how to bill more hours lawyer not enough work

For a lawyer to maximize billable hours, it’s crucial to accurately record those hours. Time-tracking software is an important tool for law firm productivity, ensuring lawyers capture all their billable time as they work. There are plenty of highly effective time-tracking apps available on the market, for example Bill4Time and BillQuick.

Full Answer

Why did a lawyer Bill a client for hours they didn't work?

The firm had told the client it would bill based on the number of hours that lawyers worked on the matter, this lawyer added hours that no one worked. By mistake, the firm sent the time records to the client, which led to the discovery. Further investigation led to other problems involving other clients.

How many billable hours should a lawyer work?

Not everything lawyers do is billable; an 11-hour day at the office might only yield eight billable hours. And that is OK. Practice makes perfect, but knowing a few techniques will reduce the billing burden and help you become a more proficient biller.

How to increase law firm billable hours?

Seven Ways to Increase Law Firm Billable Hours Seven Best Practices for Capturing More Time 1. Document Your Time Tracking Policy 2. Establish a Firewall Between the Invoicing and Time Entry Processes 3. Enter All Time by End of Day 4. Capture ALL the Time, Not Just Billable Time 5. Do Review Missing Time Once a Week

Why do new lawyers take so much longer to Bill?

New lawyers take longer so their billing rate and billing partner write offs will reflect that. If you write off your own time because you're embarrassed at how long it took, you're double-counting.

How can I increase my billable hours?

How to increase billable hoursBunch queries together. ... Remove distractions and tackle procrastination. ... Track billable time in real-time. ... Delegate non-billable tasks. ... Track non-billable hours. ... Track all the billable hours. ... Completing billing descriptions.

What is the most a lawyer can charge per hour?

Throughout the United States, typical attorney fees usually range from about $100 an hour to $400 an hour. These hourly rates will increase with experience and practice area specialization.

What are reasonable billable hours?

Firms “average,” “target” or “minimum” stated billables typically range between 1700 and 2300, although informal networks often quote much higher numbers.

How are lawyer hours calculated?

Lawyers work hard, and they work a lot. Many firms expect attorneys to reach minimum billable hour requirements ranging between 1,700 and 2,300 hours per year. According to the 2021 Legal Trends Report, lawyers spend just 2.5 hours each workday on billable work.

How much do the most expensive lawyers charge?

And the number who are doing so is growing, according to this report. Topping the list of the country's most expensive lawyers is Kirkland & Ellis partner Kirk Radke. The private equity and corporate counsel bills $1,250 per hour. The big billers tend to cluster in finance-related practices.

How much do lawyers make an hour?

The average lawyer earns $127,990 – or $61.54 hourly – while the average American salary currently sits at around $58,260 – or $28.01 per hour. Compared to the national average, attorneys earn more than double the average income, which is great money.

What is a lot of billable hours in a month?

Most consulting companies estimate that there are 168 billable hours in a month for each billable person. There's some fuzzy math to get to that number. But most reasonable measures will get you to something close to that.

How do you manage non-billable hours?

Tips for Reducing Non-Billable HoursDetermine what's billable and what's not. ... Use automatic time tracking software. ... Track the time you spend completing tasks on your phone. ... Manually add whatever you can't track. ... Set clear rules on billable activities. ... Review your reports regularly. ... Optimize your non-billable hours.More items...•

What should my billable rate be?

We typically factor in 20% as a good point to pay the business owner(s) and keep the business moving forward in a healthy fashion. In the example below, you can see the variations in what your billable rate should be based on the profit margin in the columns to the right.

How long is Timesolv free trial?

Start your 30-day free trial today to see how you can put these seven tips into practice with TimeSolv.

How to change the culture of a firm?

2. Establish a Firewall Between the Invoicing and Time Entry Processes. Making sure all the billable time is entered should not happen at the end of each month when draft invoices are being created.

Is it ok to break for a 90 minute lunch?

It’s time to literally think about time as money for your firm. Breaking for a 90-minute lunch may be fine in your firm, but that’s a $350 expense that would probably need partner approval if you treated that time as money. The answer is for your firm to establish a documented time policy. This policy should include the items we’ll cover below. The simple exercise of writing down a policy can change the mentality and culture of your firm.

Should timekeeping be separate from billing?

Have we mentioned it’s a good idea to separate timekeeping from billing? Assign your billing person the job of reviewing every Monday the missing time from the previous week. It’s easy to work with your timekeepers to rectify any time missing because there’s very little time elapsed.

How many hours do lawyers work?

For lawyers who are working 70 or even 80 hours a week, it can become easy to forget how that time was spent and how much of that time really is billable hours. Fortunately, when law firms use legal practice management software like Smokeball, they can easily track lawyer work hours and create a billable hours chart that allows partners ...

