Peer to Peer Magazine

PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGA ZINE OF ILTA 72 The problem in 2014 was different vendors started using the term "time capture" differently. Once again, what looks like a user-friendly interface at first glance can bring a host of complications when put to use. Rudimentary time-capture systems generated a simple list of all the tasks performed on a computer each day, with no indication of duration or grouping of related activity — inadvertently creating more work for lawyers. Other systems required lawyers to actively train the system to learn how to associate tasks with billing codes. There was also "pop-up capture," which promised to interrupt your lawyers at every turn. If you come across this, run and hide. When evaluating time-capture systems, it remains important to understand how they work in practice and how lawyers will end up interacting with the data generated by them. COMPLIANCE: TIME TO TAKE CONTROL In 2020, e-billing is the norm. The challenge for law firms in 2014 is whether they can keep up with different policies set by each client while adhering to these policies up front. Ignoring the problem inevitably means a higher rate of rejection from clients' e-billing systems, and no one wants An important step is to link your time management system with your operational systems, so you can monitor and understand both the progress and profitability of individual matters. This is only possible with accurate time data that has been coded correctly. Making analytics part of your time management system — and time management part of your analytics system — enables you to make sure any pricing models adopted by the firm are robust and understood by clients immediately. With the benefit of hindsight, we can now say many firms that didn't make it never had a grasp on where they stood on the profitability of individual matters and projects. Firms taking analytics and time management to the next level have worked to make time data accessible wherever needed — in the business intelligence (BI), reporting and operational systems — to better inform business decisions. They've extended the scope beyond "billable work" performed on individual matters, projects and clients to gain a better understanding of all the work performed by lawyers that is critical to the business. As some firms introduced complementary services extending beyond traditional legal work, it also became imperative to understand how the entire staff spent their time. With better access to time data — further upstream, before the final billing stage — law firm management has been able to gain a more complete picture of overall business health and performance. THE OUTCOME We're happy to report from the year 2020 that many law firms have taken control of time. By taking a comprehensive approach to time management — bringing together time capture, mobile time recording, compliance and analytics — many leading law firms have made the leap into 21st-century best practices. Accurate time data is the foundation from which to build any strong services business. Automating basic tasks, streamlining processes and eliminating unnecessary administration have allowed innovative law firms to focus their time on high-value services that differentiate them from their competitors and deliver greater satisfaction to their clients. FEATURES that. Rejected bills require more rounds of manual review and corrections. And, in the meantime, payment has been delayed, and there's always been a risk that the firm will have to write off certain line items simply because they were categorized incorrectly. We've seen the snowball effect on the rest of a firm's finances. From a client's perspective, the difference between firms with controls in place and those without is stark. The good news going into the future is that you can regain control over the process by building compliance into your time management system. The smart solution will be to enforce compliance from the point of entry. Whether time has been captured automatically or a time record was being created manually, you can set up the system so each time record is associated with relevant client codes and activity codes, and any non-compliant items are flagged immediately — so they can be corrected immediately. ANALYTICS: THE KEY TO PROFITABILITY What's the use of a time management system if it doesn't give you meaningful visibility into how much time is being spent by whom, on what and how this is tracking to budget? Regulatory, financial and client pressures will continue to grow, and the clear winners will be the firms that took control over the analytic information available to them.

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