432 / 462
GAZETTE
DECEMBER 1992
L-R: David Gallagher, Business Development Manager, Pensions, IBI; Harry Cassidy,
Associate Director, IBI, and Terence Deacon, Portfolio Manager of IBl.
Time to Invest
A l t h o u gh there are u n d o u b t e d ly
ma ny c omp e t i ng d e m a n ds for your
f u n d s at this time, the u p c om i ng 31
J a n u a ry d e a d l i ne might cause you to
give extra c o n s i d e r a t i on to ma k i ng
p a yme n ts to a recognised p e n s i on
p l a n, so why n ot consider
c o n t r i b u t i o ns to the Law Society
P l a n?
For f u r t h er details o n the Law
Society Pension P l a n, please c o n t a ct
either myself or
Joe Hanrahan
at
T h e Investment B a nk of Ireland
Limited, 26 Fitzwilliam Place,
Dub l in 2. Telephone: 616433.
Harry Cassidy,
Associate Director,
IBI Investment Services Ltd.
Technology Notes -
(Continued from page 406)
for indexation, a d d a s um for a
r e a s o n a b le salary for the p a r t n e rs
a n d the rent of buildings, divide it
p r o p o r t i o n a l ly a m o n g the fee e a r n e rs
a c c o r d i ng to their salaries a n d divide
each s um by, say 1000 h o u r s, or if
y o u ' re a workaholic, 1500 h o u r s. O u r
experience shows t h at 1000 to 1200
h o u rs is reasonable. In retrospect,
this calculation was less difficult
t h a n it a p p e a r ed at the outset.
To be absolutely sure of o ur figures,
we analysed the d a ta f r om the three
mo n t h trial p e r i od a n d m a d e suitable
a d j u s t me n t s.
Keeping Time
Skill in time recording is inversely
p r o p o r t i o n al to the age a n d seniority
of the recorder, p a r t n e rs being the
worst. In this e n d e a v o ur the m i n d er
was a u t h o r i s ed to " t a k e n o
p r i s o n e r s ". He i n t r o d u c ed an
incentive scheme:- " n o time sheets,
n o pay," " f i ll o ut three f o r ms w r o ng
a n d you will have to d o all the
po s t i ng for the o f f i ce for a day
( a f t e r - h o u rs at t h a t ) ." Un t i dy f o r ms
with w r o ng references were
u n c e r emo n i o u s ly fired b a c k.
P r o t e s t a t i o ns of i n n o c e n ce or latent
dyslexia were treated with withering
c o n t emp t.
Th e re are n o s h o rt cuts for keeping
time. If you d o n 't record it, your
mo n t h ly report will show you u p as
a laggard. If you ma ke mistakes
you'll record n o time at all.
Time Posting
We t o ok the view t h at the fee-earners
wo u ld record time, the m i n d er wo u ld
collect the time sheets ( a nd mete o ut
p u n i s hme n t) a n d the time wo u ld be
posted by trained s t a f f. T h e m i n d er
did the po s t i ng d u r i ng the test
p e r i od a nd t a u g ht the fee e a r n e rs
h ow to d o it properly. He t h en
h a n d ed over the task to the po s t i ng
staff with the p r o b l ems ironed o u t.
Posting time records takes time,
a p p r o x i ma t e ly 10 m i n u t es per fee-
e a r n er per day. Th is factor s h o u ld be
taken into a c c o u nt wh en deciding on
a system.
Why Bother?
Wh a t delight I f i nd wh en I p ut
d own the p h o n e f r om a particularly
u n p l e a s a nt client to record o ur
p h o n e call on my sheet, safe in the
k n ow l e d ge t h a t, at s ome time s o o n,
he'll have to pay me f or the pleasure.
T h e i mme d i a te effect of the system
is to see wh at you are d o i n g, h ow
mu c h time is spent o n clients a n d
how mu ch is wasted. You b e c ome
aware of your time, you seek time
records for clients a f f a i rs a n d, mo st
imp o r t a n t l y, you bill t h em . . a nd
you are able to s t a nd over the bill.
T h e system analyses the wo rk d o ne
by each fee earner, in each area of
wo r k, d u r i ng the present
w e e k / m o n t h, d u r i ng the present year.
It tells you in g r a p h ic t e rms where
you are ma k i ng a n d losing money. It
helps you e n c o u r a ge paying work
a n d refuse n o n - p a y i ng wo r k. If the
o f f i ce is large, there is a cost b e n e f it
analysis for each area of business,
enabling you to plan for e x p a n s i on
(or c o n t r a c t i o n ). T h e awf ul prospect
of self-organisation, long the b a ne
of the legal p r o f e s s i o n, is h a n d ed to
you on a plate.
All you have to d o is to fill a time
sheet. If I c an d o it . . a n y o ne c a n.
Frank Lanigan,
Frank Lanigan Malcomson & Law,
Court. Place, Car low.
•
408