Law firms going into the New Year know the importance of profit maximisation has never been so high, especially when looking at the current economic climate for both domestic and international work.
The same could be said that work is harder to attract. As the market looks ever more digital, the avenues to market in the space decline as the number of reputable advertising vendors diminishes to a handful – and then it is a case of how much spend can you commit against others in that space.
What this does mean is that firms, and fee-earners in particular, need to focus on maximising the worth of the work they currently have. Naturally, not in terms of dragging out work and overbilling clients – not only is that an outdated, frowned-upon practice consigned to the past through the creation of Outside Counsel Guidelines and transparency regulations and requests from the public at large – but instead through ensuring that all billable work is logged and recorded appropriately, and that less time is spent on non-billable work such as administration, allowing the next case to be handled more quickly.
The importance of timekeeping
Effective timekeeping empowers employees to have a more accurate account of the work they undertake on client matters, no matter the nature of the work. With the rise of virtual meetings, digital form submissions, and working from home, timekeeping solutions are adapting to record these as meticulously as possible – and from any device, meaning that even phone calls taken on your mobile can be accurately recorded.
The best time recording solutions will also integrate with your case management solution’s billing centre to record the hours and the right cost directly in your matter. This no doubt saves time and ‘guesswork’, especially for those less conscious-minded fee-earners from a ‘logging hours’ perspective!
Intangibles matter
Not only will this be an obvious improvement internally and on the balance sheet moving forward, but also one that is great for your clientele and your brand. To be a more efficient and agile law firm, with seamless and transparent billing to boot, you increase the likelihood of clients returning to you with more work, as well as fewer complaints around billing. Both outcomes means more money with the company, and more time to be able to work on growing the business.
Click here to learn more about time recording solutions and how they can save your law firm time and boost profitability.