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Work less 🤙🏽
Coach
Use the billing codes, try to spread the time to different clients/carriers If you can. Try to Break up your entries into intervals that are one hour or less, try to specify amounts of paragraphs and page numbers or spreadsheet entries to show how voluminous the materials reviewed/prepared are. Break up long reports or motions/briefs into sections. When the time is broken down and specific, it’s less likely to be flagged by an auditor.
Get preapproval in an email from the client/adjuster when you’re going to do something that goes against their absurd guidelines. Cite it at the end of long entries. Or have the partner do it.
Also some clients/auditors/carriers will cut time regardless and arbitrarily. For those clients just be merciless but ethical. Bill them for every millisecond spent. Everything. Every email. Every call. If they want to rest on formality, then so will you. It’s the game they created so just play it and don’t worry about it too much.
Coach
I actually bill the same way to some self insured clients and they like the breakdowns and specificity. Makes them feel you are being transparent, by the book, and up front and telling them exactly what you did and how long it took.
Just continue the excess billing to a weekend
It's goofy that they do that because they probably expect you to bill 2100 in a year yet f**k you on your entries. I'd find another firm- most won't write off over 10 per day.
If their writing off 10
Hours per day it’s usually in the carriers contract that they don’t allow that without prior approval
Lol don't bill 10 hours in one day for the same case. Add time to the day after or the weekend
Also be selective in your choice of words. “Prepare correspondence” versus “email”, “analyze controlling and persuasive legal authority” versus “review” and “research.” The 3rd party audit software is keyed to flag such words. As LA1 notes, bust up every project into as small of pieces as possible... begin, continue, complete. “Begin preparation of MSJ argument section addressing X.” We always said no entry over 3 hours but if you can get under 1, even better. And be precise on the L&A codes, as your time for discrete events (say MSJ drafting) will be compared to your initial lit budget. Good luck!
Just move the time around. If you billed 12 hours one day, move 4 hours to the weekend, 3 hours to a day you only billed 6, etc.
Unclear if the firm or the client is capping you at 10 hours per day. If it’s the carrier/client, get it prespproved by adjuster IN WRITING (email is fine). Another “best practice” which often works if the client is going to write off anything over 10 hours, you can throw in some loss leaders but enter “No Charge (NC)” in the description. Some clients will get the hint and be less strict or cut less of your other bills/billing if they know (see) that you’re already “eating it” or already “taking a haircut”.
I have been there. I once had all time associated with a depo cut because we didn't include approved by...
1) Check with the partner who is on the case and ask how they typically handle these billing issues.
2) Unfortunately you do have to play the game and maybe you have to put a few of those hours over the weekend or on different days of the week.
3) If you know that you may have a longer day or days because of what's going on in the case, let the adjuster know and ask for approval. Then put at the beginning of your entry per approval from xx, insert rest of billing entry.
I don’t know your firm policy, but I do commercial litigation. I can tell you it is a rare day when I am in trial or an arbitration hearing when I do not work 12 to 14 hours.
I have one client with 8 hour per day max and another with 12 hour a day max. Once I hit 8 hours for client 1, I don't touch another of their cases or I move it to a different day.