By: Alisse Houweling
The legal profession's demanding nature requires a careful balance between delivering exceptional client service and maintaining personal well-being. This blog series highlights innovative strategies adopted by lawyers and law firms to create environments that sustain high performance while prioritizing recovery.
In this first installment, we spotlight Faren Bogach, the founder of Construct Legal, who has reimagined the typical law firm Minimum Billable Hour Policy by instituting a Maximum Billable Hour Policy to protect her team from burnout by fostering greater opportunities for rest and recovery. During my interview with Faren, it became clear that her desire to ensure her team is not overworked also led her to actively support ‘real’ vacations—where team members can completely disconnect from the office.
Inspiration Behind Faren Bogach's Law Firm Practice Innovations
Faren recognizes that practicing law is a team sport. When she founded Construct Legal in 2022, her vision for the firm included fostering a work environment where team members felt supported and not overworked. Yes, there would be times when hard work was necessary, but these would be coupled with periods of less intensity, fun, and vacations where complete disconnection from work was encouraged. This was important because delivering great client service on a continuous basis requires a high-performing team capable of consistently achieving excellent results.
She knew that she was going to need to rethink some law firm practices to achieve her vision. Feeling supported and not overworked is uncommon in law firms. She had observed that many high-performing associates frequently burned-out mid-career. Their efficiency and skill often resulted in them being given more work rather than being rewarded other than monetarily. Some also struggled to set boundaries, leading to an unmanageable number of responsibilities.
To combat these challenges, Faren introduced both a Maximum Billable Target Policy and a Vacation Disconnection Practice. The Maximum Billable Hour Policy limits lawyers' annual workloads, while the Vacation Disconnection Practice ensures team members can take proper vacations without remaining tethered to the office through their devices.
Maximum Billable Hour Policy
Unlike the traditional Minimum Billable Hour Policies, Faren’s Maximum Billable Hour Policy shifts the responsibility for managing excessive workloads from individual lawyers to the firm. In an industry where excessive hours are often celebrated, this approach establishes clear boundaries for lawyers, greatly reducing the need for them to self-advocate.
At Faren's firm, the Maximum Billable Target—chosen through collaboration with the associates—is set at 1,750 hours per year, higher than the 1,600 hours Faren initially proposed. Lawyers are strictly prohibited from exceeding this limit to balance high performance with recovery.
To date, the policy has successfully prevented any team member from exceeding the Maximum Billable Target while maintaining high-quality legal services and exceeding firm revenue goals.
Vacation Disconnection Practice
Faren actively promotes true vacations—periods when team members fully disconnect from work—while ensuring that client needs are still met. This replaces the norm of placeholder vacations, where lawyers are technically off but remain available to clients and colleagues through their devices.
Supporting Workload Management Systems and Strategies
To ensure high-quality client service while adhering to the Maximum Billable Hour Policy, Faren has implemented robust workload management systems. These systems proactively monitor and manage workloads to address potential overages before they occur.
The firm uses a comprehensive system to monitor workloads, including:
Detailed scheduling and diarizing of events for each file.
Weekly and monthly file reviews.
Forecasting future billable hour needs.
When lawyers approach the Maximum Billable Target, the firm takes proactive measures, such as:
Outsourcing tasks to trusted contractors or referring new matters to other firms, fostering reciprocal referrals.
Hiring additional lawyers as needed.
To facilitate vacations, additional steps ensure clients are well-served in a lawyer’s absence:
Informing clients well in advance of scheduled vacations.
Introducing clients to covering lawyers.
Thoroughly briefing backup lawyers and equipping them with necessary materials.
Setting reasonable client expectations regarding timelines.
This approach ensures clients’ reasonable needs are met while team members enjoy uninterrupted time off, fostering sustainable high performance.
Unreasonable Clients Are Cut Loose
While most clients adapt to these policies, the firm occasionally parts ways with clients who fail to respect these boundaries. One such decision, made after team consultations, significantly boosted team morale and reinforced the firm's values, proving that employee well-being and excellent client service can coexist.
Mutual Respect and Psychological Safety
The success of these innovative policies is rooted in the firm’s commitment to fostering mutual respect and psychological safety. This supportive environment is intentionally woven into the firm's culture.
Key practices include:
The firm’s name reflects an area of law rather than a partner, emphasizing collective success over individual recognition.
Profits are shared transparently among all team members, reinforcing collaboration.
Feedback is actively sought and implemented, including annual 360-degree evaluations.
Monthly team-building activities are selected collaboratively, fostering inclusivity.
Faren models the behaviours she promotes by openly sharing her own needs.
By embedding these practices into the firm’s culture, Faren has created an environment where team members feel respected, secure, and empowered to thrive.
Conclusion
Through reimagining law firm practices, Faren has established a culture of sustainable high performance that prioritizes lawyer well-being without compromising client service. These steps not only benefit the firm’s lawyers but also promote sustained client service excellence, ensuring a competitive edge.
According to Faren, the starting point is listening to high performers and taking meaningful action based on their feedback. Whether team members stay long-term or move on, these practices foster enduring relationships as colleagues, clients, or referral sources.
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