Use Case 06 · Legal & Professional Services

Billing & Time Recording Optimisation

Law firms lose an estimated 15–25% of potentially billable time due to under-recording. Lawyers forget short calls, fail to attribute time to matters, and underestimate drafting time — directly impacting revenue and distorting matter profitability analysis.

The Challenge

Why This Happens

Time recording is entirely disconnected from work activity. Lawyers must remember and manually log time against matter codes after the fact — often at day's end or week's end — leading to significant attrition between time worked and time billed. Short tasks are systematically under-recorded.

How Copilot & M365 Address This
  1. 1Copilot surfaces suggested time entries from activityWith consent, Teams meetings, emails, and document edits generate suggested time entries for lawyer review.
  2. 2Lawyers review and approve with one clickSuggested entries presented in a single daily review workflow — accurate, attributed, and ready to submit.
  3. 3Professional narrative descriptions drafted automaticallyCopilot writes client-ready narrative for each time entry — no more blank cursor on the billing description field.
  4. 4Viva Insights dashboards surface utilisation trendsUnder-recording patterns identified by team and individual — enabling targeted coaching and process improvement.

Impact & Results

Impact Metrics
+1.4hAverage billable hours per fee earner per day
+12%Revenue per lawyer
76%→97%Time recording completion rate
Measured via: Elite billing system data analysis. Partner survey pre/post on recording confidence. Matter-level revenue variance analysis.

In the first quarter after Copilot, we exceeded our utilisation targets for the first time in 14 years. People aren't working more hours — they're capturing what they actually do. That's been worth more than any recruitment drive.

AS
Abdullah Al-Shehri
Managing Partner, Legal Practice, Riyadh

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From Our Blog

Deeper reading on this topic — guides, frameworks and real-world perspectives.

Microsoft Copilot for Legal Services: Contract, Research & Compliance
The CFO's Guide to Measuring Microsoft Copilot ROI

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