Finding Time All Over the Place: A Naman Howell Litigator Retires the Journal
A Fort Worth litigator on switching from a handwritten journal to time that captures itself.
When Hourglass first met James Fletcher, he was keeping his billable time the way litigators have for a century: by hand, in a journal, reconstructed around depositions and discovery deadlines.
Asked what he’d think if Hourglass disappeared tomorrow, he didn’t hesitate. “You guys met me. I was writing it all down in a journal. Hourglass is way better.”
Time he wasn’t billing before
The difference isn’t just convenience. Asked whether Hourglass was picking up time he might not have billed for in the past: “A hundred percent. Absolutely. It’s finding time all over the place.”
That includes the work that never used to make it onto a timesheet at all: the research session in a browser tab, the local rules check before a filing. The day’s record catches it and writes it up in the firm’s billing language, down to entries he’s happy to send as drafted.
“I’ve been a full acolyte of Hourglass since I adopted it,” he says. “It really is saving a bunch of time.”