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Stop deductions before they start

Hourglass turns outside counsel guidelines into enforceable billing rules. Every legal time entry is checked before prebill, while the work is still fresh and deductions can still be prevented.

Every guideline, in one place

Upload the PDF, Word file, or email. Every client’s guidelines stay attached to the matters they govern, with versions kept in order.

Guidelines

Meridian MutualOCG v2Halvorsen CasualtyOCG v7Northgate IndemnityOCG v4 · supersedes v3

Drop guidelines here · PDF · DOCX · EML

The document becomes a list of rules

Hourglass extracts each billing requirement as a rule. Every rule links to the exact paragraph it came from for fast review.

Northgate Indemnity · Outside Counsel Guidelinesv4 · Effective 1 January 2026

§4.1Time shall be recorded contemporaneously. Increments may not exceed one tenth of an hour. Rounding to the nearest quarter hour is not accepted.

Increments§4.1Maximum 0.1 h

§4.2Each discrete task shall be recorded as a separate entry carrying its own time value. Block billing is prohibited. Entries combining several tasks under one value will be reduced.

Block billing§4.2Prohibited

§4.3A narrative must identify the task performed, the document or filing it concerned, and the parties involved. Entries reading only “attention to file” or “review of correspondence” will be returned.

Narrative detail§4.3Task, document, and parties named

§5.1Clerical and administrative work, including filing, indexing, calendaring, and document assembly, is overhead. It is not separately compensable at any timekeeper level.

Clerical work§5.1Not compensable

It learns from what your firm has already billed

Hourglass reads years of the firm’s invoices, the reductions each client took, and the appeals that won. Rules sharpen to what each client actually pays, and new ones are proposed from the pattern.

Billed history

2021 – 2026

invoices
2,140
line items
184k
reductions
6,300
appeals
1,120

Learned this quarter

  • Northgate Indemnity · “Review file” narratives reduced

    Narrative rule tightened

    84%

  • Halvorsen Casualty · Second attendee at depositions struck

    Staffing rule proposed

    91%

  • Meridian Mutual · Travel over 4 h cut to half rate

    Travel rule proposed

    77%

Benefits per timekeeper

100+ hours

saved on manual time entry, per year

40 hours

of extra billable time captured a year

2–5%

reduction in billing deductions

Appeals, drafted for your billing team

Hourglass ties each deduction to its time entry, attaches proof of the work, and drafts the appeal. The attorney gets one email with everything they need to review and edit it, without digging back through their work.

  • Each deduction tied to the time entry it came from
  • Proof of the work attached, and the appeal drafted for you
  • One email to the attorney with everything they need to review and edit

Appeals

Q2 2026

Deducted
$48,200
Appealed
$41,900
Recovered
$29,600
Client
Invoice
Reason
Amount
Status
  • Northgate Indemnity
    INV-20461
    Block billing · §4.2
    $1,240
    Won
  • Halvorsen Casualty
    INV-20418
    Excess staffing · §5.2
    $3,180
    Filed
  • Meridian Mutual
    INV-20455
    Vague narrative · §4.3
    $860
    Filed
  • Pell Rivera Underwriters
    INV-20472
    Travel rate · §5.4
    $2,050
    Drafted
  • Northgate Indemnity
    INV-20477
    Clerical task · §5.1
    $410
    Drafted
“This software is a real game changer. It saves me 1–2 hours per day and helps capture 15–20% more time.”

Gordon Klug

Partner

Tyson & MendesRead more customer stories