Calling ill Lawyers

[TripletDaddy]

When you guys take a sick day, do you shut down and unplug the blackberry or do you still take phone calls? How do you bill your time if it is just a quick call?

[wuapinmon]

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[Green Monstah]

When you guys take a sick day, do you shut down and unplug the blackberry or do you still take phone calls? How do you bill your time if it is just a quick call?

I haven't taken a sick day, but when I'm on vacation, I'm always plugged in, though I will usually address emails, etc. once per day. I bill my time like I normally do, .1 hour per any fraction of a 6 minute time period I'm billing.

This, btw, is the reason my biggest vacation per year will always be to a very rural place in AZ that has no cell phone reception.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Most of the big firms with which I am familiar bill their time out in fifteen minute increments, making quick phone calls a superb way to rack up the billables. With good phone management, one can log an eight-hour day before lunch. Good luck to you, sir!

[falafel]

Most of the big firms with which I am familiar bill their time out in fifteen minute increments, making quick phone calls a superb way to rack up the billables. With good phone management, one can log an eight-hour day before lunch. Good luck to you, sir!

Really? I haven't heard of that (although I'd love for it to be true!).

[Pheidippides]

Most of the big firms with which I am familiar bill their time out in fifteen minute increments, making quick phone calls a superb way to rack up the billables. With good phone management, one can log an eight-hour day before lunch. Good luck to you, sir!

That's the way firm #1 was for me. Firm #2 was six minute increments. That's the mandatory way, btw, for bankruptcy matters.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Really? I haven't heard of that (although I'd love for it to be true!).

It was certainly true before I went small firm 20 years ago and clients actually expected me to be working during the time my meter was on (clients can be so unreasonable). But for the firms I was closest to (Orrick, MoFo and Latham), a short phone call meant fifteen minutes on the timesheet.

BTW, over the years, I've found clients care a whole lot more about the grand total in view of the work produced, than about billing rate and time expended. For nearly all of my clients, I don't provide them with breakdown of my time each day. Rather, my monthly bills typically have a one-paragraph summary and the total time for the month. They've been fine with that, although I suppose it would be different if there were multiple timekeepers on a given bill.

[filsdepac]

It was certainly true before I went small firm 20 years ago and clients actually expected me to be working during the time my meter was on (clients can be so unreasonable). But for the firms I was closest to (Orrick, MoFo and Latham), a short phone call meant fifteen minutes on the timesheet.

BTW, over the years, I've found clients care a whole lot more about the grand total in view of the work produced, than about billing rate and time expended. For nearly all of my clients, I don't provide them with breakdown of my time each day. Rather, my monthly bills typically have a one-paragraph summary and the total time for the month. They've been fine with that, although I suppose it would be different if there were multiple timekeepers on a given bill.

From the accountants POV, the more detail the better please. A certain law firm is quite detailed in this, and enabled us to save our client more money than I make in a year because of it.

[TripletDaddy]

It was certainly true before I went small firm 20 years ago and clients actually expected me to be working during the time my meter was on (clients can be so unreasonable). But for the firms I was closest to (Orrick, MoFo and Latham), a short phone call meant fifteen minutes on the timesheet.

BTW, over the years, I've found clients care a whole lot more about the grand total in view of the work produced, than about billing rate and time expended. For nearly all of my clients, I don't provide them with breakdown of my time each day. Rather, my monthly bills typically have a one-paragraph summary and the total time for the month. They've been fine with that, although I suppose it would be different if there were multiple timekeepers on a given bill.

wisdom.

[Clark Addison]

Two things that always make the blood pressure rise are itemized bills from hospitals and lawyers. My wife was involved in a matter for which we needed representation a few years back. It amused me to read the bill as I saw a charge for someone going to the fax machine to receive a fax. I believe this was a 15 minute increment place, so we ended up paying somewhere around $40 for that task.

To PAC's point, I didn't squawk, because the lawyer took something that could have ended up costing tens of thousands of dollars, and resolved it so the only thing we had to pay was about three thousand dollars in legal bills (which I haven't used to my advantage nearly enough in fights with my wife. I am glad this thread reminded me).

[Green Monstah]

Most of the big firms with which I am familiar bill their time out in fifteen minute increments, making quick phone calls a superb way to rack up the billables. With good phone management, one can log an eight-hour day before lunch. Good luck to you, sir!

I know that used to be the standard, but I think with rising billing rates, a lot of people have gone to .1 hours.