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Hey everyone, Scott Benton here. How are you? I am the host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom Podcast where we help you easily transition from law school student into your professional career as an attorney and of course where we make the practice of law fun. Now today we’re going to take a look at using honesty and humility in logging time entries.
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Today, in order to help assist your overall use of the success cycle, which is what we talk about here on this podcast, we’re going to look at using honesty and humility in terms of logging your time entries.
Now core values such as honesty and humility are foundational to a successful legal career. Billing is one of the most direct ways that you can use to demonstrate these values in your practice. Now, while legal expertise is absolutely essential, I mean, you need to know how to practice as an attorney, the way you conduct yourself with your clients and with your colleagues and with the court are really what are going to set you apart.
So this is an area that you’re going to want to pay particularly close attention to. So that’s why we want to talk about the role of honesty. So first we’re going to talk about the role of [00:02:00] honesty when it comes to billing. And that gets us immediately to the idea of transparency in your billing entries. And that’s what you want to focus on. You want to have detailed and accurate billing.
Billing entries because it really ensures that your clients understand exactly what they’re paying for. And when they understand what they’re paying for and they understand the story that you’re telling through your billing entries, then they’re less likely going to ever want to even think about filing a fee arbitration.
They’re going to be happy with, watching their case progress, and they’re going to be happy with the work that you’re completing for them. But it all starts with that clarity. So whenever possible, you don’t want to use legal jargon. You really want to make this as simple as possible for anybody to understand.
So you don’t want to use any words that are inaccessible for most people are just going to confuse them. You also want to avoid using vague descriptions like general case review, something that’s just really. Not [00:03:00] extremely descriptive.
You want to use phrases that really explain what’s happened. So, for instance, as an example, you might put, Reviewed client’s emails for case updates. 15 minutes. Now that shows clarity and it shows honesty in the work that was performed. So the more clarity you have, the more honest it’s going to be perceived.
Honesty in billing really builds trust and it just leads to greater client satisfaction. They’re going to be happier with the work that you and your firm are doing. And it’s just really going to be that catalyst that builds long term relationships between you and your clients. Now, your clients are going to appreciate seeing a breakdown of their casework.
It really, it makes them feel like their money is being well spent, and then it’s just not getting, you know, wasted or thrown out the window along the way. They’re going to be less likely to question your invoices when they can clearly see the services that are being performed and billed for, and they understand exactly what all [00:04:00] of those billing entries are for.
Nothing’s going to stand out as a mystery. So, detailed billing is really going to help prevent any sort of fee disputes because if clients feel that they’ve been misled or they feel that they’re being overcharged, it can really lead to a breakdown in trust. And if there’s a breakdown in trust and they’re, they just don’t believe in the work that you’re doing or they’re just, they just don’t see what’s happening on their case, then that can really lead to a fee arbitration.
So you want to be careful about that. This is why you want to be accurate and you want to be honest and have billing documentation, that’s written clearly because that also acts as a safeguard against potential disagreements with your client. So honesty and legal work can be done through managing your client’s expectations, but you want to be up front about your case timelines.
You want to be up front about the likely outcomes and also possible costs. You want to make sure that when you’re talking to your clients, Let’s say it’s on a [00:05:00] weekly basis that you’re really discussing the costs of the services that you’re going to be performing because when they receive those invoices later on for the legal services that were performed, they’re not going to have that kind of moment of shock when they open up an envelope or open up an email that explains to them what they owe for the legal services.
You also want to be careful about over promising because over promising can lead to disappointment and it’s really a form of dishonesty. So being honest from the start really creates very realistic expectations. Remember your word is your bond. Now beyond billing, this also applies to billing estimates as well.
So a case might take more hours than you anticipated and you really want to let the client know about that. The minute you realize that it’s actually going to take a lot longer than you had anticipated that you had kind of quoted them on. So you want to get on the phone. You want to let your client know that, [00:06:00] listen, this is going to be a little bit more demanding time wise so that you get in front of that right away.
Because in your mind, if you say, hey, this is going to take 10 hours, but it takes 20 hours, then in their mind, any hour after 10 hours becomes very suspect.
