0.1 Time Entries Definitely Add Up

// Most people who work at law firms have billable hour requirements under which an attorney needs to bill a set number of hours each year in order to meet expectations of management. Depending on the type of firm, an associate’s billable hour requirement might average around 1,900 to 1,950 hours a year, although some firms have requirements in the 1,800-hour range, and other law firms have billable-hour requirements that exceed 2,000 hours. Associates might need to scramble to bill the requisite number of hours, since billable hour requirements often require lawyers to bill around 40 hours a week, and we all know that associates need an hour or two a day for breaks and other nonbillable activity. Although it might not seem too important, small time entries can often be extremely important when meeting and exceeding billable hour requirements.

Most law firms bill clients in six-minute increments, so the smallest time entries of lawyers is usually 0.1 hour. This unit of time is typically reserved for emails, phone calls, or other tasks that do not take too much time to complete. It might be difficult to record all of the tasks that attorneys spend less than six minutes on throughout the day. This is because it might be hard to remember that the attorney completed such tasks, and it can take a minute or so to enter the time entry if the lawyer does not have a system that helps populate entries into timekeeping software. I’ll admit that I have probably missed out on recording small tasks over the course of my career since I either did not remember I completed the task or found it would be onerous to record the time entry for such a small amount of work.

googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-top-300x250" ); });

However, if attorneys are more vigilant about the smaller tasks that they complete in a day, the small time entries can definitely add up. The first time I ever heard about this was as a summer associate. The firm at which I worked organized a seminar for the summers about how to write solid time entries and how to be efficient when entering time. To this day, I still write “evaluate” instead of “review” in time entries since a partner alleged that a client would much rather see that an attorney evaluated materials than reviewed documents.

Sponsored Clio Users: New Ways To Add Value To Your Practice! Want to quickly and easily identify the products that work well with Clio? Read on. From Above The Law  

A partner also explained that every task within reason should be billed as a 0.1 if is took less than six minutes to complete. The partner said that if associates have a handful of 0.1 entries over the course of the day that they make sure to enter, the time would eventually add up. This could even be the different between meeting or falling short of a billable hour expectation, or being eligible for a bonus since that law firm based bonuses on the number of hours worked.

Attorneys can implement a few strategies to make sure that all of the small tasks completed by a lawyer are being properly recorded. Perhaps the easiest way that small tasks can be recorded is by reviewing your email account at the end of the day to make sure that nothing is missed. An email account is a great way to reconstruct things that occurred during a business day, and the act of composing and reviewing email is recorded as billable time. By reviewing email each day, an attorney should be able to see if they missed billing a given task, and email messages, within reason, can themselves be recorded.

googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-middle-300x250" ); }); googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-storycontent-440x100" ); }); googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-in-story-youtube-1x1" ); });

Evaluating phone records at the end of the day is also a great way to tease out tasks that might not be recorded when an attorney initially enters time for a day. Lawyers might receive dozens of calls a day from witnesses, investigators, other attorneys, and clients. All of these calls are usually considered billable time, but it might be difficult to record the call and the subject matter of each call contemporaneously throughout the day. However, reviewing call logs, voicemails, and the like can refresh a lawyer’s recollection and lead to billable time entries. Even short phone calls that only comprise 0.1 in billable time can add up and can help a lawyer meet billable hour expectations at a law firm.

All told, it is difficult for lawyers to meet billable hour requirements in some circumstances, and part of the reason for this is because lawyers sometimes do not record all of their time. However, by reviewing email accounts and call histories, and by ensuring that even smaller tasks are recorded, lawyers can make it easier to satisfy billable hour requirements.

Sponsored Sponsored The Digital Transformation Imperative Private funds’ in-house and external legal teams are stretched thin by growing legal demands. Firms need digital transformation to thrive. From Troy Pospisil, Ontra CEO   Sponsored Clio Users: New Ways To Add Value To Your Practice! Want to quickly and easily identify the products that work well with Clio? Read on. From Above The Law   Sponsored Survey Results: A Perspective On The Private Markets Ontra surveyed over 400 private markets professionals about what to expect this year and their legal process pain points. From Kerry G. Benn, Ontra   Sponsored The Digital Transformation Imperative Private funds’ in-house and external legal teams are stretched thin by growing legal demands. Firms need digital transformation to thrive. From Troy Pospisil, Ontra CEO  

Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at [email protected].

googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-bottom-300x250" ); }); Sponsored Sponsored LawPay Pro Offers Upgraded Time And Billing Essentials AffiniPay’s latest product for the legal community, introduced earlier this year, presents a simple web-based solution for attorneys seeking seamless firm cash flow. From Above the Law   Sponsored Documenting Secured Transactions: A New Guide For Practitioners A newly updated PLI treatise provides both the legal framework and practical guidance on documenting secured transactions, including important details about 2022 amendments to the UCC. From Practising Law Institute   Topics

Biglaw, Billable Hours, Jordan Rothman, Small Law Firms