Billing entries are an essential and necessary aspect of being a paralegal.

The following guidelines will help reduce and/or eliminate billing entry deductions by clients or third-party billing review entities and reduce delays in the receipt of payment:

• Ensure your task entries are clear, concise and understandable.
• Task entries must be in accordance with specific client billing guidelines and litigation procedures.
• Write your task entries as if the reader has no legal background or experience - so they will be generally able to understand what professional legal services were provided.
• Keep your task entries simple, yet supply sufficient information as to avoid confusion or questions (basically, the entries must explain the work that was performed).
• Avoid standard, repetitive task entries.
• Avoid "formula" billing - that is, billing the same amount for form or repetitive tasks.
• Avoid task entries that describe duties which may be considered purely administrative in nature, such as "scheduling" and "coordinating" for which substantial legal experience is not required.
• Avoid block billing and task entries for intraoffice conferences and meetings.
• Avoid the use of acronyms and abbreviations.
• Create your task entries as they occur to avoid trying to recall the specific billable tasks performed.

Follow these guidelines to increase your chances of payment!