Hourly billing multiplies timekeeper rates by hours worked, recorded in increments typically of six or fifteen minutes. Rates vary by seniority and are often subject to client approval under outside counsel guidelines.
Ethics rules require that fees be reasonable and that lawyers bill only for time genuinely expended.
Alternative Names:
Billable Hour, Time-Based Billing
Why it Matters?
The model's structural tension is that efficiency reduces revenue, which is why technology adoption in hourly practices produces mixed incentives. Ethics guidance is explicit that time saved belongs to the client rather than the firm, so a firm cannot bill the pre-technology equivalent. That reality is the strongest practical argument for shifting suitable work to fixed or capped fee structures where efficiency benefits the firm.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Can a firm bill for time saved through technology?
What billing increments are standard?
