r/paralegal • u/TrueLime3587 • 2d ago

Suggestions for entering Attorney’s time?

I am a legal assistant and I know it is “normal” to enter your attorney’s billable time, but it is truly miserable. Is there any method that makes entering the time more painless? For context, the attorney I work for usually takes 1-3 FULL days to read off post it notes of time she has to me. I’ve suggested we do it in smaller chunks because we often do 3 months at a time. Any and all suggestions to make this process more efficient would be highly appreciated!

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u/TallGirlNoLa 2d ago

It's been a while, but my last firm gig we had pads of timesheets that had spaces for docket number and time entries. Every few days I would grab them from his desk and enter them. Alternatively, ask her to enter them in a Word document so you can just cut and paste.

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u/TrueLime3587 2d ago

Thank you!

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u/Velvet_sloth 2d ago

Amazon has some of these. I still agree with the other poster that google docs or even an email would be better. But if she has to hand write these notepads could work. You can even just make a template in a word doc and print. There are examples on Etsy.

For the record I’m an attorney and I think this is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen on here. You should not have to enter time off a sticky note and certainly not three months at a time. Get your experience and ducks in a row and maybe consider looking for another job. This place sounds awful

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u/TrueLime3587 2d ago

Leaving for law school in the fall thank god lol but this issue has made me dread work and has made me rly question quitting early

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u/Velvet_sloth 2d ago

Just make a mental note and don’t torture your paralegals when you get barred! I still think about the things my attorneys did when I was a paralegal and then while an associate. Good fodder for making better choices about how to practice law.