start to question whether this is the kind of place they want to build a career.<\/p>\n
\nWhen your stars leave, it\u2019s not just disappointing, it\u2019s devastating. Replacing a top performer typically costs at least 50% of their salary in recruiting costs. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Worse, you lose one to two times their salary in missed billables while you try to find and ramp up someone new. And that\u2019s if you can find the right person quickly. And we all know how hard it is to hire right now. That underperformer didn\u2019t just cost you in their own numbers; they chased away your top line.<\/p>\n
Read: The Real Cost of Employee Turnover<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nSo, what should you do about underperforming billers?<\/p>\n
Get Clear, Get Honest and Take Action<\/h2>\nStart with clarity. <\/h3>\n
The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) uses the \u201cGWC\u201d<\/strong> tool to evaluate whether someone is the right fit for the role. GWC stands for \u201cGet It, Want It, and Capacity to Do It.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Get It:<\/strong> Do they truly understand what the job requires?<\/li>\n
- Want It:<\/strong> Do they genuinely want to do it?<\/li>\n
- Capacity:<\/strong> Do they have the mental, emotional, and technical capacity to perform at the level required?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
If the answer to even one of these three questions is no, they\u2019re not in the right seat, and they may not be on the right bus. They have to go, and it\u2019s not up for debate.<\/p>\n
Once you\u2019ve identified a mismatch, act. <\/h3>\n
No underperformer should linger on your payroll for more than five months. Start with a review and give them clear, measurable targets. When their next review rolls around in three months, you should see marked improvement. If not, it\u2019s time for a performance improvement plan. This process should be professional and structured, but also firm. Regular check-ins with targets and the understanding that if you \u201cdon\u2019t see immediate and consistent improvement, action, up to and including termination may result.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\nIf done correctly, most underperformers will self-select out before you have to make that final call.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t fall into the trap of thinking you\u2019re doing anyone a favor by keeping them longer. <\/h3>\n
The longer an underperformer stays, the more damage they do. They erode your culture, normalize mediocrity, and start pulling others down with them. <\/p>\n
\nUnderperformers often recruit other borderline employees to adopt their mindset and behavior. That slow cultural rot is far harder and more expensive to fix than one tough personnel decision.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Here\u2019s the kicker. Underperformers generally aren\u2019t happy. They know they are underperforming. They spend time avoiding you, their supervisors, and the work that they can\u2019t or don\u2019t want to do. Letting them go so they can find a place where they are a better fit and can really shine is the kinder action.<\/p>\n
Complacency About Underperforming Billers Is Costly<\/h2>\n
It eats your profit, hijacks your time, and drives away your best people. So get clear, get honest and take action. Your stars are watching. And they expect leadership that protects their performance environment, not one that lets it get dragged down by the lowest common denominator.<\/p>\n
If you think you might have a GWC issue or aren\u2019t sure what it is costing you, you are welcome to contact me for more information.<\/p>\n
More Profitable Law Firm Tips from Brooke Lively<\/h2>\n
For more tips on building a more profitable law firm, read:<\/p>\n
\n- What Should Be on Your Law Firm\u2019s Dashboard<\/a><\/li>\n
- Are Your Law Firm\u2019s Financial Systems Ready to Scale?<\/a><\/li>\n
- The Path to Partnership:\u00a0Embracing the \u2018P\u2019 Word Is the Key to Law Firm Growth<\/a><\/li>\n
- Law Firm Profits and Year-End Taxes: Avoiding a Surprise Tax Bill<\/a><\/li>\n
- 5 Ways You May Be Sabotaging Your Firm\u2019s Growth<\/a><\/li>\n
- The Best Compensation Plans Use the Law of Thirds<\/a><\/li>\n
- Law Firm Overhead: What It Is \u2014 and What It Isn\u2019t<\/a><\/li>\n
- Building a Law Firm That Pays You First<\/a><\/li>\n
- Understanding Law Firm Profits \u2014 And What to Do With Them<\/a><\/li>\n
- How Are Law Firm Owners Paid? Total Compensation vs. Salary<\/a><\/li>\n
