The process of practice planning involves organizing and prioritizing a lawyer's billable and non-billable time investments. Each plan takes into account the firm's needs and performance expectations, as well as the individual lawyer's ability to meet these expectations. Typically, a lawyer's first five years of practice are heavily influenced by law firm members, while afterward, it becomes a mix of firm opportunities and personal choices.
Practice plans represent an opportunity for law firms to set expectations using a balanced approach to career development. Rather than having a uniform set of expectations focused primarily on short-term contributions, law firms committed to practice planning can set different goals and billable targets for each timekeeper based on longer priorities and needs. This proactive practice leads to a better-trained and more motivated professional staff.
Practice planning is a proactive way for law firms to secure a better-trained and more motivated professional staff. |
A practice plan is considered a strategic career view since it is based on a shared vision of success between a lawyer and the firm. Each practice plan considers the firm's needs and performance expectations, as well as the individual lawyer’s ability to meet such expectations and career aspirations. The goal is to align personal and firm goals.
The practice plan is structured to quantify the total amount of time necessary for a lawyer to progress or remain successful. We refer to this universe of time as a lawyer’s scheduled hours. A lawyer’s total scheduled hours are split between billable and non-billable hours, usually on a 12-month basis. Time is allocated, and priorities are defined, all in accordance with the firm’s policies, strategic plan, and attorney career development goals.
Listed below are non-billable factors carefully considered in practice planning.
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Billable time/timekeeper revenue generation |
Time spent on legal matters
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Professional organizations, contact management, content development, relationship-building, networking, and other business generation activities |
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Acquisition of knowledge of a specific legal area |
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Research and training of specific legal, administrative and marketing skills
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Pro bono work
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Billing, expense management, firm management, etc. |
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Developing and supporting less experienced lawyers
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Efforts to encourage strong candidates of interest to work at the law firm
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Each of these factors should be considered individually when estimating the number of hours to invest and possible costs. If a factor requires material amounts of money and time, a detailed subset plan is recommended. For example, the plan summary below indicates an investment of $5,000 and 330 hours in marketing activities. It is fair to expect that firm management will require a detailed marketing plan to support that investment.
Firms can approach practice planning in various ways as outlined below.
Uniform Approach
Firms that require s a minimum number of billable hours to contribute to revenues and profit will take a uniform approach to practice planning. Once billable hours are scheduled, an attorney can determine the amount of non-billable time that will accompany the legal hours. The most important non-billable tasks (e.g., administrative tasks like time tracking or marketing tasks like client entertainment and conference attendance, etc.), are assigned next. Beyond these tasks, an attorney can account for additional non-legal hours to support the development of their practice, until the total number of hours the individual is willing to schedule is reached.
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Total Hours Contributed |
2,200 |
2,300 |
2,400 |
2,400 |
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Experience Years |
1-4 |
5-8 |
9-13 |
14 + |
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Contribution |
Hours |
Hours |
Hours |
Hours |
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Scheduled Hours |
2,200 |
2,300 |
2,400 |
2,400 |
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Total Legal hours |
2,000 |
2,000 |
1,865 |
1,800 |
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Administrative |
100 |
125 |
180 |
200 |
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Skill Development |
25 |
25 |
30 |
30 |
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Marketing and Related |
30 |
50 |
100 |
180 |
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Bar, Professional,Civic |
25 |
50 |
150 |
150 |
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Pro Bono |
15 |
15 |
15 |
0 |
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Recruiting |
5 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
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Training Others |
0 |
25 |
50 |
30 |
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Total Non-Legal Hours |
200 |
300 |
535 |
600 |
A uniform approach recognizes a lawyer’s differing priorities as they become more experienced. Firms with stable and well-defined practice areas may want to use a uniform approach. In a sense, these firms already know what is necessary for success, and the practice planning process is a tool to teach lawyers “the business.”
Bespoke Approach
Taking a more customized or “bespoke” approach, an attorney may start the process with the planning of non-legal tasks. In this case, the attorney first considers the different activities that go into each non-billable factor to estimate the overall non-billable time.
A customized approach allows lawyers to be more strategic in their career development. It does require a structured process to ensure that non-billable time investments advance strategic goals and to confirm that necessary revenue-generating hours meet the firm’s financial needs.
If a firm has a minimum billable hour’s requirement, the two (non-legal and legal) are added together to calculate the total hours (scheduled) for the practice plan. When no minimum legal hour requirement exists, billable hours are the result of subtracting non-billable hours from total scheduled hours.
For example, the table below indicates a few different practice plans for attorneys of similar experience.
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Total Hours Contributed |
2,200 |
2,300 |
2,000 |
2,400 |
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Experience Years 5-8 |
Associate 1 |
Associate 2 |
Associate 3 |
Associate 4 |
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Contribution |
Hours |
Hours |
Hours |
Hours |
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Scheduled Hours |
2,200 |
2,300 |
2,000 |
2,400 |
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Total Legal hours |
2,000 |
1,900 |
1,800 |
2,100 |
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Administrative |
100 |
125 |
80 |
150 |
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Skill Development |
25 |
35 |
50 |
15 |
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Marketing and Related |
30 |
60 |
25 |
50 |
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Bar, Professional,Civic |
25 |
100 |
25 |
50 |
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Pro Bono |
15 |
40 |
20 |
15 |
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Recruiting |
5 |
40 |
20 |
15 |
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Training Others |
0 |
25 |
0 |
10 |
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Total Non-Legal Hours |
200 |
400 |
200 |
300 |
Bespoke planning processes work better for firms with a wide variety of practice areas and differing client needs. In these firms, creativity and the ability to adapt to ever-changing priorities are highly valued. Entrepreneurial firms built around people with different talents and skills will likely get better results with a custom planning process.
ALIGNING WITH COMPENSATION AND INCENTIVES
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INCREASES |
CONTRIBUTIONS |
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Quality of professional work |
Personal productivity |
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Work ethic |
Profitability of others (leverage and supervision) |
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Client relations and service |
Client profitability (originations) |
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Personal development |
Recruiting profitable lawyers |
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Business development competence |
Training contributions |
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Professional recognition |
Billing and collections management |
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Training contributions |
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Adding to the reputation of the firm |
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Ultimately, a well-crafted practice plan serves as a roadmap to accomplishing desired goals. Prioritizing practice planning not only benefits individual attorneys but also enhances the overall success of the firm. By honing their legal skills, lawyers elevate the value of the firm's services, resulting in enhanced client satisfaction. This focus on continuous improvement and strategic development not only ensures that attorneys are constantly growing and evolving in their expertise but also strengthens the firm's reputation and client relationships.
As attorneys become more skilled and proficient in their practice areas, they are better equipped to provide top-notch legal services, ultimately leading to increased client satisfaction and loyalty. In essence, a robust practice plan is not just a tool for individual career growth, but a key driver of firm-wide success and client satisfaction.