The Gazette 1992

GAZETTE

H N 0 L

DECEMBER 1992

T ime Recording, At Last!

by Frank Lanigan

Time recording, like Guinness, js

good for you. But how many of us

would enjoy the black brew if we

had to have the hangover first?

Preparation for time recording is a

hangover of sorts and a pain that

most lawyers readily put off from

year to year. After many years of

resolve and broken promises, we

finally bit the bullet and introduced

time recording to our office this

year. Starting in April, 1992, we set

a timetable for the j ob to go live on

September 1, and we met our target.

Time recording, The nonsense

H ow ma ny b o r i ng articles have we

seen over the years a b o ut time

recording? H ow ma ny s emi n a r s?

Wh y is there no easy gu i de to time

recording with a step by step

tutorial? Because time recording

seems to have been designed by

a c c o u n t a n ts for a c c o u n t a n ts ( bo r i ng

o n es at that). S amp le time sheets

a n d learned articles have f r i g h t e n ed

o ff mo st solicitors. T i me sheets

a s s ume skills to which the legal

profession does not easily aspire, viz

the ability to keep track of your

wo r k, to n o te wh at you are d o i ng

a n d to a d d it all u p at the e nd of

the day. Definitely t oo difficult.

The Homework

Every k n own article a nd seminar,

every " h o w to m a n a g e " t e x t book

a n d every k n own " e x p e r t" was

c o n s u l t e d. T h e only u n i f o rm f a c t or

was the lack of u n i f o rmi t y. Text

b o o k s a s s ume t h at you have n o t h i ng

better to d o t h an to watch your

every move a n d n o te it. N o n e of

t h em related to a c o u n t ry practice

which mi g ht be lucky to be able to

record o ne h o u r in five, let a l o ne

charge for it. T h e d o c ume n t a t i on

Frank Lanigan

was c omp l e x, the h ome wo rk lengthy

a n d the me t h od of analysis o f t en

pointless.

Into Action

So wh at did we do? We wo r k ed it

o u r for ourselves. First, we f o r med a

c omm i t t ee of five, three scapegoats,

o n e m i n d er a nd an " o r g a n i s e r" (to

m i nd the " m i n d e r " ). T h e s c a p e g o a ts

were p r imed to start time recording

on J u ne 1, the m i n d er to start

harassing t h em on J u ne 2, a n d the

organiser to ma i n t a in a p a i n ed a nd

worried expression for the next three

mo n t h s! T h e second t e am of

s c a p e g o a ts were i n t r o d u c ed on 1 July

a n d the entire o f f i ce (on trial) on 1

Au g u s t, the system go i ng live on 1

September.

The Form

T h e n we set o ut to design a f o r m.

We have an excellent c omp u t er

system with a time recording p a c k a ge

integrated with the a c c o u n ts system.

Until we started this p r o j e c t, we h ad

never used the time recording system.

So we read the m a n u al a n d tinkered

a r o u nd with the c omp u t er package,

including the b e a u t i f ul f o r ms

s upp l i e d.

While it was possible to d o so, we

d i s c o u n t ed using the c omp u t er to fill

o ut the f o r m. So also we did not use

h a n d held c omp u t e r s; t oo difficult to

use a n d train; n o allowance f or

h u m a n error, c o o k i ng the b o o ks or

(mo st i mp o r t a n t l y) d own r i g ht f r a u d!

Ca r e f ul e x ami n a t i on of the f o r ms

supplied showed t h em to be as

complex as tax returns a n d, k n ow i ng

the a b s o l u te incompatibility between

laywers a n d f o rms, we s c r a pp ed the

lot a nd designed o ur own. We

wo r k ed o ut wh at the p a c k a ge wo u ld

need a nd designed a f o rm which was

absolutely basic.

T h e p u r p o se of the

f o rm was to ascertain wh at clients

we were dealing with a n d h ow long

we were dealing with t h em.

Ou r f o rm details the client by

reference number, the type of work by

code n umb er (e.g. interview, telephone

call, d o c ume nt drafting) a nd the time

spent, in units of six minutes.

Nothing else, no addition, subtraction,

extensive notes or analysis of "idle

t ime" (who wants to know what you

do when you are staring at the

ceiling?). The purpose is to record

time a nd have it analysed. Wh at you

do with it is a further step but, if you

d o n 't record it clearly a nd sensibly in

the first place, there is no point in the

operation.

So, each fee e a r n er got a sheet a n d a

pencil. . . a n d (of course) the

minder, leaning over his shoulder.

The Hourly Charge

Each fee e a r n er h as an h o u r ly rate.

Th is is not picked o ut of the sky.

Using the b o o k l et " T h e Ex p e n se of

T i m e " as p r e p a r ed by the Law

Society in E n g l a n d, we assessed the

h o u r ly rates.

Rough ly s p e a k i ng, you look u p your

a c c o u n t s, f i nd o ut h ow mu ch it costs

to r un the office, a dd an i n c r eme nt

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