When lawyer work hours are tracked with legal billing and time tracking software, should they use very descriptive language on each entry?

When lawyer work hours are tracked with legal billing and time tracking software, they should use very descriptive language on each entry so that a non-lawyer can understand what work was done. When clients can see the details of the work done on their case there is less confusion and fewer billing disputes.

What Are Billable Hours?

Billable hours are the lawyer hours that clients pay for directly. There are tasks that a lawyer does that is just part of the work needed to work at a law firm but then there are tasks that are directly related to the client’s case. Time spent on tasks directly related to a client’s case can be billed for the most part to the client. These are the hours that law firms want to maximize so that they can run a profitable business.

Why is billable hour important?

It’s important that law firms devise effective strategies for getting the most out of their billable hours while helping lawyers and clients understand just how law firms bill. December 18th, 2018.

Why use billable hours chart?

Law firms can also use an attorney billable hours chart to see if there are any inefficiencies in the way associates are spending their time but there are limits to how much time any associate can squeeze out of a workday. If a law firm is tracking their time and maximizing their lawyers’ billable hours and they are still unable to turn a profit, they may need to examine other sources of their financial trouble such as a too low fee or too high cost of overhead.

Why is it important to have high quality time on a client case?

Increase quality but billable time on client cases. High quality time on a client case improves customer satisfaction and is profitable for the law firm because clients refer others and return when they need lawyer services in the future.

When law firms are making their billable hours targets, do they need to consider their profitability?

When law firms are making their billable hours targets they need to consider their profitability but they also need to consider the practicality of demanding that lawyers work incredibly long hours as a standard instead of an exception.

1. Record time with time-tracking software

For a lawyer to maximize billable hours, it’s crucial to accurately record those hours. Time-tracking software is an important tool for law firm productivity, ensuring lawyers capture all their billable time as they work.

3. Use technology where you can

The legal profession is one where not everything can be digital – client-facing work still has to happen, and files are often needed to be in physical forms. A completely digital legal firm is never going to be possible.

4. Use document templates to save time

Despite what dramatic TV courtroom shows would have audiences believe, most lawyers and legal professionals are really in the business of creating and updating documents – whether it’s legal contracts, drafting advice or creating client presentations.

In conclusion

Overall, it’s clear that the right tools are what helps those working in law firms spend their time more wisely, whether that’s through document automation or recording billable hours.

How many hours a year do lawyers work?

Looking from the outside in, it may not seem to be too onerous for lawyers to work the hours necessary to bill 2000 hours a year as this would calculate to 40 hours per week for 50 weeks leaving two weeks left over for personal time. However, other factors also must be considered such as holidays and illnesses which require time off. And, very few lawyers (like anyone else) actually work eight hours straight each day without taking breaks, experiencing interruptions, or spending non-billable time with staff or colleagues on all manner of non file matters.

How to determine hourly fee for a lawyer?

Experts advised lawyers to determine their hourly fee by setting a target annual amount they wanted to earn for the year and after adding in overhead, dividing that by the number of hours they expected to work.

What was the subject of the 2002 American Bar Association Commission on Billable Hours?

The seriousness of the personal and professional problems to lawyers brought about by hourly billing was the subject of a 2002 American Bar Association Commission on Billable Hours. [16] The Commission expressed concern about the “corrosive impact” of hourly billing and stated that it:

What was the average hourly billing for attorneys in the 1960s?

From the 1960’s, hourly billing targets began to change. An ABA study in 1965 found that hourly billings for attorneys ranged from 1,400 to 1,600 for associates and 1200 to 1400 for partners. [11] In the 1980’s, billable hour target at many firms rose to an average 1,800. From there, billing hours kept climbing upward to today where 2,000 to 2,200 billable hours is the norm in many law firms. [12] But in other law firms, the minimum annual billing target for associates is a staggering 2,400 to 2,500 hours! [13]

How many hours did lawyers work in the 1950s?

In the 1950’s, simply working more hours was not particularly challenging. At that time, hourly billing targets for most lawyers were in the 1,200 to 1,500 hour range. [10] . On a 48 work week basis, this amounted to about 25 to 30 billable hours per week.

When did lawyers start billing by the hour?

Although some form of hourly billing was thought to have been around since the Middle Ages, hourly billing did not become of age in the legal profession until the 1950’s. [4] It was brought about by improved law firm accounting practices that allowed attorneys to better determine not only whether their fees charged were sufficient to cover overhead and generate suitable profits. [5]

Is the ABA concerned about timesheets?

The ABA Commission’s referenced concern about “padding of timesheets” is a well-founded concern as many attorneys who bill by the hour have turned to engaging in deceptive billing practices. This is borne out by surveys of attorneys who admit that they or members of their firms routinely engage in some deception in their billing practices. [19]