Dan Bowman

The detail required for a law firm’s billing and collections can be time-consuming under the best conditions. This can be amplified when there is a lack of streamlined processes that can often leave an administrative burden on staff. From creating and sending invoices to chasing down clients for payments, and tracking overdue bills — the billing process can quickly become a time and monetary constraint for law firms. 

In addition, clients have more expectations around a transparent billing process and more payment options, including online payments and payment plans. Fortunately, a standardized legal billing workflow can simplify and streamline the process to save you time, keep your clients happy, and get your firm paid faster.

Find out more about legal billing workflows, their benefits, and action steps to implement them at your firm.

What Is a Legal Billing Workflow?

Legal billing workflow is a process to save your firm time and drive the collections process. With the right workflow, you can stay organized, reduce non-billable hours, and increase client satisfaction.

7 Steps to Define Your Law Firm’s Billing Workflow

Ready to bring change to your firm? Here’s how:

1. Set Up Invoice Templates

The law firm invoice template is the first step in your legal billing workflow. A legal invoice template will save time during the law firm invoicing process, and with Bill4Time customized invoices, you can send pre-bills, detailed invoices, and statements with just a click. There are many features you can set according to your needs, including percentage or flat-rate discounts, late fees, alternate currency, and payment terms.

2. Assess the Delivery of Invoices

Relying on a paper invoice process and sending them via mail can delay the billing process and slow how fast your firm gets paid. Unless it’s a preferred method for your client, you can opt to ask your clients for approval to email invoices using a secure channel. It’s recommended to have them sign a written agreement for email invoices to avoid issues with clients saying they didn’t receive a bill.

Electronic invoices expedite the process by sending invoices instantly and eliminating the time spent on printing, folding, and placing invoices into envelopes to mail them out. You’ll also have an electronic repository with tracking for which clients paid, which haven’t, and what you need to do next.

3. Automate Time Tracking

According to the American Bar Association (ABA), the amount of time you lose if you don’t keep time is incredible. If you don’t log your time by the end of the day, you’ll likely lose 10% of your billable hours. This percentage can snowball to 25% or even 50% when you wait until the next day or the end of the week. 

Fortunately, you can find more efficient means to track time. Bill4Time’s legal time tracking features are a simple and effective way to track time without spreadsheets and notepads. Capture your time in real-time with a timer on your phone, tablet, or desktop, including billable and non-billable time for internal time, staff tracking, and more.

4. Define Billing Cutoff Dates

A hard billing due date is a great option for your workflow to ensure you’re invoicing on a consistent basis. Many firms rely on bi-weekly or monthly billing, but whichever you choose, it’s important to use a calendar or law firm billing software to schedule dates and ensure that the cutoff date is firm.

5. Accept Online Payments

Clients today want modern payment methods, including the ability to pay online using a credit or debit card. Bill4Time Payments offers a secure, convenient solution for clients to pay their invoices online with just a few clicks. There are no costly third-party services or integrations, and the platform processes the payments immediately.

With tracking and reporting, Bill4Time Payments helps you understand your firm’s cash flow and areas for improvement. It’s also 100% compliant with IOLTA, ABA, and state bar guidelines for ePayments.

6. Consider Payment Plans

More and more clients are looking for alternative payment arrangements with law firms, including payment plans. These arrangements make it easier for clients to afford the legal services they need, giving you access to a wider range of clients.

If payment plans seem challenging, they don’t have to be. Bill4Time Payments includes options for custom payment plans to improve your cash flow and reduce the risk of missed payments. You can create payment plan options with weekly or monthly installments for your firm and client’s convenience. You could also set up payment reminders to ensure your clients stay on top of their bills which we’ll discuss next.

7. Create Automatic Reminders

It’s easy for life to get in the way and payments may fall through the cracks. With automatic reminders, you can help your clients stay on track with their bills. If they fall behind, an email reminder motivates them to get that invoice paid using your secure payment portal.

Keep your emails warm but firm, and include their invoice and descriptions for their payment options, such as a link to your payment portal. The goal is to make it as seamless as possible for your clients to pay. Bill4Time makes it easy to generate and send custom payment links so clients can pay, hassle-free. 

