In what has become an annual tradition at Penner & Golkins, LLP, ninth-year associate Frederick J. Evanston, IV was honored this week as the associate to bill the millionth hour of the year for the firm. Mr. Evanston, a perennial all-star biller, reached the milestone at 8:12PM on Monday night while finalizing a settlement agreement for one of the five class action cases on which he is riding seventh chair.
“I was in the middle of incorporating some changes from a conference call with the client and all of a sudden ‘CONGRATULATIONS!’ started flashing on my screen and the fire alarm went off,” described a humble Evans. “I thought it was spam, that I’d lost all my changes and that the building was on fire, but then it dawned on me that I might have hit the million.”
Evanston is the first associate to hit the million while actually in his or her office in the past three years. Last year, third-year associate Meredith Figgins billed the millionth hour from a stall in the women’s bathroom on the 23rd floor. Ms. Figgins, who has since left the firm, apparently left her timer on so when a band of partners came rushing by her office with confetti and streamers she was nowhere to be found. Similarly, fifth-year Allan Nipler billed the millionth hour two years ago while on the 15th green at the local municipal golf course. “Sure, it was unconventional,” explained Nipler from his office at his new lobbying firm in Washington, DC, “but I always tell my assistant to let my timer roll while I’m on the links. I do some of my best thinking with my soft spikes on.”
Moments after the hour was billed, Evans received a congratulatory call from the head of the firm, Michael C. Eppers, Jr. Then, shockingly, Eppers, Jr. gave Evanston, IV the night off. “That’s when I knew that hitting the million was a big deal around here,” stated an awestruck Evanston. “I can’t even imagine what would happen if I hit the million two years in a row. I’m thinking somebody would be getting some federal holidays off!”
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