Litigators, Small Law Firms

Make The Most Of Your Time: Because Time Is Money

Maximizing your time is one of the most important things you can do as an attorney.

By Brian Grossman  
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Whether you work in Biglaw, Small Law, bill by hour, bill on contingency, or work as in-house counsel, time is money and making the most of your time is important to your success.

I recently wrote a piece on how practice does not make you perfect, but it does make you better. Along with that concept is the idea that someone is always working while you are not. Any free time you have should be spent practicing, not only because the more practice you get the better the attorney you will be, but also because maximizing your time also means maximizing your billable hours.

“When You’re Not Practicing, Someone Else Is Getting Better” – Allen Iverson

How could I mention my previous piece on practice without another Allen Iverson quote? Regardless, this mantra holds true in every aspect of work. If you are not practicing, there is someone out there who is, and even if you’re arbitrarily better than they are, they are getting closer to you by working when you are not. Similarly, if you want to be the best, you must work more than those who are already better than you. In litigation in particular where it comes down to Firm v. Firm and Attorney v. Attorney, if your adversary is working more than you, it can only hurt you.

Even if you are not working somewhere where you need to bill hours, or where there is a direct conflict, always do what you can. This will allow you to be more efficient, maximize your time, and be a step ahead.

Now, there may be diminishing returns here. I believe that getting even two hours of sleep is better than pulling an all-nighter when you have an argument the next day, but that all depends on the person.

Making the Most of Your Time

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I always try to determine the best way to fit things into my schedule, whether it is because of due dates, the amount of time something will take, whether I am relying on someone else for something, or simply to be most efficient. One of the smaller things I do, which I learned from many of my colleagues, is plan things like phone calls or emails that I know I need to send for when I am going to be out of the office. This is not because I do not believe these things are important, but rather because these are often things I can do while I am on the move, as opposed to researching a topic or drafting a brief.

This is beneficial in multiple ways. For one, it ensures I am not wasting time while traveling, whether it is for court, on my way to or from the office, visiting a client, or any other reason. Another reason is that this is actually beneficial to my clients by letting me work on other matters (and therefore bill for other matters) while I am traveling, as opposed to what some attorneys do by simply hanging out and billing while traveling. Typically I try to do work for whatever case I am traveling for, whether it is preparing for a court appearance, emailing the client an update as to how an appearance went, or something else related, but where I have done all that I can while mobile for that case, I do what I can for others.

It is not always possible to work while you travel. I have the benefit of working in New York, where most, if not all, of my travel is through public transportation, walking, or car services, permitting me to use that time for work. I do not recommend emailing while driving — PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL WHILE DRIVING — or being on a call while going through airport security. It is impossible to use every second of a commute to do work as there are inevitable down times.

Costs vs. Fees

This was one of the hardest things for me to adjust to after leaving law school. Before working as an attorney (or as a summer), I had always tried to do whatever I could to not incur costs. But while at our firm as a summer, I was reminded that my time was worth more than a fee I may need to pay to access something that I could otherwise find for free somewhere else after a few hours of looking.

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Now, I always like to joke with non-attorney friends of mine that I will one day use the Manhattan to JFK helicopter service that is offered. While part of this is me simply liking to see their reaction (as I have never done the helicopter ride nor do I intend to) or hearing them say something like “I see you try spending your client’s resources wisely,” I always respond the same way, which has borderline convinced me to try it if the circumstances are right.

If you do the math on hourly rates for attorneys, along with the time it takes to get to JFK by car (which the client is paying for as well) or subway, a helicopter ride that lets you leave the office an hour or two hours later is actually economical because it lets you get other work done during the time you would typically be in a car or on the train (for those of you not from New York, it is nearly impossible to do any real amount of work on a subway aside from drafting quick emails as you will not have cell reception, it’s crowded, and you are likely standing). This all goes back to how well you work on the move, and if you can do good work while standing on a crowded subway with no cell reception, you have no need for the helicopter. But if you need to finish a brief for another case before your flight out of JFK, the helicopter is something to consider.

Maximizing your time is one of the most important things you can do as an attorney, whether it be working while on the move or spending a little more in costs to save your client a lot more in fees.

brian-grossmanBrian Grossman was an attorney at Balestriere Fariello, a trial and investigations law firm which represents clients in all aspects of complex commercial litigation and arbitration from pre-filing investigations to trial and appeals. You can reach firm partner John Balestriere at [email protected].

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