Small Law Firms

It’s Not All About The Billables: Making Productive Use Of Downtime

Billable work isn't the only way to bring value to your firm -- or yourself.

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Every day, I fantasize about getting to the end of my to-do list at the office. Often it ends up longer than it started, like a tiki-bar conga line around closing time. But because I represent community associations run by volunteer boards, sometimes things slow down in the summer and winter, when everyone is doing fun things in the sun or snow that doesn’t involve threatening people with lawsuits. But when those downtimes come up, I’ve learned that even if I’m on top of my billable work, there are still opportunities to be productive.

When I have some “free” time at the office, I try to think about tasks that could accomplish one or more of the following goals:

1. Make life easier for Future Me, who will no doubt be annoyingly busy in no time;
2. Build my firm’s book of business and provide other value to my firm;
3. Build my professional reputation and networking circle; and
4. Get to the mountain of stuff that I’ve been putting off because of the obsession with billable work and using it for an excuse to put other stuff off.

Toward that end, I suggest actually writing down a list of personal and administrative tasks that you’ve been putting off. This probably includes reviewing all of the email reminders from your firm administrator that you have been ignoring due to work deadlines. You may have forgotten, but they haven’t. They never forget.

It’s a good idea to start with the basics. If you are anything like me and throw office organization and cleanliness out the window when things get hectic, start there. This can include organizing all the files, documents, and other electronic stuff on your computer. (I, for example, like to collect open, unsaved Word documents like vacation souvenirs.) Make sure your calendar is up to date so you don’t have to keep rescheduling client meetings because of hair appointments that never made it onto Outlook.

Next, consider getting to all those things that you know would make your practice more efficient if you only had time to implement them. Draft or update templates or sample documents that you routinely use. Train paralegals and employees to complete tasks that you’d like them to handle but have never found the time to teach them how to do.

Another great non-billable use of your time is to cultivate new business by putting your name and face out there. One easy way to do this is by scheduling activities with potential referral sources. People like free lunch, and by extension they tend to like people who give them free lunch. You can also write articles for legal and trade journals and blogs — either get the green light ahead of time, or simply write something that would be appropriate for the publication and send it out for consideration. Attend networking events. There are so many lawyer and professional networking events scheduled these days that you don’t even need friends to hang out with anymore.

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Use downtime as an opportunity to sign up for stuff. When you are really busy later, you will be too reluctant to commit. Sign up for a CLE or industry presentation, or simply notify people with decision-making power about your availability. Research bar committees and other groups that you could join to make yourself better known in the legal community. Prepare an educational “brown bag” lunch for your office that could turn into a potential presentation or article outline.

Once you have your professional house in order, start thinking about shifting through the rubble of your personal life. Has your cat ever been to the vet? Do you even have a dentist? Make some appointments. You are probably falling apart from the inside out but have been too busy to notice.

If all of the above is taken care of, it may be time to simply work on being a better human, not just a better lawyer. Take a long lunch with someone in your office who’s having a stressful time. Thank someone for something they did that made your life better. Actually buy a birthday present in advance rather than grabbing something on the way to the party for once, you crappy friend.

As lawyers, we tend to focus on billable work as the only way to bring value to our firms, and often to ourselves. But using non-billable downtime productively may ultimately provide you with opportunities to increase your billables down the road while also helping build your reputation and preserve your sanity.

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Allison Peryea is a shareholder attorney at Leahy Fjelstad Peryea, a boutique law firm in downtown Seattle that primarily serves community association clients. Her practice focuses on covenant enforcement and dispute resolution. She is a longtime humor writer with a background in journalism and cat ownership. You can reach her by email at [email protected].

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