billing

Carefully Track Time

January 19, 2010

Whether you bill clients at an hourly rate or work on cases with attorney fee awards, you need to keep track of your time very carefully. Many firms have established increments for billing time, and some firms have even assigned increments for certain tasks. However you do it, make sure every entry has sufficient detail [...]

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Clio and Time59 Announce iPhone Apps (Update: Rocket Matter, Too)

December 23, 2009

Clio was the first major player in the online practice management space to sync with Outlook, and now Clio and Time59 announce iPhone compatibility. Neither offer a true iPhone app; instead, both have iPhone-optimized sites (despite Clio’s confusing blog entry). This is a good thing, in my opinion. Gmail’s iPhone-optimized site is better than any [...]

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Learn to Type

November 23, 2009

The ability to type is one of the greatest barriers to modern communication. If you have to hunt-and-peck, even l-a-w-y-e-r-i-s-t-.-c-o-m becomes a chore. I know there are lawyers out there who type 25-page briefs two fingers at a time, but I cannot imagine how those lawyers justify their bills to their clients.

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A Family and Friends Plan for Your Law Firm

November 17, 2009

A family member or close friend calls you one day with a “quick” question. Seems she has a dispute with a neighbor or she just got denied a promotion or she needs to tell the renter of her duplex to stop smoking in his unit. She knows you are really busy but was wondering if [...]

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Add Some Emotion to Your Client Invoices

October 29, 2009

If you have occasional trouble collecting from clients, you might want to consider experimenting by tapping their emotions with your next invoice.

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Freshbooks: painless customer service

March 24, 2009

It is no secret that I love Freshbooks, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it has excellent customer service, too.
I could not figure out how to downgrade my account using the web site (you can’t), so I gritted my teeth and called the customer support number.
Levi picked up after a couple of rings, [...]

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Experiment: three weeks of free consultations

March 23, 2009

I recently experimented with offering free consultations for all potential clients, something I have not done for well over a year. It was a spectacular failure. In fact, although I originally intended to offer free consultations for at least two months, and then assess the results, I got fed up with the cancellations and unprepared [...]

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Experienced lawyers apparently worth $40 per hour, tops

January 26, 2009

Spotted on Craigslist:
I’m looking for a licensed lawyer (if you just graduated and passed the bar and can legally practice) with experience in family law (that’s looking for more experience and references)to assist me with my custody case. I will pay at a rate of $20.00 to $40.00 per hour, depending on experience and qualifications. [...]

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Track time with Windows Notepad

May 28, 2008

Boyd Johnson has an ingenious way of tracking his time throughout the day. Just open Windows Notepad and, when starting a task, hit F5, which stamps the time into your text file. Make a note to help you flesh out the task on your billing sheet later, and off you go. Whenever you switch tasks, [...]

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