The Oklahoma Bar Journal February 2023

This may not sound like a game changer, but taking the handwrit ten entries out of the billing process will save time and reduce errors. CONCLUSION Thinking of your billing entries as data and determining how to get rid of almost all handwritten timesheets shouldn’t be a major project. (Of course, I’m not the one who has to convince the senior partner to change.) But it will pay dividends in the months ahead. With the speech recognition tools included in Microsoft Word and Windows, even a non-typing lawyer can contemporaneously record their time into a document to send to the billing department. Less time spent deciphering hand writing is a win for everyone.

sure your computer has a quality microphone. Save the billing sheet template on the timekeeper’s desktop and make the document read only. 3 That way, every time the timesheet template is opened, the user will be forced to save it with a name like “[date] timesheet from JAC.” Then even a non-typing lawyer can use the built-in dictation features of Word or Excel to quickly dictate their time entries. It is probably also useful to note that Windows Key + H pro vides speech recognition dic tation in other Windows data entry locations. 4 At the end of each billing day, the docu ment should be forwarded to the billing department.

Mr. Calloway is OBA Management Assistance Program director. Need a quick answer to a tech problem or help solving a management dilemma? Contact him at 405-416-7008, 800-522-8060 or jimc@okbar.org. It’s a free member benefit. 1. https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt. 2. Yes, there may have to be a few exceptions. But if you read that sentence and started thinking of enough “exceptions” so you do not have to comply with the rule, perhaps you should consider whether you are a part of the problem. 3. https://bit.ly/3Gz0BTF. 4. See “A Keystroke to Memorize. Windows Key Plus H,” https://bit.ly/3ZwVFas. ENDNOTES

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL