This article “Until the AI Revolution Disrupts Timekeeping, Make the Most of Phase Codes” was published in the Spring 2019 ILTA Peer-to-Peer Publication.

It seems as if useful artificial intelligence (AI) that would improve the business of law has been just around the corner forever. Great strides have been made in AI, particularly with regard to the consistent categorization of similar documents in e-discovery, due diligence, contract management, and (cue Big Brother) logging of phone calls and websites visited. Still, much remains to be done before we can expect machines to interpret what lawyers do in real-time and transform this data into an invoice for the client – or reveal the cost of the average deposition.

Meanwhile, there is a fairly straightforward way to capture what a lawyer does and categorize it as you go – phase codes. The critical trick is to setup codes sensibly at the start of a matter and use them well.

Codes are fundamentally about communication. And only with effective communication can we get everyone on the same page: clients have visibility into the work that is performed, lawyers have insight into what they are doing in the context of the matter, and both law firms and their clients are better able to manage the business of law.

This article will explore some best practices to make the most of phase codes. We predict that these practices will still be needed after AI takes hold in timekeeping.

Read more on the article “Until the AI Revolution Disrupts Timekeeping, Make the Most of Phase Codes” in the Spring 2019 ILTA Peer-to-Peer Publication here.

Learn more on Why Codes Matter for Legal Project Management Here!