Lawyers track billable hours by recording time as they work, against a client and matter, in 6-minute (0.1 hour) units with a short narrative. Entries are reviewed on a pre-bill before they reach the invoice.
That one sentence hides a lot of detail. Rounding rules, narrative standards, task codes and client billing guidelines all shape what a good time entry looks like. Generative AI now adds a new question: how do you record work that a tool drafted in seconds? This guide covers the method, the rules and the tools, in that order.
How Do Lawyers Track Billable Hours?
Most firms follow the same five-step loop, whatever software they use.
- Open the right matter. Every entry belongs to a client and a matter code. Time logged to a general bucket is time that rarely gets billed.
- Record time as you work. Start a timer, or log the entry straight after the task. Contemporaneous records are far easier to defend than entries rebuilt from memory on Friday.
- Round to the firm’s increment. Most firms bill in tenths of an hour. A 14-minute call becomes 0.3 hours under the usual round-up rule.
- Write a clear narrative. Describe what you did and why, in one line a client can follow. “Review lease; draft note to client on break clause” beats “file review”.
- Review the pre-bill. A supervising lawyer checks entries for accuracy, duplicates and write-offs before the invoice goes out.
Firms that bill corporate or insurance clients add one more layer: task and activity codes. We cover those in the compliance section below. For a step-by-step method outside law, see our guide on how to track billable hours.
The weak point in this loop is step two. Lawyers who reconstruct their day at the end of the week tend to forget short calls and emails. Those small entries add up across a year.
What Counts as Billable Time for a Lawyer?
Billable time is any work done for a specific client matter that the engagement terms allow you to charge for. Non-billable time keeps the firm running but is not charged to a client. If you want the general definition first, read our explainer on what billable hours are.
| Usually billable | Usually non-billable |
|---|---|
| Legal research for a matter | Business development and pitches |
| Drafting and reviewing documents | Internal training and CPD |
| Client calls, meetings and emails | Firm admin and timesheet entry |
| Court attendance and preparation | Marketing and networking |
| Negotiation with the other side | Learning a new software tool |
| Reviewing an AI-generated draft | General practice management |
The engagement letter decides the edge cases. Some clients refuse to pay for travel, photocopying or junior lawyer training on their file. Check the client’s billing guidelines before you log time that might be written off.
Why Do Law Firms Bill in 6-Minute Increments?
Firms bill in 6-minute increments because 0.1 of an hour is easy to multiply by an hourly rate. It is also small enough to capture a short call or email without inflating the bill.
A 2-minute email still rounds up to 0.1 hours under most firm policies. A 38-minute call becomes 0.7 hours. Our 6-minute billing increments chart converts every minute value from 1 to 60 into tenths of an hour.
Rounding policy matters more than most firms admit. Rounding every entry up is common, but clients increasingly audit it. Some billing guidelines cap the number of 0.1 entries per day or require entries to be combined.
What Compliance Rules Apply to Legal Time Records?
The rules differ by jurisdiction, but every system expects fees to be reasonable and records to be accurate.
United States. ABA Model Rule 1.5 says a lawyer must not charge or collect an unreasonable fee. The first factor it lists for reasonableness is “the time and labor required”. State bars adopt their own versions, so check the rule where you practise.
England and Wales. Paragraph 8.7 of the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors sets the pricing duty. Solicitors must give clients the best possible information about how their matter will be priced. That includes the likely overall cost, at the start and as the matter progresses. Accurate time records are what make those updates possible.
Client billing guidelines. Many corporate legal departments and insurers set outside counsel guidelines. These often ban block billing, limit rounding and require coded entries.
Task and activity codes. The UTBMS code sets describe legal work using phase, task and activity codes. Clients use them to test invoices electronically against their billing guidelines. Invoices are then sent in a LEDES e-billing format that receiving systems can read.
None of this works without contemporaneous, matter-level entries. Those same entries feed the tools the next section covers.
Which Tools Do Law Firms Use to Track Time?
Law firms tend to choose between four categories of tool. The right one depends on firm size, client mix and how much of the workflow you want in one place.
| Tool category | Best for | Typical strengths | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal practice management suite | Firms wanting one system | Matters, documents, trust accounting, billing | Time capture can feel bolted on |
| Legal billing and e-billing tool | Firms with corporate or insurance clients | UTBMS coding, LEDES export, client rules | Narrow scope beyond billing |
| General time tracker | Solo lawyers and small firms | Simple timers, quick setup, low cost | Little legal-specific coding |
| Automatic time capture | Lawyers who forget to log time | Drafts entries from calendar, email and documents | Every draft still needs review |
Whichever category you pick, test three things in a trial. Can a lawyer log an entry to the right matter in under 30 seconds? Does the pre-bill show narratives clearly? Can the export meet your largest client’s billing format?
If you are comparing options, our pages on law firm time tracking and legal billing software show how Keito handles matters, rates and invoices.
How Should Firms Record AI-Assisted Legal Work?
Record the human time spent directing and checking the AI tool, and say in the narrative that a tool was used. Do not bill the hours the task would have taken without it.
The ABA set out this position in Formal Opinion 512, its first ethics guidance on generative AI. Its example: a lawyer who spends 15 minutes prompting a tool to draft a pleading may bill those 15 minutes. They may also bill the time needed to review the draft for accuracy. In most cases, they cannot bill the client for learning how to use the tool.
That makes the time entry more important, not less. A useful entry for AI-assisted work records three things:
- The task and matter. For example, “First draft of disclosure letter, matter 1042”.
- The human time. Prompting, checking sources and editing the output.
- The tool’s role. A short note that an AI tool produced the first draft.
Some firms are moving AI-heavy tasks to fixed fees instead. Our guides on AI time tracking for lawyers and billing clients for AI work cover those pricing models in more depth.
Key Takeaway
Record legal time as it happens, against the matter, in 0.1-hour units with a clear narrative. Reconstructed timesheets lose billable time.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do lawyers track billable hours?
Lawyers track billable hours by logging time as they work, against a client and matter code. Entries are rounded to 0.1-hour increments and given a short narrative. A supervising lawyer then reviews them on a pre-bill before invoicing.
Why do lawyers bill in six-minute increments?
Lawyers bill in six-minute increments because 0.1 of an hour is simple to multiply by an hourly rate. It also captures short tasks such as calls and emails. Most firms round each entry up to the next tenth.
What are billable hours in law?
Billable hours in law are the hours a lawyer spends on client matter work that the engagement terms allow the firm to charge for. Research, drafting, calls and court time usually count. Admin, training and business development usually do not.
How many billable hours do lawyers work a year?
Large law firms commonly set targets of 1,800 to 2,200 billable hours a year. Solo and small-firm lawyers often bill fewer because they handle their own admin and marketing. Our guide to billable hours in a year breaks down the maths.
Can you bill clients for AI legal research?
Yes, you can bill for the time you spend prompting an AI tool and reviewing its output. ABA Formal Opinion 512 says hourly-billing lawyers should charge for actual time spent, not the time the task would have taken. In most cases you cannot bill for learning the tool.
What compliance requirements apply to legal time tracking?
Legal time records must support a reasonable fee and accurate billing. In the US, ABA Model Rule 1.5 governs fees, and in England and Wales the SRA Code requires clear pricing information. Many corporate clients also require UTBMS-coded entries in a LEDES format.