Benefits of Automating Your Firm’s Billing Workflow

What do you get out of automating your firm’s billing workflow with law firm invoicing software? Here are the biggest benefits:

Improved Accuracy

Manual processes are time-consuming and error-prone. It’s easy for mistakes to happen with repetitive data entry, which can lead to revenue lost. Workflow automation reduces common errors with invoice templates and data populations to limit the opportunities for mistakes with data entry.

Standardized Process

Standardized processes are essential for your firm to grow manageably. Using billing workflows helps you document and streamline your firm’s processes to keep them consistent across all departments and staff. This also helps when you need to hire employees so everyone can easily step into the role.

Enhanced Client Transparency

Trust is a big part of a positive client experience, and much of that comes down to billing. The legal industry already has some concerns because of stereotypes and misconceptions, but you can develop a solid reputation by proving yourself reliable and trustworthy to your clients with clear pricing and detailed, consistent billing.

Simplify Legal Billing and Get Paid Faster with Bill4Time

Legal billing is a critical part of running any law practice, and it’s important to have the right tools in place. Bill4Time offers features that help you manage billing with greater accuracy and efficiency. Whether it’s automating time tracking or providing secure online payment options, the Bill4Time platform supports the needs of both established firms and those just starting out. Take the opportunity to see how Bill4Time can enhance your billing workflow by trying a demo or signing up for a free trial.

Attracting and hiring young talent is a big, and necessary investment for a law firm. After going through the process of recruiting, screening, hiring, and training candidates, it’s important for law firms to do all they can to keep lawyers in the long term. If a young lawyer is brought in and leaves for better opportunities, law firms have to start from scratch and put the time and money into hiring another.

Attracting and retaining lawyers and bringing in fresh grads is competitive. Law firms looking to get to the top of the pool of talent need to focus on flexibility, diversity, positive company culture, growth opportunities, mentorship, and technological innovation.

Hiring is Competitive for Law Firms

41% of law firms have recently reported an increase in lateral hiring. While many experts found this trend unsustainable and anticipate it will cool down, there is still a great effort among law firms to raise salaries and adjust their hiring practices to align with the market.

This trend of salary increases leaves new lawyers and associates with a flood of options. Unprecedented salaries are now more common, so other factors like work-life balance and hybrid work are at the forefront. Flashy salaries may draw lawyers in, but it’s the quality that the employer brings to their life that makes them stay.

The Importance of Company Culture and Law Firm Hiring

Younger lawyers come out of law school with different priorities than they did years ago. These new lawyers are seeking out firms with opportunities for support and mentorship from experienced lawyers. They want to know they’re making a choice that has a positive impact on their legal career.

Law firms can attract these lawyers by nurturing a positive culture that’s as current on trends and innovations as possible. One of the most important aspects of this culture is the technology that supports time management and work-life balance.

Ongoing Support and Mentorship

As mentioned, young lawyers are looking for law firms that will serve their future. Law firms can be competitive environments in a dog-eat-dog industry, but these new lawyers aren’t looking for that kind of grind. They don’t want to be the hotshot – they want opportunities to learn and grow in their careers.

Firms that want to attract these lawyers should offer opportunities for growth and demonstrate an investment in their recruits. This may include career planning guidance, CLE training, professional development, and coaching services. These programs not only help young lawyers grow but show them that the firm is invested in them.

Better Work-Life Balance

Like all young professionals entering the workforce, young lawyers put more emphasis on flexibility and work-life balance than the hustle culture. They don’t want to be the “first in, last out” type or married to the job. They want to have a healthy personal life with time for family, travel, or hobbies.

No matter what, personal and professional lives can overlap and impact each other, but law firms can try to give associates time and space to manage their personal lives. In doing so, firms gain more productive and efficient lawyers who are loyal and satisfied with their jobs.

Law firms should also keep in mind that young lawyers are more open to remote and hybrid work environments. These options allow lawyers to balance their time better, skip the long commute and traffic, and be more productive overall.

The Need for Cutting-Edge Technology

Legal technology is an excellent way for law firms to attract law students or young lawyers. The legal industry is largely traditional, but it’s slowly shifting to adopt more innovation that improves processes or helps young lawyers maintain the flexibility they crave.

For example, young lawyers looking for remote or hybrid work can make the most of their work time with features like mobile apps, document management, and cloud-based access and storage. They can work from anywhere – courtroom, home, or office – and have the same access to the information and documentation they need.

