Unless clients are willing to actually forego time tracking (and it would be interesting to see if law firms would be willing to do so internally even if the clients did) it is hard to see how all billing arrangements are not going to turn
into billable hours in disguise.
He describes how he breaks cases up
into billable segments and allows clients to pay - as - they - go.
And with Rocket Matter, all to - do's can be converted
into billable activity.
I just entered a likely practicing lawyer's day
into the Billable Hour Calculator, recommended by Matt Homann, and I don't think you'll have the time...
In Rocket Matter, for example, it was easy to turn a task entry or calendar entry
into a billable entry by clicking on a box and entering the time spent on the task or calendar event.
Perhaps the legal services model based on delivery by partnerships, based on inefficiencies built
into the billable hour and fueled by bloated staffing and processing should die and be replaced by a new model entirely.
But as a group, it's the drive to action that's the biggest challenge, particularly if it cuts
into billable time or doesn't have an immediate or positive impact that's within sight.
Not exact matches
In the world of Microsoft, software has traditionally turned personal computers
into an extension of an office environment, where they are used for such utilitarian tasks as crunching numbers, tracking
billable hours, and sending memos.
I was wondering how various people dealt with
billable goals / requirements and how much the bonus figured
into it, etc..
represented thousands of
billable hours of therapy, converted
into mainstream art that played in multiplexes.
I have yet to find a dollars - and - cents cost, but the cost in human hours — I was really not taking
into consideration the fact that those are
billable hours.
At the end of the day that nickel will hopefully turn
into a client that will be on a normal,
billable rate.
A couple phone calls and emails later the lawyer turned my abstract and $ 10,000 in
billable hours
into what you see at that link.
Tying this back
into the evolving billing model that is emerging in the legal sector, this may mean sacrificing a bit on the traditional
billable hour model in order to make sure the client is happy with the cost of your services, as well as the quality.
The New York Times, the Washington Post, US News & World Report, the Legal Times, Of Counsel, Law 360 and the Careerist have quoted Ellen and her email newsletter, Beyond the
Billable Hour, has been reprinted by more than 30 print and electronic publications and translated
into multiple languages.
The best thing of all is when you can train clerks to do
billable work, turning them from an expense
into a small profit center.
Even if a law school has a clinical program to acquaint students with the procedures of the real legal system, there will almost certainly be no instruction in how to dictate a letter, how to delegate work to secretaries or paralegals, how to maintain a file, how to record
billable time, or any of the other practical office skills which go
into practicing law.
If you are tired and exhausted all of the time, you need to make getting enough sleep each night.Also, it is a good idea to get
into the office earlier than most before the phone starts ringing and get your
billable hours completed first thing each day then allow time for administrative tasks, email, phone calls later in the day.
These changes led to huge improvements over the mass quantity of
billable hours being sunk
into electronic review.
Once these
billable hours are tracked, you can export the data or transfer it
into a spreadsheet to create your invoices.
Seems like you could quickly be sucked
into time that is not
billable.
You can cram all your course prep
into those three months and either give up your evenings and weekends or accept the fact that your
billable hours will be lower during those months, putting additional billing pressure on the remaining 9 months of the year.
At Elliott Greenleaf, that reality evolved
into a radical plan to generate fewer
billable hours for clients, but with better value.
Time tickets now display the total time, giving a quick snapshot of
billable hours broken
into categories:
billable, non-
billable, flat rate, no - charge, etc..
The
billable hour targets fell
into a wide range.
It's not just the hour you spend at the office — it's how much
billable activity you can cram feverishly
into that hour.
A new program, MobileArchiver for Outlook, will archive all of your mobile phone calls and text messages
into Microsoft Outlook, making it easier to find
billable phone calls.
While most firms pay lip service to the concept, Howell writes, many remain «machinelike organizations that grind
billables out of associates like Oscar Mayer grinds meat
into hot dogs.»
