While we all strive to be the best attorneys we can be, financial success often boils down to the simple equation of billing our clients for the work we perform on their behalf. If we ignore the matter of collection, accurate time capture is arguably the most relevant factor in determining whether we get paid for the work that we do.
Over the years I have played and struggled with any number of different time capture methodologies: from waiting until the end of the week (or month!) and then trying to recall how much work I did for whom to keeping a journal on my desk and handwriting entries; from entering time into an Excel spreadsheet to using a dedicated time entry system. Some methods have worked better than others; some methods have depended on how anal-retentive I was able to force myself to be.
Anecdotally, I have it in mind that contemporaneous time capture statistically reaps a 25% greater return than if you wait until some point in the future to record your time. (Even the best retrospective methods suffer from a lack of complete accuracy, and as we typically tend to err on the side of not overcharging a client, the evidence suggests that we lose between 25% and 30% of our billable time by waiting to record it.)
Additionally, the amount of time that we spend actually recording our time and then transcribing it into our billing system becomes more "lost" time in our day.
Fortunately, technology lends itself nicely to this process, and equipping yourself with the right tool to facilitate your style of work can easily help recoup some of that lost time. Are you a mobile warrior? If so, you may benefit from a time-capture application for your BlackBerry or iPhone that interfaces with your billing system and allows you to create time entries at any time. Are you a journal-keeping attorney who hates having to enter data into Excel? If so, you may benefit from trying out Microsoft's OneNote application which not only does an excellent job of recreating a notepad look and feel within an computer application, but also allows you to leverage basic copy-and-paste techniques to move your time entries into your billing system.
More intriguingly, over the last year or so I have begun playing with so-called "automatic time capture" applications. To the extent that I spend most of my billable time using some form of technology (either a computer, telephone or smartphone) or else in meetings that I typically have recorded in my Outlook calendar, it seems only logical that adding the right additional piece of technology into the mix will allow the billable time I spend using a piece of technology to be recorded automatically, with complete accuracy, and then feed my billing system.
So far the systems I have tested do what they purport to do rather well. I now receive an automated daily e-mail that displays how much time I spent doing whatever it was that I did during the day, and in many instances is able to correctly identify the specific client and matter for whom the work was performed. The e-mail tracks my phone calls, reports the appointments entered on my calendar, shows the e-mails and documents I worked on and how long I spent reading and editing them, and can even report against the amount of time I spent on various websites.
With this information tidily and accurately packaged, it becomes a simple matter to review the time and automatically feed it into my time and billing system.
For the record, the systems I currently use are DTE (by Advanced Productivity Software) as my time and billing system and Legal55 (by Element55/) as my automatic time capture application.
While both of the systems that I use are corporate, server-based applications, it is worth noting that Element55 is developing a stand-alone version of the Legal55 application that will be usable by solo and small-firm practitioners. In fact, as part of a special offer, NYSBA members can be the first to sign up for Pro55 which is slated for release by mid September.
It is not my intent to use this blog as a marketing tool for specific applications. And by way of disclaimer I will note that my employer does have a standing Reseller partnership with Element55. That said, I have had personal success using Legal55 to help track and record my time, and feel comfortable recommending it to any attorney struggling with capturing and billing their time accurately.
For those interested in learning more about automatic time capture, Element55 has created a special webpage for NYSBA members to sign up for the pre-release of the Pro55 software.
-Jude