Young lawyers are digital natives and can adapt to new technology solutions quickly. They know that they can gain more flexibility and fewer long hours with tools for law firm automation, time tracking, and remote communication. Firms that continue to use manual or paper processes are less likely to attract this top talent.

Leaving a Positive Impact In and Out of Your Law Firm

Younger lawyers have many different priorities than their predecessors, including a desire to make a difference in the world. This generation lived through a lot of historical events, suffered strife, and wants to create a positive impact with their law practice – even more than fame, status, or salary.

Law firms can attract this kind of talent with programs like impactful pro bono work and a commitment to justice, not just attracting the biggest and most expensive clients. They give back to the community and show their investment in others, whether through donations, volunteer programs, scholarships, or pro bono work.

Supporting Alternative Career Paths

Attractive law firms offer different paths and opportunities to make partner. Young lawyers can rest assured that they won’t have to put their lives on hold, such as waiting to get married and start a family, just to get their promotion. Firms can give associates the flexibility and freedom to choose when they want to take the next steps in their careers.

Alternatively, not every young lawyer wants to be on track to partner. If young lawyers aren’t seeking a partnership or leadership position, law firms can offer alternative career paths through professional coaching and training programs.

For example, young lawyers may wish to take their legal expertise and combine it with business areas to assist in running a firm, such as business management, legal technology, or human resources. This allows lawyers to find the best combination of skills and responsibilities for their needs.

Lawyers should also have the freedom to explore different practice areas and widen their skill set before investing a lot of time and energy into a practice area that doesn’t satisfy them.

Adopt Modern Processes to Enhance Your Law Firm’s Hiring

Attracting and retaining young lawyers and law students is difficult in a competitive market, but law firms can create an environment of support, continued learning, and technological innovation that keeps lawyers loyal and satisfied.

Free legal consultations can be a double-edged sword. Many attorneys focus on results and prefer not to spend non-billable hours on prospects who may not commit. This is why many attorneys grow frustrated or find it hard to balance the benefits of free consultations within their practice.

Some law firms find free legal consultations as a lucrative business move to generate more leads, while others find it a blow to their bottom line. Fortunately, free consultations aren’t a necessity — here are alternatives that will still drive clients to your door.

Profitable Alternatives to Free Legal Consultations

Attracting and converting clients is one of the most difficult parts of running a successful law firm. Law school often overlooks effective marketing strategies, leaving many attorneys to figure it out on their own. This gap presents a valuable opportunity for growth.

If your law firm isn’t in a position to offer free legal consultations, here are four alternative steps you can take to generate an avalanche of leads. While they may require some upfront work, the results continue paying off over time.

Step #1: Know Your Ideal Client

These are your best, most profitable clients. They’re the clients you’d fight to keep. If you attract ideal clients at the very start, you have a very good chance of converting them into advocates for your firm.

A client advocate displays specific behavioral and outcome markers.

• Behavioral markers: Your ideal client may display significantly higher engagement levels, a positive relationship, and even admiration for your firm. Ideal clients have the character traits your firm is looking for.
• Outcome markers: These are the results of desirable character traits. When clients trust, respect, and admire your firm, they’re less likely to haggle or complain. They eagerly pay higher fees, value your work, and regularly spend (e.g., monthly, quarterly, or annually).

Firms with an intimate understanding of these client advocates win in the long term. Why? You attract what you have. Client advocates attract and refer more ideal clients, creating a cycle that fills your firm with client advocates.

Now, let’s look at the types of clients you might encounter. Here are the three basic types of clients:

1. Advocates: Clients that display the behavioral and outcome markers you need. They’re enthusiastic, loyal, and profitable. They consistently request more work, and they repeatedly promote your firm.
2. Apathetics: Clients who are discount shoppers who are more than willing to jump ship for a better deal. They’re indifferent to you, your firm, or your contributions to their well-being.
3. Skeptics: These clients have had negative experiences with other firms and are wary. You shouldn’t shy away from these clients, but they may require more 1:1 time to build trust in you and your services.

How do you find the client advocates you need for your law firm?

Start with your core values. Identify the traits you want in your best clients. Here are some markers to consider:

• A Positive Relationship: Clients who are a pleasure to work with, pay on time, and don’t haggle over fees.
• High Engagement: Clients who respond promptly, ask questions, and request help often.
• Admiration for Your Firm: Clients who chose you because they believe in your expertise and view you as an authority in your field.

