Res ipsa loquitor seems a fitting term to apply to Reed Smith’s announcement in mid-May that its fee-earners may credit up to 25 hours annually of work on sustainability projects as billable time.

Notably, Reed Smith already allowed its attorneys billable-hours credit for up to 140 non- fee-earning hours for work on pro bono matters and projects related to innovation or diversity. For all of this, Reed Smith deserves praise. Billable time is the foundation of almost all large firms’ business models, so when a firm treats non-revenue-generating time as equivalent to time that earns the firm money, that speaks for itself as far as the firm’s values and priorities.