By Kerri Lawrence, Traub Lieberman and Samantha Chopus, Gordon & Rees
Though people routinely refer to attorneys as “timekeepers”, this is often a misnomer because not all lawyers actually keep their own time. In reality, many so-called timekeepers are jotting down handwritten notes and handing them to a secretary or legal assistant to enter their time for them. This model is neither convenient nor efficient.
We were together on stage at Aderant’s Momentum 2022 conference in Austin, Texas this past May. During a session entitled “Timekeepers, a Misnomer”?” we both stated that our lawyers were entering their own time, and a ripple of shock permeated the audience. Even though these legal professionals had shown their dedication to efficiency and technology solutions by attending the conference, it was clear their firm’s lawyers were still relying on secretaries to enter their time, at least in part.
Fortunately, this old-fashioned approach is quickly going out of style as more firms – like both of ours – rip off the proverbial band-aid and require lawyers to enter their own time. We have learned that lawyers are perfectly capable of entering their time independently without assistance from support staff and without writing it down on paper. Of course, there will be certain more “old school” partners who will not be willing to enter time into an app, but don’t let the exception become the rule. It’s time to rip off the band-aid and give up the crutch of secretaries helping lawyers with timekeeping. But how?
Here are 5 tips on how we got our lawyers to do their own timekeeping:
- Make it Mandatory
The best success comes from requiring lawyers to enter their own time – simply don’t give them the option not to! If you allow them to continue writing time notes on paper and delegating to secretaries, they will keep doing it.Traub Lieberman now has 95% of attorneys entering their own time into iTimekeep and using OCG Live, Aderant’s outside counsel guidelines (OCG) billing rules enforcement application. Of course, a few attorneys – particularly older ones and big rainmakers – won’t comply with this, but ignore them and focus on the majority of the lawyers that will.At Gordon & Rees, we also use iTimekeep and OCG Live and we include training on both applications in all new hire training, for associates and laterals alike. The stance is that newcomers are required to enter their own time, and it’s built into the onboarding process. Our firm doesn’t even train secretaries on how to use the iTimekeep or OCG Live software – only the lawyers receive this training. - Give Them Flexible Options
If you want someone to do something, you make it easy and convenient for them. That’s how we’ve been able to get lawyers to enter their own time. iTimekeep allows them to enter time via their iPhone, laptop or Apple Watch. One partner uses talk-to-text and does the time entry narratives on her commute home from work. Another partner does time entries at 2am. The easier you make it, the more likely they’ll do it and get used to the convenience that technology affords. - Consider Starting with a Pilot Group
At some firms it may be easier to start with a pilot group entering in their own time for testing and acclimation purposes before rolling out technology to the entire firm.At Gordon & Rees, we had 32 people in the pilot group for iTimekeep and OCG Live. We chose them from different offices and different practice groups across the country. We started with people who were working on matters for a very particular client which had strict OCGs. We got a lot of feedback about what worked and needed to be adjusted and applied those customizations so that when we rolled out the tech to the entire firm, the system was fine-tuned for our users’ needs.At Traub Lieberman, we had no pilot group for iTimekeep – the entire firm cut over to lawyers entering their own time all at once. It has been a well-entrenched standard for lawyers to enter their own time for many years. However, for OCG Live, we turned that on client-by-client so it was more gradual. We wanted the lawyers to see the value of the software.
When choosing participants for the pilot, some people advocate choosing cheerleaders who will want the technology and use it enthusiastically. Others think the pilot group should include naysayers who are negatively oriented and will find all the bugs, objections, and problems so they can be ferreted out and solved before the mass rollout. No one way is the right way, so firms can make that choice for themselves.
- Set People Up for Success
Human nature is based on reward – if people feel good about what they are doing, they’ll do it more. If they are criticized and feel discouraged, they will not want to do it. The same applies to getting lawyers to enter their own time. Set them up for success from the beginning, and lawyers will want to keep being successful.Younger attorneys have grown up using technology, so they will be more ready to embrace the independence of entering their own time rather than relying on a secretary or manual methods. Older attorneys may not be as keen to use technology. For both groups, provide ample training and sufficient support and hand-holding.
To encourage best practices, don’t just tell lawyers they are wrong and blame them when they make a mistake. Point out the mistake but also, in that same screen, tell them how to fix it. We like that we can go into the OCG Live database and revise the billing rules if they are unclear, or if the client changes their requirements. We can tell lawyers not to use the word “enclosed” because it will lead to rejected bills, but if the software highlights the word and tells them they cannot continue with the time entry until they’ve removed it, they will learn for the next time.
- Do It Now, Don’t Wait
Firms that finally rip off the band-aid and require lawyers to enter their own time will wish they had done so earlier. In essence, what you are doing is bringing responsibility back to the timekeeper to enter time and narratives right the first time rather than relying on someone else – probably a person in the billing department – to clean up their time entries later.
Once you rip off the band-aid and have timekeepers enter their own time, there will be a learning curve and adjustments to be made, but there will be immediate rewards, too. The firm will get paid sooner because time entry narratives will be compliant with OCGs and sent out faster. Fewer invoices will be appealed, which will help cash flow, too. By ripping off the band-aid, you may have short-term pain in teaching people how to enter their own time, but you will be stopping the pain sources from recurring.
Our advice is to do it now – you’ll be glad that you did!
Kerri Lawrence is CFO at AmLaw 200 firm Traub Lieberman and Samantha Chopus is client services manager at AmLaw 100 law firm Gordon & Rees