Define your “ideal client” carefully. Avoid descriptions that are too broad or too narrow. Focus on two or three key traits that matter most to you. Consider the traits you value and those you dislike in clients. Then, create a balanced outline that guides you in identifying the right clients.

Next, find a client or prospect that meets your criteria. Choose the best candidates who are willing and able to pay for your services, and then conduct interviews with these clients. You’re looking for a list of their:

• Desires
• Goals
• Fears
• Frustrations
• Problems

Get to know these clients thoroughly. Make this an in-depth request; you’ll be using the information they give you in your marketing later. Do this for each practice area, if needed.

Step #2: Create Content That Addresses Client Concerns

Now it’s time to create urgency for prospective clients who are just like the ideal clients you’ve identified. Highlighting genuine problems they face will provide them with the spark of motivation they need to contact you.

How do you do this? You abandon selling in favor of enhancing your value proposition. Do this by:  

• Educating them about their expectations
• Addressing their fears and associated risks
• Discussing outcomes of poor decisions and available options
• Positioning yourself as a thought leader

Aim for high standards in your free content, making it more valuable than most legal content available online. Amazing, high-quality content is easy to understand and simple to create. We know it when we see it because we’re intuitively aware that it depends on a formula. Let’s go through each part of this formula:

1. Data: Content backed by scientific research, statistics, metrics, or original data. It should be thorough, credible, and supported by reliable, peer-reviewed sources.
2. Drama: Content that evokes strong emotional responses. The delivery method is secondary to the strength of the story or the emotion generated. It’s compelling because it taps into emotional and psychological triggers.
3. Degree: A large volume of quality content produced consistently. Whether random or scheduled, the sheer amount of quality content sets a high standard.
4. Depth: Detailed content that provides comprehensive coverage of a topic from various angles. It answers readers’ questions and addresses their objections thoroughly.
5. Design: Visually appealing content that’s enjoyable to consume. It’s attractive to look at and engaging to read.

Content that meets any of these criteria is compelling and hard to compete with. Meeting two or more criteria makes your content exceptional. Achieving three or more can make your content legendary, especially with proper promotion.

Applying the Content Formula

You can apply these formulas to various types of content:

• Reviews and Testimonials
• Articles, Emails, and Guest Posts
• Visual Content (e.g., Infographics, Slide Decks)
• Books, eBooks, and Guides
• Audio, Video, and Presentations
• Seminars, Workshops, Podcasts, and Events
• Advertisements and Copywriting Pieces
• Social Media Content and Status Updates
• Print Collateral (e.g., Brochures, Booklets)
• Software and Tools

Generating Content Ideas

How do you come up with a steady stream of ideas? To maintain a steady flow of content inspiration, consider these steps:

1. Head over to a large site or a major competitor’s website.
2. Create a list of their most popular articles, but don’t read them.
3. Pick a headline, then outline your article.
4. Use data, drama, degree, depth, or design to create a high-quality version of that article.

Next, you can work on advertising and marketing your content.

Step #3: Create Successful Law Firm Advertising Campaigns

Many law firms invest heavily in advertising, but without proper training or understanding, these efforts can become costly. To make the most of advertising platforms, consider using the 60/30/10 method:

• 10% of your ad budget on Cold traffic: Target groups who haven’t heard of you. Offer value with a tool, quiz, download, or content without requiring an opt-in. Even if you lose money here, the insights gained will benefit your overall strategy.
• 30% of your ad budget on Warm traffic: These are prospects familiar with your firm. They’ve heard of you, show interest in your offer, and are willing to engage. Warm traffic is more likely to convert.
• 60% of your ad budget on Hot traffic: These prospects have engaged with your content, such as subscribers to your email lists, social media followers, or those who have downloaded information or requested a paid consultation. They have shown a clear interest in your services and are eager to hear from you.

With this method, you spend a significant amount of money on prospects who actually want to hear from you. With free legal consultations, you may spend more time and money on people who, while targeted, may not be interested in your services.

For example, if you have $500 per month budgeted for LinkedIn ads, you’d spend:

• $50 on cold traffic
• $150 on warm traffic
• $300 on hot traffic

You can apply this method to your total ad budget across multiple platforms. For example, with a $2,500 monthly budget, you could use the 60/30/10 model for advertising on places like Yelp, Nolo, Avvo, and LinkedIn.

