Time is money, as the saying goes, particularly for legal professionals. Despite this, many lawyers neglect to keep meticulous records of their time, particularly if they aren’t billing clients by the hour. If time isn’t being accurately tracked, then both attorney and client cannot truly understand the value of the attorney’s time. This creates a situation where money could be thrown away, no matter the billing method.
Lawyers and law firms are becoming smarter, understanding that alternative billing methods can help communicate the value of their time to clients, as explained by Joyce Brafford, director of partner relations at ProfitSolv. This is particularly relevant in a time where prices for everything are increasing and clients want to know the specifics of how their money is being spent.
The notion of tracking time accurately is also supported by Laura Kennedy, a legal technology consultant and co-founder of Circle Management Group. Both Kennedy and Brafford depict the importance and convenience of ‘passive timekeeper’ systems, a type of software that runs in the background of a lawyer’s computer or smartphone and records specifics about the programs that have been used and their duration.
Kennedy describes the system, particularly the Rocket Matter Track, as a ‘lifesaver’, noting that its innovative approach to collecting specific details about tasks within a lawyer’s workday, which help account for a client’s time more easily. The system is not a micromanagement tool as users can control their privacy; instead, it sorts emails, documents, web searches, and other data into client time cards while it saves that data first locally instead of uploading it to Rocket Matter. An attorney confirms what Rocket Matter sorted or can manually organise data onto a time card before it becomes a record, integrated with billing software.
Brafford highlights that attorneys always have the ability to self-audit the system, ensuring that they don’t mistakenly charge personal time to a client. The idea is that the more accurately time is tracked, the less likely it is that money will be wasted, benefiting both lawyer and client.
For more insights on time tracking options, including additional technology-related topics such as AI, and even the trio’s opinions on Dave and Buster’s, listen to their thought-provoking discussion on a recent episode of the Non-Eventcast podcast.
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