March 15, 2022

By: Avi D. Kelin, Esq.

Avi Kelin Pens Article "The Billable Hour as Time Capsule" Published in the New Jersey Law Journal

Avi Kelin Pens Article

Firm Counsel Avi D. Kelin, Esq. recently penned a thoughtful article for New Jersey Law Journal citing ways that the dreaded billable hour could be considered a treasured time capsule for some attorneys.

The article begins, "I bought my wife an unusual journal for her birthday last year. It is a diary that has one blank line, and one blank line only, for every day of the year. The assignment: write down one sentence or thought about your day—every day—for a year, and at the end you will have a revealing time capsule about how you spent your time.

I have always been drawn to tracking and recording my life in unique ways. During college, and for several years after, I would keep a document saved on my computer desktop, listing all the books I read, movies I watched, places I visited, plays I viewed, and sporting events I attended over the course of the year. (I just found my list from 2010; unfortunately, I now read fewer books and attend fewer Knicks games than I used to.)

And so I considered buying the same line-a-day journal for myself, to get back into the habit of maintaining a diary. But then I realized that I already keep a time capsule of my life: the billable hour.

Because I am an attorney who has spent my entire legal career with one firm, Genova Burns, I have instant access to every description for every hour I have ever worked. While tracking time to bill clients can often be a headache in the moment, I appreciate now having this detailed record of how I have spent my (working) hours."

To access the full article, please click here

Tags: Genova Burns LLCAvi D. KelinNew Jersey Law Journal