Step #4: Reach Out to Known Publications

Now that you have more content, it’s time to get it out. Here is where you’ll rely on partners or larger publications to circulate your content. If this sounds intimidating, these tips can help simplify the process:

1. Create a List of Publications

You’ll want to create a list of blogs, magazines, media companies, etc., with an audience of potential customers. If you’re a small business attorney, publications like Entrepreneur Magazine, Forbes, or Business Insider are great lead-generation sources to cultivate.

2. Categorize These Publications

Divide your list into three categories:

• Traffic: These are high profile sites with a large readership, a significant amount of daily visitors, and lots of prospects who are part of your target audience.
• Authority: These sites are authoritative, prestigious, and very credible. They may or may not receive a significant amount of traffic. That’s okay because sharing your content with them boosts your credibility, status, and authority. You’re able to use the “as featured on” tag to boost your trustworthiness.
• Partnerships: These sources serve the same clients you do in a complementary way. They’re grateful for the value you can provide, and they’re open to partnering with you in a variety of ways. You’ll want to create a relationship by providing a significant amount of value.

Once you’ve sorted your list into these three categories, you’re ready to pitch the sites in your inventory. Here are a few sites you can use to get started.

• ABA Journal
• Above the Law
• Attorney at Work
• Avvo
• Enjuris
• Halt.org
• HG.org
• LawFuel
• Lawyerist
• LegalZoom
• Nolo
• Quora

These are just legal websites. There are even more opportunities available if you focus your attention on or around the areas relevant to your practice areas. If your firm is local or regional, choose local or regional publications and partners. Approach sources in your metropolitan areas to generate results.

Free Legal Consultations Aren’t a Necessity

They have their place in your practice, but it’s important to weigh your options and explore alternatives that benefit your firm. With the right approach, you can attract more clients — the kind of clients who are eager, able, and willing to pay for your services.

To manage your growing client base, consider using Bill4Time, a comprehensive legal practice management platform. With Bill4Time, you can efficiently track time, manage billing, and ensure every billable hour is accounted for. Start your free trial of Bill4Time today to experience the benefits firsthand!

Task management for law firms is no easy feat. From managing attorneys, demanding clients, and the constant tracking of billable time; it’s easy for tasks to get lost in the shuffle.

If you don’t have standard practice in place, it’s easy for partners and associates to create their own way of completing tasks, even if it unknowingly causes more of a headache for the firm. This variation hammers your firm’s utilization and realization rates. As a result, managing partners spend a significant amount of their time on busywork, when they should be focused on growing the firm. 

It isn’t their fault. It’s one thing if the partners and associates knowingly refuse to follow the policies and procedures you’ve laid out. It’s another thing entirely if there aren’t any policies and procedures to follow. 

What Are Workflows?

What specifically is the phrase “systems management” referring to? 

A system is a procedure or method that ensures consistent, positive outcomes. For lasting success in your legal practice, implementing a series of reliable systems is essential. These systems can range from straightforward checklists for associates to sophisticated algorithms for case management.

So, we’re talking about a workflow then? A workflow is a series of steps that are required to complete a specific action (i.e., draft a pleading).

Workflows	Systems thinking
Created through systems thinking	Produces a collection of workflows within an organization
Consist of a sequence of steps or processes for specific tasks	Relies on understanding cause and effect (causality)
Depend on system mapping	Uses feedback loops to iterate and improve
Exist as part of a larger system	Creates harmony across multiple workflows

Systems management involves creating successful and efficient workflows. By considering the cause and effect relationships around your desired outcomes, you can develop a series of workflows that consistently produce favorable results.

Without workflows, there are no systems. Without systems, everyone in your organization operates independently, leading to inconsistency and inefficiency.

Why Does Your Law Firm Need Workflows?

Current research shows firms are losing time for various reasons that workflows can help with, including the following issues:

• The average attorney is only paid for 2.5 hours of work per day. That’s a problem on its own until you realize the truth about employee labor. When attorneys bill 40 or 50 hours per week, they’re actually working 60 to 70+ hours per week. A wide gap between billable hours vs. actual hours can be quite frustrating.
• Legal professionals lose a considerable amount of time unnecessarily. For example, an IDC whitepaper found knowledge workers wasted 11.2 hours a week sorting through document management (DMS) challenges. This whitepaper calculated the loss at $19,732 per knowledge worker, per year, or a 21.3% loss in the firm’s total productivity. This doesn’t include losses from other areas. 
• Firm utilization rates, a measure of firm productivity and billing efficiency, is stagnant or falling; attorneys are losing a tremendous amount of time due to non-billable administrative work, errors, business development demands and poor planning. 
• This has an inevitable and negative effect on law firm realization rates. The usual explanation suggests that realization rates are falling due to pricing and billing disputes, which is partially correct. But poor utilization means realization rates take a hit well before billing plays a role.

