301: Stop Losing Billable Hours: How AI Simplifies Time-Keeping & Billing for Lawyers

Feb 4, 2025

Nancy Jeng, co-founder of Billables.ai and AI pioneer in legal billing, shares insights on revolutionizing timekeeping for lawyers. She discusses how passive time capture can streamline tracking with zero effort, benefiting both billable and non-billable professionals. The conversation dives into the seamless integration of Billables.ai with popular platforms, the transformative impact of AI on legal billing practices, and the versatility of the tool across various billing models. Personalization and user adaptability are emphasized as key to effectiveness.

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ANECDOTE

Origin of Billables AI

Billables AI's origin story involves Nancy Jeng's co-founder's wife, a lawyer frustrated with billing.
Jeng, with her client service background, also had prior experience with timekeeping challenges.

INSIGHT

The Time-Tracking Challenge

Bernie describes the challenge of simultaneous work and time-tracking, comparing it to a taxi cab driver.
Context-switching and the mental overhead of starting/stopping timers disrupts workflow and focus.

INSIGHT

Contemporaneous Billing Issues

Nancy Jeng explains how contemporaneous billing disrupts flow state, crucial for quality work.
Billing itself is non-billable, adding to the inefficiency of traditional timekeeping methods.

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Nancy Jeng, co-founder of Billables.ai, reveals how passive time-keeping is changing the game for lawyers—capturing billable hours with zero effort and tailoring entries to your style. Learn how this AI-powered tool integrates seamlessly with Clio, Microsoft, and more, while offering surprising benefits even for lawyers who don’t bill for their time.

In this episode, you will hear:

The transformative power of AI in legal timekeeping and billing
Seamless integration of Billables AI with platforms like Clio, Microsoft, and Google
Automation of time capture processes for precise and efficient billing
Overcoming challenges in legal time management with AI-driven tools
Versatility of Billables AI for various billing models, including flat fee and contingency-based firms
Emphasis on personalization and adapting to individual user preferences in billing practices

Resources from this Episode

Billables.ai website
1-Minute Video Demo of Billables.ai (YouTube)
2-Minute video from Nancy's demo to my Inner Circle
Nancy's email address: nancy@billables.ai
By the way, you’re eligible for a 50% discount for the first three months of Billables if you mention you came from my podcast.

General Resources

Click for a list of the Best Tech Tools for Lawyers
Subscribe to: The 80/20 Principle
Check out my Law Firm Systems Intensive
Join: '80/20 Inner Circle' (valuable business insights for small firm owners)
Read: The 80/20 Principle: The Secret of Achieving More with Less, by Richard Koch
Get my new email course: ChatGPT for Lawyers (it's free)

Other Resources

The 80/20 Principle (email newsletter)
The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice
The Inner Circle (online community for law firm owners)

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Episode Credits

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Let them know we sent you.