How do you motivate your attorneys to contemporaneously bill their time and not wait until the end of the month?

Check hours weekly. It’s like herding cats though.

Let them know bonuses are based on recorded hours.

Educate them, it’s a training and retraining and retraining issue. Hand out the positive reinforcement when they’ve done what you ask.

We check weekly. People who refuse to bill are excluded from our bonuses and incentives that we sprinkle throughout the year. I agree that it is important to train and help people realize that they will bill more time more accurately if they do it contemporaneously. We went to CLIO that allows people to enter time from their phones from anywhere. I also agree it is “herding cats.”

We can see it they bill through our billing software.

Lawyers need to understand that they are a part of a business, how they contribute to the business, and that their advancement depends upon their developing certain skills, including financial hygiene. Don’t treat them like widgets - most want to understand the business, how they contribute, how we are reviewed by the business, etc.

Remind them that "guesstamating" and value billing is potentially unethical in most states.... If your case management software has a timer imbedded, they should click the timer as soon as they switch files they are working on to capture the full time.

Make it mandatory to record all time daily and discipline them if they don’t. It’s a pain to monitor though.

Start with educating - why it’s important for them to bill regularly and what are the consequences if they don’t, incentivize them - those who are getting in their time give them a small reward and acknowledge them at monthly department meetings. You’ll be surprised how many people want to get a shout out from the head of a practice group/department.

If they do not enter their time as required, ask them why. Some junior associates might think time entries would make it obvious, how long it takes them to complete some tasks. Some might have doubts about which activities are billable.

We check Fridays and if their numbers aren't up to scratch, contract them Mondays to delegate more files/work. People generally make sure they finalise all billing if they genuinely have the work so as not to become overloaded.

Have been at two firms that impose a monetary fine for late time, bring it up in bonus review, and discuss during performance review.

My firm just fires those who won’t do that, the expectation is set at the interview and again during onboarding and if it’s a problem they’re out before the 60 days are up.