So how can workflows help fix these problems?

1. Proper records keeping. Workflows show you where to look to identify problems. They answer important questions — what needs to be done, who completed what, when it was completed, and where to find the records. 
2. Increased productivity. With the right workflows, you’re able to increase productivity on demand. Incremental improvements to your workflows produce an exponential increase in productivity. And remember, this increased utilization means increase realization.
3. Precise resource allocation. Knowing the who, what, where, and when means you have a clear sense of the resources that need to be allocated to specific matters and projects. 
4. Improved employee morale. Workflows give your employees the structure they need to exceed expectations. Your employees have a clear sense of the work that needs to be done. There’s no confusion about what needs to be done or how to do it. Employees have a sense of fulfillment and purpose. 
5. Task prioritization. Workflows give you the data you need to achieve economies of scale. You’re able to identify work that should be outsourced to a freelancer, given to a junior associate or forwarded to a senior associate. Your team knows which tasks should be automated and which tasks should be sent to a virtual assistant. It’s clear, precise and efficient. 

These workflows are the foundation. They run your law firm, eliminating the need for micromanagement. Workflows reward you for working on your business rather than in your business. The better you are at doing this, the easier it is for you to achieve high growth on demand. This is how high growth firms maintain their exceptional track record. 

Examples of Law Firm Workflows

Don’t forget, you need these workflows, whether you’re an associate, partner or owner of your own firm. If you’re the owner of your law firm, you likely need them all.  

Service workflows	Business development workflows
Practice management	Marketing and advertising
Project and task management	Content development (video, audio, speeches, etc.)
Time tracking	Sales funnels and lead nurturing
Service inventories	Digital and offline media plans
Client management	Firm reporting, business and marketing analytics
Document management tools and protocols	CRM tools and workflows
Proprietary methods and trade secrets
Security workflows	Financial workflows
Security policies	Billing and invoicing
Data, application and security plans	Payments (online and offline)
Cybersecurity insurance	Pricing and fee structures
Breach incident response plan	ePayments
Emergency and disaster recovery plans	Bookkeeping and accounting workflows
Physical and cybersecurity protocols	Payroll reporting and withholding
Data management (backups, storage, archiving, etc.)	Budgeting and forecasting
Internet, intranet and email management protocols	Securing and managing growth capital
User rights management
Client service workflows	Human resource workflows
Client response protocols (phone, email, text, etc.)	Hiring methodologies (i.e., Topgrading)
Client intake procedures	Recruitment and retention plans
Discount, write-down and write-off protocols	Talent pool (freelance, contract, employee)
Scheduling appointments and events	Employee training
	Benefits and payroll procedures

How do you go about creating these workflows and setting things up? It’s difficult to set things without a plan, but that’s exactly what you need right now. 

How To Create Stable Task Management for Law Firms With High-Performance Workflows

How do you go about creating workflows? 

1. Set specific goals and objectives 
2. Outline your available resources
3. List all of the tasks that need to be completed
4. Create a list of employees/roles accountable for each task/step
5. Create a workflow diagram or mind map
6. Train your employees in the new workflow
7. Deploy your new workflow
8. Analyze workflow performance 
9. Iterate and improve

1. Set specific goals and objectives

Specificity and simplicity are key here when it comes to task management for law firms. You’ll want to avoid creating broad or vague goals and outcomes. You can refer to the table above for a list of the categories you can start with. For our example, let’s use the category “time tracking.” Time tracking is too broad so we need to simplify this a bit more.

Let’s simplify it even more: “filling out your timesheet.” 

This outcome is simple, clear and concise. It’s also important because the title is the goal. This step is important because all subsequent steps depend on this one. 

2. Outline your available resources

When you outline your available resources, you make sure your employees have what they need to achieve the desired outcomes. It’s no different with our “filling out your timesheet” example. Outlining your available resources begins with questions. 

