Use verbs to convey action. The actions you take on your client's behalf is the service you provide. Use verbs and verb-derived words to verbalize your action to your clients.  Examples are: draft, confer, prepare, examine, determine, analyze, summarize, organize.

TIME TRACKING/MANAGEMENT TIP:

Front-end load your day. At the beginning of your day take time to write down what cases you plan to work on, as if scheduling your time, along with the general gist of the work. Then fill in specifics at the end of the day, filling in the additions due to phone calls and projects handed down from higher-ups or time sensitive from clients.

COLLECTIONS TIP:

Clearly mark a "Payment Due" date on your firm bills. Most firms have nothing, or say "Net Due Upon Receipt." This phrase gives the client an opportunity to decide when he would like to pay you.

TIME WRITING TIP:

Write in present tense.   Attorneys' clients deserve to know their attorney is involved in their case. One way to do this is to write in present tense. Writing in present tense shows the client that his attorney (and the staff) are presently involved in his case, not that they were involved last month or sometime in the past, but now. All entries on your bill will have a date on them, so your client will see when the work was done. However, the psychological inference of reading present tense brings the action closer to the heart of your client. You will instill in him your involvement in his case on a personal level. This doesn't cost him any more money and it creates better client relations for you, 
helping you to realize your bottom line.

TIME TRACKING TIP:

Use abbreviations, also known as work codes, for your time description writing. Also, create a uniform list for everyone in the office, including entry staff, so everyone in the office is communicating the same information. 

Abbreviations are short 2-3 letter acronyms for task phrases, document names, places, or even hard-to-spell client names. Use the abbreviations in your time description writing, then entry staff (even if this is you) can enter the short abbreviations in the billing program and it will expand the abbreviations into their full phrase. 

The uniform abbreviation list will need to be set up in the billing program, and once done the list can be changed as more acronyms are added. The key is to keep everyone informed of the changes. 

A tip for creating the abbreviations, use the number "2" at the end of an abbreviation to indicate the plural form. An example is "CW" for "conference with," and the plural form "CW2" for "conferences with."

COOL PARALEGAL BILLING PHRASE:

"OAS" = "over attorney signature"

Usage: Prepare letter to Mr. Jones over attorney signature.

GREAT WEBSITE:

Our quarterly newsletter just for law firms is on line.  Click the link below!

Neve & Company, P.C., the parent company of  neveCPAonline™has a specific area of its practice aimed at assisting the law office.  The firm is the tri-state area exclusive member of the national organization of CPA firms specializing in providing accounting and consulting services to law firms, the LAW FIRM SERVICES ASSOCIATION (LFSA). Check out the LFSA Site at www.cpaselect.com/lfsa/  for more specific information about the organization and their endorsement of our services. We publish a quarterly newsletter specifically for law firms.  For a free subscription, and to obtain any other information about our services to law firms, please contact Ernie Neve, CPA at 1-888-ASK-NEVE.