Time tracking features are often built right
into law practice management software and include the ability to enter your
billable time using mobile devices.
When a firm's profitability depends on maximizing the hours billed, then greater efficiencies (which may reduce
billable hours) cut
into the firm's profits.
The demands of
billable hours, and the expectation that lawyers must commit themselves «unconditionally» to work, are used to call
into question women's commitment to their careers.
He says that while ADR settles cases faster and less expensively - which translates
into less
billables for attorneys - clients walk away much happier and often return with more business.
The
billable hour favored performing work in an extended way, delving
into issues at the deepest levels, and litigating or performing due diligence with all of the attorney power that could be mustered.
But now, the debate over the
billable hour has spilled over from lawyer publications into the mainstream press, with articles such as «The Scourge of the Billable Hour: Could Law - Firm Clients Finally Kill
billable hour has spilled over from lawyer publications
into the mainstream press, with articles such as «The Scourge of the
Billable Hour: Could Law - Firm Clients Finally Kill
Billable Hour: Could Law - Firm Clients Finally Kill it Off?
But as a blogger myself and someone who has watched Williams pour
billable hours and capital investment
into his blog, his podcasts of each and every single post, his videocasts and his new audio - show with Bob Ambrogi, I'm just relieved, as a reader, to see it all paying off.
For many years there have been any number of articles, posts, surveys, and research undertaken by many commentators, observers and participants in the legal profession, including members of the judiciary, bringing
into question the ethics of the
billable hour and what perverse behaviours it encourages and entrenches
into firm cultures.
It is generally accepted that approximately 60 % of the hours spent at work will be «
billable», and so in order to achieve six
billable hours, lawyers must be working non-stop for a minimum ten hours per day, without taking breaks, meetings or telephone calls
into account.
It's easy to fall
into a trap thinking the firm will save money by taking on do - it - yourself projects (e.g. building your own website or doing all the accounting billing work yourself, etc.) To the contrary, there are numerous studies that show these tasks take attorneys away from their actual
billable work and end up costing the firm more money in the end.
Ever since the introduction of time - based billing, Oldlaw firms of all shapes and sizes have been drilling
into their «fee earners» (an awful expression, only exceeded by the derogatory term «non-fee earners») the importance of accurately recording all
billable time because that is what is primarily measured and rewarded.
Turn lost time
into revenue with timekeeping tools such as automatic timer in time entry to help you capture more
billable hours.
«Most people I know who get out of law school get
into the system where there are required
billable hours and they lose their purpose.
First, they explained how the time - tracking and billing software built
into most practice management platforms can save you time and money by ensuring that you capture and enter all
billable time
into your firm's billing system.
But before lower - ranked firms throw their results
into a sea of self - serving rationalizations, they should consider the criteria by which others did quite well: relations with partners and other associates, interest in and satisfaction level of the work, training and guidance, policy on
billable hours, management's openness about firm strategies and partnership chances, the respondents» inclination to stay at their firms for at least two more years, and more.
It is not uncommon for candidates to be blind - sided by the positives when conducting research
into an in - house move, such as shorter working hours and a less stressful environment without the pressure of
billable hours and new client acquisition.
You can also track and enter your
billable time with your iPad using either the tools built
into your law practice management platform or a standalone billing app.
[9] The
billable hour expectation of most firms ensures lawyers work incredibly long hours, but they also work
into the night to ensure a client's goal is accomplished through client meetings, research, writing, and court appearances.
In this episode, I dive deep
into the origins of the
billable hour, explore where it's heading, and evaluate whether it still serves a purpose in the legal profession.
For better or for worse, legal work has since been measured by the «
billable hour» — the established practice of breaking down an hour's work
into six - minute increments.
Once configured correctly, however, very little user intervention is required to transfer all of that
billable time from Time Matters
into Timeslips
The key to knowing when it is time to set the ego aside and allow someone
into your cloister is when the non-
billable tasks are taking up more of your time than the
billable tasks.