• What do they need to produce this outcome?
• What will prevent them from producing this outcome?

Here’s an example of the tools and resources your employees would need.

• Cloud-based time tracking software
• A pricing sheet for each employee type (i.e., $360 per hour for this attorney, $150 per hour for this paralegal)
• The desired billing increments/units (i.e., 1/10 of an hour or 6-minute increments)
• ABA/LEDES billing codes and formats

It’s a simple and straightforward step that’s necessary if you’re expecting consistent results from your employees.

3. List all of the tasks that need to be completed

This is exactly what it sounds like. Here’s an example of what you might include on a “fill out your timesheet” workflow:

• Selecting the correct services 
• Setting the appropriate time tracking increments
• Using the right service descriptions
• Entering your time using the correct billing increments

This step is easy, but your approach must be thorough. A missed to-do item affects subsequent steps in your workflow.

4. Create a list of employees/roles accountable for each task/step

Next, you’ll want to assign owners to each task. You can assign tasks to specific people or specific roles. You’ll need to determine what’s best for your law firm.

Every task or step needs to be accounted for. There shouldn’t be any surprises. If you need to add more steps, someone should be responsible for them.

5. Create a workflow diagram or mind map

In this step, you’re simply visualizing the process as you have it, via a workflow diagram or mind map. Let’s say you’re outlining the workflow for the preparation of a will or other estate planning documents. What would that look like? Here’s an example from Precedent.

A workflow diagram or mind map visualizes the process, giving everyone a bird’s eye view of (a.) the work that needs to be done (b.) The specific steps it will take to achieve the desired outcome. Doing this means it’s easier for employees to produce results. 

6. Train your employees in the new workflow

When you train your employees, you’re outlining the specifics and performance standards they’ll need to meet. Training ensures that you get exactly what you’re asking for, minimizing accidents, errors, or negligence. This upfront training decreases expenses due to discounting or rework.

7. Deploy your new workflow

Deploying your workflow establishes an important benchmark. You’re able to set an important starting point for your firm. It’s a good idea to roll things out slowly. Deploy workflows with a small team, or in a specific practice group before making firm-wide changes.

Doing so prevents any major disruptions that come from a poorly conceived rollout.

8. Analyze workflow performance 

By documenting the steps in your workflow, you’re able to analyze performance, identify failure points and outline possible areas for improvement. Here are some questions you can ask to analyze your workflow.

• Is your workflow working? 
• Where are the failure points in your workflow?
• Are things going as expected?
• Is it taking your employees less or more time to complete each task?
• Is the quality of work greater or lower than expected?
• How long does it take to complete a task or goal? 
• Where does your law firm’s performance fall relative to competitors?

Testing is an important step.  A theoretical understanding of your workflow is a good start, but you’ll want real-world data on your firm’s performance as quickly as possible. This is why it’s important to test your workflows immediately and consistently.

9. Iterate and improve

Answers to these questions provide you with clear instructions. You’ll have the data you need to make immediate improvements, adjustments and changes to the workflows in your law firm.

The best part about these changes is the fact that you can iterate and improve or rollback changes. You can make firm-wide adjustments or specific tweaks in a small practice group.

Task Management for Law Firms Is Important

Are your partners and associates focused on doing things their own way? It may not be your employee’s fault. As we’ve seen, inconsistent performance isn’t always due to noncompliance. It’s a lack of systems management.

Using systems and workflows, your law firm can achieve specific, positive and repeatable results. If you’re looking to achieve long-term success in your law firm, this isn’t optional, it’s mandatory. Poor systems management is a disaster for many law firms.

With great utilization, comes great realization. Create the right workflows, apply them consistently. Do what’s necessary to create a high growth law firm, and you’ll find your competitors become irrelevant.

Legal professionals are always up against the clock — there’s always more that can be done in a day, but not enough time to do it all. As a result, many lawyers just put in the time instead of finding more efficient methods, like using legal time tracking software.

Some of the most common challenges law firms face are time wasted on administrative tasks, new client acquisition, cost control, and expense growth. Many of these time-consuming tasks can be automated with modern legal technology. As an industry that bills by the hour, these inefficiencies can mean significant revenue loss.

Lawyers do a lot of work on computers, so adopting modern technology practices only makes sense. Time tracking software can run in the background to properly track time and improve law firm processes.

