Legal work leaks revenue when matter time stays vague. Everhour keeps time tracking tied to billing and budgets.
Enter your time in and out for each day. Overtime and gross pay are calculated automatically.
| Day | Time In | Break Start | Break End | Break | Time Out | Total |
|---|
The calculator gives you the number — Everhour takes it from there.
One click and you're timing. Start a timer, add an entry, edit the details. This is exactly how it feels in Everhour.
Set a budget, assign rates, and get alerted before you're over.
Measurement
Track your budget through time or costs
Every report you need — configured your way, always up to date.
Tracked hours flow straight into a polished invoice — no copy-paste, no manual math.
You came to capture legal work in a form that can become a client invoice, matter report, or internal review record. A useful entry identifies the client, matter, timekeeper, date, task, activity, duration, billing status, and narrative. That structure lets a lawyer separate client work from administrative time and keep the fee basis connected to the engagement.
ABA Model Rule 1.5 requires lawyers to communicate the scope of representation and the basis or rate of fees and expenses before or within a reasonable time after starting representation, preferably in writing. The rule also lists time and labor required as a factor in fee reasonableness. Good time records make that rate communication and later invoice review easier to reconcile.
A matter-ready entry starts with identification fields: client, matter, timekeeper, role, date, and billing rate from the fee arrangement. Add work fields that explain the service: task, activity, description, start and stop times or duration, billable status, and any matter expense. Keep rate and expense fields in U.S. dollars for U.S. users because U.S. coins and currency are legal tender for debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.
Legal e-billing can add structure beyond a normal invoice. UTBMS uses task codes for the area and phase of work, activity codes for the action performed, and expense codes for matter costs. LEDES 1998B is a 24-field ASCII pipe-delimited legal e-billing format and the most widely used legal e-billing standard in the United States. Use those fields only when the client's billing guideline or e-billing setup calls for them.
Law-firm time slips between capture, invoicing, and collection. Clio reports that the average law firm utilization rate in 2025 was 38%, equal to 3.0 billable hours captured in an average 8-hour workday. Its 2025 realization rate was 88%, meaning 2.6 hours of billable work were invoiced, and its collection rate was 93%, meaning 2.4 invoiced hours were collected.
The common mistake is recording a single end-of-day total after switching between calls, research, drafting, and internal meetings. Split entries by matter and billing status as the work changes. A clean record for a two-matter afternoon needs two matter entries, two descriptions, and the correct billable status for each. That discipline reduces write-downs caused by vague narratives or mixed client and non-client time.
A one-off tool is enough for a solo invoice, a short consultation, or a quick reconstruction of a single week. Enter the time, check the narrative, attach the rate from the engagement, and save the output with the matter file. That approach breaks down once several lawyers, paralegals, matters, rates, and client billing rules share the same month-end invoice process.
Managed tracking gives a firm a durable record from timer or manual entry through approval, budget review, and billing handoff. Everhour Project Budgeting supports time and money budgets, recurring budget periods, email alerts, budget protection, multiple billing methods, and client-level budgets, so active matters can be reviewed before time becomes an invoice line.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
High Performer
G2
Summer 2026
Best Ease Of Use
Capterra
Summer 2026
Rated in the top time trackers across G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius — with consistent praise for ease of use, integrations, and support.
Each entry should identify the client, matter, timekeeper, date, task or activity, description, duration or start and stop times, billing status, and rate tied to the fee arrangement. Add expense detail when the entry includes a matter cost. For e-billing, include UTBMS task, activity, and expense codes if the client billing format requires structured coding.
A useful description names the legal service performed without turning the time entry into a memo. "Reviewed draft settlement agreement and marked indemnity revisions" is clearer than "review documents." Vague descriptions invite client questions and write-downs because the invoice fails to connect the time and labor required to a recognizable matter task.
No universal professional rule requires every legal invoice to use UTBMS or LEDES. Those structures matter when a client, e-billing platform, or billing guideline requires coded entries. UTBMS classifies legal services with task, activity, and expense codes. LEDES 1998B uses a 24-field ASCII pipe-delimited format for legal e-billing.
A single daily total is weak support for client billing after a lawyer moves across matters. Split time when the client, matter, activity, or billing status changes. One daily total also creates payroll problems for covered nonexempt law-firm staff because FLSA records must include hours worked each workday and total hours worked each workweek.
Saturday, Sunday, holiday, or regular rest-day work does not trigger FLSA overtime premium pay by itself. Covered nonexempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a fixed 168-hour workweek at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate, unless another law or agreement provides more.
Everhour Project Budgeting lets a firm set time or money budgets for matters, including recurring periods for ongoing work. Email alerts at 75%, 90%, and 100%, or custom thresholds, show budget pressure before additional lawyer time pushes a matter past its agreed limit.
Everhour Timesheets collect weekly project hours and working hours by person for review before billing. Managers can approve, reject, or partially approve submitted time, and submitted or approved entries stay locked unless withdrawn or rejected. That preserves a clear review trail for corrections.
Move recurring legal work into tracked matter budgets with alert emails at 75%, 90%, and 100%. Everhour turns lawyer time entries into budget visibility before billing.
14-day free trial · No credit card · Cancel anytime
