Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/30285
WHITHER TIME ENTRY? (OF DINOSAURS AND BUGGY WHIPS) This is the evolution occurring right now, as more firms move from “time-entry” software, which relies on manual lawyer entry, to the more nimble, automated “time-capture” approach. This new approach has a growing presence in the legal ecosystem because an automated approach is perfectly suited to lawyer work patterns and temperaments. A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO TIME ENTRY So, what defines time-capture, and why is automated time-capture the natural future of the industry? The answer lies in how most lawyers work today. First, they perform actual work. Then, often hours or days later, they run through a distillation process which typically involves summarizing the various activities undertaken. That process may include reviewing their notes or email exchanges in order to document the details of their work and the reasons behind it. That data is then either submitted directly into a time-entry system, or provided to an assistant for entry. The resultant dataset is the best understanding a law firm has of what its timekeepers have done, how long they were doing it and on whose behalf they were working. This dataset is used to analyze individual billable hours, but is of limited use from a cost analysis perspective as it is often incomplete, inaccurate and inconsistently recorded. Now consider an approach rooted in time-capture, which can more appropriately be thought of as comprehensive time management, rather than mere time recording. It offers significantly more utility and benefit because it uses technology to provide more accurate information to the firm, while freeing lawyers from traditional tracking burdens. With time-capture, lawyers continue performing the work of a legal practice. That activity is then captured automatically, in real-time, and reflects accurate durations and consistently rendered narrative detail, whether lawyers are at their desks, at meetings, commuting or working on mobiles or off-line notebook computers. Time-capture software provides a daily activity journal in diary form. Extraneous activity (non- billable, personal) is automatically excluded. All other activity is intelligently rolled up, presented and documented, and then linked to appropriate clients. The distillation stage, depending on manual lawyer activity, is replaced with an automated inference engine. This inferential engine facilitates the linking of activity with clients and matters and ultimately documents the activity in a dataset that is the single most comprehensive view a law firm has of the time spent by their lawyers on behalf of clients. TECHNOLOGY IS THE ANSWER If, instead of constantly working out ways to motivate more consistent and timely execution of the lawyer’s natural distillation process (through time-entry deadlines, incentives and other measures), we look to change the assumptions of the process, a world of opportunity opens. The key assumption has traditionally been that a human must be at the center of the time management process. But that’s no longer the case. Today, firms are successfully using time- capture technology to free their lawyers from the traditional hassles of manual time tracking and entry. Capture technology leverages inference technology and replaces the manual distillation process lawyers perform today with www.iltanet.org Financial Management 15