- Funding Growth: Are You Starving Your Law Firm?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Image \u00a9 iStockPhoto.com. <\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/AttorneyatWork-Logo-%C2%AE-2021-1.jpg?resize=372%2C106&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\nSign up for Attorney at Work\u2019s daily practice tips newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to our podcast<\/a>, Attorney at Work Today.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brooke Lively | Underperforming billers cost far more than their salary. They create a drag on revenue, waste valuable leadership time and poison your firm’s culture. The post The Hidden Cost of Complacency: Why Keeping Underperforming Billers Is Killing Your Firm appeared first on Articles, Tips and Tech for Law Firms and Lawyers. Keeping underperforming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- \n
- Let\u2019s do the hard math.<\/a><\/li>\n
- The high cost of cultural corrosion.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Get Clear, Get Honest and Take Action<\/a>\n
- \n
- Start with clarity.<\/a><\/li>\n
- Once you\u2019ve identified a mismatch, act.<\/a><\/li>\n
- Don\u2019t fall into the trap of thinking you\u2019re doing anyone a favor by keeping them longer.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Complacency About Underperforming Billers Is Costly<\/a><\/li>\n
- More Profitable Law Firm Tips from Brooke Lively<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
Underperformers cost your firm far more than their salary. They create a drag on revenue, waste valuable leadership time and poison your culture, eventually driving away the very people you can\u2019t afford to lose.<\/p>\n
The Real Costs of Underperforming Billers <\/h2>\n
In most law firms, the standard expectation is that a billable employee generates at least three times their salary in revenue. It\u2019s the basic rule of thirds. One-third of their billables goes to pay their salary. Another third covers the firm\u2019s overhead. The final third is profit \u2014 the part that allows you to reinvest in growth, reward top people, build a sustainable business, and pay yourself for the time, effort and risk you put into owning the firm. When someone doesn\u2019t hit their numbers that third bucket, your profit, is always the first to vanish. It\u2019s you and your family that take the hit.<\/p>\n
Read: Understanding Law Firm Profits \u2014 And What to Do With Them<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
Let\u2019s do the hard math.<\/h3>\n
Say you have an associate making $150,000. They should collect at least $450,000,<\/em> but they only bill and collect $300,000. They barely covered their fair share of overhead, and your profit is gutted. Keep them for a year, and you\u2019ve lost at least $150,000. But that cash is only the beginning.<\/p>\n
Now layer in the distraction cost. Underperformers come with baggage. You and your leadership team spend hours reminding them to enter their time, checking their progress, scheduling meetings to diagnose why they\u2019re falling short, and trying to coach them into doing the job they were hired to do. Every one of those hours is time you\u2019re not spending with your high performers, developing business, billing or solving real problems. <\/p>\n
Add in their mentor, their supervising partner, and your HR team, and you\u2019re looking at 30\u201340 hours a month of pure distraction. It\u2019s a hidden tax you pay month after month.<\/p>\n
Read: The Best Compensation Plans Use the Law of Thirds<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
The high cost of cultural corrosion.<\/h3>\n
And then there\u2019s the cost that doesn\u2019t show up on the P&L: the cultural corrosion. Your team notices who\u2019s pulling their weight, and who isn\u2019t. Gossip starts around the proverbial watercooler. \u201cDid you see that X<\/em> didn\u2019t hit their numbers again?\u201d \u201cWhy do they get special treatment?\u201d \u201cWhy am I busting my ass while they coast?\u201d These are the whispers that grow louder with time. <\/p>\n
Eventually, your best people start to question whether this is the kind of place they want to build a career.<\/p>\n
\n
When your stars leave, it\u2019s not just disappointing, it\u2019s devastating. Replacing a top performer typically costs at least 50% of their salary in recruiting costs. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Worse, you lose one to two times their salary in missed billables while you try to find and ramp up someone new. And that\u2019s if you can find the right person quickly. And we all know how hard it is to hire right now. That underperformer didn\u2019t just cost you in their own numbers; they chased away your top line.<\/p>\n
Read: The Real Cost of Employee Turnover<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
So, what should you do about underperforming billers?<\/p>\n
Get Clear, Get Honest and Take Action<\/h2>\n
Start with clarity. <\/h3>\n
