Hi, iam joining ID firm and am very new to the billing world. What are some helpful tips that you can share with me? Also, in general, what are some things that you wish you knew when you first started. TIa

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Split everything up as much as possible. For example, if I draft a motion I will bill individually for:
- reviewing client file/any relevant docs (all billed separately)
- plan and prepare any points or arguments I already know I’m making
- research state case law for each issue/ argument addressed
- research out of state case law for each issue
- research federal case law for each issue
- research statutory law for each issue
- research state/fed rules (civ pro, judicial admin, etc. all separate) for each issue
- Shepardize cited case law
- draft
- revise

Obviously, what needs to be done for each assignment varies. Point is, smaller entries rack up time quicker and are less likely to be disputed.

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Great tip! Thank you.

Never "research." Never bill anything intraoffice. Always bill less then an hour if possible. Analysis and strategic evaluation are your friend.

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try to bill in no greater than .9 and describe work in detail

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Keep and excel sheet or some type of word document with billing language. You will come back to a lot of the same billing over and over again so it is helpful to have.

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Bill as you go. You finish a task, bill it. Most people who fall behind don’t do this. When they try to remember all of the work they did on a file a week later or a month later, they usually don’t capture all of their billable time

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Follow

Don’t think in time. Think in tasks. You’re not in retail there is no clock in clock out; there are only tasks and every task is minimum .1.

Never block bill carriers hate that.

Document everything even if it’s one sentence.

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