Here are 6 advantages of digital time tracking for lawyers.

1. Tracking Potential Lost Revenue

Automated timekeeping tools take a lot of the error, stress, and — ironically — time out of the tracking process. These solutions can track both billable and non-billable hours, so lawyers can see where they’re losing valuable time on unrelated tasks that impede the workflow.

Data is important for improving law firms as businesses. For example, a lawyer charging $200 an hour may forget to bill for an hour’s worth of small tasks each day, which is $200 lost in a day. Assuming that happens at least once a week, that’s a potential loss of over $10,000 a year! Digital time tracking can ensure that this time is billed and paid for for more accurate revenue.

2. Revealing Inefficiencies

Legal time tracking software not only tracks the billable time that isn’t billed, but it reveals what lawyers spend their time doing. Many law firms have lawyers spending time on non-legal business activities, such as marketing, accounting, and administration.

If the digital time tracking shows a lot of time spent on non-billable activities, leading to a loss of revenue, a law firm can outsource those activities. For example, law firms can hire an accountant, administrative assistant, or marketing professional for in-house work, or delegate tasks to contract workers during busy periods.

Attorneys can also use legal technology solutions for automating more tedious tasks, like electronic payment processing and bookkeeping services to generate invoices. Ideally, law firms will choose software specifically designed for legal professionals to maintain compliance with rules of professional conduct.

3. Improve Billing Accuracy

Lawyers at both boutique and large law firms typically bill by the hour, but the time spent on client cases doesn’t always consider face-to-face meetings with defined timeframes or scheduled phone calls that run over.

Proper time tracking and billing must include the time spent on tasks like:

• Telephone calls
• Case research
• Emails
• Lead follow-up
• Witness interviews
• Trial preparation
• Travel to and from meetings

Without clear and organized time tracking, lawyers may struggle to create accurate timesheets. This not only ensures that lawyers are billing for all their time but offers a detailed invoice for transparency and trust with the client.

4. Mobile Access

On-the-go lawyers struggle more with timekeeping, but legal software solutions offer mobile apps to help with tracking time outside of the firm. Many legal software solutions have corresponding mobile apps, which are perfect for on-the-go lawyers. Depending on the nature of a case, a lawyer may be running between the courtroom, the law office, lunch meetings, or the library for research.

Whether in the office or in the field, timekeeping apps track hours accurately and update in real-time in a secure, centralized cloud database.

5. Customizable Reporting

Different law firms face different challenges with efficiency and accuracy, so a one-size-fits-all approach may not work. Digital time tracking solutions offer customizable reports to pull data and view it in simple visualizations for managers and team members to interpret.

Managers can view just about any aspect of the firm’s performance, including work-in-progress, outstanding balances, time spent with a specific client, all calculated by user, client, or project.

6. Time-Saving Features

Legal time tracking software offers many features to improve efficiency and workflow, such as:

Automated timers that allow users to start and stop time, rather than tracking it manually. Meetings run over and people forget to stop the clock, so having a legal time tracking software ensures that the tracking is as accurate as possible. Some systems also allow tracking multiple tasks, so users can easily stop tracking time for one task and toggle to another quickly and easily.

Voice commands allow users to stop or start timers without needing to be near the computer. Most people speak faster than they type, so having voice commands captures time quickly and easily. Entries can be edited and synced to client management systems as well.

Built-in payment processing, which is included with Bill4Time, can save your firm time and money while other software systems use integrations or costly third-party software. If a law firm devotes a lot of time to billing and processing without a dedicated accounting process, having these features makes the processes smoother and more efficient.

Customization features that allow lawyers to create detailed reports and invoices for consistency and continuity. Personalized reports offer virtually limitless options for time and billing data, all with custom filters and optional views to get a holistic picture of the firm’s operations.

What Is the Easiest Way to Track Time as a Lawyer?

Legal time tracking software is the best way to track time as a lawyer. Implementing timekeeping solutions, like Bill4Time, helps law firms identify inefficiencies, choose tasks to outsource, track individual lawyers’ time, and bill clients accurately for better revenue and success.

Digital time tracking for lawyers offers limitless options for efficiency and accuracy. Bill4Time offers legal technology solutions for legal professionals to track time, manage clients, track expenses, and more. Schedule a demo today to see how digital timekeeping solutions can help!