What makes a law firm tick? Solving the time recording conundrum – find out more with Jayva Global
A lawyer’s time matters
The phrase ‘time is money’ applies to law more than any other sector. A lawyer, paralegal and legal assistant’s time is literally a practice’s currency, to the tune of around 2,000 hours annually.
In the past, billable hours targets, logged in time recording systems in blocks of six minutes, was commonplace in every mid-to-large law firm. But, the legal industry is changing. Directly responding to discerning and demanding clients, many practices track in one minute units or offer fixed fee (or capped or retainer fee) pricing. These models avoid potential over-charging with fair and transparent billing at a matter’s end – and no nasty surprises.
It doesn’t necessarily follow that solicitors working on a fixed fee basis are freed from time logging and its associated pressures. Admittedly, there is a new breed of law firm removing the admin-heavy burden of time recording altogether. These trend breakers focus on fees billed and cash received to ensure legal services and disbursements costs recovery is as robust as it can be – the markings of any successful (and profitable!) firm. Essentially, the lens is switched from inputs (hours logged) to outputs (revenue generated).
However, the largest proportion of owners and managers still have an equally keen eye on time records for a multitude of reasons. To name a few:
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To calculate fixed fees accurately. Fixed fee arrangements are an overall cost quoted to clients for each stage of legal work undertaken. Law firms need to make a profit, like any business, therefore fixed fees should be comparable to what income would normally be received for the same work. Margin analysis is a popular gauge of profitability from fixed fee projects.
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To understand efficiencies. Are the people delivering legal services as efficient as they can be or are inefficiencies creeping into workflow processes? Time records past and present build up an accurate picture of where inefficiencies can be addressed and efficiencies (and, therefore, economies) can be achieved.
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To ascertain 360° performance. Individual, team and company-wide time records provide valuable insights into productivity, which is useful for forecasting and benchmarking, giving you an assurance of financial wellbeing.
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To assign projects and optimise your workforce. The level of your staff’s busyness is an indicator of who’s performing well (or not!) as well as who’s carrying the weight and risking burnout. Time recording data empowers you to tap into each person’s skillset, resource fairly and restore wellbeing.
So, the time tracking requirement is alive and kicking.
Losing track of time
Law firms readily admit to billable hours falling through the cracks. Learning why time’s being lost is the first step towards preventing leakage in the future. The most common causes of time gone astray are:
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Poor time tracking procedures. Manually filling out printed timesheets, using primitive Excel spreadsheets or, even, utilising outdated time recording software is never going to yield great results in terms of maximising recorded time.
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Non-existent remote time recording software. Following on from archaic methods (above) is an inability to track hours remotely – from home, court, police station, client site, wherever. Without a mobile app that integrates and syncs to your case management system, it’s harder for employees to report hours worked precisely and fully.
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Missing vital data during time capture. It goes without saying that you can only charge time to a client or allocate to a specific matter if details about tasks performed against live cases is documented. Lack of clarity and visibility impact costs recovery negatively.
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Delayed time entries. The adage ‘better late than never’ doesn’t apply here. Employees logging time at the end of the day, week or month will fail to remember the specifics, especially when you consider you may be operating in one minute units. Post activity time recording by busy legal professionals is vulnerable to human error and faulty estimations.
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Confusion between billable and non-billable time. Everything you do isn’t chargeable, for example mentoring colleagues, marketing and business development, attending seminars, training and recruiting. It’s important to note that non-billable time isn’t always non-profitable time. Law firms benefit greatly from investment in many types of non-chargeable activity.
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Convoluted workflows bleeding time. With clients expecting more (services) for less (cost), the quicker you can get jobs done, the better. Driving efficiencies allows you to pass time savings onto clients in the form of cost savings with not a single fee earning minute missed.
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Duplicated efforts by support staff. Relying upon support staff to itemise how lawyers spend their time is going to result in hours falling by the wayside. The time’s already been spent but that’s where it ends. The detail and accompanying cost have vanished forever.
Making sure time is on your side
You’ll be pleased to hear there are ways to track billable hours effectively with easy-to-implement solutions, namely:
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Applying self discipline to time capture methodologies. Rather than tracking after the event or delegating others to track on your behalf, create time entries as you work in real time with richer supporting information. This stops uncaptured hours build up and aids timely billing. You may wish to introduce a time tracking policy to instil good behaviours.
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Improving systems and workflows. By discovering the sources of lost time, you’re able to correct any problems by introducing smarter ways of working throughout a matter’s lifecycle. Taking time out of the business to work on the business in this way reaps many rewards. You can set up automated actions in your technology to boost productivity, for instance auto-time recording when creating documents and emails, and automated billing to streamline law firm invoicing, skyrocket accuracy and prevent client billing disputes.
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Reviewing existing time tracking software. Does your practice management and legal accounting application contain or integrate with time recording functionality, and is it up to scratch? Features such as stop-and-start timers to catch every second and mobile app to track on the go, with intuitive invoicing (as above) and reporting, truly transform your billable hours capabilities.
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Becoming a time tracking software champion. Invest in training to discover your chosen system’s true powers. End users soar in confidence, get to know your technology inside out, master time recording tools and unearth bigger returns for your law firm.
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Drawing upon external expertise. If you can’t see the wood for the trees by simply being too close to your business, tap into trusted consultancy and training support from the likes of Jayva Global, who’ll provide an in-depth consultation to explore and enhance processes, suggest alternative software that’s perfectly suited to your organisation or train on using incumbent software optimally so no billable hours are left behind.
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Having a run through of case management software. One example being LEAP Legal Software. As LEAP certified consultants in the UK, USA, Ireland and New Zealand, you could say we’re bound to promote its sophisticated solution. In fact, having partnered with LEAP in independent consultancy capacity from day one of its launch into these markets, there’s no one better placed to recommend its advanced toolkit, having rolled it out in thousands of practices who’ve seen amazing outcomes.
Further reading, all in good time
We’ve got various white papers, guides and reports on the subject of using technology to drive performance. Download for free at www.jayvaglobal.com/articles. Contact the Jayva team to discuss your challenges, be they people, process, data or technology. We live up to our ‘here to help’ promises. Email info@jayvaglobal.com or visit www.jayvaglobal.com/contact-us.
