Time Entries

Entering Time Spent on a Case 

Keeping track of the time you spend working for a client is an ethical responsibility.  The importance of developing good timekeeping and reporting habits cannot be overemphasized.  As an attorney, or any professional services provider, you will ultimately be compensated based upon the amount of time you bill and recover from clients.  In that regard, it is imperative that you not only enter all your time spent working on a project but that you also adequately describe the work performed.  To do otherwise leads to incorrect invoices and disputes with clients as to the value of services provided.

Failure to properly report time also leads to distortions in firm management. For example, if you underreport time actually spent, your employer will potentially assign additional work based on an incorrect evaluation that you do not have enough to do.  Intentionally failing to report time ("eating time") often occurs where there is a budget established for the work involved.  While this will cause you to appear efficient (within budget) with regard to your employer, all the excess time spent which you have "eaten" will leave you with little else to do for your employer or yourself outside of work.  It is much more important that you report all time spent regardless of any budget so that your employer may adjust budgets (bids) for similar work to be performed in the future.  

Amicus will prompt you for a time entry associated with completing a “To Do,” and a time entry will be created automatically from selecting “Do a Time Entry” during a phone entry.  In order to create a time entry for other client work performed (in the Clinic or at home) and your time spent in the Clinic not working on a particular client (billed to the Firm Administration file):

1. Select “Time Spent” from the brad at the top of the right side of the client file (or the Firm Administration file as the case may be);
2. Select “My Time”;
3. Click “New” to the left of the “My Time” brad;
4. Change the date in the upper right corner if entry does not coincide with when time was incurred;
5. Enter a description of time spent in the “Activity Description”;  if you spoke, briefly describe what was discussed, don't just write 'spoke'.
6. Enter the total time spent next to the stop watch in tenths (.1 = 6 minutes);
7. Click “OK.”;
8. If asked “Do you want to combine them?” regarding multiple time entries, always choose “No”; and
9. Choose “Save and Close” at the bottom right hand corner of the file when exiting.

If  you have time that cannot be attached to any file in particular, use the 'Firm Administration File".   DO NOT enter Class time.

Posting Your Time

1.    Go to "Timesheets".

     2.    At the top of the screen select "Action"

      3.    From the drop-down menu, select "Post" or "Post Range".  "Post Range" allows you to post all unposted
time at once per month.

     4.    If time cannot be  posted because it is not associated with a file, Amicus will produce a pop-up message
asking you how you would like to proceed.  Follow instructions accordingly.

5.    Post your time continuously.  At the end of the semester all time should be posted.

Weekly Reporting

You must submit weekly time sheets to the Clinic's Administrative Secretary.  Each weekly time sheet is due before the end of the week following the week for which you are submitting your time.  To submit your time sheets to the Administrative Secretary:

1. In Amicus go to Timesheets

2. Top, left hand side - click on 'Monthly'

3. This will bring up a monthly display that shows the hours you chronicled in Amicus every day.  On your keyboard hit the 'Print Screen' key.

4. Open a blank document in Word, right click on your mouse, and select 'paste'. 

5. Print that sheet, total the number of hours, write them in at the end of the week, and turn the sheet in to the Secretary. 

6. Post your time.  In order to post your time the time entry must be associated with a file.  Amicus will produce a list of entries that were not posted.  You can select from that list to associate the time entry to the appropriate file.