Time and Billing

General

For time and billing use Clio.

Please enter time no later than the end of the following day.

For CJA cases, use voucher “catgegories,” particularly “In-Court” and “Out-of-Court” time.

Timesheets

Lawyers working by the hour must keep time sheets with detailed time records. Here are a billing few do’s and don’ts:

  • Do record your time in narrative format with good detail.
  • Do bill in minimum increments of .10 of an hour (six minutes).
  • Don’t block bill. Break the time up into smaller billable chunks.
  • Don’t record time that sounds like paralegal work. For example, don’t record lawyer time like this: “Filed documents received from defense counsel.”
  • Don’t record time in sentence fragments. Use full sentences and capital letters to begin those sentences.

For a good, brief article on the topic see this: https://www.attorneyatwork.com/three-ways-better-billing/

Organizing Individual Matters

Individual matters are comprised of facts, people, documents, and issues. These need to be managed using CaseMap, Airtable or CaseFleet. For information on CaseFleet and best practices, see the CaseFleet Knowledge Base.

For (old) videos on how to organize individual matters using the old desktop version of CaseMap, see the links below. Although these are not tailored to using CaseFleet, nearly all of the principles discussed in the videos still apply to CaseFleet or Airtable.

Introduction to CaseMap

CaseMap Document Management

CaseMap for Chronologies and Brief Writing

Video Conferencing

Use MS Teams or Zoom for all videoconferences. Participants can share screens and recored conferences. I personally prefer MS Teams because it can also serve as your communication hub for collaborating.

In the wake of COVID-19, everyone learned how to use these services so you won’t be videochatting alone.

MS Teams: https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software

Zoom: https://zoom.us/

Email

Provider

Use a well-known, professional email provider like MS Outlook 365 or Gmail. Don’t use AOL; you’ll look like an idiot. Also, don’t ever try to run your own email server in-house. You’re a lawyer, not an IT guy.

Email Setup

You need to set up your email properly for two reasons: (1) so that recipients can see your full name, and (2) so that a proper signature block appears at the bottom of every message you send (both originals and replies).

As to your name, your email recipients need to see “Jane Doe” in their “From” line rather than “jdo483-r4@gmail.com.”

As to your signature block, you must include, at a minimum: (1) your name, (2) your mobile telephone number, and (3) your email address. Why? So when someone driving a car gets an email from you, he can simply touch the hyperlinked phone number and call you. Don’t make him write you back; he’ll hit a tree. Finally, don’t include any pictures or logos in your signature block; those JPEG files are annoying to the recipient. Here’s an example:

Dane S. Ciolino
dane@daneciolino.com
(504) 975-3263

Email Correspondence

Don’t use emails among team members when a threaded discussion on MS Teams is more appropriate for intra-team chat. In contrast, when corresponding with “outsiders” like clients and opposing counsel, email is the choice medium of communication.

Keep emails short. No more than a paragraph or two (if you must). If it is going to be longer than that, do a memo or letter instead and send it as a PDF attachment.

Be very mindful about subject lines. Always use descriptive subject lines, including the name of the relevant client. Change the subject line when switching to a new topic; that avoids long email chains. Obsessing over the content of subject lines now will make it easier for you to find emails later (because only subject lines turn up in search results).

File Emails into Clio

If you use Clio (like I do), file all emails (both sent and received) into the corresponding Clio matter by using the Clio Add-In for MS Outlook. You can also bill your time this way (like I do).

Scanning and Structuring Electronic Files

PDF Scanning

  • Scan all paper documents that we receive to PDF (Portable Document Format). The best scanner for this job is a ScanSnap desktop scanner.
  • Scanning must be done in black and white (not grayscale and not color).
  • Scan at a resolution no greater than 300 x 300 dpi.
  • Make sure PDF file is a small as it can be by using “Save As…Reduced Size PDF.”

Document Structuring

  • Each document must be scanned to a separate PDF file.
  • Do not scan multiple documents together into a single PDF file.
  • It is sometimes difficult to determine where one document in a stack of papers ends and where the next one begins. Please be very meticulous in separating documents from one another.

PDF File Names

All documents must be named with the date (YYYY-MM-DD), the author’s last name, and a detailed description. Use initial caps for all big words in the description. For example, a document management protocol created on January 1, 2020 by Dane S. Ciolino would be named: “2020-01-28 Ciolino Electronic Document Management Protocol.”

  • Date. The “date” of the document is the date that appears on the document. The date is not the date you scanned the document.
  • Author. The “author” is the human being who authored the document–not the organization with which he is associated. If, however, no human being’s name appears on the document, use the name of the organization as the author.
  • Description. The “description” should describe the document in some detail. It should not be generic (like “Letter”), but instead should be descriptive (like “Jones Letter Putting Smith in Default for Non-Payment”). Use an initial capital letter for all words in the file name, except small words like “to” and the like.

Do not use unusual characters in file names like “, /, \, <, >, #, %, and, *. Windows cannot make file names out of them. (These are OK: -, $, ., (, ), !).

Also, make sure the file is as small as it can be by using “Save As…Reduced Size PDF.”

Processing Electronic Files: De-Duping and Converting

When we receive a dump of electronic files from a client, third-party, or opposing counsel, run a de-dupe program to make sure we don’t have duplicate files. Use a program like this one to do the job: Duplicate Cleaner.

Convert all electronic files to PDFs; we don’t work with documents in MS Word or Excel format. You can always save the original electronic document as an “Attachment” within the PDF file if it is important. Otherwise, just save the PDF for our files.

Once you remove all duplicates and convert all electronic files to PDF, then rename the electronic PDF files as set forth above. Also, make sure each PDF file is as small as it can be by using “Save As…Reduced Size PDF.”

Disposition of Paper “Originals”

After scanning, please retain all original papers if you wish. Do not send any paper to me; I hate paper and will delight in destroying it upon receipt.