The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) uses the \u201cGWC\u201d<\/strong> tool to evaluate whether someone is the right fit for the role. GWC stands for \u201cGet It, Want It, and Capacity to Do It.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n
- \n
- Get It:<\/strong> Do they truly understand what the job requires?<\/li>\n
- Want It:<\/strong> Do they genuinely want to do it?<\/li>\n
- Capacity:<\/strong> Do they have the mental, emotional, and technical capacity to perform at the level required?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
If the answer to even one of these three questions is no, they\u2019re not in the right seat, and they may not be on the right bus. They have to go, and it\u2019s not up for debate.<\/p>\n
Once you\u2019ve identified a mismatch, act. <\/h3>\n
No underperformer should linger on your payroll for more than five months. Start with a review and give them clear, measurable targets. When their next review rolls around in three months, you should see marked improvement. If not, it\u2019s time for a performance improvement plan. This process should be professional and structured, but also firm. Regular check-ins with targets and the understanding that if you \u201cdon\u2019t see immediate and consistent improvement, action, up to and including termination may result.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n
If done correctly, most underperformers will self-select out before you have to make that final call.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t fall into the trap of thinking you\u2019re doing anyone a favor by keeping them longer. <\/h3>\n
The longer an underperformer stays, the more damage they do. They erode your culture, normalize mediocrity, and start pulling others down with them. <\/p>\n
\n
Underperformers often recruit other borderline employees to adopt their mindset and behavior. That slow cultural rot is far harder and more expensive to fix than one tough personnel decision.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Here\u2019s the kicker. Underperformers generally aren\u2019t happy. They know they are underperforming. They spend time avoiding you, their supervisors, and the work that they can\u2019t or don\u2019t want to do. Letting them go so they can find a place where they are a better fit and can really shine is the kinder action.<\/p>\n
Complacency About Underperforming Billers Is Costly<\/h2>\n
It eats your profit, hijacks your time, and drives away your best people. So get clear, get honest and take action. Your stars are watching. And they expect leadership that protects their performance environment, not one that lets it get dragged down by the lowest common denominator.<\/p>\n
If you think you might have a GWC issue or aren\u2019t sure what it is costing you, you are welcome to contact me for more information.<\/p>\n
More Profitable Law Firm Tips from Brooke Lively<\/h2>\n
For more tips on building a more profitable law firm, read:<\/p>\n
- \n
- What Should Be on Your Law Firm\u2019s Dashboard<\/a><\/li>\n
- Are Your Law Firm\u2019s Financial Systems Ready to Scale?<\/a><\/li>\n
- The Path to Partnership:\u00a0Embracing the \u2018P\u2019 Word Is the Key to Law Firm Growth<\/a><\/li>\n
- Law Firm Profits and Year-End Taxes: Avoiding a Surprise Tax Bill<\/a><\/li>\n
- 5 Ways You May Be Sabotaging Your Firm\u2019s Growth<\/a><\/li>\n
- The Best Compensation Plans Use the Law of Thirds<\/a><\/li>\n
- Law Firm Overhead: What It Is \u2014 and What It Isn\u2019t<\/a><\/li>\n
- Building a Law Firm That Pays You First<\/a><\/li>\n
- Understanding Law Firm Profits \u2014 And What to Do With Them<\/a><\/li>\n
- How Are Law Firm Owners Paid? Total Compensation vs. Salary<\/a><\/li>\n
- Funding Growth: Are You Starving Your Law Firm?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Image \u00a9 iStockPhoto.com. <\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\nSign up for Attorney at Work\u2019s daily practice tips newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to our podcast<\/a>, Attorney at Work Today.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Brooke Lively | Underperforming billers cost far more than their salary. They create a drag on revenue, waste valuable leadership time and poison your firm’s culture. The post The Hidden Cost of Complacency: Why Keeping Underperforming Billers Is Killing Your Firm appeared first on Articles, Tips and Tech for Law Firms and Lawyers. Keeping underperforming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Are Your Law Firm\u2019s Financial Systems Ready to Scale?<\/a><\/li>\n
- Want It:<\/strong> Do they genuinely want to do it?<\/li>\n
- Once you\u2019ve identified a mismatch, act.<\/a><\/li>\n
- The high cost of cultural corrosion.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n