Peer to Peer Magazine

WWW.ILTANET.ORG 71 THE WARNING First, the bad news: Time recording isn't dead in 2020. However, it has changed significantly. Our warning to you is that time is of the essence. As alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) became de rigeur, time management systems have become essential. Regardless of a firm's pricing models, legal has remained a people-driven business; accurate data on how lawyers spend their time has remained fundamental to managing a firm's profitability. If your firm hasn't taken a serious look at upgrading its time management system, the time to do so is now. In evaluating new time management systems, it is critical not to be swept away by every mobile app claiming to do some version of "time entry" for law firms. You might be in the midst of the bring your own device (BYOD) craze; but, once the dust settles, it will become clear which apps really delivered business value. Don't forget to ensure any solution you introduce is future-proof and able to evolve with changing technology requirements. We know mobile device adoption in firms tended to be messy — and it only got more difficult to support as lawyers moved on to new devices and applications (operating systems were updated, certain types of data were regularly moved to the cloud, and security remained an underlying concern). Also keep in mind the changing regulatory environment and changing business models. Finally, beware of "free" add-ons to applications designed for general business management that claim to track time. For most law firms, these applications turned out to be far from free. With time that hadn't been captured or recorded properly, entries that violated client guidelines, and delayed collections and lost clients, this decision was expensive indeed. It turned out that when time recording systems were offered as an afterthought, they rarely stayed up to date. Whether it's 2020 or 1920, there is no such thing as a free lunch. THE LESSON Time management must be at the heart of your law firm's business. Take a step back and make sure you're thinking about everything you need your time management system to do for your firm — and for your clients. Time management is about much more than the "time entry" systems of the past. You can't afford to introduce another point solution that sits in its own silo, performing a single task and not integrating with the rest of your business systems and information. Looking across all the systems used by your firm, you should be eliminating duplicate data entry wherever it occurs. MOBILE TIME RECORDING We know in 2020 that by 2014 many lawyers embraced their smartphones and tablets with genuine affection. The passion was understandable: Mobile devices freed them from their desktops and allowed them to stay connected and work on the go. This move to mobile devices went on to accelerate at a pace you couldn't have imagined in 2014. It was only natural that lawyers asked for mobile time entry. Time entry has always been a lawyer's least favorite task — often cumbersome and time-consuming. Time recording should have been made available on the mobile devices lawyers loved. But selecting the right mobile time recording solution for your law firm will take more than a quick download at the app store. What looks like a slick mobile app for time entry could end up requiring more time to use if it can't integrate with your billing system in a meaningful way. While a simple mobile app might suffice for fee earners performing only one type of activity for a single client throughout the day, in 2020 most fee earners face a much more complex tapestry of activities, performing a wide range of tasks for multiple clients and working across multiple computing devices. These activities need to be integrated. Be aware the burden of assigning the right activity and detail can be frustrating and cumbersome if you make lawyers sift through long reports and manually assign appropriate codes. A lawyer's frustration can became palpable if they are unable to use the time recording app while temporarily offline. If faced with too many obstacles, lawyers will revolt. TIME CAPTURE: CAPTURE TRUE VALUE Even if some of your lawyers were content with traditional time tracking, you'll be surprised at how quickly most of them embrace new ways of time recording once they understand the benefits. Most striking was the adoption of time capture solutions, which track a lawyer's activity throughout the day and present the lawyer with a pre-populated journal at the end of the day — complete with durations, client codes and activity descriptions. When properly implemented, a time-capture system lets lawyers simply scroll through a list of activities and click or swipe the appropriate line items in a matter of seconds, with very few manual edits. About the Author Norm Mullock is an active champion of data-driven innovation in the legal industry. As head of Intapp's revenue practice, Norm works with leading law firms in expanding their adoption of modern technology for time management – an essential part of understanding business health and driving performance. Prior to joining Intapp, Norm spent more than a decade advancing leading business intelligence solutions, having co-founded a pioneering BI company. He can be contacted at norm.mullock@intapp.com. The challenge for law firms is whether they can keep up with different policies set by each client.

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