This also extends to honesty in court. So whether you’re in depositions or trials or client meetings, by maintaining honesty you preserve your integrity. be. And this means that your credibility with court and your colleagues is going to continue to strengthen over time. It’s going to strengthen your professional reputation overall in the legal community.
And that’s going to be a very, very important component for you.
Now we also want to talk about applying humility when it comes to logging time. And logging time, again, is that third category on the success cycle. Humility, to define it, means that you have a lack of pride. And as it applies to your billing entries, it generally means that you’re willing to acknowledge any mistakes. that you’ve made
So if there’s an error in your [00:07:00] time entries or just in general in the billing, you really want to admit it right away and correct it. Humility allows you to approach clients with transparency and honesty, and you’re going to maintain their trust even when mistakes are made. Imagine that. You make mistakes, but your clients still trust you.
You never want to break that trust bond with them, and you do that through humility. Now, humility and communication helps when discussing billing matters with the clients. So instead of taking the defensive posture, if the client calls you up and they’re questioning your time entries, they’re questioning the billing or whatever, you want to listen and you want to be willing to explain or adjust the billing entry if necessary.
You need to be open to receiving feedback. Now, sometimes it takes a while to really learn how to write billing entries effectively. It’s not something that you’re just going to naturally know how to do, and it doesn’t work. come easily. Sometimes it takes a while to really understand how to write them in a way that communicates [00:08:00] clearly and effectively and doesn’t come across as confusing or, I don’t know, hostile or negative in some kind of way that would really, you know, Start to affect the way that the client is perceiving the work that they’re doing with you.
You want to make sure it’s clear. It tells a story. It’s friendly. You want to discuss that with your client. Now, when it comes to the relationship that you’re building and strengthening with your clients, it means that you’re listening more than you’re speaking.
You really need to understand that your client’s needs and their concerns. Those are the top priority. That goes to the absolute top of the list there. Your clients need to feel heard, especially when it comes to billing inquiries, because this can be kind of a sensitive topic. So you want to make sure that you don’t assume that you know best.
You don’t want to make that assumption. You want to, again, use humility. Now, if there’s something that you don’t know, Admit it. It’s, it’s just, it’s going to be impossible to know everything because the law is very, very complex and it’s also constantly changing. [00:09:00] So it’s going to be impossible for you to have all of the answers.
You’re just simply not going to know. So when that happens, you want to make sure to seek advice from others. When you recognize that you don’t know something and not knowing something, it’s just, it’s going to come up over and over again. So as an example, if a client, Asks about billing codes or billing practices that you just don’t know about, then take the time to do the proper research and then, of course, get back to them quickly.
Don’t let them wait. So honesty and humility are going to build together strong relationships. Now, clients are more likely going to return to you for your legal services in the future. And they’re also going to recommend your services to others when they trust you to their friends, for instance, if you’re honest and you’re humble. Those are areas that are going to really resonate with everybody.
And if that relationship’s been built, there’s no reason that they’re not going to give you a five star review and Absolutely tell everybody about you. So invoicing entries really need to be clear, they need to be [00:10:00] transparent, they need to be easy to understand in order to foster and further support this trust.
So billing entries really need to be clear, they need to be transparent, and they need to be just Really easy to understand in order to foster and further support for building this trust between you and your client.
Now remember, clients are already stressed out with their cases, so transparent communication and humble, empathetic interactions can really help de escalate any tensions that are starting to form. Now a reputation for honesty and humility really helps build rapport with judges, opposing counsel, and your peers.
So core values like honesty and humility, they’re not just personal attributes that you have, they’re critical to your personal and professional success. So you want to focus on clarity, transparency, and listening to your clients to ensure that both your billing and your overall practice reflects these essential values.
I’m Scott Benton. I’m the host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast. Thank you so much for checking out this episode. [00:11:00] Now, if you like this podcast and you’d like to get more information about us, you can always go to our website, which is classroom2courtroom. com. That’s classroom the number 2 courtroom. com where you can send us a message to keep in touch with us.
You can even inquire about our seasonal associate programs that we have available for law school students. You can come and work with us. And as always, don’t forget to share, like, and subscribe, stay on top of all of our newest episodes. And until next time, we hope you’ll join us making the world a better place one client at a time.
